by Thinus Ferreira
It now theoretically costs a South African viewer, as a pay-TV subscriber, R2 919.95 per month, excluding data charges, just for the ability to access all of the available television content on offer in the country - a cost that will definitely climb further as more video streamers launch over time.
Realistically speaking it's highly likely that there is no such person in South Africa paying, or willing to pay R2 919.95 per month but the theoretical exercise is indicative of what is costs now to watch all of the collective content that used to be more curated and bundled under fewer subscription television services like MultiChoice's DStv.
The cost calculation does however underscore the rapid way in which TV content splintering has accelerated in South Africa as Africa's most sophisticated TV market.
This splintering of licensing rights across various streaming services is rapidly leading to ever greater audience fragmentation and is constantly making it more difficult - and more expensive - for viewers to watch television, and for audience research and TV ratings agencies to track them.
Here is the breakdown of what it costs in August if you wanted to capture all of the available TV content offered in South Africa from all of the notable pay-TV providers and video streamers in South Africa through a monthly subscription fee.
While some offer various discounts, free trial offers and day rates, for the sake of this theoretical exercise the cost of the most comprehensive monthly subscription package is used, or "basic" streaming plan, as watched on a TV set, and while there may be some overlap of content, a service is included if it offers a selection of some exclusive TV content not found on any of the others:
- DStv Premium: R829
- StarSat Max: R299
- Deukom: R725
- AcornTV: R79
- Amazon Prime Video: R79.99
- Apple TV+: R84.99
- BritBox SA: R99.99
- DEOD: R39
- eVOD: R29.99
- Marquee TV: R179.99
- NET Afrikaans: R79
- Netflix SA: R99
- PrideTV: R79
- Showmax: R99
- TelkomONE: R49
- VIU: R69
- Vodacom Video Play: R99
The pricing of the streaming service CineMagic at R5 per day, Frightfan.tv's R25 per horror film, Netflix Premium, music streamers, as well as free streaming services, and Openview requiring a once-off decoder cost of R600, are not included in this list or calculation.
Showmax is included as a free add-on for DStv Premium subscribers, so its R99 price has also not been added to the overall calculation.
South Africa also doesn't yet have access to the video streaming services of Paramount+ from ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal's Peacock, WarnerMedia's HBO Max or Discovery Inc.'s Discovery+, with Disney+ that will launch from around June 2022, and with the SABC that plans to launch its service by the end of its current financial year that ends 31 March 2022.
Streaming the great unbundling
Ironically, consumers who have begged traditional, direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV services like MultiChoice to "unbundle" its packages and to let DStv subscribers only "pay-per-channel" and for the content that they want to pick and choose, are now getting their wish granted - although it's happening through an unbundling fuelled by the arrival and growth of over-the-top (OTT) streaming services.
It's also turning out to be a lot more expensive.
Consumers who already have to juggle a lot of different subscriber login details for different apps and services will have to contend with keeping a list of even more account and subscriber details as more video streaming services join the list, leading consumers to "forget" to cancel free trails or to cancel debit orders.
Consumers also have to try and navigate their way through an increasingly complex content discovery process, trying to figure out where they can watch what, or which service has the specific content they're looking for.
A consumer who wants to watch a specific show - for instance the new upcoming science-fiction drama series Foundation based on Isaac Asimov's books starting in September on Apple TV +; or Schumacher, the F1 documentary on the German racer Michael Schumacher and his career in the sport releasing on Netflix in September - must pay a separate subscription fee just for that service in order to watch that content.
While the subscription fee charges quickly add up for the consumer, it's also creating big new challenges for South Africa's TV industry.
The Broadcasting Research Council (BRC) of South Africa is facing the growing challenge - similar to what Nielsen in America is experiencing - of trying to accurately track viewers and households across a growing range of streaming services.
Meanwhile, local and international streamers have to try and keep the incentive of "binge-watching" behaviour going and to try and limit user churn, by commissioning and acquiring a constant raft of new content.
Then there are also traditional pay-TV like MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net that used to gobble up the bulk of international content, as well as broadcasters like the SABC and e.tv, that have simply been blocked and prevented from acquiring certain overseas content even if they have the money and are willing to pay for it.
Global entertainment conglomerates are now using their own studios - that used to distribute shows and films internationally - to create new shows that they're keeping for their own streaming services.
It means means that South African viewers can't see a show, for instance The Mandalorian on Disney+ or FBoy Island or Gossip Girl on HBO Max since those streamers are not available in this region yet and are not available to be sold by the studios.
