How HiTV May Bungle This Opportunity

Satellite broadcasting in Nigeria is daily assuming higher relevance and market popularity no doubt. The trend owes its new position to South African Multichoice DSTV’s inroad into the market with its beautiful programming and crisp signal quality.
On the way to fame, the South African direct-to-home TV suppressed some competitors. Remember the days of Otunba Famuyibo’s FSTV and TITV? These are only a few of the competitors that could not survive Multichoice’s stranglehold on the market.
This obviously proves that the direct-to-home broadcasting environment was already a volatile one when Entertainment Highway Ltd was incorporated in 2007 as a direct-to-home TV provider offering services across Nigeria.
Conscious of the failures of others in the arena, HiTV deployed vicious marketing and the PR tool of lobbying to wrestle a number of exclusive rights enjoyed by rivals such as the Premiership and La liga broadcasting from the market leader, DSTV Multichoice. This was aided by Toyin Subair, HiTV CEO’s inside knowledge of DSTV operations having worked previously as the chief legal officer of the company.
These rights, which were snapped from the market leader in coup-style, instantly aided the growth and popularity of the fledging HiTV brand against the market leader and main competition. Steadily, Subair started swimming with the sharks without being eaten alive. The HiTV experience became an exception in the line of operators like FSTV and TITV.
The resultant programmes realignment was heavily skewed in favour of HiTV, stripping Multichoice of most its invincibility. It’s erstwhile very rich football offering now led the rival’s marketing war arsenal, supported at the highly competitive price of N3000 per month – a huge boost that became a painful hit on DSTV in the market.
To instill confidence in the minds of skeptical subscribers and prospects, the management of HiTV had promised there would not be any price increase even when new channels are added. That is saying the monthly subscription would remain at N3000 for a long period. According to Subair and his team, the vision of the firm is principally to give Nigerians a fairer alternative to world class information and technology via digital TV broadcast at an affordable price, and N3000 was adjudged fair. More so, the focus was on a mass market orientation as against the competitor’s elitist approach.
Indeed, the sport/football centric theme, mass appeal and nationalistic tendencies that promptly added a patriotic colouration to HiTV’s campaign largely helped pull the rug from underneath the foot of the market leader.
One of the marketing 101 laws says a weaker competitor or a late market entrant “should not fight the competition headlong”. HiTV broke this rule and is still surviving months and years after. Thanks to its mass appeal and also its followers that cut across different strata of the society. This is even more enhanced as there is a strategic fit between its offering and what the consumers want. This impugns some level of invincibility on HiTV.
However, with recent market on-goings, HiTV seems to be on the brink of losing its invincibility. This may be lost at the same speed with which it was gotten. It is a known secret that contrary to its promise of price stability, between its entry around August 2007 when it effectively took over the right to the English premiership and now, the monthly subscription fee has witnessed a 100% increase. Alarming! Today the standard bouquet is priced at N6000. Though, there are other offerings ranging from N4500 to N1900 but what is the value of a HiTV package without the premiership?
Although, the costs of acquisition of exclusive rights for the premiership et all are outrageous, the company’s modem to recoup investments should be built on its mass centric approach rather than a galloping monthly access fee increase to cover for these costs. HiTV never pretended at inception to be a premium brand; engaging rival DSTV in a race for high end pricing will be the greatest undoing for this fledging direct-to-home brand.
Mind, you building the subscriber base to about 4:1 in favor of HiTV is a feat that put the market leader at a defense. Inordinate increases in fees may make the market disenchanted with the brand and may signal the beginning of a twirl. It is not for nothing that Daarsat is yet to strike a chord in the market.
It is therefore evident that HiTV is on a marketing suicide mission if it bungles the opportunities and burns the bridges provided by its mass centric, fairly priced yet customer satisfying stance. This segment of the market is known to be price sensitive (especially with increases) than the affluent few where DSTV has always pitched its tent.