Plainly speaking, the program content of local stations has not been so impressive. Owing to this, Nigerians have been turning to cable network for those premium TV contents which appeal to their fancy. A prominent cable network operator that has thus far commanded huge following for over twenty (20) years now is DSTV [owned by Multichoice], and the Nigerian market is indeed a fruitful one for the PayTV operator with about 1.5 million subscribers in Nigeria alone- a figure that represents around 10% of its subscribers in Africa.

Though in all fairness, the company does offer rich contents but it has not been without some flaws. One of such flaws is poor/slack customer service delivery- this could resulted from the monopoly it has enjoyed over the years. At some point, it was hoped that HiTV would break that monopoly but the satellite TV (that is, HiTV) went into backwaters just after about four (4) years of operation.

It is no-brainer that DSTV has sort of owned the cable television industry in sub-Saharan African countries for some time now. But on comes the hour when the company can no longer fold its hands [and not improve its services] as TSTV and Kwesè TV make entrance into the industry. Already, both appear to be stealing a march on their more established competitor with more flexible payment plan on offer. While Multichoice has not looked beyond the monthly payment plan [on their different bouquets], Kwesè and TSTV will be giving subscribers the avenue to subscribe through the weekly and daily plans [along with the monthly subscription plan] thus ensuring that consumers get optimum content viewing at an affordable rate, and that they do not miss out on their favorite programmes.

A Brief on TSTV and Kwesè TV
TSTV is said to be a Nigerian owned company- it is owned by Mr. Bright Echefu- that is in partnership with ABS (Asia Broadcast Satellite), a telecommunications company which provides services ranging from cable TV distribution to internet backbone services, VSAT transmissions amongst other telecoms services. TSTV was launched on the 1st of October, 2017 but had to defer the rolling out of its decoders till the 1st of November as it sorts out some pending issues. The number of channels on TSTV cannot be ascertained at the moment- there are speculations that there are up to 200 stations on offer.

I will now beam the light on Kwesè which is owned by astute businessman of international renown, Strive Masiyiwa. A lot of background work has been done to get Kwesè up and running- this, you would have noticed if you were following the 'visionaire' on social media as he passionately discussed the vision (Kwesè). Already Kwesè has made a groundbreaking entry with some interesting contents- presently and futuristically- it has got for its viewers.
If DSTV currently owns the exclusive right to broadcast EPL games to sub-Saharan countries, Kwesè has got its own in presenting live NBA games to its subscribers. Plus it also shows EPL games [through one of its channels]- albeit not on a broad scale like DSTV. And for those who are already looking forward to the football world cup taking place in Russia next year, Kwesè TV is there for you in good time as it has won the exclusive free-to-air transmission rights for the games. Kwesè has international channels [such as CNN, Fox, ESPN, CBeebies, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks and much more]. Regarding the price; the decoder and its installation will cost only N10,970 and the monthly subscription for the premium bouquet is N6275 while the 7-day plan and 3-day plan go for N1850 and N990 respectively.

VERDICT: I really hope these two (TSTV and Kwesè) stay rooted in the cable network industry. Nonetheless, I feel Kwesè TV has a brighter chance of thriving in the market. This, I say based on the leap the company is making in its first months of operation. Furthermore, the range of its reach is quite broad and the company is one that is set on value.
As we begin to witness this epoch-making event in the PayTV industry, it remains to be seen how DSTV will respond to the challenge thrown at them by these 'newbies'. PayTV service delivery can only get better as the 'wings of a long-standing monopoly' gets clipped.