Why you should downgrade your DStv Premium subscription by one tier level right now to get it back cheaper in December - and customers on other packages should too

by Thinus Ferreira

DStv subscribers who want to save money and still get the same content - especially DStv Premium subscribers - should immediately downgrade their subscription to one lower package, so that they get upgraded, automatically, in December to their "usual" package but paying the lower monthly fee.

Yesterday afternoon MultiChoice announced that from 10 November to 31 December 2025, DStv decoder subscribers will be upgraded by one DStv subscription bracket. 

That's very bad news for Dstv Premium subscribers on the highest and most expensive tier since they're not getting an upgrade to additional content, although they're paying the most and are supposedly the most valuable customers and biggest contributors to MultiChoice's ARPU (average revenue per user).

Lower-tiered DStv subscribers are upgraded for free until the end of 2025 by one tier level but do not pay the subscription fee of that level. DStv Premium subscribers are not upgraded and have to keep paying the DStv Premium subscription fee.

Consumers, especially DStv Premium subscribers, should however consider and find out about the possibility of downgrading right now to one lower DStv tier. 

If this is possible, a DStv Premium subscriber who downgrades to DStv Premium Compact Plus, will then be bumped back up to DStv Premium in December - the tier the customer was on, although only paying the monthly fee of DStv Compact Plus.

Similarly, DStv Compact Plus decoder customers who are able to downgrade now to DStv Compact, would be moved back up to DStv Compact Plus but pay the lower fee for DStv Compact. 

This theoretically would work for all DStv package tiers. It makes no sense as consumers who are concerned about their discretionary monthly spending, to keep paying more for "so much more" when you can pay less and then still get the same - at least for December 2025.

Contact MultiChoice immediately and ask a customer service agent on the phone at 011 289 2222 (get ready to wait, since you're going to be on hold for a long time, but be persistent) if you can downgrade immediately by one package level.

Ask if you will be moved up at the end of November automatically, without paying that price.

If you decide to use the online DStv chatbot TUMI - don't! The tabsolutel horrible hing doesn't work and won't help with what you really need to accomplish as a MultiChoice customer. Keep typing "agent", "agent", "agent" until a service agent who is a human, "enters the chat".

Also be prepared: MultiChoice's service agents here are disinterested in helping. Personally, I've never been helped satisfactorily once with this. Also be prepared for them to enter chat conversations and leave, and come back after long waits on every single reply.

These customer service agents are obviously doing multiple chats at the same time. After your responses, you will wait for a very long time. 

And you have to sit and check, or they will close the conversation when you didn't respond. So you have to answer immediately when they respond, although you will wait very long until they suddenly pop back in and go "Are you still there?"

You will be put off by this and be frustrated, so rather do a phone call about your account, and if you do the chat, be prepared to battle, wait and match wits with someone who is actually having multiple typing conversations going on besides yours, at the same time.

By downgrading one tier, if you're able to you will still get the same viewing and DStv content, atl least for one month, although you will be paying less. 

It will take some effort, but why waste money paying for your existing DStv tier, when you can get it at a lower subscription fee?

ALSO READ: Nothing for DStv Premium subscribers as MultiChoice one-ups other packages until 2026, increases decoder subsidies to try and boost sagging subs numbers

ALSO READ: MultiChoice ups DStv Premium streaming limit for decoder users to 4 in attempt to lure back abandoned customers

MultiChoice: Why Showmax Pro isn't cannibalising DStv's M-Net and SuperSport viewers.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice says the premium tier of its own video streaming service, Showmax Pro, isn't cannibalising its existing base of DStv Premium subscribers paying for and watching premium content on traditional linear pay-TV channels like M-Net and SuperSport.

MultiChoice says existing premium pay-TV customers are not deciding to rather switch to Showmax Pro since the sports offering is limited and actually more comparable to DStv Compact, with a bigger focus on football content and not so much cricket and rugby content that's only accessible on higher DStv tiers.

MultiChoice released its interim financial results for the six months until end-September 2022 with its top-end premium subscriber base that shrunk by another 3% and 100 000 subscribers in South Africa. Its mid-market subscribers in South Africa shrunk by 100 000 DStv subscribers as well.

