StarTimes reviews subscription prices, introduces new channels

Nigerian leading pay- TV, StarTimes, on Friday marginally adjusted its subscription prices taking effect from August 1 just as the company deepened its content offering with new channels.

With the price increase, basic bouquet now goes for N1,700 as against N1,300 monthly to enjoy close to 80 channels; Classic Bouquet subscribers will pay N2,500 as against N1,900 monthly with close to 100 channels while Nova bouquet remains unchanged at N900 with over 43 channels.

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At a virtual press conference on Friday, the Brand and Marketing Executive of StarTimes, Viki Liu said for dish users: smart bouquet subscribers will pay N2,200 as against N1,900 monthly; Super Bouquet subscribers will pay N4,200 as against N3,800 monthly while Nova bouquet remains unchanged at N900.

She stated that StarTimes was not known for incessant price increase, recalling how the firm slashed prices on two occasions in 2017 and 2018 in its drive to make digital TV available to every home.

So far the company has expanded the scope of its offerings, introducing 15 new channels in the last six months as well as the pay as you go which enables subscribers to daily or weekly.

The price increase was said to have been effected in other African countries since the first quarter of this year.

The new pricing took effect in Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Guinea and Madagascar from March 1st, while it took effect in Rwanda and Zambia on June 1st 2020.

The company said the recent increment in the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5 % to 7.5 % as well as the foreign exchange rate had impacted on the cost of operation.

“All of our foreign content is bought in dollars and to continually serve our subscribers the best content, the subscription price has to be reviewed upwards.

“Dollar was about N360 in 2017; today, it’s above N450 in the parallel market. Unfortunately, certain external factors are beyond our control; we are forced to adjust to realities before us,” Liu added.