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| Broadcasting
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Entertainment |
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Zain
Re-states Pledge To Develop Music Talents |
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Marketing
Segment Director of Zain Nigeria, Lampe
Omoyele has reaffirmed the organization's
commitment to support and develop young
Nigerians who have exceptional musical talents.
Omoyele who was speaking at a press conference
to unveil Hip Hop artiste, Durella as winner
of the Zain, MTV Advance Warning Contest
said Zain will continue to throw its full
weight behind credible initiatives that
will help identify, groom and spotlight
young music stars in the country.
While commending Durella for emerging overall
winner in the highly competitive music game
show, the Marketing Segment Director hinted
that Zain will continue to work with talented
artistes who are looking for a lawful ladder
to climb to musical stardom. “At Zain,
we understand that Nigerians are very passionate
about music and that there are so
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many
Nigerians talented in the art of music. What we
have achieved with Advance Warning is to create
an enabling platform for talented music artistes
who require some level of support to realize their
dreams. We will continue in our unwavering commitment
to bring out the best from young talented musicians
in the country,” he said.
The press conference, which held at Planet One,
Maryland, Lagos, had Durella, the self-styled
'King of Da Zanga' walk home with a large smile
covering his face as he was presented with a cheque
of five million naira.
Asked what he would do with the money, the dark
skin artiste offered an answer that was rather
thought provoking. “Money can take me out
of the Zanga (hood), but nothing can take the
Zanga (hood) from me,” the Mushin based
artiste said with a sense of pride.
Alex Okosi, General Manager, MTV Base Africa and
Senior Vice President, MTV Networks said the MTV,
Zain Advance Warning Programme which was initiated
four years ago was meant to serve as a notice
to the public of the arrival of a new star on
the music scene.
He expressed happiness that the main objective
of the project has been achieved as both Zain
and MTV have fulfilled obligations towards the
eventual winner of the show.
Durella was chosen after a tough final that saw
him and the other finalists thrilling the ecstatic
crowd at the Universal Warehouse located in Ikeja
with two new compositions created during their
stay in The Loft - a music industry 'bootcamp'
they attended to sharpen their skills.
In the end, however, it was the King of the Zanga
who was chosen by the celebrity judges made up
of former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria winner,
Munachi Abi; entertainment heavyweight and Storm
Records owner, Obi Asika and ace DJ, Joseph Akinyemi
Johnson of Rhythm FM.
With the feat, the 27 year old artist who had
a humble beginning in Mushin, a slum area in Lagos
has been tipped to become Nigeria's next superstar.
The MTV/Zain Advance Warning was conceived by
MTV and Zain to celebrate and uplift the Nigerian
superstars of tomorrow. Twenty six artists lined
up originally to participate in the challenge
which saw two artists go head to head every week,
with the best three making it through to the Grand
Final.
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| K
All Day Channel Terminated on DStv |
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MultiChoice
Nigeria, the subscription management company for
DStv in the country has announced the termination
of the K ALL DAY kiddies Channel (KAIDY) on channel
300 of the DStv bouquet with effect from 31 March
2009.
A release by Segun Fayose of the Corporate Communications
and Public Affairs department of the company stated
that the channel will no longer be carried on
the DStv bouquet because of its steady decline
in value proposition for the DStv subscribers.
The MultiChoice Nigeria spokesperson said the
channel will no longer be carried because it is
no longer viable due to the fact that many cartoons
and shows currently airing on the channel are
also available on other Children's channels available
on the DStv platform, particularly the KTV Block
on weekdays on M-Net
“Due to the numerous children's channels
available on DStv there is duplication in programming.
Children can continue to watch their favourite
shows on M-Net in the KTV block, Cartoon Network,
Boomerang, Disney and BBC's CBeeBies channel so
they will not miss the channel when it is eventually
no longer available DStv,” he said
Fayose also pointed out that the discontinuation
of the channel is a product of mutual agreement
between the channel owners and MultiChoice Africa,
which is responsible for acquiring channels on
the DStv bouquet. He assured DStv subscribers
that their children stand to lose nothing as the
plethora of children's channels already available
on DStv will keep the kiddies engaged and happy.
While speaking on the impact to viewers, he further
assured subscribers that they are not paying for
less with the exclusion of the channel because
on consistent basis, DStv adds, rather than remove
channels; a situation that has led to a steady
increment in the number of available channels
on DStv to over 60.