MultiChoice still managed to grow its overall number of pay-TV subscribers to 22.1 million customers and now has 9.1 million (41%) pay-TV subscribers in South Africa and 13 million (59%) in the rest of Africa (ROA).

In its interim results investors' call, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, said "Showmax Pro is basically trying to make sure that those customers that are subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) customers and are not on the linear side of the business, are able to get sport over and above the SVOD offering that we give on Showmax".

"We have seen people that are on Showmax, trying to figure out how to get sport and that's why we gave them an offer which is similar to a DStv Compact offer, and the line-up of sports is similar to what is offered on Compact."

He said "we have seen a good traction in Showmax Pro and that's why we are reporting that subscriber numbers have almost doubled in this reporting period and we think that it has got legs to stand on and will continue to expand on it and make sure that we support it and people can see the value that it brings, especially to SVOD customers that are not interested in the linear side".

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Group chief financial officer (CFO) said "we don't see this necessarily as a massive substitution risk or a cannibalisation risk on our linear platform (DStv) because the sports offering is largely football, which is priced at a similar pricing level to what you can get football on DStv Compact Plus, but it addresses a different market segment that doesn't necessarily want to buy a DStv decoder".

"They want to rather operate in a more of a streaming kind of world. It's not that a premium customer will kind of substitute a premium package for a Showmax Pro package and then be watching cricket and rugby. It is a more limited sports package in there."

"It is still good. It's got most of the football leagues. And for the football fans it's a very attractive offering. But it is targeted at a very specific part of the market," he said.

About its commented video and video streaming subscriber growth, Tim Jacobs said that MultiChoice doesn't want to give specific Showmax, Showmax Pro and DStv subscriber and user numbers since it wants to keep this from competitors like Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video and other global streaming services operating in the same space in South Africa.

"Unfortunately we've made a decision, given the competitive space that we're operating in, and the fact that we don't get much information from any of the participants in this space, to be very cagey about what information we share."

"It's just simply too competitively price-sensitive. So we don't disclose what those splits are, even in subscriber numbers or top-line revenue. What we do do, is give everybody a very clear indication as to the direction that we're travelling in and the relative quantum of what that looks like."

ALSO READ: As Eskom blackouts bite MultiChoice its premium DStv subscriber segment declines by another 3%.

MultiChoice: Despite erosion DStv Premium subscriber segment remains important.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice says its top-end and most-valuable DStv Premium subscribers which saw ongoing customer erosion for a fifth year in a row remain important and that it's adapting to try and lower churn in this segment as customers cancelled because of affordability, emigration and a content slate not matching changing viewer needs.

MultiChoice meanwhile has set itself the target of spending half of its annual general entertainment budget on local content produced in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa by 2024, as it discovered that its content line-up for its mid-market DStv subscribers has been unhelpful in retaining them.

Speaking to investors on the company's annual investors call, following the publication of its latest financial results for the year ending on 31 March 2022, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said the company has been "reviewing its dependence on the Premium base by actively growing the mid and mass-market customer base".

During the period, the company's DStv Premium subscriber base again shrank by 4%.

By the end of the published financial year, MultiChoice had 1.4 million DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers in South Africa, with the Randburg-based satellite pay-TV service continuing to see its subscriber growth now coming from its mass-market focused, lower-tiered DStv packages.

The decrease in DStv Premium subscribers, and increase in lower-tiered DStv customers, as part of the overall DStv subscriber base mix, means that MultiChoice's blended average revenue per user (ARPU) once again dropped further from R277 to R269.   

Premium DStv subscribers are leaving for video streaming options like Netflix SA and others, saying that DStv Premium no longer offers enough value for the high consumer price point.

"The past few years saw an erosion in our Premium base due to pressure on affordability in a tough economic environment, a rise in emigration, and a content slate that was perhaps not optimised for the changing demographics of our customer base," Calvo Mawela told investors. 

"Given its absolute contribution, Premium remains important and retention has been a key focus of our recent strategy. Our efforts are paying off and this year saw a welcome deceleration in the rate of decline from 8% last year to only 4%."

He said "another key part of our strategy for the South African business which is maturing at the high end is the launch of new products and services to grow ARPU (average revenue per user) over time".

Calvo Mawela told investors that MultiChoice's "content teams will continue to invest behind our local content strategy where we are targeting to spend half of our annual general entertainment budget on local content by the 2024 financial year."

