₦airaland Forum

HITV had a bad business strategy.

From the onset, I criticized the faulty business model of depending on winning the rights to EPL every time bidding was on. It was only going to be a matter of time before the faulty foundation crumbles. DSTV was waiting in the wings. Goodbye HITV. I hope other local entrepeurs will learn from this unreasonable business model. Not everyone loves football. I am spoilt for choice on DSTV Compact bouquet as HITV had nothing other than football to offer.

Yaradua should resign honourably and attend to his health.

Like Kwachazz writes, HiTv has had their 5 mins of fame. I however don't agree with darznets that writes that HiTv did not do their homework well. They did. However any company that thinks it can build a business model on opportunism is bound to fail. On other Nairaland threads I have consistently faulted Hitv's business plan which is built on football. They tried to cash in on DSTV's greed which ensured Nigerians who are football lovers could not watch matches because Dstv placed the channel in its premium bouquet which was beyond reach financially for an average football fan. HiTv had nothing else to offer other than football. The question now arises: what happens when the football season is over? What happens to people that are not football lovers. HiTv offered its bouquet at N4,000 and abuses rained on DSTV. Now subscribers have to cough out N6,000, for what? I asked myself, why can't I find an extra N3,000 and subscibe to DSTV Premium with so many channels including football. For how long will HiTv continue to survive on Football? DSTV has woken from its slumber and are offering so many channels on its Compact bouquet for N4,500 if you are not a football freak. It is only time before DSTV sends HiTv into the scrap book of history. Very simple - just outbid them in the next round of bidding for EPL and it is bye-bye HiTv. For how long will their subscibers be willing to pay N6,000 to watch football? Even the commercial operators are complaining - HiTv is asking them to pay N20,000 per month. HiTv came to hoodwink Nigerians into believing they can offer football cheaply - is N6,000 per month subscription cheap?

@mreds

This is the list of DaarSat channels as provided by SATMAN on another Nairaland blog site:

AIT Moviestar
Daar-Star Express
Sahara One
Filmy
B4U Movies UK
The MGM Channel Africa
FOX Entertainment
AIT National
Silverbird TV
Gamzaki Channel
Faaji
Ogene ndi igbo tests
Baby TV Europe
KidsCo
AIT News
EuroNews
BBC World News
Al Jazeera English
France 24 English
Nickelodeon Africa
AIT Parliamentary
Africa Business Channel
CNBC Africa
AIT Sports
Fox Sports Africa
Setanta Africa
Eurosport News
FootSchool TV
Quest TV
Fashion TV
Art Channel
DoveVision
EWTN Africa & South Asia
LoveWorld
B4U Music UK
C Music TV
Primetime Africa
Sci Tech TV
MTV Base UK
MCM Top
Discovery World
Luxe TV HD
Ray Power 100.5 FM
BBC World Service
Radio France Internationale

@SATMAN

I am surprised you are advising mreds to keep his HiTv decorder. Both of us have discussed this issue of HiTv on other Naiaraland blogs apart from this one. I don't know if you can recall my detailed and technical analysis on HiTv. In fact some bloggers chose to be sentimental rather than objective. I always said it that HiTv would have to increase its subscibtion fees if more channels were to be added to its bouquet as demanded by subscribers. I also mentioned that HiTv cannot continue to rely on football because it is not sustainable The reason is that football be it La Liga, EPL, etc are subject to bids. There is no guarantee that HiTv will win the bids all the time. Now Dstv has a fantastic bouquet for over N4,000 and HiTv wants to charge R6,000. So how long will it take now for HiTv to start charging over N9,000 which is what it costs for full Dstv bouquet? I thought HiTv was in the market because it said we were paying too much for Dstv. The chickens have come home to roost. They cannot offer cheap service again after only about a year. Why would I subscibe to HiTv for N6,000, when I can add a few Naira and subscibe to the full bouquet of DSTV? Satman, can you let me know what the additional channels of HiTv are?

@George D

Thanks for the explanation. I learnt a few things.


