MultiChoice Nigeria has raised a major alarm over the rampant piracy of its popular reality TV show, Big Brother Naija. The company disclosed that the recently concluded Season 10 of the show was illegally streamed more than five million times, representing a significant financial blow to the creative industry.
A Dire Economic Threat to Creativity
Atinuke Babatunde, the Executive Head of Content and Channels for West Africa at MultiChoice Nigeria, revealed the staggering piracy numbers. She spoke on Friday, at the 2025 Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive) held in Lagos. The event brought together creators, policymakers, and industry leaders under the theme “Powering Africa Through Creative Enterprise.”
Babatunde described the situation as far more than simple mischief. “This is not mischief; it’s theft. It is economic sabotage that must be stopped,” she stated emphatically. She explained that illegal streaming is actively draining revenue from the entertainment sector, undermining thousands of jobs that depend on a healthy creative economy.
She pointed to Nigeria's outdated copyright legislation and weak cross-border enforcement mechanisms as key enablers for digital pirates. Modern piracy networks, she noted, are outmaneuvering content producers. “We need modern copyright laws, enforcement frameworks, and cross-border protections. Without that, creators will continue to lose revenue while digital thieves profit,” Babatunde added.
Government Ramps Up Anti-Piracy Efforts
This warning coincides with a heightened crackdown on digital piracy by the federal government. Authorities have issued directives to the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to intensify monitoring and clamp down on content theft.
In response, NCC enforcement teams have conducted coordinated raids in major cities over the past month. These operations have targeted pirate IPTV operators and led to the seizure of illegal streaming devices. Furthermore, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation has announced the formation of a new multi-agency task force. This body is tasked with tracking cross-border piracy rings and prosecuting distributors of illegal content.
Officials now classify digital piracy as a national economic threat. There are concrete plans to table amendments to Nigeria’s copyright laws to better address violations in the streaming era.
A Call to Secure Africa’s Creative Century
Babatunde used the platform to urge a united front against piracy. She called on African governments, creators, and media platforms to collaborate in safeguarding intellectual property. She stressed that the continent's creative industry holds immense economic potential, but only if it is properly protected from theft.
“When creativity rises, the economy rises. When African stories travel, African industry grows. This is our moment not to dream but to build, not to wait but to act,” she proclaimed. She argued that protecting digital content is essential for Africa to fully claim what she termed its “creative century.”
This call to action was echoed by other industry leaders at NECLive. They warned that without urgent legal and enforcement reforms, the rising tide of piracy could cripple Nigeria’s entertainment sector—one of the country's largest non-oil revenue generators.
In recent weeks, leading up to this disclosure, MultiChoice has been actively campaigning against piracy. The company has organized anti-piracy awareness walks in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. These initiatives aim to educate the public about the severe economic and creative dangers posed by illegal streaming and content theft.