"The year ahead will not be without challenges. High inflation is likely to affect consumers across our markets and some may have to reprioritise their spending in the short term. At the same time, people are likely to spend more time at home, which could be a positive for us," he said.

Lots of consumers under pressure

"We have always said that we think DStv Premium will get to a stage where it stabilises because everybody that will be on Premium, will be at the higher end of the market that will like to have all video entertainment at a given point in time," he said.

"We believe that we're getting close to that stabilisation point where we'll have the high end sitting on Premium, and marginal increases in pricing will not affect them that much."

"In the mid-segment, as we've reported, we are seeing a lot of consumers under pressure as a result of unemployment, and people having lost their jobs and that is an area that we think is still going to be a pain point in the financial year," he explained.

DStv content line-up unhelpful

Calvo Mawela told investors "what we are beginning to pick up as well in the middle segment is that our content line-up as well has not helped in this regard, especially towards the end of the financial year".

"We think it will be a pain point but we are actively working hard to make sure that we retain as much customers as we can."

"Mass market will continue to grow; we don't see any problems there. We think the product demonstrates value and people love our product very well and we have not seen a slowdown in decoder sales in South Africa in the mass market."

MultiChoice adds 900 000 subscribers during its 2022 financial year but continues to shed DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus customers.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice further grew its DStv and GOtv pay-TV subscribers for its financial year that ended 31 March 2022 by just over 900 000 subscribers, although it keeps shedding its most valuable top-end DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers.

In its latest financial results, MultiChoice announced that it managed to add roughly 900 000 subscribers, bringing it to 9 011 000 DStv subscribers in South Africa (41% of the total) and 12 793 000 in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa (59% of the total). 

MultiChoice's 90-day blended average revenue per user (ARPU) once again dropped further from R277 to R269.

While MultiChoice grew its overall subscriber base, its group of DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers in South Africa - the operator's most valuable clients - as part of its overall subscriber mix declined by another 4% over the financial year. 

This 4%-decline with 1.4 million subscribers in this group by the end of the financial year, is however half of the 8%-decline that happened between the 2020 to 2021 financial year. MultiChoice's share of mid-market subscribers in South Africa also declined by 6% with the company that now has 2.8 million DStv Compact and DStv Commercial subscribers.

MultiChoice's growth came from lower DStv packages for the mass market, with DStv Access and DStv EasyView subscribers which showed growth of 7% from 4.6 million to 4.9 million subscribers in South Africa during the financial year. 

As MultiChoice gets locked out of more and more Hollywood studios funnelling their best content to their own video streaming service to grow scale, MultiChoice says it's continuing to increasingly focus on producing its own local content and had managed to increased its local content production by 32% year-on-year to 6 028 hours over the reported financial year. MultiChoice now has a local content library of close to 70 000 hours. 

Local content accounted for 47% of total general entertainment content spend and  MultiChoice says the Randburg-based pay-TV operator remains on track to achieve a target of 50% by 2024.

Paying subscribers for Showmax, MultiChoice's video-on-demand streaming service, were up 68% year-on-year, whilst overall monthly online users of MultiChoice's connected video services increased 28% year-on-year.

In South Africa, MultiChoice says it faced an increasingly difficult consumer climate with DStv growth rates impacted by rising unemployment levels, Eskom's electricity blackouts and the social unrest in July 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg.

MultiChoice says that in the year ahead it will continue to drive penetration of its video entertainment services across the African continent by offering subscribers "an array of unique and rich media content delivered in a convenient and cost-effective way".

"Local content and select sporting events such as the English Premier league, UEFA Champions League and the 2022 FIFA World Cup will contribute to the growth in linear and streaming services."

Over the financial year MultiChoice says it managed to sell over 100 000 DStv Explora Ultra decoders and that its DStv Rewards loyalty programme is approaching 1 million users after 18 months.

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, in a statement says the pay-TV operator "will look to further expand our entertainment ecosystem by identifying growth opportunities that leverage our scale and local capabilities".

MultiChoice gives some DStv subscribers a R49 discount if they add Disney+ at R119 but a R110 DStv Access Fee is also required.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has revealed how it will tie Disney+ SA into its DStv offering, with the traditional pay-TV operator who will give R49 off to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers who add Disney+ as a streaming service to their existing DStv subscription.

