GoTV Subscribers Demand Compensation After Channels Go Offline
On Tuesday night, football-loving Nigerians using GoTV, a prepaid satellite cable service, were left frustrated when multiple channels, including sports networks airing the Champions League, suddenly went off. Subscribers reported that sports channels such as SS BLITZ Africa, SS Football Africa, SS La Liga Africa, SS Select 1, SS Select 2, and ESPN disappeared without warning, disappointing many football fans eager to watch their favorite teams compete in the popular European tournament.
The outage, which extended beyond sports channels to include networks like M-Net Movies 4, Africa Magic Epic, CNN International, and Al Jazeera, began earlier on Monday and had not been resolved as of Wednesday. Subscribers expressed their frustration, with many demanding compensation from MultiChoice, GoTV’s parent company, for the disruption.
Findings revealed that the service interruption was caused by a severe power failure on the Intelsat 33e satellite, which serves Europe, Africa, and parts of the Middle East. The outage affected several of Intelsat’s clients, including MultiChoice.
Sanjo, a football viewing center owner in Ojodu Berger, shared his disappointment, explaining how the blackout affected his business: “On Champions League nights, I use both GoTV and DSTV to show multiple games. I was shocked when none of the sports channels were working, and I couldn’t even find any communication from GoTV about the issue.”
Similarly, Adebola Oluwatosin, a Real Madrid fan, criticized MultiChoice for not addressing the situation in a timely manner and demanded compensation: “I had just paid for a subscription and spent money on fuel, only to find that the channels were gone. They need to compensate us by extending our subscription period.”
In response, MultiChoice’s spokesperson, Caroline Oghuma, acknowledged the disruption and assured subscribers that efforts were being made to restore service. She explained that the outage stemmed from technical issues with their satellite provider, Intelsat, and that service would be restored as soon as possible.
