DStv subscribers once again get nothing but a black screen and complain after MultiChoice updates its DStv app.

by Thinus Ferreira

DStv subscribers on Thursday and Friday once again struggled with being unable to watch DStv on the DStv app after MultiChoice updated the app to version 2.4.7, once again resulting in a black screen as happened before.

MultiChoice gave no explanation to DStv subscribers as to the cause of the problem but it is likely due to an app upgrade that went wrong.

DStv subscribers kept complaining through Thursday and Friday into Friday evening.

MultiChoice didn't explain the problem but told DStv subscribers that "our techies are aware of the issue and they are working around the clock to ensure a resolution. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience".

"DStv your streaming app is the kakste app ever," said Eduard Rosenstrauch. "Just a black screen. Clearing the cache, deleting all data, stopping app. Nothing works. Streaming service just getting kakker and kakker. You want to take it away - well there is nothing to take away. Kakkest app!"

"Ignoring the problem won't let it go away. Are you working on a fix for the DStv app or are you having lekker weekend already? I would really like to watch the rugby tonight and then enjoy the cricket as well. DStv Care your service is just as kak as the app," he said, echoing the remarks of many DStv subscribers who complained on Thursday and Friday.

Warwick Ward-cossaid "I've fixed your app problem on Android TV with live streaming of black screens. Downgrading the app to version 2.4.6 fixes it."

Earlier this week MultiChoice posted a notification, not shared with media, that from 22 March it will be clamping down with a DStv streaming limit, allowing only one live stream per device per DStv account.

The notification led to widespread and growing outrage under DStv subscribers.

MultiChoice has removed the word 'Catch Up' from its DStv streaming service – this is where and how you now find previous episodes.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has decided to remove its DStv Catch Up naming convention for recorded and already shown content but hasn't done away with actual "catch up" content - DStv subscribers are just no longer able to find it under a specific header category.

Earlier this month MultiChoice removed its well-known "Catch Up" menu from the interface of its DStv streaming service. It's the second naming convention change to its streaming service after MultiChoice removed the "Now" from its "DStv Now" streaming service.

DStv subscribers have been logged out and as they log in, many are wondering what happened to DStv Catch Up, whether their screen is just taking time to load and if they should wait a while, or if Catch Up has been taken away, or moved elsewhere.

MultiChoice that didn't communicate the change to subscribers has indeed "moved" and "removed"  DStv's Catch Up from its streaming app and online website but has not actually removed any of the actual content - Catch Up is only gone insofar as the name is concerned. 

Until now people who logged into DStv's streaming service could click on "Live TV" (still there) or "Catch Up", making a clear distinction for users between where to navigate to find a rolling love TV channel on the DStv bouquet or library content.

The content available as "catch up" - latest episodes of current shows already broadcast, binge-stacks and library catalogues - is still there, it's just no longer under a specific overall Catch Up header. Users should now directly click on "TV shows", "Movies", "Sport" or "Kids" to find specific programming. 

Whatever content there is to catch up with within these genres will be under these category headers.

While MultiChoice is doing away with its popular "Catch Up" naming convention, the blue "play" icon button and word "Catch Up" remains on the DStv remote control, including the remote control of the just-launched DStv Explora Ultra decoder.

MultiChoice was asked why it decided to do away with the Catch Up name and header in DStv streaming and didn't communicate this to consumers but didn't answer these questions. In response to why the change was made, MultiChoice said that "Over the last two weeks we began rolling out a navigation change that makes it easier for our streaming customers to find content to watch".

"The option to watch Catch Up remains the same, but titles are now grouped into user-friendly categories, namely TV shows, Movies, Sport and Kids."

"The change is already live on the web and will be rolled out to the apps across supported devices in the coming weeks. All the same titles that customers enjoy streaming under the Catch Up section remain on the service and can be found via the new categories," MultiChoice said.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 18 September 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:  

■ Do you speak Fox News (StarSat 261)?
How Donald Trump's favourite TV channel became a language.

■ Pedro Pascal allegedly went cray-cray during filming of season 2 of Disney+'s Star Wars The Mandalorian and suddenly demanded to film scenes without his helmet on so that he can be seen.

- Has "difficult" Pedro Pascal quit Star Wars The Mandalorian?

- "Big change" coming halfway through season 2 as season "shifts away from Mando".

■ Netflix's Cheer star Jerry Harris arrested by FBI, charged with producing child porn.

■ Reality TV space series wants to send contestants to space in 2023.

■ The darkness of American daytime TV: It's awful at Ellen and other Telepictures produced shows:

Staffers who worked for Ellen DeGeneres detail how they had to sign contracts from which they couldn't quit, had to work until 11pm and weekends, were "blacklisted and fired" if they complained, extra freebies for top execs.

■ Damaged WarnerMedia is still playing catch-up with the Ellen scandal as Warner Bros executives on Thursday continued to be "concerned and disappointed" by ongoing reports of abusive workplace behaviour.

■ Poverty in South Africa - and the fear of jailing TV owners - is why the SABC struggles to collect SABC TV licence fees.

■ Celebreality was already on the decline. The cancellation of Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E! (DStv 124) just put it out if its misery.

- Nene Leakes is done with The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Again.

■ Is Netflix losing subscribers over the shocking Cuties scandal?

■ More and more Disney content is disappearing from MultiChoice's Showmax streaming service. Is it because Disney plans to eventually launch Disney+ in South Africa?

■ Research: Producers of high-end TV series face delays of up to 12 months because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Reality TV used as filler on TV channel's schedules.

■ Netflix CEO Reed Hastings rejects demands for streaming content quotas in Australia.

- Netflix hikes subscription fees in Australia.

■ Trash-TV returns: Nigeria's shocking sham, TStv is once again attempting to launch as a pay-TV service despite countless lies and content theft in the past, setting 1 October 2020 as its latest launch date.

■ Prince William is livid over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix deal.

■ MultiChoice's temperamental and constantly broken DStv Now streaming service has some unexplained "temporary service outage" problem again.

■ Netflix can show gay content in Saudi Arabia. Just not anything that criticises Mohammad Bin Salman.

■ Fox News (StarSat 261) fires staff in restructuring, but not because of Covid-19.

No more hair and make-up for guests.

■ Bloomberg plans a video streaming relaunch.

Says Bloomberg TV (DStv 411 / StarSat 264) still has value but that business viewers have moved away from linear pay-TV.

■ Netflix tells Britain's parliament it doesn't want to destroy the BBC.

■ Everyone thought appointment television was dead but in 2020 with a global pandemic it's thriving as a weekly collective viewing of a show helps bring structure to people's lives.

■ The Game of Thrones sex scene that was ruined by a "visible excited" horse.

■ Samsung South Africa keeps churning out press releases about TV but PRs can't bother to actually send it out to media.

■ Uganda loses 110 000 pay-TV subscribers because of Covid-19.