DStv Family, DStv Access and DStv EasyView subscribers are also able to add Disney+ to their existing DStv subscription but won't get any discount.

DStv subscribers who add Disney+ to their existing account, will pay one MultiChoice debit order for their subscription to DStv.

Disney+ launches today in South Africa as a stand-alone over-the-top (OTT) subscription video-on-demand service for R119 per month or R1190 as an annual subscription.

Disney+ will however also be available as an app on MultiChoice's DStv Explora Ultra decoder next to Netflix SA and Amazon Prime Video as part of commercial partnership with The Walt Disney Company, with DStv subscribers from the top three packages will be able to subscribe through DStv and then get R49 off of the R119 per month fee.

Oddly, MultiChoice states in its terms and conditions for Disney+ for these packages that "This offer terminates 31 March 2021, after which the discount will be discontinued".

MultiChoice is offering DStv subscribers who are part of its DStv Rewards loyalty programme three months of Disney+ for free.

A DStv subscriber who takes up Disney+ through MultiChoice, can only add one Disney+ subscription to their account. When a DStv subscriber's account is suspended for non-payment or by request, Disney+ will be suspended and stop working as well.

A DStv subscriber must pay the DStv Access Fee of R110 in addition to a Disney+ subscription fee for Disney+ to work. The DStv Access fee enables access to DStv Catch Up, DStv BoxOffice and Disney+.

With the R49 per month discount, a DStv Premium subscriber taking Disney+ with DStv Access fee will therefore pay R1019 per month, a DStv Compact Plus subscriber will pay R729, and a DStv Compact subscriber will pay R609.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice starts giving Disney+ for free to DStv subscribers.

ALSO READ: Disney+ in South Africa: The screens you'll watch and how to pay - with one notable catch.

ALSO READ: How you can watch Disney+ in South Africa from 18 May for R19.79 per month - or less than the price of a litre of petrol.

ALSO READ: 4 months free: Disney+ in South Africa sweetens introductory annual subscription fee.

ALSO READ: Disney+: The Complete Launch List of its vast video vault for SA. 

M-Net's identity crisis with video streaming content set to grow in 2022 as it becomes a windowing channel for Showmax with Devilsdorp; MultiChoice double-dipping shows consumers why they don't need to subscribe to Showmax.

by Thinus Ferreira

In one value-destructive go, MultiChoice is damaging both its premium M-Net (DStv 101) channel, and its attempts to try and push consumers to subscribe to its Showmax video streaming service, by scheduling something like the Showmax Original documentary series, Devilsdorp, on the blue ribbon channel.

Devilsdorp - a so-called Showmax" exclusive", is clearly not that exclusive - with M-Net suddenly playing "window channel" curtain-raiser for the local documentary series that will be screened on M-Net from tonight as an also-ran and burnt off in double episodes.

Barely 5 months after it was released on Showmax.

M-Net is supposedly the most premium TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv Premium bouquet but cracks have been starting to show as Hollywood studios have been allocating premium content to their international video streamers and not making it available through their international distributor channels for channels like M-Net to acquire.

M-Net is also making unforced errors by not acquiring content like WarnerMedia's Harry Potter 20th anniversary reunion for HBO Max that is premium and is new (which is available and was acquired by Sky in the United Kingdom, for instance).

Also denting its image is M-Net's inexplicable move to becoming a so-called "windowing channel" for content that has already been seen elsewhere, first.

M-Net has never been a windowing channel, meaning M-Net never used to punch down with content to re-air stuff that's been shown elsewhere already, previously. M-Net has always punched up.

Due to the content shortage because of the Covid-19 pandemic, M-Net did rebroadcast the first Showmax Original series, The Girl from St. Agnes in 2020, but that was supposed to be a one-off. 

But now M-Net is showing Showmax's Devilsdorp like reheat-and-eat Christmas-leftovers from 2021 warmed up and redished in double servings for 2022. 

It's sending several (bad) signals to DStv subscribers and video consumers in general, damaging both the perceived allure of M-Net and Showmax.

Firstly, MultiChoice, M-Net and Showmax are sending the message that you don't have to worry about getting Showmax. 

