GTV collapse beams global crisis to a screen near you

By Peter Okong’o

Five days after GTV’s spectacular collapse, the pay TV channel’s subscribers still don’t have any answers.

One of those affected is a colleague. The poor chap had just installed GTV for his family at a cost of Sh16,000.

They watched for just two days before transmissions were cut abruptly.

GTV’s handling of the matter has been, to say the least, quite curious. While we can only speculate as to why it opted to cut its transmission without warning, it is clear from the paper trail that it knew early enough that it was in financial trouble.

One of its strategic investors is Citigroup, the banking and investment conglomerate that is among the firms worst hit by the global financial crisis.

That fact alone must have set off alarm bells in GTV’s London offices. Citigroup is now operating under a regulatory agreement that will restrict its operations and limit new investments and cash, after accepting a federal bailout package from the US Treasury.

However, viewed differently, the collapse of GTV is a good thing, because it has given Kenyans a much needed reality check.

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Despite the many stories published in the local media, especially The Standard, about the global financial crisis, the crisis has remained alien and remote to most.

Maybe it still is, but GTV has shown us that we are not immune from the violent storms that now dominate the global marketplace.

Companies that have financed their investments mainly through international credit are hanging on by a thread, praying that they don’t catch the flu.

So what options are left for the thousands of subscribers stuck with equipment that is now virtually junk?

Will they be repaid? GTV’s public relations and marketing team has gone silent.

However, there is still some hope. For one, GTV still has the rights to screen premium matches from the English Premier League, although this runs out next year.

It could strike a deal with, say, MultiChoice Africa, and the English Football Association, for the former to buy out the rights for the remainder of the contract.

MultiChoice could then take over GTV’s subscribers, and resume the broadcasts. This, however, remains in the realm of speculation, given that MultiChoice may not be keen on such a deal.

Furthermore, subscribers may have to replace their decoders, at their own cost, and pay higher subscription fees, given that MultiChoice is now a monopoly.

All this, however, remains within the realm of speculation. In any case, the key investors in the GTV venture would have to reach an agreement on such a step.

For the moment, all the subscribers can do is grit their teeth, and wait.

Even when viewed from a regulatory standpoint, it is doubtful that the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) will be of much help to them.