Ummah TV: Attention, DSTV/GOTV

My attention was drawn to a message that went viral on several social media platforms intimating DSTV and GOTV Muslims and other interested customers that DSTV has added another Islamic channel called the Ummah TV on their platforms.

The message specially gave the details as DSTV Channel 345 & GOTV Channel 28 and described the channel as a home grown (Naija), quality, educating and entertaining Ramadan pop-up channel that will be on air from 2nd of May till 4th of June, 2019.

The message went further to explain that the channel is a 24/7 to watch throughout this year’s Ramadan 1440AH/2019AD. It further requested readers who received such message to spread it across the Ummah. Many of us did.

It further prayed that may Allah SWT reward the brains behind Ummah TV, accept their efforts and bless all Muslims.

I immediately tried to explore my four GOTV decoders - with the following ICU numbers: 2028659636; 4613448362; 7023659658 and 2028795390; and luckily for me, two of them had active Ummah TV channel, but as Ramadan pop up only! Which simply means that the channel will be off air by the end of the Ramadan. This is particularly a sad development to me.

We are expected to sustain our religious devotion and character remoulding even after Ramadan

fast. I am sure DSTV/GOTV will earn more by getting more customers on its platform, if and when this and other relevant Islamic channels are actively put on.

For the first time, I was happy with GOTV in terms of Islamic programme/channel contents because the only Islamic channel GOTV was operating before now is - Islam Channel 81, and it is not really meeting my local need of Islamic content based channel. I am sure that would have been the same feeling by many of the Muslims GOTV customers. But Ummah TV has just done that with its rich contents in diverse areas of Islamic interest to me.

I have been watching the Ummah TV channel since the beginning of this Ramadan and I must confess that the experience has been quite rewarding. For the first time after a long while, my family has observed my complete switch over from my traditional news channels to Ummah TV since the commencement of this year’s Ramadan!

I am also sure, even for marketing purposes, the need for more customers’ enrollment and by extension more profit for the company, GOTV, as well as DSTV, are bound to have more Muslim customers, if they can permanently maintain and sustain Ummah TV beyond being a Ramadan pop up channel only. This is, therefore, a passionate call and profound appeal for the sustenance of Ummah TV, please.

GOTV should also conduct a simple market survey and see how many more Muslims have subscribed for its new decoders or reactivated their old decoders or even resuscitated their subscription simply because of this precious Ramadan gift to us called UmmahTV. The outcome of such simple survey will surely encourage the Company to do more for the Nigerian Muslim Ummah (community).

In fact, there are more Islamic digital channels like Huda TV, PeaceTV, Sunnah TV, Saudi Arabian Haramain channels showing the five daily Salat, Taraaweeh and Tuhajjud prayers, Iqraa TV (English) that GOTV should look into with a view to providing its many Muslim customers with more Islamic content channels and options. We won’t be asking for too much by that I am sure.

I hope GOTV will look into this appeal by taking necessary steps in serving us better. Your platform is just like a Cinema of the old. They more you provide us with channels covering our areas of interest the more we patronise you. I also hope that the Ummah TV would improve on its contents in terms of airing Taraaweeh prayers from Haram live and Islamic compliant dress code amongst others.

Even by simple economics, I am sure this is worth exploring.

Abdulrahman Mohammed Alfa, Kaduna.