MultiChoice's DStv BoxOffice will start exactly as I broke the news RIGHT HERE, on 22 July, and with subscribers that will be able to pay with it by credit card or a DStv BoxOffice account exactly as I was first to break the news, - all by pressing the green button on your DStv remote control just as I was first to say.
DStv BoxOffice will become commercially available on Friday 22 July to all DStv Premium subscribers with a video-on-demand (VOD) service that will include a list of constantly updated movies, but won't include episodes of TV shows (MultiChoice wishes but there's no hard drive space) and no pornograhic films like the adult movie selection found on the VOD system of hotels.
ALSO READ: No ''porn on demand'' on DStv BoxOffice, what your mom has to do with the development, and all the other must-know little detail.
ALSO READ: Glamarama - MultiChoice's launch function for DStv BoxOffice transports guests to the wonderful world of the movies.
By pressing the green button on the DStv remote control and registering for a DStv BoxOffice account, DStv Premium subscribers with a SD or HD PVR will be able to watch one of 15 movies at R25 per movie, as many times as they wish, for a period of 48 hours.
VOD, or so called ''pay-per-view'' is the ''window'' or opportunity where people can pay a direct once-off fee to watch something before that content, for instance a movie, moves to the normal pay television window. DStv BoxOffice – similar to other pay TV operators' services worldwide like Foxtel's BoxOffice or Sky Movies BoxOffice – gives a subscriber the opportunity to watch something specific that is only out on DVD yet and in the video store, and will only appear on pay TV channels like M-Net within six to eight months.
DStv BoxOffice launches with a selection of 15 movies that include I am Number Four, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The King's Speech, The Dilemma, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Little Fockers, It's a Kind of Funny Story, Yogi Bear, Tangled, The Next Three Days, Gulliver's Travels, that's directly downloaded to a section of the decoder hard drive and available to play immediately after payment authorisation.
MultiChoice tested the waters a few years ago with a limited VOD system that was discontinued. DStv BoxOffice however is South Africa's first fully-supported, immersively dynamic and commercial VOD system which will make a selection of 15 movies available to DStv Premium subscribers for R25 per movie in standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) for a period of 48 hours.
''DStv BoxOffice positions DStv as a front-runner in the VOD market in South Africa,'' says John Kotsaftis, CEO of DStv Online. ''The service aligns South Africa with global developments in on-demand video,'' he says. ''Offering a VOD service through satellite initially, allows us to make it widely and instantly available to our subscribers, regardless of constraints in broadband availability in South Africa.''
MultiChoice said at the launch event that DStv BoxOffice will be extended in time to an online component, similar in which its DStv on Demand service has a dual television-decoder and an internet streaming option currently. MultiChoice says it will make 150 blockbuster movies from Hollywood's major studios available on DStv BoxOffice over the course of the year.
To make use of DStv BoxOffice – of which the new software will start to automatically download to all subscribers' decoders from now over the course of a day or so – subscribers have to register for a DStv BoxOffice account. Subscribers can pay by credit card and easy SMS verification or through the BoxOffice account. VOD charges will be debited to the monthly account.
''DStv BoxOffice is a result of our continuous drive for innovation,'' says Imtiaz Patel, group CEO of MultiChoice South Africa. ''The future of DStv relies on us offering simplicity and convenience to our subscribers in a changing world. Last year we introduced DStv on Demand and DStv BoxOffice is the next step in the DStv product evolution.''
