MultiChoice has launched the official online version of its DStv BoxOffice film rental service, with the online version which can also be used by people who are not DStv subscribers.
The South African pay-TV platform launched an online beta testing version of DStv BoxOffice in December 2011 and planned to introduce the official commercial version in March last year, but then decided to test its cyber video-on-demand (VOD) service for a whole year.
The online service extension followed after the DStv BoxOffice service made available to DStv subscribers through their decoders.
Despite a disastrous commercial launch when back-end technology failed on the launch day, DStv BoxOffice has proved a major success for MultiChoice in 2012, with the pay-TV platform which revealed in June last year in its financial results that a staggering 300 000 movies were being rented per month at R25 per rental.
The online version is now available to anyone living in South Africa and people can download or stream new releases or popular classic movies from the DStv BoxOffice website which can be watched for a limited time period through the DStv Desktop Player.
MultiChoice doesn't require customers to be a DStv subscriber and the DStv BoxOffice online version works in a similar way to the one being accessed by DStv subscribers through their personal digital video recorders (PVRs).
Customers can choose, then download or stream and watch a film as many times as they like for a period of 48 hours. New movie releases cost R30 and R10 for a classic title and customers will have to make use of a broadband internet connection.
MultiChoice recommends that customers have an uncapped ADSL line to avoid high data bills from network providers.
"As the service grows, customers can expect the catalogue to expand as new movies are added each week," says MultiChoice.
