Going back to the DSTV retail shop in Lekki to pick up a GOtv branded cable TV package was not without apprehension and skepticism.
My first visit was not a fulfilling one, I really was not impressed with the picture quality I was shown . Also, no thanks to the limited coverage of GOtv’s signals in Lagos, you are thrown back to last century’s technology with the outdoor antenna you are forced to use to improve reception.
GOtv has two packages, the GOtv and the GOtv plus. The GOtv package hardware is being sold at an introductory price of N8000 and includes 3 months of free viewing for the 26 channels on offer while the GOtv plus hardware is N9500, also with 3 months free viewing for the 33 channels on offer. Subsequent monthly subscription fees is put at N1,000 and N1,500 respectively for the GOtv and GOtv plus packages.
Since my purchase is intended for my kids, I was forced to subscribe to the GOtv plus package because it contains the Disney Junior kiddies channel, their favourite. A summary of the channels available for each pacakage is listed below.
The installation package comes with the decoder, remote controller – the same as the one used for regular DSTV, AV cable and an indoor antennae. For N2,500 more, you are given a basic antennae which should come with a pole.I was swindled out of my pole.Please note that GOtv does not use any Smartcard.
The Installation is quite straightforward. On Lagos mainland, you may not have a need for an external antenna. However, if you live on Lagos Island, you definitely would be needing one.
I could not mount the outdoor antenna yet because of the missing pole. However, carefully placing the antenna on my balcony, i got about 26% signal strength and surprisingly, it was good for viewing with no artefacts.
Overall, i think it is a good buy especially considering the low monthly subscription. The picture quality is comparable to what is being offered on the regular DSTV cable regular packages. I would expect GOtv to speed up the expansion of its coverage area as the external antennaes constitute an eye sore.
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5 comments
Wale Falade
I am yet to experience it yet but GOtv also claims not to be susceptible to rain like its bigger cousin, DSTV does. In fact it even boast of having a superior technology (DVB-T2) to Startimes’ DVB-T technology
Noni
@ Eye.bee.kay, I was thinking the same thing regarding GOtv and StarTimes.
We got StarTimes partly out of curiosity, and, as we’re not big TV watchers, DSTV and Multi choice seemed a waste of money. Apart from the set top box and package, the only other thing we did was upgrade our outdoor aerial.
Before, we used to get about 4 or 5 terrestrial channels because reception was so poor in our area – even then, only two of them were clear. Now, not only do we got better television reception (still poor but marginally better without the StarTimes set top box), but we actually watched more television than before thanks to the plethora of news channels. And even during really bad weather the reception has been pretty consistent.
Eye.bee.kay
Depending on area, the picture quality is quite good. almost as good as DsTv`s-
With a good external antenna, StarTimes has the advantage of being insusceptible to weather, unlike DSTv..
Wale Falade
How will you rate the picture quality of startimes?
eye_bee_kay
Poor man’s DSTv, eh…?
GOTv is obviously designed to checkmate StarTTimes.
StarTimes is also a compelling alternative as regards the acquisition cost and the bouquet offered.
I expect MultiChouce to increase the number of channels to be on par with StarTimes for it to be a clear winner in this competition…
The StarTimes Premium bouquet offers:
1. MTV Base
2. Phoenix CNE
3. BBC World
4. Aljazeera [E]
5. MGM
6. NTA Entertainment
7. Channels TV
8. Mitv
9. TBN
10. Kidsco
11. Discovery World
12. Bollywood TV
13. CCTV News
14. MSNBC
15. STVC
16. BET
17. Galaxy TV
18. NTA Lagos
19. Setanta Africa
20. Nickelodeon
21. CCTV-4
22. NTA 24 News
23. E-Stars [Nigerian Movie]
24. C Mucis
25. E! Entertainment
26. Silverbird
27. NTA Education
28. NTA Sports [EPL
Champion league
29. FTV
30. STVE 1
31. France 24 [E]
32. STVE 2
33. ETV
34. Real Stars
35. TVC
36. Animaux
More info @ http://sattvng.wordpress.com/
I additionally use the free2Air Multi Tv service to complement StarTimes.