Over the years, many Nigerians have felt that DStv is charging just too much from them because the company has always enjoyed the advantage of monopoly. This is considering the fact that the company is the only one of its kind in Africa.
Enter The Saviour – TStv
In the heat of the huge complains about DStv, entered TStv. Just like a saviour, this satellite TV came up with promises to end the monopoly of DStv and help Nigerians fully utilize the more what they pay to watch on TV.
If you have not heard of the name TStv, let us let you in on it. TStv is an indigenous Nigerian satellite TV service which was announced in September 2017. The owners of company revealed that they were out to offer Nigerians affordable direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV services like they have never seen before.
Of course, this sparked serious euphoria among the TV-loving Nigerian populace. TStv promised a lot of goodies.
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The Goodies
TStv came with a lot of goodies which sparked euphoric feelings around Nigeria. Below are some of those goodies.
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– It only costs N5,000 to set up.
Nigerians could not believe this! It was unbelievable. Unlike DStv which gulps between 19,900 to N44,900, just to set up, TStv was only asking for only N5,000.
As expected, people could not wait to purchase theirs.
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– It Is On A “Pay As You Watch” Basis
This was what really excited Nigerians. TStv was offering them a chance to only pay for what they watch and how long they watch them. With TStv you don’t have to pay for a whole month but for how long you watch.
Unlike DStv that made them pay for an entire month whether or not they watched what they have paid for, TStv was offering Nigerians the chance to pay as they watched for as low as as ₦200 per day.
TStv even offered to let their subscribers pause their subscription. You could pause your subscription when you are not around to watch TV and continue playing when you return. Heavenly!
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– It Comes With Data
When you make the first time purchase of TStv with N5,000, you will also get a free 20GB data. Did you read that? 20GB data free of charge, and for only N5,000. And to add to this, TStv will also give users 10GB data with subsequent subscriptions.
This was too much. Nigerians went crazy with joy. They couldn’t wait to lay hands on the TStv decoders.
The Euphoria Dies As Problems Arise
As much as Nigerians hoped to start using the TStv satellite and put an end to DStv’s monopoly, their high hopes were let down as soon as they were developed by the problems that followed.
TStv officially launched on October 1, 2017 to a wide reception and huge government support but days after that, Nigerians began to see that the company had not really gotten ready at all to take on the Nigerian market because of it’s seeming laxity. In fact, days after it was launched, many Nigerians who really wanted to get the decoders, were not able to lay hands on the deices because TStv had simply not made them available for purchase. That was weird because everyone expected TStv to capitalize on the wide reception it was getting to make lots of sales and conveniently penetrate the market.
After a while, TStv announced that it would roll out the decoders on the 1st of November, 2017. Nigerians began another endless waiting for their arrival.
However, to the dismay of everyone, the decoders were still not available on the 1st of November. Instead, the company announced that it had commenced test transmissions that allowed the owners of universal decoders to watch TStv content for free.
Some Nigerians were already fatigued with all the delays and failed promises but decided to try out what TStv was offering. They joined the test transmission and many people actually reported success in being able to watch TStv contents for free. However, problems began when beIN Sports, one of the channels offered by TStv, warned users that they were watching their contents illegally. This was a huge blow. Nobody knew what was happening anymore.
Some people were already concluding that TStv was a failed project which could not capitalize on the goodwill of the masses.
This notwithstanding, the company came out with a new statement, assuring Nigerians that they would be able to purchase decoders before Christmas, 2017. This didn’t happen.
A Fierce Fight With Competitors?
At the rate at which TStv was experiencing problems, people were already suspecting that it was having a serious battle with fierce competitors, MultiChoice’s DStv. It was not long before their fear was confirmed.
After failing to make decoders available throughout 2017 till the most parts of 2018, the company finally released a press statement announcing a comeback. As expected many Nigerians didn’t take them quite seriously.
The press statement issued by the company was signed by Bright Echefu, MD/CEO of TStv Africa and part of its reads: “From the date we announced TStv, it has been fight all the way. I doubt if a week passed without us quenching one fire or the other. We didn’t anticipate that there would be war. We were also not trained to fight in the arena we were pushed into. The kinds of weapons our enemies would later contend us with, showed they had stocked their armoury waiting for a time like now”.
Obviously, TStv was fighting a fierce battle and it was with their competitors who must have been scared of being put out of business by the company’s very bright prospects.
Bright Echefu, in the press release, further revealed that TStv has migrated to the Nigerian Communications Satellite (Nigcomsat). The company did this by five units of 35.5MHz transponders from the government-owned satellite.
He also announced that 45 TSTV PREMIUM HD CHANNELS will be available for free for another one month and that Nigerians can monitor TStv’s progress tracking their “dish to 42.5oE, Frequency 12589, Symbol Rate: 30,000. Polarization: Horizontal”
Should Nigerians Hope For TStv Decoders Soon?
It is hard to say whether or not Nigerians will soon start enjoying all the goodies TStv promised them. In his press statement, Bright Echefu evaded addressing the question of when decoders will be available. However, according to TechPoint, one of their dealers has revealed that they will start selling before the year ends.
A Failure To Seize Opportunity
TStv failed to seize the opportunity to launch themselves into being the most sought-after satellite television service in Africa. With the goodies they promised to deliver, they were the clear favourites ahead DStv. The market was ripe for them to thrive. All they needed to do was to hit the ground running but they failed at that.
Although they started out with a massive campaign, it is now clear that TStv had no clear plans of managing customer expectations.
Nigerians now wait to see if the company can redeem their already battered image and reputation in the near future. Can they do it? Will they do it? Of course, only time can tell that.