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GTV's
Collapse: Lessons For Nigeria's Pay-TV Market
By Ayo Akande
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In
August 2007, ex-banker Julian McIntyre, a
telecommunications executive and the chairman
of the then newest bride in the African pay-TV
market, Gateway TV a subsidiary of Gateway
Communications staged a spectacle on the streets
of Kampala, Uganda, as he rode in a flatbed
truck in the company of some Ugandan footballers,
throwing soccer balls to bystanders.
The experiential marketing stunt by the GTV
boss was to promote the company's new sponsorship
of Ugandan soccer (one of such sponsorships
to herald its entry into the East African
market), and to boldly proclaim the advent
of the start-up satellite television broadcaster
into what McIntyre described as the “tiny
and largely untapped” pay-TV market
in sub-Saharan Africa.
McIntyre had a lofty dream and an agenda to
make pay-TV accessible to a large percentage
of African population. To achieve his aim,
a number of factors must be in place. But
McIntyre was resolute; cocksure his plan could
not fail. Little did he know then that his
dream would soon |
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pale
into a nightmare in less than two years of inauguration,
a development that has left many wondering 'why?'
and asking for what went wrong?
McIntyre, full of enthusiasm and the infallibility
of his business strategy, listed Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi as the countries
on the radar for GTV's initial roll-out. GTV management
promised to work hard to capture other markets across
the sub-Saharan Africa. |
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GTV's
agenda was to set up operations in 25 African
countries by the end of 2008 with a minimum
target of 250,000 subscribers, and in four
to five years, about one million subscribers
in over 40 African countries. McIntyre was
so sure of his permutations. He told all who
cared to listen with gusto that Africa's pay-TV
market was so massive yet untapped.
He had a genuine master-plan to tackle the
challenge headlong. He dreamt of only one
thing: success. What an irony that the man
who felt so sure about 18 months ago can no
longer look people straight in the eyes and
beat his chest, saying “we're still
on course.”
On Friday, January 30, McIntyre and his team
announced the sudden demise of their dream.
They had run out of |
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cash
and idea. The lion share of the blame went to the
pervading global economic meltdown. Did analysts
agree with the GTV management on the rationale for
the sudden fall? NO. Analysts of African pay TV
have been trying to conjecture the whys of GTV's
sudden downfall.
Some are yet to believe that an operator with such
huge promises collapsed so suddenly! GTV's foray
into the African pay-TV market has a similar colouration
to HiTv's ambitious leap into the Nigerian market.
And since the January 30's “GTV press statement
on liquidation” posted on its website and
circulated worldwide to media houses across sub-Sahara
Africa, those who have keenly followed the growth
and development of pay-TV in Nigeria have been asking,
“Are there lessons for Nigeria's pay TV market
in this latest development?”
Curiously, analysts have begun to draw similarity
between GTV and Nigeria's HiTv, with copious reference
to the “roforofo” fight between it and
the market leader, DStv. |
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The
AfricaNext Market Review of February 4 examined
the GTV issue in an article titled: “The
collapse of GTV: credit crunch or flawed model?”
It reports, “The collapse of Gateway
Broadcast Services (GBS) was sudden; for its
employees, its customers and those (like us)
who have long believed that there is mass-market
potential in African Pay-TV, it is a painfully
absorbed reality kick in the |
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stomach.”
Questions defying logical answers are still being
raised. Was GTV model flawed or did GTV merely err
in executing it? Did credit crunch drive the company's
demise or did it merely accelerate it? What exactly
went wrong? GTV management has fingered 'current
financial and global crisis' as alibi for the sudden
fall. The AfricaNext Market Review did not agree.
Its verdict: “potential doesn't make up for
faulty fundamentals.”
If AfricaNext Review is right, considering the immense
potential of pay-TV in Nigeria, the underhand policy
of outbuying the competition when it comes to acquiring
broadcast property, are we sure we are not facing
the possibility of another GTV in Nigeria? What
exactly was wrong with the GTV (or GBS model)?
The GTV (or GBS) model, according to the AfricaNext
Market Review, was effectively caught in a strategic
no man's land: price points too low to generate
the cash flows needed to cover mounting costs and
debt, yet too high to build the subscriber scale
critical to the company's model.
An online journal, Myjoyonline, quotes GTV's Board
of Directors blaming “excessive demands on
the business” caused by the global financial
crisis that “interrupted (its) ability to
secure funding on an acceptable timescale and have
left us no choice but to cease operations.”
Russell Southwood of Myjoyonline examined McIntyre
and his partner, Gbedemah's faltering steps into
the African pay-TV market, detailing what they did
wrong. In his analysis lie the lessons for the Nigerian
market Southwood says, “Among other things,
McIntyre bought a banker's instinct for deal and
the company thrived on a combination of organic
growth and acquisition.”
