In this interview, the Managing Director of Multi-choice Nigeria, John Ugbe, reveals myriads of support and intervention services being rendered by the firm in Nigeria. Star Trek inspired a lot of Americans to go into science and go into the moon. What does Big Brother inspire among Nigerians?
We are in pay TV. We are in entertainment. Entertainment is a mix of fun, inspiration and education. Remember, Reality TV is reality. This is what happens. The fact that they are on TV doesn’t change it. Entertainment can inspire in a variety of ways. A lot of people have come out of Big Brother and have grown into entertainment powerhouses. It’s a platform for exposure and advancement. Furthermore, we have a lot of educational and kids content. We ask our viewers to set up parental guidance so you can control what your child views. The parents have and have always had the control. Kids these days have smartphones and can download anything, but the blame is often put on TV. You can opt out of a channel or block it completely at any time. We put the power into your hands. And back to Big Brother, we can learn from their interaction in the house. They have tasks that promote nationalism, patriotism. You see those contestants singing the National Anthem proudly. When they talk about malaria day – we use it as an opportunity to educate. A lot of the tasks are subtle but meant to inspire and lead.
What is your reaction to the assertion that 170million votes from the recently concluded BBN, came exclusively from SMS, thereby yielding profit in billions?
There has been a lot of focus on the figure 170million, but to set the record straight; 170million votes came from 49 African countries, and more than 90% came from online voting. Fewer than 2% of the entire votes came from SMS voting. Nigeria is the only country that was enabled to vote via SMS. The actual revenue generated from SMS voting could not be further from the much-touted purported figure. Over and above the administration and platform set up costs, the majority of the profit went directly to the GSM and data service providers.
Is there a way that you can review the location of Big Brother Naija to ensure it is domiciled in Nigeria, so that all economics of the hosting and its associated benefits come to Nigeria?
Tinsel is domiciled in Nigeria and shown all over Africa. We just premiered a new epic series in Lagos. For this we built an entire village from scratch to portray the realities of a village setting. Our groups of channels are called Africa Magic to reflect our African Heritage. Nigeria has the biggest movie industry that is why our productions are domiciled in Nigeria. For Hotel Majestic we had to take over a hotel in Nigeria for 2 years as a set. It’s a lot of investment. Big Brother demands a lot of complexities and outfitting a house. For the Big Brother shows, we set up one facility for the Nigeria, Angolan and other editions. It makes sense from a production perspective. It is impractical to replicate sets across our operations in 49 African countries. We choose the best location for each specific production. Big Brother Naija’s production team is made up of 90% Nigerians even though it wasn’t set in Nigeria – so a good deal of skills transfer occurs. Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) comes to Nigeria every year. Speaking as a Nigerian and an advocate of Nigeria – we keep looking at what it will entail to run it locally.
Have you considered implementing a Pay as you consume model?
From a producer’s perspective – we have to buy the movie in full and we have to buy enough content to fill the channel and put it on air. That’s what the pay-TV model prescribes anywhere in the world. We have to aggregate content for our different packages, this means ensuring there is something for everyone on the package depending on your interest and pocket strength. But there is a good spread of a variety of content across all packages. Everyone thinks of today. From Day one, you have to buy enough movies to make up the channel and sell that package to one person. It’s a risk as you cannot determine if after buying content, only one or ten people will subscribe. If only one person does, you cut your losses and move on, but you continue to invest in content with the hope that more people will be interested in watching. Regarding breaking off viewing according to your availability, the challenge is in the model of the business. We don’t know when your decoder is on or off. That makes it impossible to say I want to start billing because this customer has started viewing. Pay as you go is a mobile network term. The mobile operators have the technical resources to measure what is being used. For pay-TV on the other hand, it is not the same thing. What we encourage our subscribers to do is download DStv Now, and you can watch all the content on your current subscription on the go, on your phone or tablet. You do not have to be bound by availability of power.
What Social responsibility programs do you invest in as an organization?
We focus on Education, Health and Youth and Economic Empowerment. Our Multi-choice Resource Center project is our Education initiative that we have been active with for over 14 years. What we do here is work with the governments in each state to select beneficiary schools. We then provide audio-visual equipment (which include a dish, decoder with educational channels, TV, generating set, tables, chairs, UPS), to bring learning and the school’s curriculum to life. We set up our Education package in the chosen schools, train the teachers on how to select relevant programs intended to illuminate and animate information that would otherwise have remained theoretical or textbook based. The MRCs are present in over 400 schools across 33 states in Nigeria, tens of thousands of students have benefited from these centers since inception. The feedback has been astounding. The rate of passing school leaving exams has improved. Several beneficiary students have gone on to become medical doctors, lawyers, and a good number are working in several other professions, as a result of this foundation that changed how they learn and retain information. I have experienced how this center is used, and saw how students responded when they saw how a tsunami actually happens. They saw it happen on our platform and this made it easier for them to imagine how destructive a tsunami could be. Also in terms of Education we have partnered with Eutelsat for many years to roll out DStv-Eutelsat Star Awards, a satellite based competition for secondary school students across Africa. The students are required to answer questions on how satellites can be used to improve processes, the advantages of satellite and so on. We implement our health responsibility by supporting the Sickle Cell Foundation. We have been partners for many years. We support them because the statistics of how Sickle Cell Anemia affects Nigerians paints a dire picture. The Foundation seeks funds to carry out research, treat and inform sufferers. Their key objective is creating awareness on how to minimize its effects, research on how to avoid and ultimately cure the ailment. On our part we offer support through creating awareness, which we do on an ongoing basis through educational videos, community outreach programs, fund raising and other initiatives to support them in what they do.
Is it possible to put my subscription on hold when a subscribed travel for a month?
Yes we have made it possible for you to do that. You can put your subscription on hold when you travel for up to two weeks each time, twice a year. One of the things we thrive on is technology. The dual view decoder was first introduced in the world by Multi-choice. Digital Satellite TV (DStv) was only second after the US. When we build the DTT network we had Russians coming to study it. We look to the future for what is possible to do.
Recently, Multi-choice ran a promo asking subscribers to pay for two months and get one month free, but there were complaints from customers who didn’t get the promised month…?
It is true that we ran a retention offer late last year. When we received feedback that some customers did not get the free month on schedule, we identified those customers that were affected and we fixed it. We introduced a new process, which helps to identify those who received the offer, and ensure that get the benefit immediately. Additionally in terms of improving on technology, we upgrade our decoder software from time to time to improve customer-viewing experience. We ran a free swoop campaign where we asked customers to bring in obsolete decoders for a free swoop. It’s all in line with always striving to improve our offers to our customers. We also introduced toll-free lines a few years ago.
The strength of signals is still a problem. For instance if you are watching a match and it rains you lose signal…
To shed some light on that, it is called rain fade. Satellite signal from the KU Band is susceptible to weather. I have taken pictures of my tv screen when I’ve been in New York or other parts of the world and I experienced interruption as a result of bad weather. It’s not a Nigerian problem.
Your DSTV will work even with 40% signal. There is a need to boost the signal to have less interruption. We also make available quality cables to reduce interference. If rain comes in it will affect the quality. We recommend getting a certified installer to conduct regular checks to verify signal strength. Also, some dishes have not been checked in up to 5 years. Regular checks ensure that your dish works optimally, thereby reducing rain fade.