@Enigma

In trying to collaborate Gerge D's submission, you gave an example which is out of place. There is no way you will get BBC World Service on FM because each radio station has its own frequency where it transmits. BBC World Service frequency is not within FM range. In addition most stations carried on FM/AM anywhere in the world are mostly local channels. You need the frequency range of LW/SW to access BBC Worldservice.

@George D.

You did not quite answer sology's question which was straightforward. He asked if foxcrime etc were free-to-air channels, not if they are FTA. He has a good reason for asking. It is simple - they are not free - to - air channels and neither is CNN a free-to-air channel. If CNN was free to air, HITV and DaarSat won't have problems with Dstv which currently has the right to air the channel. As I mentioned earlier, you have the free will to do watch whaever you want free. My own personal logic is that God has blessed me and I can't in good conscience deprive others who are in legitimate business from reaping the fruits of their labour. If the channels you have mentioned are legitimate free to air channels, then dstv, Hitv and DaarSat won't be in business. Their services are not required. They won't even need to bid or have exclusive rights to channel content. Everybody will just buy a big dish and watch hundreds of channels free of charge while the content providers starve!!!!!!!! Happy viewing.

@George D

I think you should take a second look at what sology wrote. In fact he was the one educating me on the legitimate free - to - air channels. Lets be frank, the fact that you are viewing so many channels without paying does not translate to the fact that there is a Father Christmas somewhere offering free channels. Most content providers are not releasing their programmes free to air. While accepting that there are some free to air channels, you are only able to watch because there are dubious people somewhere cracking codes or the content providers don't have the technical know-how to block signals to non-subscibers or they lack the finances to purchase the technical equipment to do so.

It is ok if you are happy watching everything free of charge. However don't malign those who prefer to follow the straight path and decide out of their own free will and conscience to pay subscibtions. They are not fools but have their own reasons for doing so.

@sology

I hardly watch the MNet series channel and I am not particulaly interested in the content of that channel except when American Idols is running, then I watch.

@sology

Thanks for the information you passed across. I was not aware such a thing exists. What I am aware of is that some people purchase a powerful antenna to access free the signals from Disc technology (can't remember if the name of the company is correct but the company is based in Ikeja). They also use a video recorder. Something is inserted into it. After spending about N15,000 for their illegal act, the signal disappears from time to time, when the company change their configuration. No sooner has the company done this, the smart Ibo guys crack it once again. I was offered this service several times. Infact I was laughed at for paying subscibtions for what I can watch free of charge. That type of lifestyle is not for me.

Thank God for Hitv and Daarsat. You can now appreciate my comments when I criticise DSTV for being exploitative and not having the interest of their customers at heart. How come they did not offer all these channels before. It is not as if they are making a loss now because they are offering their Compact customers all these goodies now.

@George D

DSTV are smiling to the bank not because of people like luckiest and me but because of what they are offering - excellent technical expertise and good programme content. If DSTV had to compete with Sky and not HITV and DaarSat, Dstv would not be smiling but crying. The truth is that Hitv, DaarSAT and others are no match for DSTV.

As for watching channels free of charge, there are many ways of looking at it. As a practising Christian, my faith and my belief does not afford me the luxury of watching free what I know I have to pay for. The difference between man and animals is that we have what is called "free will" and I am exercising mine. With God's blessing on my life which is not by my power but by God's Grace, it would be suicidal for me not to pay my subsciptions.

@sology

As you may have likely read from my write-up's, I am not a great fan of DSTV because of their policy to exploit. However, kudos to HITV, for shaking them up from their comfort zone. I can't believe the born-again DSTV. Not only have they added SET to the Compact bouquet, the programming on Zone REALITY AND National Geographic which were already good have been made even better. Let the competition from Hitv and DaarSat continue!!!!!

@luckiest

I would like to assure you that in my write-up's, my main focus is to be objective. Afterall I don't own shares in any cable companies, rather I subscibe with my hard earned money. As of now DSTV is the best. Hitv not only has to add channels, they have to improve considerably as per the technical aspect. From the complaints of several of their subscibers, they are not there yet. For over 7 years that I am subscibed to DSTV, I have never had a single technical problem with the exception of once when I could not view AfricaMagic. I took my smart card to their office and the problem was rectified immediately. Apart from when it rains and there is loss of signals for a short while, everything is fine as per the picture quality (very sharp) and audio quality. I don't have to come to a blog like this to ask other subscibers how to tune to a newly added channel. Everything is automatically done by DSTV. I wish HITV all the best but I am staying with the born-again DSTV.