Prior to the flatbed truck ride of August 2007,
McIntyre had announced in February 2007 that his
thriving telecommunications company was dabbling
into pay-TV, with the vision of building a pan-African
pay-TV. In his words, “GTV will provide a
unique bouquet of high quality international and
local entertainment content with a subscription
price aimed at penetrating the chronically underserved
African television market.”
In McIntyre's analysis, the subsisting pay-TV market
in sub-Saharan Africa was dominated by two large
players: Naspers-owned DStv/MultiChoice in Anglophone
territories and Vivendi's Canal Plus in Francophone
territories. Both had invested significantly in
rights and were charging relatively high monthly
rates for access to their services. |
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McIntyre
and his colleagues projected that they meant
well for the African people where the subsisting
players were ripping them off. They had a
vision and were prepared to match their words
with action.
Moreover, the GTV Management was embittered
by the status quo. “The African market
has been artificially constrained by monopoly
pricing and non-relevant content.
Consumers across Africa want to watch the
latest high-quality television programming
that combines international and local content
which is relevant to their lives and at a
price that is comparable to a utility.”
Nice argument.
The goal set, the next phase was identifying
the “enemy” and battling him to
the ground. A “battering ram”
policy to tackle |
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its
age-long monopoly was developed and adopted.
MultiChoice/DStv was the culprit. CanalSat Horizons,
part of Canal Plus of France, was only available
in Francophone region of West Africa, and therefore,
did not pose a serious threat.
GTV identified Naspers-owned satellite TV operator,
MultiChoice, based in South Africa as the most critical
enemy of pay-TV growth and development in the continent.
Therefore, GTV management began an aggressive pay-TV
across the sub-Saharan Africa, throwing caution
to the wind.
GTV's strategy to achieve the foregoing was two-pronged:
firstly, to provide users with lower subscription
rates (US$20-35 per month) as opposed to DStv's
US$70 per month and secondly, to acquire compelling
content to drive that process.
Building their faith on Rupert Murdoch's (media
mogul and founder of Sky Television) declaration
that sports right is the “battering ram”
of successful pay-TV, McIntyre and his team announced
in May 2007 that it had bought the UK Premiership
rights for 40 sub-Saharan African countries. The
bundle, however, did not include Nigeria and South
Africa.
HiTv would later adopt GTV's model in the “battering
ram” acquisition of sports right for the Nigerian
market, which had hitherto been the exclusive preserve
of DStv/MultiChoice. Russell cost of acquisition
of the property at US$28 million and US$30 million
for both Nigeria's HiTv and GTV respectively.
In McIntyre's estimation, pay TV has primarily been
affordable only to small elite and to international
hotels and government establishments. He felt confident
that given GTV's business model of “less pay
for higher premium content”, the company would
soon be in the driver's seat for pay-TV in Africa.
Hungry for a quick recoup of its investment, McIntyre
began a process to knock down DStv/MultiChoice's
front door. He hoped to equal and surpass within
a very short time, MultiChoice's 450,000 subscriber
base across sub-Saharan Africa.
Expectedly, DStv/MultiChoice fought back with a
range of tactics including a low-cost bouquet. Though
competition is good for pay-TV, it was less good
for GTV's sprint for growth. “The short, sharp
campaign which was to have ended in a victory declaration
turned into something more like trench warfare,”
Southwood observed.
GTV performance was dogged with stiff competition
from established players who battled to stay relevant
in the market. Its fundraising efforts were also
taking place in a financial climate that just got
steadily worse. In order to stay upright, McIntyre
made a decision to sell the “cash cow”
Gateway Communications to Vodacom for US$700 million.
It was a clear sign of desperation for the sinking
GTV.
With Gateway Communications gone, it became clear
that GTV's demise was a sure event to happen. The
investment GTV had obtained from different companies
was underwritten by its ownership of Gateway Communications.
With that sold, investors did not waste time to
claim back their investment hence, the inevitable.
The Nigerian pay-TV market will avoid the misfortune
that befell GTV if caution is observed in the manner
we “over-promise” and “under-deliver”.
Proffering smart answers to his poser: Why did GTV
fail? Southwood said, “Not all of the blame
can be laid at the door of the current financial
crisis.” He identified other reasons.
One, the “battering ram” of football
rights alone was not enough to get DStv/MultiChoice
customers to peel off quickly. GTV, like the HiTv,
started with a limited number of channels while
DStv/MultiChoice had 70 video channels and 40 audio
channels. It is true a vast majority of Nigerians
want the Premiership matches; other family members
still missed content on its competitors' bouquets.
