NAIROBI, Kenya – Feb. 2 (Xinhua) – Staying in a single room in a low- income residential area in Nairobi, James Ng’eno lives a modest life. The supermarket attendant, like many other Kenyans who earn less than 4 U.S. dollars a day and use most of their income on basic commodities, struggle to make ends meet.
Ordinarily, therefore, one will expect Ngeno not to entertain things that are considered luxuries for low-income earners, among them is Pay-TV. But that is not the case, the 32-year-old is among a growing number of low-income earners in Kenya who are subscribing to Pay- TV channels to watch world news, documentaries, sports and movies.
Many low-income earners in the East African nation are increasingly subscribing to the channels that were once associated with high-end consumers, thanks to a drop in the price of acquiring equipment and monthly subscription rates. In the past two years, Kenya has seen new players enter the Pay- TV industry, leading to stiff competition and price reduction.
The new players, who have shaken the industry that was dominated for more than a decade by South African company DStv, include Smart TV, My TV, Star TV and Zuku TV. The influx of the channels has seen attention shift from high and middle-income market to the mass market, where many Kenyans belong, as it happened a few years back in mobile phones industry and the banking sector.
Most of the companies are striving to outdo each other by launching products that target the bottom segment of the market that remained untapped. Leading among the firms is DStv. The company in less than six months has introduced three products targeting mass market, one which is to be accessed on mobile phones namely Walka and GoTv.
The former is a hand-held device that enables consumers’ watch free-to-air TV stations and pay-per-view channels. The first one of its kind in the region, the portable TV that resembles mobile phones retails at 117 dollars. One pays a minimum monthly charge of 4.5 dollars a month to access 11 channels or 11. 6 dollars to access 15 channels.
Similarly, to access GoTv, which offers news, documentaries, sports, movies among other forms of entertainment, consumers pay a monthly charge of 5.2 dollars. “A company experiences growth faster by breaking into the low- end market. This is the segment that we are now focusing on,” said MultiChoice Kenya general manager Stephen Isaboke during the launch of the devices last month.
DStv’s move was occasioned by stiff competition from other players, including Wanachi’s Zuku TV and Smart TV, both, which are offering products at a minimum of 11 dollars a month. “I have subscribed my Pay-TV for 11 dollars a month. This enables me to watch over five local stations and pay-per-view channels that offer sports, news, documentaries and music,” Ngeno told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The father of two, whose family lives upcountry, said he watches the channels every evening when he returns home and during his off days. “I like watching world news, sports, especially the English Premier League, documentaries and African movies,” said Ngeno who subscribed three months ago.
The football enthusiasts said he went for Pay-TV because he was spending a lot of money at a local pub to watch matches. “I used to go to the pub to watch football matches every time major European clubs were playing. There, I would spend about 2.7 dollars at a sitting since I had also to take beer,” he narrated.
When he did not have money for beer, Ngeno would head to a nearby video showroom where he would pay up to 0.35 dollars to watch a game. “I did the calculation and found this was expensive since in a month, I would end up spending over 12 dollars. This is what made me use part of my savings to subscribe to Pay-TV so that I can be watching sports and other channels in the comfort of my house,” he said.
Despite his minimal income, Ngeno said he does not believe subscribing to Pay-TV is expensive. “Once you have paid initial charges for installation of the necessary gadgets, the rest is easier since even if you do not subscribe, you can still watch free to air channels,” he noted.
The drop in Pay-TV prices in Kenya, however, is not only benefiting individuals, it has also opened business opportunities to hundreds of people who screen major football events, in particular the English Premier League (EPL). “I make over 30 dollars whenever there is a major EPL match, for instance, when Manchester United plays Liverpool.
I charge 0.3 dollars per person for the match,” said Tom Kinuthia, who runs a showroom in Huruma, a low-income residential area in the capital. It is estimated that about 20 million households in East Africa region have TV sets. However, less than 250,000 households have subscribed to Pay-TV.
One of the things that had hindered uptake of the services was prohibitive subscription costs. Analysts observe that if the current trend continues in Kenya and other African nations, growth of Pay-TV may take the path mobile phones took, where close to half of the continent’s population own cell phones.(Xinhua)
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