Coronavirus: M-Net local soaps The River, Gomora and Isibaya will roll out new episodes from Monday 25 May on 1Magic and Mzansi Magic as their stream-viewing numbers on DStv Catch Up and DStv Now surge during March and April.

by Thinus Ferreira

More local South African primetime soaps that ran out of available episodes are set to return with the pay-TV drama series The River, Gomora and Isibaya that will all show new episodes on MultiChoice's DStv from this coming Monday 25 May.

All three M-Net commissioned series went off the air two weeks ago due to the weeks-long production break that saw all South Africa's TV shows shutter and studios lock their gates because of the Covid-19 national lockdown period to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

While broadcasters and pay-TV schedulers had some stocked episodes in the kitty it wasn't enough and eventually left DStv subscribers with hastily padded schedules on 1Magic (DStv 103) and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), while on public television SABC1's Uzalo produced by Stained Glass TV also ran out of episodes.

All of these and the country's other locally-produced soaps on the SABC, e.tv and DStv have since returned to studio lots for filming but Uzalo done from Durban will only broadcast new episodes from 15 June on SABC1.

M-Net's general entertainment division told TVwithThinus on Tuesday that The River, produced by Tshedza Pictures will be back with new episodes from Monday 25 May on M-Net's 1Magic channel.

Isibaya, produced by The Bomb Shelter and Gomora, produced by Seriti Films, which are both shown on M-Net's Mzansi Magic channel, will also be back with new episodes from 25 May, said publicist Gaaratwe Mokhethi.


Stream-viewing surge on DStv Catch Up and DStv Now
All of the shows - Uzalo, Gomora, The River and Isibaya - along with multiple others have seen their TV ratings surge in March and April in record viewership increases across the board for the SABC, e.tv and DStv as viewers stuck at home and with an end to Eskom loadshedding have flocked to their screens.

Besides just linear TV ratings these series have also showed remarkable growth in delayed viewing done through DStv decoders and stream viewing through MultiChoice's DStv Now video-on-demand service.

In March the top 5 DStv Catch Up shows watched as delayed viewing through DStv decoders had Mzansi Magic taking the top 4 spots with local content with The Queen at number one with 512 000 average views, Isibaya with 458 000 average views, Mnakwethu with 448 000 average views, Kwa Mam'Mkhize with 415 000 average views and the American procedural drama series 9-1-1 on M-Net (DStv 101) in the 5th place with 340 000 average views.

In April this surged with The Queen climbing to 526 000 average views in delayed viewing on DStv Catch Up through DStv decoders, Gomora rushing to second place with 478 000 average views, Madam & Mercy jumping to the 3rd spot with  396 000 average views, Lockdown in 4th place with 370 000 average views, and Mnakwethu at 364 000 average views.

Meanwhile M-Net's second season of The Bachelor South Africa with Marc Buchner, produced by Rapid Blue has been punching far above its weight.

Although on the top bouquet tier of DStv Premium, limiting access to the majority of DStv subscribers, The Bachelor SA was the 4th most stream-watched show on DStv Now during March with 63 000 average viewers. The others were The Queen in top position (88 000 views), followed by Isibaya (83 000 views) and Mnakwethu (62 000) all on Mzansi Magic, and The River (60 000 views) on 1Magic.

In April DStv Now stream-viewing surged as Gomora (98 000 views) climbed to first place as the most-viewed show, followed by The River (92 000 views), The Queen (80 000 views), The Bachelor (77 000 views) and Isibaya (69 000 views).

Coronavirus: Netflix, DStv Now and Showmax drop their video streaming bitrate in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa due to Covid-19 pandemic.

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix, as well as MultiChoice's DStv and Showmax video streaming services, are dropping their bitrate speeds in South Africa as well as across sub-Saharan Africa to help alleviate bandwidth and internet network congestion during the growing global Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.

Netflix and MultiChoice told TVwithThinus on Monday in response to media enquiries that they're lowering the streaming resolution of their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services.

This is similar to what Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Google's YouTube have done since last week across Europe.

Netflix said it would be reducing the bitrate of its service in South Africa and across the African continent from midnight on Monday night during these uncertain times.

Starting on Monday night 30 March 2020 Netflix is lowering its bitrate delivery across Africa for 30 days to try and help mitigate congestion on the network across the African continent.

Netflix South Africa says that the lowered bitrate will not have an effect on the video streaming quality with users who will continue to be able to watch content in high definition (HD) although the streamer will be reducing the bitrate across the African continent during these uncertain times.

"Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on telecommunications networks by 25% while also maintaining the quality of our service," says Ken Florance, Netflix vice president of content delivery.

"Consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan - whether it's ultra-high (UH), high definition (HD) or standard definition (SD). We believe that this will provide significant relief to congested networks and we will be deploying it in Africa for the next 30 days."

MultiChoice said it too is reducing the bitrate on its DStv Now platform and its Showmax apps with the same approach happening in South Africa as well as across all of sub-Saharan Africa.

Richard Boorman, spokesperson, said the pay-TV operator "implemented data traffic reduction measures, focusing specifically on mobile traffic".

"We've limited the maximum resolution for both Showmax and DStv Now live streaming to 576p on our mobile apps. We're also busy with some other measures and are working closely with internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor the situation. If needed we'll step in with further traffic reduction measures."

Showmax and DStv Now usually stream at a maximum of 720p and this continues for users streaming content through their browsers, TV sets or connected DStv Explora decoders.

Coronavirus: Amazon Prime Video unlocks kids content for free streaming during Covid-19 pandemic.

by Thinus Ferreira

With millions of kids worldwide sitting at home during the growing Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic Amazon has decided to drop its paywall and make a raft of its kids content including movies and series available for free on its streaming service, including South Africa.

MultiChoice last week opened up access to some of the TV news channels and some others, including some library content, for free on its DStv Now streaming platform to all DStv subscribers and now Amazon is making a bunch of children's shows accessible for free viewing as well.

Amazon also created a link for parents to access the content.

The majority of the content is aimed at preschool and younger primary school children.

People worldwide can now watch Amazon Studios original series like Just Add Magic, Pete the Cat, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Dangerous Book for Boys, Lost in Oz, Costume Quest, Tumble Leaf, Bug Diaries, Creative Galaxy, Jessy & Nessy, Wishenpoof, Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and The Snowy Day, as well as outside produced shows like Peppa Pig and multiple other titles.

Amazon warns that some titles won't be available in certain territories like South Africa because of existing rights and exclusion reasons.

To access the free Amazon Prime Video kids content a valid Amazon account is needed to sign in but people can sign up for free and then log in.

MultiChoice is making all DStv channels available to almost all of its subscribers on its DStv Now online service for 3 days from Friday 13 March 2020.

by Thinus Ferreira

As part of a promotion to drive uptake and use of its DStv Now online service MultiChoice is opening up access to all of its DStv channels to almost all DStv subscribers from this Friday to Sunday for 3 days.

