Broadcasting
Hitv Commends NCC on Piracy War
As the Nigeria Copyrights Commission (NCC) opens a new front in the war against piracy with the recent raiding of Metro-Digital Cable Television, leading Nigerian pay-television platform, HITV, has urged the industry regulator to intensify its drive to eliminate the menace completely.
Nigeria, rated at over 80 per cent, has one of the highest piracy rates in the world, and it is estimated that the country loses billions of dollars to unauthorized manufacture and sale of a patented works.
Jolayemi Abayomi Simeon, director general, NCC said the commission carried out a raid of the satellite television cable network in Onitsha and Port Harcourt, and seized offensive contrivances as decoders, smart cards of other service providers, and arrested nine employees of the company as part of its effort to implement the Strategic Action Against Piracy (STRAP).
Abayomi said Metro-Digital Cable Television was suspected of involvement in broadcast piracy, which was a violation of the copyright Laws of Nigeria, adding that the commission is poised to reduce the incidence of piracy to zero level for both local and international works.
Speaking in Lagos, Mr Toyin Subair, managing director, HiTV said the prevalence of piracy has become frightening as the scourge has crept from music and videos to virtually all sectors of the economy, including the internet, technology, manufacturing, media and films, pharmacy, medicine, fashion, arts and publishing.
Subair urged the commission not to relent in the anti-piracy war, as protection of intellectual property is central to any creative endeavor, without which substantial amounts of money are lost, besides the fact that investment and research are adversely affected.
Last year HITV publicly joined the anti piracy war with the donation of a bus to the regulatory agency (NCC).
Benjamin Zida, HiTV’s head of operations said at the occasion that the company recognized the fact that NCC is incapacitated in its activities and that one of such incapacities is the ability to move from one point to another. "It’s just something to make sure that the job they are doing moves on as fast as possible and also to ensure that at least the response to complaint are immediately dealt with that we donate this bus," he stated.
Receiving the Toyota Hiace bus, Mr Chris Nkwocha, manager of the Owerri zonal office who represented the director general admonished other stakeholders to join the quest for copyright protection.
"We expect more from other corporate bodies. If we must fight these pirates to a standstill, we need cooperative and collaborative effort from establishments. So we expect them to borrow a leaf what you (HiTV) have just done."
STRAP was designed to strengthen copyright protections through more strategic and focused enlightenment, enforcement and enablement programmes of action that are tailored to the needs of specific industries and it is with this, the NCC combats all forms of piracy and copyright abuses and also ensure that measures to protect copyright do not become a barrier in the industry.
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has announced the postponement of its maiden annual Public Relations, Reputation, Ideas, Concepts and Excellence (PRICE) Awards and Prizes to January 25, 2026.
NIPR
The event, earlier scheduled for December 7, 2025, was deferred to accommodate stakeholders whose observance of Christmas festivities had commenced earlier than expected.
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mr. Israel Opayemi, urged stakeholders to note the new date and prepare to participate in the ceremony.
He said the awards would motivate professionals, practitioners and scholars, while enhancing Nigeria’s global competitiveness in the public relations ecosystem and strengthening brand equity for all stakeholders.
Opayemi reaffirmed the Committee’s commitment to delivering a best-in-class award administration and ceremony, describing the PRICE Awards as a credible and enduring platform to identify, celebrate and elevate outstanding individuals, campaigns and organisations shaping the public relations landscape across sectors.
The development of the PRICE Awards peaked in September 2025 when the NIPR President and Chairman, Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku, inaugurated a 12-man committee to organise the maiden edition. The inauguration followed the Council’s adoption of the report of a technical team tasked with establishing the awards.
Netflix has announced a landmark agreement to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max in a transaction valued at $82.7 billion, a move analysts say will reshape the global entertainment industry.
Netflix
The deal, which includes Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Games, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. Under the terms, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shareholders will receive $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix shares for each WBD share.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos described the acquisition as “a defining moment” for the streaming giant, noting that the company intends to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations while expanding its production capacity.
“By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies with Netflix’s culture-defining titles, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” Sarandos said.
The transaction is expected to close within 12 to 18 months, following the planned spin-off of WBD’s TV networks division, Discovery Global, in 2026. Netflix projects annual cost savings of $2–3 billion by the third year after completion and expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share by year two.
Industry groups, including the Directors Guild of America and Cinema United, have raised concerns about the impact on movie theaters, while regulators are expected to scrutinize the deal over antitrust issues. Netflix has pledged to continue supporting theatrical releases, with Warner Bros.’ cinema commitments running through 2029.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hailed the agreement, saying it “combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love.”
Observers note that the acquisition comes 15 years after former Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes dismissed Netflix as “the Albanian army,” underscoring the dramatic shift in the entertainment landscape.
A major shake‑up rocks viewers and subscribers of DSTV/GOTV as many channels are set to shut down and be removed on January 1, 2026.
The trigger for the upcoming shut‑down is a breakdown in negotiations between the owners of multiple global channels and the pay‑TV operator.
As of December 2025, the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and DStv/GOtv has expired and the two parties have not reached a renewal agreement.
Without a new carriage/distribution agreement, the channels belonging to WBD risk being pulled off the DStv/GOtv line‑up.
This is the most significant content cutback the service has seen in years.
The affected channels are:
Discovery Channel
TLC
Cartoonito
Cartoon Network
CNN International
Food Network
The Travel Channel
TNT
Investigation Discovery
Real Time
HGTV
Discovery Family
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