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StarTimes Emerges Best Pay TV Operator at BoICT 2016

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Africa’s frontline digital television platform, StarTimes continues its winning streak by clinching the Best Pay TV Operator in Nigeria award at the coveted Beacon of Information and Communication Technology (BoICT) awards gala which held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on Saturday.

During the ceremony attended by the crème de la crème of technology policy makers, captains of industries, regulatory bodies and other key players, StarTimes was presented with the prestigious award and commended for its consumer friendly offerings, particularly its record-smashing Nova Pay TV bouquet for N600 monthly subscription.

StarTimes is a leading digital-TV operator in Africa combining satellite and terrestrial DTV systems to provide an open and secure digital wireless platform.

It provides a robust signal transmission service for public and private broadcasters that offers consumers outstanding Pay-TV programs and owns a featured content platform with 440 authorized channels consisting of news, movies, series, sports, entertainment, children’s programs, fashion, religion etc.

Speaking on StarTimes achievements, deserving of the awards, Mr. Ken Nwogbo, editor In-chief and CEO of CommunicationsWeek Media Limited and the organizers of the awards, said that over time, StarTimes has revolutionalize the Pay TV industry landscape in Nigeria with its consistently affordable and public friendly offerings.

“Since StarTimes joined the industry, Pay TV has become more popular and accessible to many people.”

Receiving the awards on behalf of the Board, management and staff of the Company, Israel Bolaji public relations manager, expressed appreciation to millions of StarTimes subscribers who made it possible with a promise of better subscribers’ experience.

An excited Bolaji enthused that, “The goal from inception of our company in Nigeria, has been to set the standard for provision of quality and affordable Pay TV and keep its vital roles in making digital television a reality to both home users and businesses. We are pleased to be awarded such a prestigious award at this very important stage of our company’s progress and development. Continuous achievement of excellence in delivery of world class products to the market is our sole way of expressing profound gratitude to our valued customers.

He further stated that ‘this award strengthens our commitment to provide customers with customer friendly products, quality service and excellent technical and customer support premium. Startimes has raised the bar in the pay TV services and will strive to continue to set standards in the industry by making it easier for individuals and companies to enjoy world class experience.”

“As a business, we have embraced innovation and cutting edge global technology solutions to deliver compelling digital television experience to our millions of subscribers. With very sharp picture quality, strong signals and rich channels that meet the entertainment need of every member of the family, we offer affordable bouquets of digital television as part of our commitment to guide Nigerians into full digitalization. We also engage in relevant collaborations with critical stakeholders to achieve this.”

“Recently, we have invested heavily into sports content acquisitions and channels, and expanded entertainment horizon for sports loving Nigerians. With StarTimes, Nigerians are guaranteed of an ever increasing buffet of solid entertainment, be it sports, movies, drama, cartoons and music.” He added.

Bolaji noted that “ StarTimes has grown from a 40 channel platform to offering over 100 quality channels. We are committed to giving more to our subscribers with various life enriching engagements. For instance, we just launched new channels including ST Plus for Indian movie lovers, Jyb TV for kids, Emmanuel TV for religion, Orbit TV, People TV and DiTV for general entertainment and IDX for true life stories and crime documentary. We also just concluded our annual all expense paid trips for 3 to USA. We are truly committed to enriching our viewers all round experience. 

With this award, we are highly motivated to continue offering more robust experience for viewers. StarTimes, with our partner channel will continue to provide an enjoyable experience for viewers. So, we are really glad that our dedication has paid off in the form of being nominated by the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek for this award. We will like to thank all those who voted for us and we promise to do more and retain the confidence reposed in us,” he said.

The Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global information and communications technologies map, while the award ceremony rewards best practices and recognize outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector.

 

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Simi to Feature on Glo Sponsored African Voices

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This week, the incredible talents of Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, better known by her stage name, Simi, will be highlighted on African Voices Changemakers, an interview program sponsored by Globacom on Cable News Network (CNN).

Simi began her career initially as a gospel singer. Her debut studio album, “Ogaju”, was released in 2008. After she got a record deal with X3M Music in 2014, she released the album “Tiff,” which was nominated for a 2015 Headies Best Alternative Song award.

Her debut studio album, “Omo Charlie Champagne”, Vol. 1, was released to mark her 31st birthday on April 19, 2019, and her second album, “Simisola”, was also released the same year. She became the CEO of her own label, Studio Brat, which she launched in June 2019.

Simi was one of the judges of the Season 7 of the Nigerian idol TV show in 2022.