@olanie

From your submissions, I don't think Daar Sat is worth investing in. Dstv is still the leader followed by HiTv. I don't think Daar Sat did their homework well before entering the cable business. The only contribution Daar Sat and HiTv has made so far is to wake DSTV up from their slumber and exploitation. Now I am getting good value for my money at DSTV. Competition is healthy as the consumer benefits.

@olanie

Are you sure that daarsat has 52 channels already. There is controversy as to how many channels they have.

@SATMAN

Thanks for the info. Would have posted my comments much earlier but had to search for my password.

@SATMAN

Visited the web address you stated. Need more information on how to get the 40 channels that are working. Can you kindly copy and paste to this thread as I am thinking of subscibing to them in addition to my DSTV. Thanks. What is shown on Fox Entertainment?

@safex101

It would appear you have an installation problem. Try and secure a qualifed installer that has all the gadgets for installation including the instrument (don't know what it is called) used in aligning the dish. Complaints I have heard from those using DaarSat is not about channels going on and off or poor signals but the fact that they don't have 50 channels according to all the noise the company was making.

@switched.

Sorry. Got the quote wrong. You are right. It refers to politics not business.

@switched

I agree with you that the matter should be laid to rest since Urfriend has apologised. However let me point out to you that I am not a business person but I think like one. There is a saying and I quote: "In business there are no permanent friends or enemies". It is not a case of supporting one cable company over another like one will support one football team over another one. Instead a subsciber should put his or her money where there is satisfaction for such a person. A DSTV subsciber can become a HITV or DaarSat subsciber tomorrow and vice-versa. It is one's interest that should be paramount.

@Urfriend

It was indeed humble of you to have apologised and not joined the fray one way or another. You have exhibited maturity.

@akthedream

Let me assure you that I don't seek the downfall of HITV. I am not a shareholder in Multichoice. I get no discouint on my subsciptions. I have not been hired to do PR for them. However Multichoice did not grow to be what it is today by being rude, insultive and not listening to constructive criticism. The comments about Urfriend is because his rudeness is persistent and not a one-off affair. Courtesy is an essential ingredient of PR (Public Relations).

I don't know why you think a subsciber of DSTV can't subscibe to HITV. So do you think by badmouthing the subscibers to DSTV in this forum is what will encourage them to subscibe to HITV?

@Shalon 17

"Urfriend i commend you for all you have being doing in this forum you are really doing a good job here."

Shalon 17, kindly find time to go back to the beginning of this thread and read urfriend's postings and kindly let me know if you still hold the opinion above. If not, kindly offer an apology to the bloggers on this thread. it is the least you can do.

First Shalon 17 scroll back to Sology's posting of April 3rd. Please take note that he is a subsciber to HITV. What is his offence? He put up a polite write-up about not being able to access two of the channels and complained of disappearing channels HiTV advertised they would be showing which must have made him decide to subscibe to them which they are not showing. I call this dishonesty on the part of HITV.

Shalon 17, I past part of urfriend's response to Sology's posting: "Before you start complaining, first thing you should have done is ask why and not just jump to conclusion". This response is best described as rude, uncalled for and unrefined. The questions to ask are: Does Sology as a customer paying his dues not have a right to complain about not receiving the services he paid for? Is Hitv doing him a favour by him subscibing to them? Is Sology supposed to possess some magic wand for him to know that Hitv is carrying out some test on both channels or is Sology as a customer supposed to have been informed either by scrolling a message across the screen informing him, sending text or e-mail message or put an advert in the newspaper?

I really don't know whether urfriend is a fan of Hitv or whether he works for them. If he works for Hitv, he is doing a great disservice to the company. Not only is he is disenfranchising HiTv's customers, he is equally "driving away" prospective new customers. This is not the first time he is insulting Hitv's customers. He even goes to the ridiculous extent of referring to some of their customers as Multichoice staff or customers.

