Free-to-air channels: Why do customers pay if they are free

A viewer flips through Tv channels on one of the pay Tv platforms. Pay Tv providers cite various reasons, which are mostly commercial, for not providing free-to-air channels at no charge. Photo by Abubakr Lubowa

“If it is a free-to-air channel, why then do I have to pay every time my subscription expires,” that is one question that for long has puzzled Justine Nafula, a resident of Kibuli, a Kampala suburb.
This, she says, has been the case since she bought her set-top-box (decoder) from StarTimes, a pay Tv dealer.
Similarly, Baker Sepuya, a resident of Nansana, Wakiso District, suffers similar dilemmas, wondering why he cannot access free-to-air channels once his DStv-powered decoder runs out of airtime (read subscription).
This is not alien to Nafula or Sepuya but is a wide catch for all pay Tv subscribers across Uganda.
So, who is at fault here? Is it the ignorance of the subscribers, if any, the platforms that provide the channels or the government?

The explanation
According to Tina Wamala, the spokesperson of Multichoice Uganda, they pay to carry local channels, which to many, are referred to as free-to-air.
This, she says, is a negotiated deal between the broadcaster and the carrier (pay Tv platform), which to them [Multichoice] focuses on how they can stay relevant to their audiences.
“We provide these channels at a fee, because we pay for them. We cannot provide them freely,” she says.
“Offering subscribers local channels whose picture and sound quality has been enhanced on digital platforms freely does not make business sense,” she adds.
“... so once a subscribers’ subscription expires, he or she can only access UBC, which is the national broadcaster and our channel guide,” she notes,
Similarly, Mr Aldrine Nsubuga, the StarTimes marketing director, says pay Tv dealers incur a lot of costs to pay for content and their survival can only be sustained by subscription fees.
He notes that if they attempt to provide free-to-air channels at no cost, many subscribers might drop the idea of renewing subscription since they have access to some channels.
But why do Nafula’s and Sepuya’s concerns hold much relevance at a time when there is talk that before the end of June, the world would be required to have transited from analogue to digital broadcasting?

Deadline for digital migration
East Africa, specifically Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania had set December 30, 2013, as the deadline for the region’s migration. However, this was never realised with regional governments shifting focus to June 2015, the set deadline for the global switch.
However, the global switch deadline looks almost an unachievable for Uganda as broadcasters and pay Tv dealers raise the red flag on the readiness of government.
Last week during a meeting between broadcasters and UCC broadcasters wondered how government would beat the June deadline.
Worth noting is the increasing bad signal reception in much of the country, which requires viewers to acquire set-top-boxes from different dealers.
It has become increasing difficult for Tv viewers to access most channel freely, especially for those who live in low land areas.
For instance people, most on Entebbe Road, much of Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, Rubaga, among others, cannot have access to any Tv channel without using aerials.
Even with an aerial, there is no grantee that a viewer will access a channel that has a quality picture or sound, which leaves many with no option but to acquire set-top-box or decoder.
However, these are mostly provided by pay Tv dealers and they carry a monthly subscription fee as defined by a particular provider.

The question
But why then does Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) define local channels as free-to-air yet they carry a fee to be access.
Channels like NTV, UBC, WBS and NBS are classified by UCC as free-to-air channels.
However, the dilemma, according to Mr Fred Otunu, is many Ugandans view local channels through pay Tv platforms, which have commercial agreements with broadcasters.
And these platforms, he says, can only provide free-to-air channels at a fee to their subscribers.
“As long as they are being carried on pay Tvs, subscription fees apply as most broadcasters have commercial agreements with pay Tvs,” he says.
“Once you are on pay Tv, you watch Tv on subscription basis. Otherwise, these pay Tvs would not have business carrying these channels,” he adds.
However, he says as the commission conducts a phase-by-phase migration, Tv viewers will soon be required to acquire particular decoders that will enable them to have access to free-to-air channels without subscription.