TV channels that are only available to DStv Premium or higher-tiered subscribers will be accessible to all DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Family and DStv Access subscribers which they will be able to live-stream from Friday, 13 March. DStv EasyView subscribers are excluded.

In order to watch any DStv channel they desire, DStv subscribers will however have to use data to watch the channels as live-streamed linear channels on DStv Now and will have to use the DStv Now app for mobile smartphones, laptops, computers, smart TV sets or Xbox.

MultiChoice plans to introduce an as-yet-unnamed streaming version of its DStv service similar to DStv Now, that will be a so-called "dishless DStv version", soon.

In late-2019 Niclas Ekdahl, CEO of MultiChoice's Connected Video division, said that MultiChoice plans to launch "dishless DStv" before the end of its financial year and hopefully by the end of March 2020.

The DStv Now Open Weekend will be MultiChoice's first public test for 2020 of whether its servers can now handle the influx of multiple DStv subscribers logging in and using its streaming platform to deliver a large number of concurrent live-streams.

It crashed due to system failures in 2019 with hugely popular content like Game of Thrones and 2019 Rugby World Cup matches when the MultiChoice server verifying DStv subscriptions and tier-status during login was too small and couldn't cope with the large number of DStv subscribers who tried to sign in simultaneously.

This weekend's DStv Now all-access promo means that all DStv subscribers will be able to watch a smorgasboard of exclusive entertainment, sport, news and documentary content usually restricted for DStv Premium subscribers who are paying for premium access.

This includes the 2020 DStv Mzansi Viewers' Choice Awards on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) on Saturday 14 March that broadcasts live from 20:30, as well as M-Net's 2020 7th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards that will be broadcast live with red carpet coverage starting at 17:00 on any of the Africa Magic channels.

There's a flurry of cricket, golf and rugby happening across the various SuperSport channels with cricket like the Australia vs New Zealand 1st ODI on Friday 13 March from 05:20 to 14:00 on SuperSport 5 (DStv 205), Aus vs NZ 2nd ODI on Sunday 15 March 01:20 to 09:45 on SuperSport 2 (DStv 202), and India vs SA 2nd ODI on Sunday 15 March from 09:45 to 18:30 on SuperSport 2 (DStv 202).

The Players Championship Day 2 is shown on Friday 13 March from 19:00 to 01:00 on SuperSport 5 (DStv 205), Day 3 on Saturday 14 March from 20:00 to 01:00, and Day 4 on Sunday 15 March from 19:00 to midnight.

The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix main race is on Sunday 15 March on SuperSport 5 (DStv 205) from 07:05 to 09:00; while the EFC Welterweight title fight is taking place on Saturday 14 March between 19:30 and 23:00 on SuperSport 11 (DStv 211) between Themba Gorimbo and Lyle Karam.

Tottenham Hotspur plays Manchester United on Sunday 15 March in English Premier League action on SuperSport 3 (DStv 203) between 18:20 and 20:30, with the Serie A clash between AC Milan and Roma that will be on SuperSport 9 (DStv 209) on Sunday 15 March.

Multiple Vodacom Super Rugby matches are played with Chiefs vs Hurricanes on Friday 13 March from 8:00 on SuperSport 1 (DStv 201); on Saturday 14 March it's Blues vs Lions (starting 05:20 on SS1), Reds vs Vodacom Bulls (starting 10:10 on SS1) and Sharks vs Stormers (starting 15:00 on SS1); and on Sunday 15 March with Brumbies vs Waratahs (starting 07:00 on SS1).

Then there are Six Nations matches including Wales vs Scotland on Saturday 14 March (starting 16:10 on SS5), Italy vs England (starting 18:35 on SS1), and France vs Ireland (starting 21:50 on SS1).

The week's episode of the second season of The Bachelor SA with March Buckner repeats on M-Net (DStv 101) on Friday at 09:50 - this season's first free look at the show, with the local current affairs show Carte Blanche on Sunday at 19:00.

A week later the untrustworthy DStv Now streaming service crashes again during the 2019 Rugby World Cup; MultiChoice again says it couldn't cope with the number of DStv subscribers trying to log in.

A week after the last crash, MultiChoice's untrustworthy and temperamental DStv Now again collapsed on Saturday, again during the 2019 Rugby World Cup featuring a match including South Africa, with MultiChoice again giving the same reason of being unable to cope with the number of DStv subscribers trying to log in.

After the crash on Saturday 21 September of DStv Now when DStv Now buckled under the number of viewers who wanted to watch the match of South Africa against New Zealand of the 2019 Rugby World Cup on SuperSport, the video streaming service again collapsed on Saturday 28 September with angry and frustrated DStv subscribers complaining about being unable to watch the match of South Africa against Namibia, as well as a degraded streaming quality for those who could get a video stream.

Saturday's DStv Now blackout was the latest implosion of the service that keeps breaking with MultiChoice's Connected Video division, headed up by Niclas Ekdahl, struggling to provide adequate live concurrent streams capacity as MultiChoice works on launching a streaming-only version of its DStv pay-TV service before the end of 2019.

Upset DStv subscribers and DStv Premium subscribers on Saturday again said that they would be cancelling their subscription services because of the DStv Now problems, with many DStv subscribers who slammed MultiChoice for the DStv Now blackout and with many not getting any answers or help about what went wrong.

The DStv Now crash, bad customer service and lack of communication to subscribers asking for help led to further brand damage on Saturday for MultiChoice's video streaming service.

In response to a media enquiry on Saturday, MultiChoice on Saturday told TVwithThinus that the same problem again cropped up on Saturday with the pay-TV operator unable to handle the number of customers who tried to log in on DStv Now.

"We'd like to apologise to some of our DStv Now customers who were unable to access the platform for the Springbok Rugby World Cup match against Namibia," said MultiChoice.

"All DStv Now customers that were logged in ahead of the start of the match were able to view the game seamlessly, however there was a problem with the influx of fresh logins on the platform, which have to be individually verified, causing a delay in accessing the platform."

"We encourage our customers to try and logon to the platform during the match build ups, so that their access is not delayed by the login verification process, which is critical to ensure that our customers are able to have access to the platform that is specific to their entertainment requirements."

"This process verifies a users’ login details, password, devices connected, package, etc.

We continue to strive to ensure our customers’ user experience is not only personalized, but that access to their platform is also protected," MultiChoice said.

With the exact same problem again occuring, it means that MultiChoice did nothing - or too little - in the past week since the previous DStv Now implosion to fix the problem and to up the capacity of its video streaming service.

MultiChoice seems unable to handle large volumes of viewers on its rickety DStv Now app with MultiChoice technicians who have been unable for months to properly ensure adequate capacity, backups and functionality on the service.

In April with the debut of the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101) DStv Now spectacularly crashed in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, angering viewers who stayed up until 3:00 to watch the episode. It happened again in later weeks.

In mid-May MultiChoice once again saw DStv Now implode, with the breakdown once again happening during a big weekend viewing schedule. 

