DStv reinstalls EWTN, scraps IQRAA

Reacting to the move, Catholic Bishop of Oyo, Emmanuel Badejo said, “my view is very simple and probably banal. We are living in a more and more atheistic culture with less and less regard for the sacred. I believe that in society there are three groups of people: the Godly, the Godless and the gods. […]

Reacting to the move, Catholic Bishop of Oyo, Emmanuel Badejo said, “my view is very simple and probably banal. We are living in a more and more atheistic culture with less and less regard for the sacred. I believe that in society there are three groups of people: the Godly, the Godless and the gods. The last group is the worst. That is the group that seems to wield the most power and influence. The gods of our society are the ones who attempt to eliminate everything that really projects God, that was what the DStv tried to do to EWTN. Those who got them to review their decisions are the happy evidence that God is still relevant and refuses to be defeated…We confirmed the power and potentials of positive public opinion over crass considerations for mammon and immorality.”

Menawhile, the DStv has via its Facebook page told its subscribers that it is terminating the Islamic channel IQRAA. The message was posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 4:54am read:

“We wish to advise DStv subscribers that IQRAA (channel 346) will be terminating on September 15, 2012 at 11pm on the DStv platform.

“MultiChoice considers a number of key factors when assessing the viability of a channel on the platform; these include the cost of distribution, the channel offering within the context of similar channels in that genre, subscriber feedback and the number of viewers and popularity of that channel.

“MultiChoice Africa has reached a mutual agreement with the channel distributor to terminate IQRAA from the DStv platform.”

“It seems I spoke too soon when I commented on the removal of the EWTN and asked if the Muslim channels would soon be considered unpopular,” said Maimuna Al-Bashir. “I think it was a dumb question because DStv rightly considers IQRAA unpopular and has deemed it right to scrap it.”

She said, “I’m asking myself why channels that enrich and bless lives are the ones they scrap when they have so many obscene channels that are unpopular even if they were to be watched in private.”

Olalekan Alphonso Makinde, a Christian pointed out that, people subscribe to the DStv for certain interests. She advised that the DStv took these interests seriously and catered for them.

Abdulfatai Tomori-Imam said, an alternative Islamic channel should be provided and if not, the company should have a rethink.

For Mohammed Abdulraheem, the DStv by this action, is simply asking subscribers to move on to the likes of HiTv.

Bashar Sidi Garba asks for a more substantial reason for the scrapping as he was planning to watch the Hajj via the channel.

DStv’s response to the queries was, “DStv Nigeria MultiChoice considers a number of key factors when assessing the viability of a channel on the platform; these include the channel offering within the context of similar channels in that genre, the cost of distribution, subscriber feedback and the number of viewers/popularity of that channel. The channels are being terminated to make space for new channels.”