Not only has urfriend formed the habit of insulting their customers, he is also most times incoherent. Sology's complaint is clear. Urfriend first insults him. Then he goes on to write, "There is a test being carried out on both channels and doesn't affect all subscibers. Are you using a strong decoder and what type? When was the last time you noticed one or both channels were not showing?" These statements are at best contradictory. If indeed the first statement is true about a test being conducted on both channels (and urfriend is fond of spreading falsehood on this thread especially about multichoice), then the follow-up questions are not necessary. If no test is being carried out contrary to what urfriend wants us to believe, then the follow-up questions become relevant. Then instead of insulting Sology, he should have first of apologised to him for not being able to access both channels,(and also explain to him why Hitv advertised some channels and not showing them), posted the questions he later asked, waited for Sology's response and offered solutions to his problems.

@Bodiaye

I don't think Urfriend needs to go for training for customer care and satisfaction. What I think is that he should stop writing on behalf of HITV. It is obvious that he does not have the relevant experience to take on the task of speaking on HiTv's behalf. I very much doubt that the company gave him such a responsibility. He is an individual that gives Nigerian companies a bad name. I expect to be insulted by him but I am not bothered.

@oligi, urfriend and bami201

urfriend and bami201 it is unfair the way you descended on oligi. He has a right to air his opinion.

oligi you are not being realistic. You cannot compare Dstv's decoder to HiTV's. Hitv went for a cheap decoder for affordability for its target audience (football fanatics). I cannot remember how many times I have read in this forum about unending upgrading of HITV's decoder with many of its subscibers not knowing what to do. Hitv's decoder costs N19,000. When I bought my Dstv decoder I paid N40, 000. I don't know what it costs now. With the exception of when it rains and there is loss of signals for a few minutes, you can always count on sharp and clear pictures on all its channels. Oh yes, urfriend, I am not a staff of multichoice and will drop DSTV once I find another suitable cable company that meets my taste. My taste are indeed very high. So oligi what you paid for is what you get. You cannot pay for Volkswagen and get Mercedes Benz car. Maybe urfriend will compensate you with their scarce HITV magazine!!!!!

urfriend learn to take criticism whether from your customers or non-customers. It will make your company improve. Not everyone can come to this forum to sing the praises of HITV. I have never failed to criticize DSTV when the need arises. I even go to their website, leave a message as their customer over any issue I am not pleased with. I am a regular participant to any survey they carry out. Also, don't spread falsehood. All the DSTV channels you listed as not being clear are simply not true. If that is the case, I suggest you visit a Dstv installer to check your installation. And please don't try and compare DSTV and Hitv. It is like comparing sleep and death. For you to even start comparing both, acquire at least 90% of Dstv's programmes and offer it at a cheaper rate than DSTV. This is what I call competition and it is what happens in advanced and developing countries. You make so much noise about Brilla FM that can be assessed on any radio. Dstv has over 30 radio channels including BBC, VOA, etc. I don't subscibe to Hitv but I have taken it upon myself to offer constructive criticism and advice that is needed for Hitv to improve so that it can increase its subsciber base and be a successful Nigerian company. I strongly believe that what a foreign company is capable of doing, a Nigerian company can also do if we put our mind to it.

"urfriend

Hope your almost 200 000 subscibers get their names on the mailing list soon

@bami201

There are a number of things I will never defend DSTV for. I have mentioned it here before that they are not customer friendly. Some of the things they are doing now is because of pressure from HiTv and Daar Sat. However there is no way that they would have 200 000 subscibers and print 20 000 copies of their magazine. My magazine is delivered promptly by the middle of each month for the coming month. You can also access all their programmes on your tv and they have a well developed website from where you can access all their programmes. Usually when you don't get the mag from DSTV it is normally the fault of the courier company not Multichoice itself. I got my dish magazine for April over 2 weeks ago.

HiTv is trying - Rome was not built in a day. They are focussed, that is ok. But as a Nigerian I can say very confidently that only about 100 copies out of the 20, 000 they printed will go to "ordinary" subscibers. The rest will be sent to corporate organizations, friends and family of the MD, staffers and all their cronies, members of the Senate and House of Reps, advertisers on their tv, etc. The question to urfriend is @Subsciber pass subscriber?"