Apparently, anything that is worth watching on Showmax will eventually be on M-Net - just wait.

Similar to how basically all of MultiChoice and M-Net's premium content for DStv Premium subscribers are cycled down over time to lower-tiered DStv packages, Showmax content will apparently eventually be "windowed" on M-Net.

Secondly, M-Net that used to be the showstopper main act and never before played or accepted supporting actor billing, is now apparently quite willing to take on a supporting role to literally showcase Showmax. It's bizarre and feels as if something is broken. 

Is the M-Net kitty and content cupboard so bare that it's now okay to repurpose Showmax content?

And for Showmax subscribers: Why bother subscribing to Showmax or Showmax Pro and pay for that (or pay extra for that in addition to a DStv subscription) if Showmax is just going to have its content be windowed on M-Net anyway after a few months?

MultiChoice is deliberately inflicting damage on both M-Net (DStv 101) as a DStv channel, as well as Showmax here, diluting the value proposition and premium content proposition of both in one bizarre and badly thought-out move.

Is someone watching Devilsdorp on M-Net (DStv 101) going to think: "Wow, I'm watching a Showmax Original, I need to get Showmax?" No. 

The DStv subscriber is going to think: "I'm watching something on M-Net, I don't need to subscribe to anything else because it will be on M-Net eventually anyway". The DStv subscribers might also think: "Why is M-Net showing old stuff?" This all damages M-Net's brand image.

Why are MultiChoice and M-Net turning the channel into a second child willingly wearing hand-me-downs?

A Showmax subscriber on the other hand who discovers that Devilsdorp is suddenly also on M-Net (DStv 101) might think: "Why am I paying for Showmax for exclusive content if it's all going to be on DStv?" This damages Showmax's brand image.

Devilsdorp that used to be on Showmax starts a rebroadcast run on M-Net on Thursday night at 21:30 with double episodes.

M-Net cancels Legacy after two seasons, renews The River for a 5th season on 1Magic; Nomsa Philiso upped to MultiChoice programming boss.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net (DStv 101) has cancelled Legacy with its local telenovela produced by Tshedza Pictures that will end after two seasons and with M-Net saying that DStv subscribers no longer want to watch long-running telenovelas.

In stark contrast, M-Net just renewed The River for another DStv Premium channel, 1 Magic (DStv 103) for a 5th season.

In other news Nomsa Philiso has also been promoted to MultiChoice programming boss, replacing Nkateko Mabaso.

M-Net says the DStv Premium channel will be "exploring new avenues to entertain its loyal viewers in order to cater to their new and evolving desire for limited series".

New episodes of Legacy will continue to be on M-Net until September 2022 with episodes that will be produced until mid-February 2022.

"Our viewership surveys guide us to adapt our content to the evolving needs of our customers. Whilst Legacy is a popular show, M-Net (DStv 101) customers have indicated that they now want more limited series rather than long-running telenovelas, says Nomsa Philiso who has been upped into a new position as MultiChoice Group executive head for programming.

Until now Nomsa Philiso has been M-Net director of local entertainment channels with MultiChoice that made no announcement about her promotion.

"The success of our local strategy depends on how well we tune into what our customers would like to see on their screens," says Nomsa Philiso.

Nomsa Philiso says that M-Net and Tshedza Pictures will be "managing the impact" of the cancellation of Legacy on the show's cast and crew.

"We would like to thank our loyal viewers on M-Net (DStv 101) and Showmax and assure them that we have exciting plans for our content for 2022. We will share more news on our local content offering in due course."

Phathu Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon, co-owners of Tshedza Productions, in a joint statement say that "Working with M-Net (DStv 101) has always been a dream for us as a company, and we thank the channel for their incredible support and encouragement in bringing Legacy to life".

"All our writers, crew members and actors have poured their hearts and souls into this project. We applaud MultiChoice Group for continuing to support local content and look forward to working on other exciting projects in future."

MultiChoice keeps losing thousands of DStv Premium subscribers - this DStv top-end churn is putting its slate of premium content at risk.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice keeps losing its most-valuable DStv Premium subscribers who no longer see the expensive offering as providing enough value for money - something that puts pressure on budgets and spells danger for the future existence of the existing slate of premium content and TV channels available to its top-bouquet customers.