Mother of a girl named Dejare, Simi married popular musician, Adekunle Gold in 2019 having graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State. Some of her works include “Joromi”, “Know You”, “Jericho”, and “Duduke”.

On Saturday at 8.30 a.m., the 30-minute magazine show will air on the global channel. Reruns can be seen on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4.30 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Another rerun will air at 4 a.m. on Monday of the following week, 8.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.


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Canal+ Offer for MultiChoice Gains Shareholders’ Support

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Some MultiChoice shareholders have expressed relief at the offer by Canal+ to buy Africa’s pay TV giant for $2.9 billion, essentially viewing the potential deal as a vehicle for them to be rescued from an investment that has turned sour.

Canal+ Offer for MultiChoice Gains Shareholders’ Support

On April 8,, the deal inched closer to being cemented when the board of MultiChoice agreed to cooperate with Canal+, a sign that it was warming to a tie-up with France’s broadcasting conglomerate.

The board initially rejected the offer by Canal+ to buy the MultiChoice shares that it does not already own for R105 each, saying it was too low and undervalued the company’s growth prospects.

But MultiChoice has been convinced to reconsider its position after Canal+ improved the offer to R125 per share. Canal+ already owns 40.01% of MultiChoice shares on the JSE and wants to pay R35-billion to buy the rest of the company and take control of it.

The next big test is whether MultiChoice shareholders will support or reject Canal+’s offer, which requires support from 90% of shareholders to get the multibillion-rand deal over the line.

Daily Maverick canvassed the views of MultiChoice shareholders and industry players about the merits of the deal and whether they planned to throw their weight behind it when it comes up for a vote in the coming months.

Early indications are that some shareholders view the deal as a blessing and an opportunity to bail out from their investment in MultiChoice.

Before Canal+ made a move on MultiChoice, the latter’s share price had been down by 22% as its operations came under pressure from declining DStv subscriber numbers and intense competition from streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.

Its earnings have also taken a hit of billions of rands because of the depreciation of African currencies against the US dollar, especially the Nigerian naira.

MultiChoice also had a run-in with regulators; in Nigeria, it ran into problems relating to outstanding tax payments. In South Africa, competitors including the SABC and eMedia (the owner of e.tv) have complained to regulators, accusing MultiChoice of anti-competitive behaviour and using its dominant position to restrict access to its broadcasting platforms and dictating restrictive licensing agreements.

The investment community response

Anthony Sedgwick, the cofounder of Abax Investments, was withering in his assessment of MultiChoice’s investment prospects. “Put frankly, we were relieved to see Canal+ finally step up and bail us out of the position,” he said.

According to MultiChoice’s latest annual report, Abax Investments held 0.34% of its shares. But Abax recently sold those shares, taking advantage of MultiChoice’s 25% share price jump since Canal+ initially tabled its buyout offer in February.

“We think Multichoice is a great business that produces an incredible variety of content, creates opportunities for so many talented people, supports a huge variety of good causes and is a real South African business champion.

“But it operates in unfriendly regulatory countries … and faces some headwinds from hard currency priced content and broadcast costs,” Sedgwick said.

Asief Mohamed, the chief investment officer of Aeon Investment Management, shared Sedgwick’s concerns about MultiChoice.

“My guess is that the other shareholders will likely accept the R125 offer. Governance has for a long time been a concern of some shareholders, including ourselves,” Mohamed told Daily Maverick.

MultiChoice’s latest annual report puts Aeon’s shareholding in it at 0.43%.

Merits of the deal

Canal+ has argued that the aim of buying MultiChoice would be to combine both businesses to create an entertainment giant that can survive a market facing intense competition and declining advertising revenue.

A combined Canal+ and MultiChoice will boast media businesses in many African countries, from South Africa and Nigeria to Senegal and Cameroon.

Not all investors are pessimistic about MultiChoice, its business fundamentals and investment prospects. In fact, when MultiChoice ran into tax troubles in Nigeria in July 2021, which precipitated a steep decline in its share price (to a low of R115), Argon Asset Management saw it as a buying opportunity. It bought MultiChoice shares and has since maintained its holding in the company to about 0.41%.

Asked why Argon remained bullish about MultiChoice, the asset management firm’s equity analyst, Richard Court, said: “Simplistically, there are two parts to MCG [MultiChoice Group]. There is the mature South African business, which, for the most part, was highly profitable and cash-generative.

“Then there is the business that MCG is building in the rest of Africa, which was actually a drag on profitability, and it was still quite small in the life of MCG from a bottom-line perspective. Nigeria takes up a lot of the bandwidth.