On 12 May 2019 DStv subscribers missed the English Premier League final, The Voice South Africa on M-Net and other shows, three days after a botched "systems upgrade" on the preceding Thursday took down the entire service for hours, causing DStv Premium subscribers to miss the finale of The Bachelor SA on M-Net.

@DStvCare @DStv

so the dstv now problems are forever???
every high sporting events dstv now goes down. what's the use of it if we always get problems when we want to watch the main sporting events?

— #Defend_Mkhwebane (@GodfreyLetlalo) September 28, 2019

@DStvCare I want my refund, Netflix should teach Dstv how to provide a good customer experience

— Ashir Manilall (@ManilallAshir) September 28, 2019

@DStv now is down again. You had this issue last week did you learn nothing!? I've been trying to login since 10:30 and had the same 'DSTv now is temporarily unavailable...' message for 50 minutes

— Sasha Abramowitz (@sMashaZa) September 28, 2019

Thanks DSTV... no idea why I even have a premium subscription anymore. @DStv pic.twitter.com/aimqGPNUdY

— nicole (@NicoleV_01) September 28, 2019

So apparently @DStv learned nothing from last week's fiasko of Dstv Now not working during the rugby.

— Rikus le Roux (@RikusleRoux) September 28, 2019

@DStv it's very frustrating trying to watch the rugby on dstv now when it keeps freezing every 2 seconds..its the world cup, surely Dstv has made provision for an overload of people trying to watch the game online? The first game was a no go as dstv now wasnt even working

— Caroline young (@carolineyoung03) September 28, 2019

@DStv... your DSTV now service is useless as usual. Why am I paying for premium? if all I get is error messages. Ruining #RSAvNAM for me! pic.twitter.com/58V3XBLNHy

— Angelique Shekleton (@Ang_Sheks) September 28, 2019

100mb line and streaming on @dstv looks like im streaming on dial up half the time... disappointing.

— Darryl B (@DarrylBamberger) September 28, 2019

@DStv still no response and still the same problem!!! RESPOND!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/4dtJhsbr5M

— Richard Malyon (@malyon84) September 28, 2019

@DStv guys sort your streaming out!!! On a 20mg fibre line and the quality is horrific

— Andrew Pitout (@Andrew_Pee2) September 28, 2019

MultiChoice's untrustworthy DStv Now streaming service once again implodes as it crashes during the Rugby World Cup 2019 opening match between South Africa and New Zealand on SuperSport; blames ' a problem with the influx of fresh logins on the platform, which had to be individually verified'.

Angry and frustrated DStv subscribers got no answers on Saturday afternoon from MultiChoice after its untrustworthy and temperamental DStv Now streaming service once again abruptly crashed during the broadcast of the opening match between South Africa and New Zealand of the Rugby World Cup 2019 on SuperSport.

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus on Saturday that "a problem with the influx of fresh logins on the platform, which had to be individually verified" caused the latest DStv Now blackout.

MultiChoice's untrustworthy DStv Now once again went down on Saturday afternoon, similar to when DStv subscribers were unable to watch the premiere episode of the final season of Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101) in April, the finale of The Bachelor SA on M-Net in May, the English Premier League final, F1 racing or The Voice SA.

After MultiChoice once again showcased on Saturday how its video streaming attempts keep failing during big broadcast moments, the latest disastrous DStv Now implosion left DStv Premium subscribers angry and upset - one of the reasons why DStv Premium subscriber numbers keep plummeting as the subscriber segment paying the most for DStv are abandoning the service due to it no longer offering enough value.

TVwithThinus reached out to MultiChoice with an email enquiry and a phone call on Saturday about the latest shocking DStv Now service interruption and asked why DStv Now again crashed and what precautionary measures MultiChoice took beforehand to prevent something like this streaming blackout and technical breakdown from happening.

MultiChoice didn't immediately offer any explanations and on social media DStv didn't offer any explanations to frustrated DStv subscribers as to what went wrong.

"We are aware of the issues with DStv Now and understand how frustrated our customers are feeling," Stacey Venter, marketing specialist at MultiChoice's Connected Video division told TVwithThinus. 

Nthabiseng Serote, a MultiChoice corporate affairs spokesperson told TVwithThinus that "we would like to apologise to some of our DStv Now customers who were unable to access the platform for the Springbok Rugby World Cup 2019 match against the All Blacks".

"All customers that were logged in ahead of the start of the match were able to view the game seamlessly, however there was a problem with the influx of fresh logins on the platform, which had to be individually verified, causing a delay in accessing the platform".

"Our engineering team has been working tirelessly ahead of the Rugby World Cup to ensure preparedness for a record number of online viewers."

"Our DStv Now app goes through a series of checks during a user's login to verify the user, their password, package etc. This verification process is quite critical to ensure that our customers are able to have access to the platform for their entertainment requirements," Nthabiseng Serote said.

MultiChoice seems unable to handle large volumes of viewers on its rickety DStv Now app with MultiChoice technicians who have been unable for months to properly ensure adequate capacity, backups and functionality on the service as became evident on Saturday.

In April with the debut of the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101) DStv Now spectacularly crashed in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, angering viewers who stayed up until 3:00 to watch the episode. It happened again in later weeks.

In mid-May MultiChoice once again saw DStv Now implode, with the breakdown once again happening during a big weekend viewing schedule. 

On 12 May 2019 DStv subscribers missed the English Premier League final, The Voice South Africa on M-Net and other shows, three days after a botched "systems upgrade" on the preceding Thursday took down the entire service for hours, causing DStv Premium subscribers to miss the finale of The Bachelor SA on M-Net.

Poor software engineering by @DStv This #DStvNow site has been giving problems the whole week and is still not fixing it. Tried calling, the issue is still not fixed #NZLvRSA #Springboks

— Happiness!! (@lltsipa007) September 21, 2019

You might as well have this message on your site... #RWC19 pic.twitter.com/5WAaz1MVXQ

— Philip (@Philip_Jonas) September 21, 2019

@DStv high trying to watch springboks from Dstvnow app. And I keep getting this message. I’ve waited 15 mins and tried again? pic.twitter.com/vDUFF1r3I9

— Marcel Trout (@riley77o7) September 21, 2019

This is just rubbish @DStv @SuperSportTV Unacceptable. I cannot watch one and the other unless i change channels because or your incompetence? I want to live stream the F1 and watch the rugby on my TV but I can't? pic.twitter.com/hE29pbV2ve

— 🅵1🆂🅰🆂🅷🅰 (@F1sasha) September 21, 2019

@DStv I would argue that this is an epically bad time for me to be getting errors on the DSTV now app. Maybe you aren’t the solution to watching everywhere... #RWC19 #NZLvRSA pic.twitter.com/qXrv6MDmJf

— Byron Miller (@Amakhosi4sure) September 21, 2019

@DStvCare @Dstv cannot even watch any channel now, this is really pathetic service. How can you be so ill prepared when you want monopoly on a service?????

