The Oasis Reporters

August 26, 2024

One thing that thrilled me exceedingly when I arrived Kano City in the early 80s was the gradual introduction of satellite dishes and services that catered to the truly affluent and I had the opportunity of visiting one or two friends to watch television programs from all over the world.

It was thrilling especially when I watched live, the British withdrawal from Hong Kong and it’s handover to the Chinese.
Lord Mountbatten shed a tear or two as the departing last British governor of the city.

Ever since that era, satellite dishes had seen some miniaturization from the bogus dishes of 2 to 3 metres in diameter to 1 metre and even 90cm, and the reception was equally just as good.

While this was happening free to air for viewers in northern Nigeria due to the clear blue sky and closer access to signals coming from the Middle east and Europe, the case was a different ballgame in Southern Nigeria.

If anyone wanted to view the quality programming available in Europe, the Middle East and all over the world, one had to turn to the new service industry of PayTV that more or less acted as brokers between viewers and television transmission companies for a fee.

MultiChoice Nigeria was one of those since it launched in 1993 as a joint venture between MultiChoice Africa and Adewunmi Ogunsanya (SAN).



As DStv, a direct broadcast satellite service, it was launched on October 6, 1995 and was available in 54 countries over Sub-Saharan Africa.

Well, the end has come for Satellite Dishes worldwide, be it for PayTV or for direct free to air satellite television transmission through dishes. Ever since YouTube made its debut into the Internet ecosystem, but they didn’t know it then.

Basically, a great majority of television stations are on YouTube. And anyone can watch any television station via it.



Think of YouTube TV as being like cable, as it gives you access to traditional linear TV channels, like TNT, AMC, FX, the Food Network, NTA and other channels in Nigeria etc.


But If you want access to Netflix, Prime, Peacock or other streaming services, one would need to sign up.


So how does that clash with PayTV ?


New Smart decoder manufacturing companies have upped the ante by incorporating YouTube buttons on the decoders they produce now. And this has been going on for about five or more years and now many more Nigerians are figuring out how to configure it even without the benefit of owning a smartTV.

Does your decoder have YouTube buttons on the remote?



Then you are in luck. There is a step by step configuration plan that gives you how to get it done. There are also smart installers who can assist with a modest fee.


So those dishes are now obsolete technology. No need for LNB again, or climbing on a ladder to mount a dish.


Once the set up is done, key in the hotspot password you have and as soon as the router you attach to the receiver recognizes it everything comes streaming in.


This is one of the reasons why the house of DSTV is in turmoil. For instance a news buff that loved (Cable News Network (CNN) from inception and could only watch it on DSTV in Nigeria for a fee, needs a router and decoder to watch it through his television by spending data and not having to pay a hefty fee to any intermediary company.


Just go to YouTube. But note: Not all decoders have YouTube functions. First check the manual or read the remote. What they offer is usually written on it, as well as on the carton it comes with. There are some old and traditional satellite receiver manufacturers that have not keyed into this technology.


Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com

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