“We think the market was overly pessimistic on the prospects of the rest-of-Africa segment. We thought the market was overreacting to the possibility of a tax penalty coming out of Nigeria. The share price fell back and we just took the buying opportunity. We thought that MCG share was worth more than the levels at the time.”

Court said MultiChoice had managed to defend its premium TV segment (consumers who subscribe to DSTV premium packages) despite the arrival of international streaming services in South Africa.

“It did quite well in the lower segment and in the lower-cost offerings by growing subscriptions in those markets. Management was doing the right thing strategically and executing quite well on that strategy,” he said.

MultiChoice’s investments into Showmax strengthened its defence position, he said.

Argon’s house view is that Canal+’s R125 offer undervalues MultiChoice and its growth prospects.

“At the moment, we are unlikely to accept at R125. In a few years from now, if they’re able to build Showmax and if Nigeria stabilises, which we can’t say when, then I think the outlook for MCG is going to be a lot rosier than what it is now. I think the market would recognise that and that should reflect in the share price,” Court said. He was unwilling to comment on what he thought would be a fair offer from Canal+.

Canal+ said the media industry in which MultiChoice was operating “is becoming increasingly globalised and competitive, with regional media companies having to compete with the firepower of global media titans, with enormous resources to invest in content, marketing and technology…”

With a customer base of 22 million, MultiChoice’s growth strategy involves investing in local and international content for its streaming service, Showmax, and Canal+ is likely to provide capital to fund the growth.

Peter Takaendesa, the head of equities at Mergence Investment Managers, has argued that only companies with scale and a strong balance sheet are likely to survive changes in the entertainment industry.

“Canal+ and MultiChoice can leverage content and financial strength. However, there is still no guarantee of success, as the fight against global streaming giants is intense.”

Other large MultiChoice shareholders are yet to opine on the deal. They include the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which holds 13%, M&G Investments (more than 7%) and Allan Gray (6%). Allan Gray declined to comment to Daily Maverick, and M&G and the PIC were not available to do so.

Another MultiChoice shareholder that is not ready to express its view on the Canal+ deal is Sanlam Investments, which has a 1.9% interest in the broadcasting company. Sanlam said it opted not to express its stance or intentions “considering the sensitive nature of ongoing negotiations” pertaining to the deal.

“While we understand the importance of transparency and accountability, we believe it is essential to maintain confidentiality and prudence when dealing with such matters,” Sanlam said.

The MultiChoice-Canal+ deal is likely to take two years to be completed, as it still requires regulatory approval.

Credit: Daily Maverick

 

 

 


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FemyWalsh Set to Launch FM Radio in Lagos

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FemyWalsh Limited, media conglomerate, is set to launch its flagship FM terrestrial radio station as it receives its licence from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

FemyWalsh Set to Launch FM Radio in Lagos

This adds yet another media asset to the FemyWalsh group, which already comprises SOUQ News TV, Walsh Radio Online, Terminal Seven Audio-Visual Studio and Walsh Photography.

Victor Walsh Oluwafemi, company CEO, and Dr Idahosa Osamhanze, vice president, were presented with the operational licence by Mr Charles Ebuebu director general NBC at the commission[s  office in Abuja.

This move marks a significant expansion in FemyWalsh’s media footprint and paves the way for broader audience engagement and impact. With the addition of this new licence, FemyWalsh is poised to reach even more viewers and listeners across Nigeria.

The company’s commitment to delivering high-quality content and innovative programming remains unwavering.

According to Oluwafemi, acquiring the terrestrial FM radio licence underscores the group’s ambition of being the largest and most impactful media network across Nigeria, as well as the African region.

“Getting into the terrestrial radio space and securing the operational license represents a pivotal moment for the FemyWalsh group as we continue to evolve and innovate in the media landscape. Radio has long been a powerful medium for reaching diverse audiences, and we are thrilled to leverage this platform to amplify further our mission of empowering SMEs and driving economic growth in Nigeria.”

For his part, Osamhanze, who is the Vice President of the organisation, also made it known that this was a dream come true, and a representation of the company’s dedication to the long-term development of the Nigerian media space. “With this new initiative, FemyWalsh Limited is poised to make a significant contribution to the future of Nigerian media. We are thrilled for the opportunity to foster a thriving media landscape for years to come.”

FemyWalsh Limited is the owner of SOUQ News TV, a digital satellite channel licensed for broadcast in Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The radio licence acquisition comes at a time when SOUQ News TV is experiencing rapid development and expansion, building on its established reputation for excellence in journalism and commitment to serving its viewers.

 

 

 


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