@switched

Yes I am not a subscriber to HITV but as a Nigerian I wish them well and hope one day when they offer what I am interested in, I will be able to subscibe to them. I would be very happy if they can stand up to DSTV. For me personally at the moment it is because I don't have a choice, that is the reason I am still with DSTV.

You will agree with me that if you have close to 200,000 subscibers and you print only 20, 000 copies of the magazine, the best option in order not to upset your customers is to put the contents of the magazine online. I did not want to offend "urfriend" that was why I did not ask him how they selected the 20,000 customers they forward the magazine to. The Nigerian factor will definetely come into play. This is the type of thing I don't like and which a foreign company is unlikely to engage in. They should have waited until they were able to service ALL their customers before introducing the magazine.

@urfriend

If only 20 000 copies of the mag are printed then I would like to suggest that you place the contents online, so that subscibers with access to the internet and a printer can read and/or print it.

@urfriend


Well your programme line-up looks impressive. At least you tried so hard to pass the message across that you are not a football cable company. But that notion has stuck already. Get more documentary channels. Also for family court, Judge Judy Sheindlin is the most popular and the best. You also have to attend to your subscibers that are not getting your mag at all or getting the mag 2-3 weeks into the month. Why not use a courier company to do the distribution?

@COOLGUYZ

I thought that DSTV launched a new sports channel recently available to all their subscibers to watch live football matches. A lot of noise was made about the new sports channel. So what is happening? My problem with DSTV is that they are not customer friendly. They believe in over-pricing. What I really hope for is another cable company that will be able to stand up to them by offering a substantive part of the channels they currently offer at a reduced rate say between N6,000 - N7,000 per month. That is what I call competition. That is why I was disappointed with Daar Sat. HITV is trying but they have a long way to go. My worry is if they are currently offering their current bouquet at N4, 000, how much will subscibers pay when they have the same number of channels DSTV is currently offering?

@Bami201

I have some friends who subscibe to DSTV and HITV as well. Mainly because of the children. The children have HITV to themselves while the parents make do with DSTV. So do you think DSTV is feeling the heat due to the arrival of HITV and Daar Sat?

@bami201

It would be interesting to know which DSTV bouquets you subscibe to. The reason being that I can't understand why you have to subscibe to HITV also. If it because of football you can get it on DSTV. What is the attractyion for you on HITV? Just like you I am not a fanatic when it comes to football but I love to have the football channels just for the sakle of having them. I flip over from time to time to see the scores and watch 5 to 10 mins before rereturning to my news and documentary channels. The reason I pay close attention to Hitv and Daar Sat is to see the possibility of me switching. However none appeals to me at the moment. It would be interesting to know what you are getting on HITV that you can't get on DSTV. Or is it a case of patriotism?

@bami201

Yes you are right, I am not a subsciber to Hitv. However every customer looks for the best at low cost. I am with DSTV because what they are offering is good. However they are very exploitative and if there is another good cable company, of course I will switch. I was very hopeful for Daar Sat. I was not too bothered about the football aspect. But after reading soloqy's comments in addition to other bloggers, it would appear that they have not gotten their acts together yet. As for Hitv my comments are geared towards what would make me subscibe to them. However I can understand their constraints as they are basically a football cable company. There is nothing wrong with that. If they had wanted to be a complete cable company like DSTV they would have gotten the balance in programmes right from day one.

Of course channels are not added in a day, it takes time. However I am not expecting them to add the channels that would appeal to me because it is not a question of time frame as you portray but funds. These quality channels cost money. There is no way the subsciption will remain at R4000 with the addition of new channels . The company will want to freeze the subsciption at N4000 to attract more subscibers, hence I am not expecting good quality channels from them in the near future.

@illugunboy

Agree with you. Hitv will have to do a lot of balancing. The news channels they have are not balanced. Fox News and Sky News belong to the same stable - owned by the same person. For me, CNN is a must for any cable company I will subscribe to. Al Jazeera is a must because I like to listen to balanced news reporting. Discovery World is not enough for me in the area of documentaries. At the moment, Hitv's programming is not balanced.