Just as MultiChoice and M-Net once grew in top-end DStv subscribers leading to increased budgets - justifying the risk of bigger spending on more expensive shows catering to a more discerning and upmarket audience and in turn attracting more lucrative advertisers willing to pay more for more expensive DStv Media Sales ad spots - there is now the danger of the opposite happening.

As MultiChoice's percentage of DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers keep falling as part of the overall subscriber mix due to MultiChoice's shift in focus to rather offer a bigger value proposition to mass-market customers on lower-tiered DStv bouquets, this shift will sooner or later have a knock-on effect and start to impact premium content budgets.

It will likely become increasingly more difficult for MultiChoice content cost centres - specifically M-Net, kykNET, MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax, as well as the division working on acquiring and retaining premium third-party linear TV channels carriage agreements on DStv - to justify spending on big-budget items, shows, projects and expensive TV channels if this premium audience is small and dwindling.

MultiChoice already ran into trouble with Blood Psalms from Yellowbone Entertainment that was supposed to have started last month on Showmax, with the October debut of the most expensive TV series yet filmed in South Africa now delayed by several months to possibly February 2022.

Blood Psalms is due millions of rand in unpaid money it requires to complete post-production work. The due payouts, as part of South Africa's stalled film rebate scheme, ran by the department of trade, industry and competition (DTIC), were abruptly cancelled.

MultiChoice isn't able to simply take over Blood Psalms enormous production costs financed through the film rebate scheme. 

The Blood Psalms scandal has led to warning lights flashing for possible future big-budget local productions for pay-TV that might not be deemed feasible or worth the effort to make in South Africa if top-end subscribers don't exist in big enough numbers to justify the spending and trouble.

While MultiChoice's overall content cost and spending on general entertainment and sports content continue to grow, it also means that MultiChoice is facing increasing internal pressure on the type of content the pay-TV operator will and can spend money on.

The likely outcome, if DStv Premium subscribers continue to decline, is that less money will be allocated for the production of expensive local shows like Survivor SA on M-Net (DStv 101) only accessible for DStv Premium subscribers; with the loss of more premium third-party TV channels like BBC First, and more money allocated for mass-market shows like Uyajola 9/9 on Moja Love (DStv 157).

Showmax growing but DStv Premium under pressure

On Thursday afternoon MultiChoice released its interim financial results for the 6 months until the end of September 2021 that revealed that the pay-TV operator not only continues to bleed top-end DStv subscribers but that mid-tier subscribers are also abandoning its offering.

Overall MultiChoice added 1 million subscribers in the 6 months to the end of September 2021 and now has 21.1 million pay-TV subscribers.

South Africa remains the pay-TV operator's country with the largest subscriber base (12.2 million, 58%) with 8.9 million subscribers (42%) across sub-Saharan Africa (RoA).

In the 6 months under review, MultiChoice however lost over another 100 000 DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers decreasing another 5%, and DStv Compact and DStv Commercial customers declining by 1% from 2.9 million to 2.8 million subscribers.

The top-end loss is made up for ongoing lower-tiered subscriber growth, increasing from 8.7 to 8.9 million subscribers. The number of mass-market DStv Family, DStv Access, and DStv EasyView subscribers grew by 6% from 4.4 million to 4.7 million.

The result is that MultiChoice's monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) continues to decline, this time by another 2% from R278 to R273. 

What it means is that although MultiChoice continues to have more subscribers, it makes less money per subscriber since it keeps losing DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers who are its most valuable subscriber segment. 

Showmax subscribers are growing, however, with paying Showmax subscribers increasing by 42% and with overall online users increasing 33% from the prior period, "representing a 3% gain in share of the African OTT market since December 2020," MultiChoice says.

Sport is not luring DStv Premium subscribers back or stemming DStv subscriber churn as MultiChoice suggested would be the case earlier this year.

In June, MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela told investors that rugby broadcasts are one of the biggest drivers of DStv Premium uptake and that the loss of rugby because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was a very big reason behind the ongoing decline in DStv Premium subscribers in the previous financial year.

"What we've seen is that as a result of the lack of rugby, you see people coming down, but as soon as rugby comes back, you see people going up," Calvo Mawela said,.

However, while rugby and other sport did return to SuperSport the past few months, DStv Premium subscribers didn't.

