Fact: DSTV trounces the competition when it comes to TV coverage of sports and movies in Ghana.
When most Ghanaians think of satellite TV, their mind automatically go to DSTV. Whenever there’s a soccer match involving British Premier League Soccer teams, crowds gather around TV sets and watch the Supersports channel.
DSTV doesn’t really have a competitor in the field. Because of their dominance of the Satellite TV market, DSTV has become something of a monopoly and they tend to increase their monthly fees regularly, much to the chagrin of the Ghanaian consumer. One might say in order for parity in the market, DSTV needs competition. Perhaps we have a savior…
Kwesé TV
Kwesé TV is the product of Econet, a telecommunications group with operations in Africa, Europe and South America. Kwesé TV aims to allow viewers to watch its network by streaming via their mobile app or website and on both paid and free-to-air TV.
Interestingly enough, Econet not too long ago purchased Visat1 and have rebranded it Kwesé Free Sports. The channel lineup will feature live action sports highlights and sports entertainment programming which will be available 24/7. What makes this a bigger deal is that the channel will feature games from the Barclays Premier League, NBA, NFL, COSAFA, Copa del Rey, Formula 1 and many other leagues.
That sounds like interesting competition for Multichoice especially since Kwesé sports will be free of charge. Another thing that makes this enticing is the fact that the channel can also be streamed via their mobile app.
Long Road Ahead
It will be interesting to see how Ghanaians react to newly arrived Kwesé TV with their sports channel. But at the moment, Kwesé TV is currently just offering Sports. But until they show all their cards and reveal their full TV content and linely which apparently includes movies and kids channels, it will be hard for a regular DSTV consumer to switch.
But that doesn’t mean there won’t be interest. There are disgruntled DSTV users who would love to jump ship and be on Team Kwesé. But they may have to wait for the right opportunity to do so.
If Kwesi TV does fully launch with all their channels and lineups, what would be the price model? Would it be way cheaper than DSTV?
What about digital TV? Since Ghana is getting ready to go with digital with television, how is Kwesi TV going to take advantage of that?
With regards to streaming, I don’t think that market is fully developed to take advantage of streaming content.
Is MultiChoice Finally Getting (Good) Competition?
I’m all for competition. Kwesé TV has definitely placed itself as a good alternative to DSTV. With the strategy to go with free sports coverage, a lot of bars and restaurants might consider switching especially since they might not have to pay to broadcast Premier League games.
If you got free Barclays Premier League games coverage, I think you might consider dumping Multichoice.
But it’s still early in the game. We’ll have to wait and see what Kwesé TV fully brings to the table before there’s a definitive answer on if they can compete with DSTV.
But it’s a good first step. Perhaps this is the disruption that Ghanaians have been waiting for.
For more information on Kwesé TV, you can check out their website at www.kwese.com
