Uganda has an estimated 6-7 million TV sets. If we estimate each household owning a Television to have an estimate of 5 people living together, that’s about 30 million Television viewers.

Of the 6-7 million TV sets, only about 300,000 are hooked to Pay TV stations according to the latest Stats from Uganda Communication Commission(UCC). That’s a mere 5% Television sets currently able to receive digital TV services. That means the remaining 95% are watching TV with Free-to-air (FTA) channels as opposed to subscription-based Pay-per-view(PPV) channels.

Free-to-air (FTA) channels

But what are Free-to-air (FTA) channels? These are TV (and radio) channels that are broadcasted in clear unencrypted format. In other words, you don’t need special equipment requiring subscription model in order to view or listen to the broadcasted content. Just your TV and an antennae for the case of analogue TV or a Free-to-air decoder for Digital TV.

Pay-per-view (PPV) channels

Pay-per-view (PPV) channels are entirely the opposite of FTA channels. PPV channels are encrypted by Pay TV providers who supply their customers with special decoding equipment or decoders that unscramble the encrypted TV signals. This usually requires subscribers to pay a monthly subscription fee to Pay TV provider before they can view the content.

Digital Pay TV Providers in Uganda

Currently there are 5 operational Digital Pay TV providers in Uganda and they include Multichoice’s satellite TV service DSTV Uganda and its Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) cousin GoTV Uganda. DSTV requires viewers to have a satellite Dish and a decoder while Go TV only expects users to have a decoder to watch TV. Startimes Uganda has a similar model. They have StarSat which is their satellite service and a Startimes DTT service which only needs a decoder. The other providers are Zuku and AzamTV Uganda which are both digital satellite TV providers. Lastly, Simba TV, a merger between Kampala Siti Cable Ltd (KSCL) and TVNXT, provides not just digital TV services but also Internet.

Pay TV providers in Uganda also offer Free-to-air channels. However, they are only active when your subscription hasn’t expired. Should your subscription expire, you won’t be able to watch them apart from UBC.

List of Free-to-air channels in Uganda

Free-to-air channels include UBC, WBS, NTV, NBS, Lighthouse TV, Record TV, Capital, Bukedde TV, BTN TV, Bunyoro TV, EATV, Family TV, Top TV, Kakira Sugar TV, Channel 44, Top TV, Urban TV, Northern TV, and TV WA. These channels will continue to be free even after the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. But you’ll need a Free-to-air decoder to access them if you are not subscribed to any of the Pay TV providers.

Related: Top channels on satellite combo decoder

List of Free-to-air decoder vendors in Uganda

UCC has licensed a number of companies to sell certified digital DVB-T2 decoders or Set-top-boxes to the public. They include Trans-African Container Transport, Syscorp International, Brivid, Icomsys Africa and World Technologies among others. See the table below for the entire list.

Price of Free-to-air decoder in Uganda

Widestar Digital (U) Ltd, one of the approved vendors has Free-to-air decoders going for a price of UGX 165,000 and includes outdoor antenna. Brivid Uganda Ltd located at Oasis Mall Basement is selling their decoders at a slightly higher price of Ugx 180,000. Startimes Light decoder also gives you access to Free-to-air channels and goes for a price of only UGX 80,000. Those who get the Light decoder will have to pay an additional UGX 41,500 which entitles them to up to 7 months of digital TV on the Nova bouquet or package. However, should their subscription expire, they can still access Free-to-air channels.