MultiChoice's DStv Explora decoder manufactured by Pace has been named the 2015 Satellite Television Product of the Year in South Africa.
It's the second big accolade for the latest MultiChoice PVR, which was also named as one of the 12 most beautiful objects in South Africa in 2015 a few months ago at the Design Indaba.
The DStv Explora, nicknamed "the pebble" by MultiChoice insiders for the sleeker design of the latest PVR version, is manufactured by Pace in South Africa.
Designed to try and bridge the gap and bring DStv subscribers a seamless video-on-demand (VOD) service by using satellite due to the limited availability of broadband services which are also slow and expensive in South Africa and across the rest of the African continent, the DStv Explora can record up to 220 hours or programming and gives users access to MultiChoice's DStv BoxOffice and DStv Catch Up services.
Now the DStv Explora has been named the 2015 Satellite Television Product of the Year after Nielsen surveyed over 5 000 South African households when researching candidates for the product of the year award.
Product of the Year is recognised in 28 countries globally and MultiChoice now gets the right to immediately brand its DStv Explora with a "Product of the Year" seal for a year.
"The DStv Explora is our flagship PVR decoder - we're very proud of the product that our teams developed," MultiChoice tells TV with Thinus.
"This is the first DStv decoder that was developed internally by our teams in Broadcast Technology and is entirely manufactured in South Africa. So its truly a South African product."
"Not only is it a great product but it also gives our customers a far superior viewing experience - with an expanded Catch Up and BoxOffice catalogue, a very user-friendly interface, the ability to connect to the internet to remote record and download even more content from our Catch Up catalogue," says MultiChoice.
"Pace is extremely proud to have been selected by MultiChoice to help develop this ground-breaking product, and ultimately enhance the viewing experience of their customers," says Jim Henderson, the president of Pace International.
"Recognition as a key contributor to this award-winning product is a true testament to the strength and longevity of our partnerships in the region."
"With this product, the Pace team has proven that they are fully committed to quality and excellence, while addressing the real needs of the Sub-Saharan marketplace," says Phil Nicholson, the general manager of consumer devices in broadcast technology. "Well done to the teams at Pace and MultiChoice who pulled out all the stops to bring this awesome product to market."
The DStv Explora is the first Pace product to be fully manufactured in South Africa at the Vektronix manufacturing plant in East London, South Africa. Pace has been supplying DStv decoders to MultiChoice since the launch of DStv in 1995.