SUPERSPORT OFFERING JUSTIFIES DStv FEE RISE - EXPERTS

Experts are offering interesting insights into the recent fee rise for DStv monthly packages.

Despite renewing their English Premier League TV rights for a record US$7.68billion (or a 70 per cent increase), Sky and BT Sport will not show all the matches live.

Supersport will.

According to experts, Multichoice is equally expected to pay more than it has been paying for the right to broadcast these football games particularly given it shows more live matches during the week (All 10) on either Tuesday or Wednesday which even Sky does not.

The contention is that Supersport, the sports broadcasting arm of the group, (MNET is the entertainment arm), more than creates value for the monthly charges.

While the hike in TV rights was massive, 70 per cent, and even ticket prices in UK stadia, Multichoice reckons the increase in subscription fees from April 1, is marginal at best.

In the US for instance, come May 2, the fight dubbed the biggest boxing fight of the century, Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs Manny “Pacman” Pacquaio, will be shown on Pay-Per-View on HBO and Showtime channels.

For this privilege, Americans and others around the world will pay $89.95 (Sh8400). Supersport viewers after paying the monthly $81 will see this fight for free.

This is in addition to the La Liga games, NBA playoffs, Olympics, IAAF Championships, the Diamond League, Formula 1 and all the other live sports that Supersport will carry.

Writing in MyBroadband, Gareth Vorster says: “I would argue that it is worth every cent for one single reason: Supersport, which arguably offers the most extensive coverage of live global sport anywhere in the world.”

Indeed, in addition to offering the popular Indian Cricket Premier League, it also carries live matches of many African soccer leagues including Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Zambia, South Africa and so on.

Amidst all this, the US dollar is resurgent against most currencies on the continent if not the world. The Kenya Shilling is trading at Sh93 to the dollar up from about Sh88 at this time last year.

Writing in the Nigerian Vanguard, Akinyemi Falade, says a sliding Naira means content becomes more expensive to purchase.

“I have wondered how MultiChoice should have responded to naira’s increasingly negative performance against the US dollar, the currency with which it buys content, including the Nigerian movies we love to watch. Yes, Nigerian movies. MultiChoice’s content purchase process is centrally controlled from its South African headquarters,” Falade writes.

“This ensures that content, including that produced in Nigeria, is paid for in dollars.

Given that it will require naira in greater amounts than it used to, the money has to come from somewhere: subscribers.”