Broadcasting
Lagos Acquires 10-car Speed Trains for Red Line Project
The Lagos state government has purchased two 10-car, 330 km/h Talgo speed trains for its Red Line railway project.
L-r: Member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Temitope Adewale; President & CEO, Talgo Incorporated USA, Antonio Perez; Acting Mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engr. (Mrs) Abimbola Akinajo, during a factory tour of high-speed train manufacturers, Talgo Incorporated Company for the acquisition of two sets of brand new 10-car Metro Trains for Lagos Rail project, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, on Tuesday, 18 January 2022. With them: Special Adviser to the Governor on Works & Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye (third right), Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Federic Oladeinde (right) and others
State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu completed the procurement agreement for the trains on Tuesday at an event inside the Milwaukee facility of Spanish train maker Talgo Incorporated in the US.
Trains will head to Lagos for the state’s Red Line, a 37km rail project.
Once completed, the Red Line will have 11 stations and will transfer passengers from Agbado to Oyingbo.
Sanwo-Olu said the state government was excited to complete the purchase of the two new trains.
He said the acquisition was in line with his administration’s commitment to efficient traffic management and transportation system.
The governor was accompanied on the trip by the State Transportation Commissioner, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde; the Governor’s Works Advisor, Ms. Aramide Adeyoye; and the Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, Ms. Abimbola Akinajo.
He said that government officials inspected the trains, looked at the configuration and were satisfied that the trains would fit on the Red Line tracks.
”A train is not something that you can just go to the platform and pick up. We are very lucky to have new trains.
”We have seen our beautiful white and red trains. Coincidentally, the train line is called Red Line and you can see that they have given us the color.
“We’re just going to mark it and put our stamp on it,” he said.
Governor Sanwo-Olu talks about the fast trains purchased for the Red Line project
He hoped that the purchase of the trains would be the start of a mutually beneficial business relationship between Lagos State and the train manufacturer.
“Providing a source of livelihood for our citizens is about providing jobs for our people and that is what we are doing.
”This is about ensuring that we can build our economy; people can move from one place to another and businesses can grow,” said Sanwo-Olu.
He said that part of what the government had achieved in the past two and a half years was an integrated urban mass transit system, in which road, river and rail infrastructure would be used to move more than 20 million residents in and around of the state.
Milwaukee Mayor Pro Tem Cavalier Johnson, who hosted Gov. Sanwo-Olu in town, said it was bittersweet to have missed the opportunity to have trains operating in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
Johnson congratulated Governor Sanwo-Olu on the acquisition of the trains and hoped it would make moving in Lagos State easier.
Mr. Antonio Pérez, CEO of Talgo, USA, said that it was important that the trains be used.
“It’s no use for the trains we build to be stored and maintained without passengers riding on them,” Pérez said.
The Lagos state delegation inspected the interior design of the newly acquired 330 km/h Talgo intra-urban metropolitan trains.
Since the beginning of his administration on May 29, 2019, Sanwo-Olu has upheld his administration’s commitment to making the Red Line dream a reality.
The governor promised Lagos state residents that the Red Line would start in the quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023, with a capacity of 500,000 passengers per day.
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
Paramount Africa is officially shutting down at the end of December 2025, drawing the curtain on more than two decades of operations in South Africa and Nigeria.
The company, which once reached over 100 million viewers across 52 African territories, confirmed it will close its doors as part of a massive global restructuring at its parent company, Paramount Global.
This is the same Paramount Africa behind channels like BET, MTV, MTV Base, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and more.
Its digital footprint has also been significant, with millions of monthly page views, social media engagements, and content partnerships across Africa.
But despite that scale, rising costs and a global strategic reset have caught up with the business.
Paramount’s retrenchment has been building for months.
Earlier this year, plans to launch a standalone Paramount+ app in South Africa were quietly shelved.
Then in August, the company said its content would remain available only via DStv and Showmax.
And last month, MultiChoice confirmed that BET Africa and MTV Base will disappear from DStv and GOtv on January 1, 2026, as Paramount Africa winds down entirely.
The shutdown is tied to aggressive cost-cutting after Paramount’s merger with Skydance. The company is targeting a 15% reduction in global staff and $3 billion in savings.
International divisions, including Africa, have taken the hardest hit as the business pivots away from linear TV and doubles down on a more streamlined streaming-first model.
At the same time, the global media landscape is being shaken by Warner Bros. Discovery’s chaotic auction. Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast have all submitted fresh bids for WBD, with some offers reportedly focusing on the studios-and-streaming division, home to HBO, HBO Max, DC, and Warner Bros. Pictures.
Analysts say the crown jewel bundle could go for as much as $70 billion, a deal that would reshape Hollywood and accelerate the decline of traditional TV.
DStv subscribers may lose access to 12 major Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) channels, including CNN International, Discovery Channel, TLC, and Cartoon Network, from Jan. 1, 2026, if MultiChoice and WBD fail to conclude a new distribution agreement.
DStv
MultiChoice, now owned by Canal+, issued a notice to customers on Monday, warning that its current carriage deal with WBD will expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and negotiations to renew the contract remain inconclusive.
“While discussions between the parties continue, no agreement has been reached at this stage. If this remains unchanged, several Warner Bros. Discovery channels may no longer be available on DStv from Jan. 1, 2026,” the company said.
The channels at risk include Discovery Channel, CNN International, TLC, Discovery Family, Real Time, TNT Africa, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, and Travel Channel.
The development comes amid subscriber losses for MultiChoice, which has shed 2.8 million active linear subscribers over the last two financial years.
This includes 1.2 million customers lost in 2025 alone, representing an 8 per cent decline across South Africa and the rest of Africa.
In Nigeria, MultiChoice has lost 1.4 million subscribers in the past two years, largely due to repeated subscription price increases, according to Nairametrics.
The broadcaster is also set to lose additional content in the coming months. Paramount Africa will discontinue BET Africa and MTV Base from Jan. 1, 2026, while CBS Reality and CBS Justice will cease operations on Dec. 31, 2025.
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