Growing resentment for operators who refuse to deliver
on premium pay TV content will eventually ruin the
business.
Two, GTV's sprint for growth strategy was not helped
by the lead times needed to deliver set-top boxes.
Inability to give subscribers decoders higher in
grade than what had hitherto been on offer was another
challenge identified as contributor to GTV's downfall.
Nigeria's HiTv is equally guilty of this, and has
to watch it if it plans to stay in business for
long.
Three, GTV failed to realize that pay-TV is a deep
pocket business. It is observed that the extremely
expensive core rights that will make a success of
the business have to be repurchased every three
years and thus far, they have only ever gone up
in value.
GTV's loss is DStv/MultiChoice's gain. All rights
previously secured by GTV have been ceded to DStv/MultiChoice.
Analysts have begun to ask, “So, where does
this leave competition in the pay-TV market?”
For regional players like TV Cabo in the Lusophone
markets and HiTv in Nigeria, it is time to note
that competition is not in good shape.
Competition should take a cue from GTV's collapse.
HiTv, especially, should remember that GTV's presence
in the market energized individual markets and attracted
investor interest in the broadcast sector.
For the latest entrant into the African pay-TV market,
DaarSat, the fear of “battering ram”
and senseless fundraising drive to knock down competitor
is the beginning of wisdom. It is hoped that GTV's
case serves as a veritable lesson for the survival,
growth and development and vibrancy of the Nigerian
pay-TV industry.
Akande wrote from Dalemo-Alakuko, Lagos. |
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| Gombe
Govt Approves N100 Million For Radio Station |
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The
Gombe State government has approved N100 million
for the construction of a broadcasting house
for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria
(FRCN) F.M. station in the state capital.
The State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji
Sa'adu Alkali announced this while briefing
newsmen shortly after a recent state executive
council meeting.
The award of the contract he said was due
to the agreement entered with FRCN last year
which required relocation and construction
of a new building to house the broadcasting
station that would replace the already constructed
FRCN F.M. station along Dukku road following
its poor location.
Alkali further explained that it was after
the construction of the F.M. station by the
management of FRCN that it was discovered
that the building had become inaccessible
due to massive erosion in the area which had
made it impossible for the contractor handling
the project to install the equipment needed
for the take off of the station.
Similarly it was observed that the location
of the radio house was far away from the town
as such exposing both the staff and equipment
to the risk of either being attacked or vandalized
by hoodlums.
The contract is expected to be carried out
within 16 weeks and thereafter, handed over
to the management of FRCN for the installation
of necessary equipment. |
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| American
Idol Season 8 Debuts |
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The
eighth season of the phenomenal music reality
show, the 'American Idol', began on Wednesday,
March 4, 2009, on MNet Series, DStv Channel
110. With the debut, thousands of DStv audiences
across Nigeria will be thrilled to exciting
moments, as new talents take the stage in
their bid to become the new American idol.
According to Segun Fayose, MultiChoice Nigeria's
Public Relations Manager, “The global
music industry has seen a rise in record sales,
new talent signings and reality television
series since the shows' inception in 2002.”
He added that “Unlike most reality TV
shows, 'American Idol' sets a benchmark as
a competition whose winner is determined largely
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viewers'
votes.”
The show, which seeks to discover the best
singer in America has on its panel of judges
the music mogul, Simon Cowell; legendary producer
Randy Jackson, and pop icon Paula Abdul. For
the Season 8, a new judge, singer/songwriter,
Kara DioGuardi, has been added to the panel.
This year's edition is being hosted by Ryan
Seacrest.
Since its debut, 'American Idol' has become
one of America's top rated shows. Kelly Clarkson,
pop rock singer, writer and actress, became
the first American idol when she won the first
edition in 2002. Clarkson became an overnight
success with her first three albums selling
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million copies in the US and in 2008 she joined
VH1's list of sexiest women of the new millennium.
She has also been named among the Top 30 Hottest
Rock Front Women.
Fayose said, the 'American Idol' has also made a
lot of its finalists famous. “In Season 3,
Fantasia Barrino won but Jennifer Hudson, who was
a top 10 finalist, has since stolen the spotlight.
Hudson co-starred alongside Beyonce Knowles and
Eddy Murphy in the runaway hit musical, Dreamgirls,
and captured the hearts of audiences, taking Best
Supporting Actress in the BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe
Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and the coveted
Oscar Awards in 2006. She released a multi-platinum
selling album in 2008 and had a defining moment
in February 2009 when she took home the Grammy Award
for the Best R 'n' B album.” |
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