The Coalition of Northern Groups, (CNG), has threatened that the 19 northern States may enforce a region-wide boycott of DSTV over the failure of its parent company, MultiChoice, to change its position and consider transmitting northern-based television stations.
MultiChoice is the operator of DSTV and GOTV subscription TV brands.
The group said it would not hesitate to embark on the boycott unless MultiChoice shows readiness to embrace content diversity towards national growth and development, which will be of benefit to the North.
The group said in MultiChoice’s nearly three decades of operation in Nigeria, raking in billions of naira in revenue every year from northern and southern individuals and corporate organisations, it has remained steeped in gross favouritism towards southern-owned TV companies, while being insensitive to the need for inclusion of northern-owned TV and radio organisations on its premium DSTV platform.
After CNG wrote a complaint letter dated January 10, 2021, over the non-inclusion of Northern-based television stations on the DSTV platform, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) arranged a meeting with the DSTV on March 18, 2021, to change its position and consider carrying northern-based television stations that could meet the laid down procedures.
However, in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, CNG spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, regretted that there has not been any attempt by MultiChoice to keep their part of the agreement five months after the meeting took place.
The coalition recalled that while it was asked to submit a list of five qualified television stations from the North for consideration by the MultiChoice, which was done immediately, it was yet to fulfill its part of the agreement.
The CNG called on NBC to act to get the MultiChoice to keep its obligation agreed to at their last meeting before the coalition proceeds the next line of action, which may not preclude the enforcement of a region-wide boycott.