— Sheena Kuda (@dingembs) September 21, 2019

@DStvCare you really do have a shockingly bad DSTV Now product. I really don’t enjoy watching the game where the commentary is 3-4 seconds behind the picture.

— Chris Booth (@Crispinbooth) September 21, 2019

Every single time there is a major sporting event DSTV Now is unavailable. It's absolutely unacceptable. They should expect high volumes snd have adequate infrastructure. You are letting the whole of South Africa down!

— Buji Mahlangu (@bojane_m) September 21, 2019

Wow @DStv so now, even those of us who paid for this rubbish premium package can’t catch the game on #DStv Now? #DSTVMUSTFALL #DstvOpenSS1 #NZLvRSA pic.twitter.com/6lJHlQWjdg

— Uncle Dee (@dee_makgai) September 21, 2019

@DStv @DStvCare I called in, used whatsapp, live chat no response no nothing and the game is almost over. You should hire real technicians not the ones you get in the streets with a hammer 🙄🙄. pic.twitter.com/0NAsQDntQr

— Starbo Maphalle (@starbo00) September 21, 2019

Things that make you reconsider your Premium @DStv subscription. No World Cup for me on the move! @SuperSportTV thanks for nothing. @MultiChoice pic.twitter.com/9zADz3dB4W

— Gary Alfonso (@garyalfonso) September 21, 2019

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. If you want to see some really hilarious sh*t, look no further than MultiChoice's surreal no-numbers presentation in its financial results comparing Showmax and DStv Now with rival Netflix.

In the one episode of Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, a snake-oil salesman came to Colorado Springs and starts selling an elixir of life that's nothing really.

I'm already laughing at the fooled investors, hysterical journalists and clueless publications who will be doing breathless stories for the nation from today's presentation of The MultiChoice Group's financial year report to end of March 2019 showing how amazingly and much more bigger enormous MultiChoice's Showmax and DStv Now are compared to its rival Netflix South Africa and elsewhere in Africa.

The golden rule in financial reporting - and in life: Something of nothing remains nothing.

Hilariously - but sh*tty hilarious, not funny hilarious - and in a very surreal way, The MultiChoice Group doesn't want to give any actual user and subscriber numbers for its DStv Now and Showmax services run by its Connected Video division.

You can't make sh*t like this up.

MultiChoice is telling investors and the media that when it comes to online streaming services and it's "competitive position", its Showmax and DStv Now in comparison to Netflix is 1.6 times more.

MultiChoice's Showmax and DStv Now "nothing" is now 1.6 times bigger than Netflix's "nothing".

Oh, and the Netflix "nothing" that nobody is allowed to know, is "a MultiChoice Group estimate of Netflix users" if you put on glasses and read the fine print.

Firstly, MultiChoice estimates a Netflix user number in South Africa (or Africa - or both. Who knows?).

Secondly that estimate number isn't given to investors or the press.

Thirdly, MultiChoice estimates on the estimation, to get to a 1.6 times larger estimation.

Bless.

MultiChoice's nothing-compared-to-nothing comparison looks more ridiculous that Hlaudi Motsoeneng at the SABC who at least made up actual symbols and gave himself an "E" for Bible Study and a "F" for History when he faked his matric certificate.

Now investors must buy shares in The MultiChoice Group because Showmax and DStv Now are more popular based on undisclosed figures. The press must write puff pieces with clickbait headlines like "MultiChoice's Showmax is more popular than Netflix in South Africa/Africa" or things to that nature.

Who's responsible for this trash? If you're not going to tell diners paying to eat at your restaurant what the food is, rather don't even print or give them a menu. Just serve the food then.

Giving an empty page and trying to fake trash because you don't want to give anything but want to make it look as if you're giving something, is low-class fakery like when Scope magazine in South Africa's seventies would allude to boob but block out the nipple.

Because the numbers are likely very small and because MultiChoice and Connected Video don't want to show their cards to competitors they are under the mistaken impression that doing some David Copperfield no-numbers game is trick enough.

Sadly for MultiChoice, it might fool some most of the time, but it won't fool everyone all of the time.

Don't forget that MultiChoice's Connected Video's active users massively jumped and doubled from 2018 to 2019 - wow, just look at that! - from ... oh wait ... to what-what?

Don't forget that MultiChoice had a whopping 50 times increased activity on its Showmax and DStv Now services in 2019 compared to 2016 when it was just - oh, wait a minute ...


ALSO READ: MultiChoice does little to stop the drop of DStv Premium subscribers other than have the call centre phone them after they had already cancelled; top-end segment still 'a long way off' from being 'unable to wash itself' and being unprofitable. 
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. MultiChoice CEO, Calvo Mawela, has started spouting some inane gibberish about millennials not wanting or able to watch 90 minutes of something. Get a child - and get a grip.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. Higher prices are not killing DStv Premium - MultiChoice's lack of showing DStv subscribers why it's worth it, constantly diluting it, and failure to add value is what's damaging it.
ALSO READ: DStv subscribers keep increasing although MultiChoice continues to lose top-end DStv Premium customers who no longer see it as offering enough value for money.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. MultiChoice lies and says in its financial report presentation it 'enhanced content discovery' - in reality the pay-TV operator did the exact opposite during the year and made it more difficult and worse.

MultiChoice's Showmax makes sports content trial available to all users of the video streaming service as streaming boss Niclas Ekdahl says sports content 'is the obvious next target'.

Days after starting a trial available to just some users earlier this week offering them access to certain sports content, MultiChoice's Showmax has opened the sports content trial to all Showmax consumers.

Showmax has so far repurposed and taken both American studio content that used to be on M-Net(DStv 101) first from the likes of HBO and Showtime, as well M-Net's locally-produced content from its M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic channels.

Showmax will now also piggy-back and use SuperSport content that previously was only accessible to DStv subscribers.

"We're going to trial a bunch of different sports content while keeping Showmax at the R99 price point, and see how our customers interact with the service," says Niclas Ekdahl, MultiChoice's Connected Video CEO, in a statement.

"We’ll be ramping up our live game offerings with everything from selected matches from the best football leagues in Europe to streaming a wide variety of varsity and school sports."

Connected Video runs MultiChoice's online streaming platforms like its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax and the temperamental and untrustworthy DStv Now that offers a programming catch-up and a live linear channel streaming experience.

"As of today, sport is officially up and running on Showmax in South Africa - not only magazine shows and highlights clips, but a whole new capability to live-stream games," Showmax said in a statement on Friday.

"It's a first for Showmax that taps into the growing streaming-only customer segment. The price of Showmax remains unchanged at R99 per month."

Showmax said that the new sports content includes live streaming of South Africa's games in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches.

The newly added sports content vertical will also include extended highlights from major sports events, and magazines shows taken from SuperSport that will be available to watch as live broadcasts and on a catch up basis.

