Frustrated GoTV subscribers request refund after shutdown of multiple channels

Subscribers of GoTV, a prepaid satellite cable service, Tuesday and Wednesday exasperated and have begun to express anger when multiple channels suddenly disappeared.

THE WITNESS posts the anger of several subscribers who also called for compensation from Multichoice, GoTV’s parent company, during separate interviews on Wednesday.

Several football fans watching on cable TV were anxious to witness their favourite clubs take to the pitch as the Champions League, a popular game where clubs from Europe showcase their skill and determination, returned on Tuesday night.

However, some football fans, especially those watching on GoTV, were disappointed when all the football channels on the cable service suddenly disappeared.

It was also observed that sports channels like SS BLITZ Africa, SS Football Africa, SS La Liga Africa, SS Select 1, SS Select 2, and ESPN had vanished.

Several other channels, including M-Net Movies 4, ROK, Africa Magic Epic, TNT Africa, Al Jazeera, CNN International, Arise News, TVC News Nigeria, and Channels Television, also went off on Monday and had not been restored as the time this report was filed.

Findings on Wednesday showed that the Intelsat 33e, a geostationary high-throughput satellite serving Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of the Asia-Pacific, experienced a severe power failure on Saturday.

According to a report on Monday by Developing Telecoms, an online platform operated by a UK-based company, the failure caused a significant disruption, cutting service to all customers, which includes MultiChoice.

Anger of many subscribers were compounded by the failure of MultiChoice to communicate the disruption promptly.