by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice is starting to give away Disney+ for free to DStv subscribers, offering users the video streaming service that will launch on 18 May in South Africa as a free bundled service with DStv for three months.
In a partnership with The Walt Disney Company, similar to its existing contracts with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video made available as over-the-top (OTT) apps on its DStv Explora Ultra decoder, MultiChoice will carry the Disney+ app on this decoder when the streaming services launches in South Africa next week.
MultiChoice is yet to announce the details of which DStv subscribers and which DStv packages might get Disney+ for free as a promotional add-on, what the pricing for DStv subscribers will be who might want to make use of Disney+-bundling and subscribe to it through their DStv bill, and how specifically it will work.
As a new stand-alone video streamer, Disney+ at launch will cost R119 per month or R1190 per year as a once-off annual subscription, with Disney also offering a promotional R950 annual subscription for South Africans who register interest on its Disneyplus website before it launches on 18 May.
MultiChoice is now telling DStv subscribers of its DStv Rewards loyalty programme that they will get three months of Disney+ free as part of an "exclusive 3 month reward".
"Our new plus one is launching is launching on 18 May and as a valued Rewards member, we are giving you 3 months of Disney+ on us," MultiChoice is telling DStv subscribers who have to ensure that DStv has their correct cellphone number which will be used as a DStv subscriber's "unique Disney+ identifier".
Christine Service, The Walt Disney Company Africa senior vice president and general manager, has said last week that Disney+ SA will be a "mobile-first platform" where "users can sign up and sign in using their mobile phone and number, adding a layer of efficiency in the logging on process".
She said that MultiChoice and Disney will be announcing DStv's bundling offers for Disney+ for South Africa soon.