These include What a Weekend, Showcase, Home, The Final Whistle, Phaka, Inside Edge, In Touch, The Dan Nicholl Show, #borntorugby and FirstXV.

"Adding sport to Showmax is something fundamentally new for us and it’s a big deal," said Niclas Ekdahl.

"We’re preparing for a future when uncapped data is affordable to all in Africa and video-on-demand becomes the norm."

"We've been delivering TV series and movies for almost four years and continue to see strong growth in usage. Sport is the obvious next target and the only way to do that properly is to be able to stream it live."

Showmax's new sport section is available on most Showmax apps and platforms except for Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, and some smart TVs, although support will be added for these in the coming months. 

The Showmax sport content is currently available only in South Africa.

It's not yet clear to what extent the taking of content from M-Net and SuperSport is devaluing the existing DStv offering to customers and potential subscribers.

Existing and potential DStv subscribers no longer have to subscribe to MultiChoice's DStv but can get premium content that was only available on M-Net, for instance international fare like Game of Thrones to local series from kykNET and Mzansi Magic, at the same time or even before it is broadcast on M-Net and other channels.

WHEN DStv Now WENT DStv NOT: MultiChoice's crash of its DStv Now Sunday service didn't just paralyse its video streaming service - it also collapsed its communications, with MultiChoice confused and unwilling to talk about what happened.

MultiChoice's latest crash of DStv Now didn't just paralyse its video streaming service - it also collapsed its communications with the media and the public, with MultiChoice that comes across as confused and looking terribly inept about how to respond to the press about it.

MultiChoice and its Connected Video division that was repeatedly asked for answers over the past few days, as well as who is available to talk about what happened and what is happening at the moment, doesn't want to talk about why its DStv Now video streaming service imploded and turned into DStv Not.

MultiChoice is seemingly under the mistaken belief that if it doesn't talk about its terrible and non-available service or when it has a big service interruption that there won't be media coverage, or that the media won't keep reporting on it if it deliberately stays quiet and doesn't answer questions about it.

MultiChoice takes customers' money but when it doesn't provide the service it promises in return - like when upgrades to DStv Now caused that service to unexpectedly crash - it doesn't take accountability and doesn't want to explain to its customers and the media exactly what happened and what is being done to fix and improve it.

Having a service interruption is one thing, but MultiChoice during and afterwards not wanting to talk about it reeks of an arrogant and dismissive attitude towards both its customers as well as the media.

After asking MultiChoice on Monday morning who the right person is to talk to (after multiple enquiries since DStv Now crashed on Sunday), Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's head of corporate affairs referred TVwithThinus to Richard Boorman, MultiChoice Connected Video's head of communications.

After reaching out to Richard Boorman, it took the whole of Monday to get a response at the end of the day, saying its best to speak to Joe Heshu.

If a company can't even decide internally who speaks to the media when there is a crisis or problem, what chance does the general public or the industry have to find and get the right, relevant person from a company to answer very basic questions about non-service?

MultiChoice's latest slogan for DStv is "feel every moment". When DStv Now broke - the 4th time that happened over the past month - the DStv Now blackout lasted for hours on Sunday and into Monday.

By not being open and more transparent, by not responding to the media's questions and by refusing to talk about it, MultiChoice added insult to injury - ensuring that its consumers paying for something they're not getting and the broader TV industry just wanting to know what is going on, are feeling every bad moment of MultiChoice's absence of agency when it comes to proper public communication as a company.

By not wanting to answer questions and being open and upfront with the press doing their job asking about what went wrong, by not explaining what is being done and when customers and South Africa's TV and media industry can expect something like DStv Now to be operational again, MultiChoice is doing itself a disservice, the industry a disservice, and adding additional damage to its brand reputation.

Instead of coming across as being able to handle a crisis and communicate during it, MultiChoice and its Connected Video division that runs DStv Now and Showmax displays a run-and-hide attitude when there's a problem instead of being responsive and open about it.

The MultiChoice Group has executives like Nicklas Ekdahl, CEO of its Connected Video division; Nicolas Callegari, senior manager for customer experience in its Connected Video unit, and several others.

None of them or anyone else has yet come forward to talk about what went wrong and how MultiChoice fix problems when something like DStv Now implodes. MultiChoice has offered up nobody to publicly speak and answer basic questions about what happened.

Yet this is the company that wants customers and the industry to continue to give it money for something that when it doesn't work, it's not willing to answer questions about.

As digital streaming services grow and expand, services like these from MultiChoice, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others, don't just build trust and reputation through normal day-to-day costumer-touchpoint interaction but also when things go wrong and something isn't working  -perhaps especially during those times.

MultiChoice and its Connected Video division don't seem to understand that yet, or if it does, doesn't care.

When something like a streaming service "breaks" - especially for such a long time as what happened on Sunday with DStv Now, companies like MultiChoice and its Connected Video division can actually build and keep trust by showing customers and potential customers that it won't simply "disappear" and go mute at the first sign of trouble.

It can show - like when an airline's flight gets disrupted or a bank's services go down - that it's bigger than its problem, that it will remain responsive, will and can communicate, and will explain what went wrong and what is being done to fix things.

It can show that although it's chaotic inside its corridors, that it will make the interrupted and bad "customer experience" better.

Sadly that's not yet DStv Now.

MultiChoice on its DStv Now streaming crash still not fixed on Monday morning: 'We're doing everything we can' to fix it.

While DStv subscribers on Monday morning continued to struggle to access the DStv Now streaming service that crashed for a 4th time the past month on Sunday during an attempt at system upgrades, MultiChoice says it's doing "everything we can" to fix the problem.

On Sunday DStv subscribers fumed over missing live so-called "appointment television" ranging from the final of the English Premier League season closer, UEFA League semi-finals, the cricket league IPL final, the ATP tennis final to The Voice South Africa and Carte Blanche on M-Net, Date My Family on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and other programming that they couldn't watch when they wanted to use MultiChoice's streaming service.

While a workable version returned on Sunday night around 22:30 and remained for people to live stream the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101) at 03:00 on Monday morning, many DStv customers cited problems and being unable to do so.

On Monday morning DStv Now continued to be unavailable to many DStv subscribers.

MultiChoice chose not to answer specific questions made since Sunday afternoon about what exactly went wrong, what has been happening and when it envisions the technical problems to be completely fixed.

It's also not clear why, when upgrades failed on Thursday, MultiChoice went ahead to tinker with DStv Now again on Sunday knowing that it's a day jam-packed with multiple big-ticket sporting and entertainment programming events.

On Monday morning MultiChoice, when asked again about who can talk about what has happened and is happening, said that it apologises to DStv customers and is working at ensuring the best customer experience for DStv Now.

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs, told TVwithThinus that MultiChoice's Connected Video division is "doing everything we can to resume the service and ensure stability".

MultiChoice plans to launch a "dishless", stand-alone commercial version of its pay-TV service, similar to DStv Now, later this year.


ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500' ... AGAIN. Furious DStv subscribers slam MultiChoice after its DStv Now streaming service crashes again on Sunday impacting the English Premier League final on SuperSport, The Voice SA on M-Net and other shows. 
ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500'. Latest DStv Now streaming crash and its failure to properly communicate is inflicting huge damage and distrust under consumers over MultiChoice's plans to launch a similar stand-alone, pay-for DStv streaming version in late-2019.

'ERROR 500'. Latest DStv Now streaming crash and its failure to properly communicate is inflicting huge damage and distrust under consumers over MultiChoice's plans to launch a similar stand-alone, pay-for DStv streaming version in late-2019.

The fallout from MultiChoice's latest DStv Now streaming service crash on Sunday - it's fourth in the past month - coupled with the pay-TV operator's bad and inadequate communication to DStv customers and the public, is inflicting huge reputational brand damage on not just trust in DStv Now but also in the minds of potential consumers for MultiChoice's stand-alone, commercial DStv streaming service it plans to launch in late-2019.

A growing number of would-be consumers will be reluctant to sign up for and pay for a DStv streaming service from MultiChoice they have to pay for when they see how DStv Now keeps crashing.

Even worse is that potential customers of such a service are seeing how badly MultiChoice behaves by not talking to existing DStv subscribers about what is wrong after something had gone wrong, and failing to provide proper customer-centred communication when it's most needed.

The public sees how MultiChoice deliberately choose to ignore basic consumers' questions, copy-and-paste generic platitudes in terms of stock answers and fails to manage expectations about when a service like DStv Now will be restored after a blackout and service crash.

By 10pm on Sunday night MultiChoice's broken @DStv Now streaming services just keeps flashing. Five hours after asking MultiChoice what went wrong, when it would be fixed etc., the pay-TV operator chose not to answer specific questions in a media enquiry. pic.twitter.com/RmdpPuTdO1

— TVwithThinus (@TVwithThinus) May 12, 2019

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, in 2018 said that the pay-TV company plans to launch a "dishless" DStv streaming-only service offering - similar to DStv Now - in the latter part of 2019.

This stand-alone and commercial DStv streaming version is MultiChoice's next attack beyond the launch of its own subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax in the growing video streaming wars in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa where MultiChoice now competes against the likes of primarily Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, as well as a few other smaller players.

Yet MultiChoice is struggling to get its untrustworthy and temperamental DStv Now streaming service and app to work properly.

Making it worse is MultiChoice's terrible crisis communication when DStv Now fails and something goes wrong.

Following Thursday's DStv Now implosion and the resultant anger from DStv subscribers, it doesn't seem as if MultiChoice and its Connected Video division learnt anything about how to handle it better.

On Sunday MultiChoice once again communicated terribly, slow, and to a wholly insufficient level although it already had experience and could have learnt after things went wrong on 15 April with HBO's Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101), again this past week on Thursday, and Friday.

Besides no press statement to explain quickly what had already happened and what MultiChoice is doing to fix it, no answers to media enquiries and no real updates or explanations to DStv subscribers, on Sunday afternoon and into Sunday evening - and knowing full-well that DStv Now crashed and isn't working- a tone-deaf MultiChoice on social media kept pushing out programming marketing, telling viewers to watch various programmes on "#DStvNow" that they couldn't see.


ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500' ... AGAIN. Furious DStv subscribers slam MultiChoice after its DStv Now streaming service crashes again on Sunday impacting the English Premier League final on SuperSport, The Voice SA on M-Net and other shows.

'ERROR 500' ... AGAIN. Furious DStv subscribers slam MultiChoice after its DStv Now streaming service crashes again on Sunday impacting the English Premier League final on SuperSport, The Voice SA on M-Net and other shows.

Furious DStv subscribers are slamming MultiChoice after its untrustworthy DStv Now streaming service once again crashed on Sunday afternoon making it impossible for DStv customers to watch the English Premier League League final on SuperSport, The Voice SA on M-Net (DStv 101), the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and other shows and sport.

The new DStv Now blackout comes three days after Thursday's DStv Now crash that lasted for hours and that MultiChoice blamed on a "systems upgrade" that failed when it went live.

It's not yet clear whether the latest DStv Now crash is related to the same botched systems upgrade tried earlier this week.


ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500'. Latest DStv Now streaming crash and its failure to properly communicate is inflicting huge damage and distrust under consumers over MultiChoice's plans to launch a similar stand-alone, pay-for DStv streaming version in late-2019.


On Friday Richard Boorman, MultiChoice Connected Video head of communications, in response to a media enquiry said that MultiChoice is "working flat out to ensure these type of incidents don't happen" and also that MultiChoice would "incorporate the lessons learned from these incidents when developing new services to avoid any kind of recurrence".

Three days later there was a recurrence.

By 10pm on Sunday night MultiChoice's broken @DStv Now streaming services just keeps flashing. Five hours after asking MultiChoice what went wrong, when it would be fixed etc., the pay-TV operator chose not to answer specific questions in a media enquiry. pic.twitter.com/RmdpPuTdO1

— TVwithThinus (@TVwithThinus) May 12, 2019

MultiChoice on Sunday evening in response to a media enquiry didn't have immediate answers on what happened, whether the crash is related to Thursday's system "upgrade" and what trust DStv subscribers should continue to have in its streaming service.

On social media on Sunday DStv said in its stock-response that it mindlessly kept repeating and that it also used on Thursday that "we're aware of the performance issues on the DStv Now service. Our technical team is working round the clock to resolve the issue. Apologies for the inconvenience caused".

On Sunday night at 21:30 MultiChoice in a statement said that the "MultiChoice Group would like to apologise for the technical problems that have resulted in DStv Now not being operational for a number of hours".

"Our technicians are hard a work to ensure that the app is up and running as soon as possible so that  our customers are once again able to enjoy their favourite shows. We apologise to everyone that has been affected."

MultiChoice was asked on Sunday afternoon if it can please say what led to the Sunday problem. MultiChoice didn't answer this question.

MultiChoice was also asked if the issue is the same as what led to Thursday's DStv Now crash, and if it was, why the same thing happened, and if it was different, what steps were taken to prevent another Error 500 from happening.

MultiChoice also didn't answer this question.

MultiChoice was also asked on Sunday what exactly the system upgrades are that MultiChoice has been doing to DStv Now and specifically why these upgrades caused the crash - if it did - as well as what MultiChoice did differently since Thursday to prevent something similar from happening.

MultiChoice also didn't respond with an answer to this question.

The ongoing DStv Now blackouts impacts on the trust that DStv subscribers have in this MultiChoice service and MultiChoice was asked what its message is to customers who might from now on plan on no longer using it or no longer will trust that it might work when they plan their viewing, for instance out of home.

MultiChoice had no message for these DStv subscribers.

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, in 2018 said that the pay-TV company plans to launch a "dishless" DStv streaming-only service offering - similar to DStv Now - in the latter part of 2019.

