The House of Representatives has considered the pay-per-view, pay-as-you-go and price reduction for DSTV and other cable satellite operators in the country.
Pay-per-view is a type of pay television or webcast service by which a viewer can purchase events to view via private telecast, while pay-as-you-go is a system in which a person or organization pays for the costs of something when they occur rather than before or afterwards
So there is a renewed interest following the adoption of the reports and recommendation of the Ad hoc Committee on Non–Implementation of Pay–As–You–Go and sudden Increment of Tariffs plan by Broadcast Digital Satellite Service Providers.
Unyime Idem, chairman of the Committee had earlier laid the report before the House and was considered by the House on Wednesday in Abuja.
The House called on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to expedite action on implementing the content of the National Broadcasting Code and the Nigeria information Policy of 2014.
The House noted that this would trigger healthy competition in the industry, adding that the entertainment industry had a wider spectrum with limitless opportunities for the teeming youths.
The House stated that the visible absence of competitors in the industry was a tacit approval of monopoly of the industry by the present operators.
The House suggested that timely application of government regulatory intervention measures already articulated would revolutionise the industry and meet the people’s yearnings for Pay-as-you-go, Pay-Per-View and price reduction.
According to the recommendation, our extant laws that moderate operations in the industry is to be fine-tuned to meet the 21st- century regulatory laws of the industry that is dynamic as the entertainment industry.
The House noted that the commission that had the power to license and regulate the activities of service providers must also have the power to moderate in the protection of consumers.
The House stated that there was little or nothing a regulator could do if he was handicapped by laws that were not properly tailored to the needs of the society.
According to the reports, price increase and reduction have always been contentious issues for producers and consumers in the business world.
The House also listed the factors responsible for hike in subscription fee as recent increment of VAT by 2.5 per cent by Financial Amendment Act of Jan. 13 2020, the fluctuating foreign exchange rate in the country that affects the cost of content.
Others are: broadcast equipment, experienced hire and technical infrastructure, increase in bouquets for a wider choice, inflation on the cost of production and need to maintain workforce.
They identified the need of not throwing many young Nigerians, who are gainfully employed by pay-tv into the labour market were some necessary indices for price hike.
