Broadcasting
MultiChoice Boss Decries Broadcast Piracy
Joseph Hundah, managing director, MultiChoice Nigeria has frowned on piracy of broadcast content, which he identifies as one of the greatest challenges for pay-TV operators in Nigeria.
He told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that pirates sign up a decoder as an individual user and distribute to other people at little or no cost. “This is a form of piracy that people are not very much aware of.”
“In some cases however, you find that people do not know that they are pirating. For example, you walk into a shop that sells DVD players and the shopkeeper tells you to buy a particular decoder, which would enable you receive the Premier League. If you do not understand the laws around piracy, you would think it is okay.”
“People need to be informed so as to stay out of trouble. They should not buy decoders that are not from licensed pay-TV operators,” he warned.
“What I have noticed in some hotels in the country is that the pay-TV services there are not even licensed in Nigeria. You find Arabic channels, some relaying EPL – not just pirating MultiChoice’s and HiTV’s rights, but those of the operators around northern Africa. That is illegal!”
Hundah said they were collaborating with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to put a stop to piracy as it does nobody any good.
Besides, he said that MultiChoice was not in any agreement with any cable TV operator in Nigeria at the moment, to transmit CNN and a score of other channels. “If we must do that with the cable operators, they must get their encryption right because they are not properly encrypted. If we give some of our contents to them, people are going to start pirating those channels. Once those channels are pirated, we have a big issue.”
“The problem with the cable operators is that often they want popular channels but they want to pay nothing for it. It must to be an open market arrangement whereby if I see a particular channel is what so much, I must be prepared to pay what it is worth. So, it is an ongoing debate as to what channels should be shared and under what terms that should be done. That is where we are at loggerheads with the cable operators,” he stated.
The MultiChoice Nigeria helmsman added that the DStv network is very well encrypted and as a result, pirates cannot hack into it to steal signals.
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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