This stand-alone and commercial DStv streaming version is MultiChoice's next attack beyond the launch of its own subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax in the growing video streaming wars in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa where MultiChoice now competes against the likes of primarily Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, as well as a few other smaller players.

Angry DStv viewers: 'DStv as reliable as Eskom'
DStv subscribers in an ongoing flood of complaints on Sunday afternoon and stretching into Sunday evening, slammed MultiChoice on social media for its terrible customer service and streaming service implosion.

DStv subscribers wanted to know why MultiChoice's IT-division and Connected Video's development team division is deploying major system changes during peak TV viewing hours.

DStv subscribers were fuming about missing live so-called "appointment television" ranging from the final of the English Premier League season closer, UEFA League semi-finals, the cricket league IPL final, the ATP tennis final to The Voice South Africa and Carte Blanche on M-Net, Date My Family on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and others.

"I am sure that Netflix is having a good laugh at you right now. I can well imagine they will avoid any developer who has you as their previous employer," remarked a DStv subscriber.

"You guys are becoming as reliable as Eskom! Where do you go to from here South Africa for a reliable cost-affordable viewing alternative?" asked Graeme Borrill.

"DStv, if you guys can't ensure stable live streaming, maybe you shouldn't offer it until you can. So much for the final game of the season for me," said Stalliano.

"DStv what a joke, no wonder you are losing subscribers!" said Nakkiran Sunassee. "DStv thanks for once again providing the worst service beating places like Eskom and Telkom. All I want to do is watch the Premier League title race," complained Ruan Vlok.

Raen Reddy said "DStv what is up with your bloody app? Every time something important is on TV it says service unavailable. Sort this out."

"DStv is useless. Just spoilt my viewing today," said Christopher.

MultiChoice also blocked DStv subscribers on Twitter who complained, like Craig who said "DStv why did you block me???? You have NO reason!!! Childish behaviour. YOUR service is down and now you show How Much You Care when we complain".

Karl Reed said "DStv Now has been down since 4pm, it's now 6:41pm. 2 hours 41 minutes and still nothing. Ridiculous. I will be cancelling my subscription when my paid-up service comes to an end - you now loose 2 subscriptions. Hello Netflix, Amazon Prime and ESPN".

Steven Erasmus said "I am travelling, believing I can watch the IPL final and M-Net movie. But NO! DStv Now decide it will give me Error 500 for the 4th time since Thursday. You have done the impossible "UPGRADING" a site to be completely useless. Go Netflix."

"How bloody long is this still going to take?" asked Arno on Sunday night at 19:45 after hours of the DStv Now still not working with no communication from MultiChoice about what happened and when the service would be restored. "Why the hell have you not made a public statement about your inability to fix a problem for 4 days? Or are you just hoping for the problem to go away? Typical behaviour of a monopoly."

Kane Mason gave MultiChoice advice by referring them to read the book, Chaos Engineering.

"DStv here is a book, written by members of the Netflix team, explaining how to prevent your site from going down a million times a day, highly recommend you read."

Craig asked MultiChoice: "You didn't by any chance inadvertently allow Steve Hofmeyr in to do some technical work, did you?"

"I can understand that streaming to thousands of users is a hard technical problem to solve but surely keeping the TV guide going should be doable DStv?" said Ruan Viljoen.

@DStv Well done on ensuring a frustrating weekend of watching through the DSTVNow platform. I am sure that Netflix are having a good laugh at you right now. I can well imagine they will avoid any developer who has you as their previous employer.

— Stultus Ruet Ultro (@stultusruetultr) May 12, 2019

@DStv you guys are becoming as reliable as eskom! Where do we go to from here South Africa for a reliable cost affordable viewing alternative?

— Graeme Borrill (@Barrel23) May 12, 2019

@DStv if you guys can’t ensure stable live streaming, maybe you shouldn’t offer it until you can...so much for the final game of the season for me.

— Stalliano (@Stalliano15) May 12, 2019

.@DStv What a joke, no wonder you are losing subscribers! pic.twitter.com/jt8Ei06mqt

— Nakkiran Sunassee (@Nakkiran) May 12, 2019

@DStv thanks for once again providing the worst service beating places like @Eskom_SA and @TelkomZA All I want to do is watch the @premierleague title race...

— Ruan Vlok (@vlokkiefosho) May 12, 2019

@DStv what is up with ur bloody app? Everytime something important is on TV, says service unavailable!!! Sort this out

— raenissa (@Raenreddy) May 12, 2019

DSTV IS USELESS. Just spoilt my viewing today

— Christopher (@brittonfam) May 12, 2019

@DStv Why did you block me???? You have NO reason!!! Childish behaviour. YOUR service is down and now you show How Much You Care when we complain!! #DStvNow @DStvCare @hellopetercom

— ⒸЯΛIG ƧЩΛП (@Craig_Pod) May 12, 2019

We couldn't connect because the Dstv Now had a case of the stupid. Well done for spoiling our Sunday sport watching. Sort it out. #dstv @DStv

— Raygon De Bruin (@raygon84) May 12, 2019

@DStv DSTV Now has been down since 4pm, it's now 6:41pm. 2hr 41min and still nothing... Ridiculous. I will be CANCELLING my Subs when my Paid up service comes to an end - you now loose 3 x Subs. Hello NetFlix, Amazon Prime and ESPN.

— Karl Reed (@KarlWMReed) May 12, 2019

@DStv I am traveling believing I can watch ipl final and mnet movie. But NO!!!!! dstv now decide it will give me error 500 for the the 4th time since Thursday. You have done the impossible "UPGRADING" a site to be completely useless. Go Netflix

— Steven Erasmus (@DieStyf) May 12, 2019

How bloody long is this still gonna take? Why the hell have you not made a public statement about your inability to fix a problem for 4 days? Or are you just hoping for the problem to go away? Typical behaviour of a momopoly

— Arno (@spiderman1912) May 12, 2019

@DStv here is a book, written by members of the Netflix team, explaining how to prevent your site from going down a million times a day, highly recommend you read: https://t.co/mmTQVvhApQ

— Kane Mason (@KaneMason) May 12, 2019

U didn't by any chance in inadvertently allow @steve_Hofmeyr in to do some technical work, did u?

— TheeonlyCraig (@theeonlycraig) May 12, 2019

I can understand that streaming to thousands of users is a hard technical problem to solve, but surely keeping the TV Guide going should be doable @DStv? pic.twitter.com/jmTKmRZhEH

— Ruan Viljoen (@ruanviljoen) May 12, 2019

@DStvCare thanks my problem has been resolved! You guys have been helpful. I can’t thank you enough! I can finally watch the football and IPL final which ended 2 hours ago 👍🏽 you guys are definitely not the shit service providers I spoke about earlier #DSTV #ThanksForNothing pic.twitter.com/nb4EbDtm89

— Keishi_P (@K_Keishan) May 12, 2019