MultiChoice Nigeria, on Tuesday, announced an increase in the cost of its DStv and GOtv bundles.
The new tariffs will start on May 1, 2023, according to a text message sent to consumers sighted by MDB.
The pay-TV company claimed that the price change was necessary due to the increased costs of conducting business.
It reads;
Please note that from May 1, your monthly subscription (premium) will be N24,500. To retain your old price of N21,000 for up to 12 months ensure you are active by April 30.
With the new rate increase, the monthly cost of the Compact+ bouquet would go to N16,600 from N14,250.
Compact bouquet subscribers will now pay N10,500 instead of N9,000, and Confam bundle subscribers will now pay N6,200 instead of N5,300.
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Viewers of the DStv Yanga and Padi bouquets would now pay N3,500 and N2,500, respectively, instead of N2,950 and N2,150, under the new pricing structure.
Subscribers to the GOtv Supa plan will now pay N6,400 instead of N5,500, while those to the GOtv Max package may expect to pay N4,850 instead of N4,150.
Furthermore, the cost of the GOtv Jolli package will climb from N2,800 to N3,300; however, the costs of the GOtv Jinja and GOtv Lite would increase from N1,900 to N2,250 and from N900 to N1,100, respectively.
MultiChoice Nigeria nevertheless offered a price lock to customers who renewed their subscriptions before to the required dates, notwithstanding the pricing rises.
Customers can take advantage of the offer, which is designed to lessen the impact of the pricing review, by paying on a monthly basis for 12 months at the former rates.
Similarly, it grants subscribers (who pay for one year at a go, before the new prices kick in) the opportunity to pay the old tariffs.
Price Comparison With South Africa, Kenya
A country-by-country price analysis shows that Nigerian DStv premium subscribers will pay the equivalent of $33.11, using the unofficial rate of N740 to a dollar.
Customers in South Africa will pay 879 Rands — $48.48 — at 18.1 Rands to the dollar.
Subscribers to Compact+ in Nigeria will pay a cost of N16,600 ($22.43), while those in South Africa will pay a tariff of 579 Rand ($31.94). Customers of the Compact bouquet in Nigeria would also pay N10,000, or $14.19.
Subscribers in Kenya will pay KES 9,500 ($70.06), KES 5,900 ($43.51), and KES 3,300 ($24.34) for each of the three bouquets.
Nigeria offers the three subscription options at a lesser cost than South Africa and Kenya out of the three nations analysed.
MultiChoice Nigeria’s price adjustment comes two weeks after a similar move was made by its competitor — StartTimes.
Increase By StarTimes
Last week, StarTimes, a Chinese-operated television company, announced an upward price review which took effect on April 14, 2023.
StarTimes’ new prices will see its Basic bouquet customers on DTT (antenna) pay N2,100 monthly, as against the previous sum of N1,850; while customers on its Classic bouquet will pay N3,100 monthly as against the previous N2,750 tariff.
The price of the Nova bouquet also went up from N900 to N1,200.
Also, the company’s subscribers using DTH (dish) are affected, with the tariff on the Smart bouquet rising to N2,800 per month from N2,600.
Due to the rates review, the Super bouquet will now attract a monthly tariff of N5,300 relative to the previous N4,900 price. The Nova bouquet had its tariff raised to N1,200 from N900.
StarTimes said the price review had to be done due to the current harsh economic realities in the country.
The company said;
“We are not immune to the economic realities affecting businesses in the country. While businesses have been adjusting prices upwards to remain afloat, we have been absorbing the recurring increases in costs. However, it isn’t easy to maintain the same price if we must keep serving our customers.
Meanwhile, Netizens have reacted to the development:
Anytime TSTV trends, know that DSTV has hiked its prices. DSTV knows Nigerians would always come around after few days of ranting. Push Nigerians to the wall, they will perforate the wall and go through the bricks rather than face the issues. We make excuses for bad leaders also.
— Akinsete Kayode (@AkinseteKayode) April 25, 2023
https://twitter.com/UncleMohamz/status/1650933136589463572?t=RYAqsU4tVRFvxVncaw-jBQ&s=19
https://twitter.com/_dhemii/status/1650939071437348881?t=wSZdhCicHMaPHmBP5g5rBw&s=19
Can we all go back to TSTV and leave DSTV to crumble, before they become another NITEL? pic.twitter.com/e83qXXI2Tf
— Jigo (@Sirjigo) April 25, 2023
https://twitter.com/LifetimeAyo/status/1650954095954391051?t=NhaKAm3IwwnvZgMoFuueJw&s=19
Omo be like na to find one sharp stream site for football because this useless increase DSTV came up with is mind boggling.. pay 10k to watch van damme double impact from 1992.. they killed TSTV before it even came
— Midas! (@mhizterfidel) April 25, 2023
