July 13, (THEWILL) – The court of appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered MultiChoice to sublicence some channels to Metro Digital, pursuant to the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC’s) code.
MultiChoice is the South African owner of the satellite television services, DStv and GOtv, popular subscription-based platforms in Nigeria.
Metro Digital Limited is a multi-channel terrestrial digital satellite service provider in Nigeria.
In the judgement delivered on Wednesday, Olabode Adegbehingbe, the judge, ruled that the lower court erred when it dismissed the suit of the Metrodigital (the appellant), where the appellant proved the existence of the dispute between itself and MultiChoice (the first respondent), The Punch reports.
Metro Digital had approached a federal high court in Port Harcourt after MultiChoice rejected its request for the sublicencing rights to retail some of the channels and programmes to its subscribers.
But MultiChoice Nigeria had claimed that channels for which Metro Digital sought sub-licencing rights are not owned by it.
Not satisfied with MultiChoice’s reason for the rejection, the company approached the court for redress.
In 2021, the court dismissed Metro Digital’s case, stating that the cable television operator had failed to contradict MultiChoice’s claim of lack of ownership rights/sublicencing rights to the content sought.
Justice Olabode Adegbehingbe in his judgement on Wednesday, ruled that the lower court erred when it dismissed the suit of the appellant (Metro-digital), when the appellant proved the existence of the dispute between itself and the first respondent (MultiChoice).
Justice Adegbehingbe also urged the second respondent (NBC) to compel Multi-choice to follow the court order within 21 days.
The NBC had recently amended the broadcasting code to break the monopoly in the cable tv market, increasing rights to a programme, and eliminating exclusivity to a show.
The NBC code is meant to increase the number of players in the pay tv, and allow competition, considering several Nigerian-owned cable tv companies have shut down due to MultiChoice monopoly on customer-driven programmes.