MultiChoice: Local content remains important

About its latest 6-month financial results, MultiChoice says that local content continues to be "a core part of the group's differentiation strategy".

MultiChoice says that it has "stepped up its investment in local content by producing 2 692 additional hours (41% year-on-year growth). As a result, the total local content library is now approaching 66 000 hours and represents 45% of total general entertainment content spend, which was the group's full-year target".

"In South Africa, local documentary Devilsdorp became the most viewed programme of all time on Showmax."

"In Nigeria, Big Brother Naija delivered record viewership and advertising revenues and has become one of Nigeria's most loved reality brands."

"Reyka, a global co-production with Fremantle was broadcast to critical acclaim during Sunday night prime time, while a further four co-productions (Recipes for Love and Murder, Crime and Justice season 2, Pulse and The Fix) are currently in production. Interest in the group's content is at an all-time high, with 121 series sold to international buyers, seven times more than last year."

"In addition to compelling local stories, MultiChoice continues to broadcast the best of sport. The group renewed the rights to Serie A,  the FA Cup, the European Football Championship and the new United Rugby Championship."

Disney+ won't bedevil DStv

Hidden away in the small print of MultiChoice's 6-month financial results is relief for DStv subscribers fearing that they will lose The Disney Channel, Disney Junior or National Geographic when The Walt Disney Company launches its Disney+ video streaming service from around June 2022 in South Africa. 

Disney's channels were culled elsewhere as linear pay-TV channels like in the United Kingdom when Disney+ launched, forcing traditional pay-TV subscribers to switch to streaming, although DStv Premium subscribers won't abruptly lose access to Disney - at least not initially.

"On the international content front, channel agreements with Disney (including the kids and National Geographic channels) were secured to 2024," MultiChoice says.

DStv Flex: MultiChoice looking at creating a DStv skinny bundle with sport as add-on package.

by Thinus Ferreira

After 25 years MultiChoice is testing breaking up its combined entertainment and sports channels offering and unbundling it - through offering DStv subscribers a much cheaper, yet still premium collection of entertainment TV channels in a so-called "skinny bundle", now sitting alongside an optional add-on package of sports channels.

If MultiChoice does break up its existing DStv pay-TV bundle by spinning out sport into optional, separate, add-on TV packs it would represent the biggest structural change to its value bundling and the packaging of pay-TV content in Africa in a quarter of a century. 

As part of a new possible DStv bouquet structuring plan, MultiChoice is looking at allowing DStv subscribers to choose their sport channels - the most expensive content - separately in the form of 3 different, optional, add-on sports packages each containing various bundled SuperSport and ESPN channels.

The Randburg-based operator is facing growing pressure and pay-TV competition from global video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in its own backyard - with several more like Disney+, HBO Max, Discovery+ and Paramount+ set to be introduced in Africa in the future.

As a result, MultiChoice has now been testing a dramatic package unbundling and asking feedback from potential pay-TV customers about a radical DStv restructuring option that it is calling "DStv Flex" and that would function as a less bloated, so-called "skinny bundle".

MultiChoice spokesperson Sbu Mpungose didn't respond with answers to a set of questions in a media enquiry made about DStv Flex and that includes questions about MultiChoice's consumer research being done into the unbundling of its sports content.

The aim of "DStv Flex" is to try and keep highly-prized DStv Premium customers within MultiChoice's subscriber base - a fast-dwindling top-end subscriber segment - and to try and limit the growing churn of premium DStv subscribers.

MultiChoice executives now think that there are very likely enough potential premium DStv subscribers in South Africa who are not interested in paying for sports channels - for instance, consumers who have jumped to Netflix SA but who would likely remain subscribed, or return to, a DStv Flex entertainment pack of R299 per month filled with premium TV channels and that would offer premium general entertainment content only.

If consumers stay subscribed to a sport-free and therefore cheaper yet still premium package, MultiChoice would also start to stem the ongoing TV ratings erosion of premium pay-TV channels like M-Net, Discovery Channel, kykNET and others.

As more and more subscribers abandon MultiChoice's expensively priced DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus packages, these individual premium pay-TV channels that were already pulling in smaller audiences than mass-market channels on lower bouquets, have been experiencing further viewership declines as their potential pay-TV audiences keep shrinking.

This is something that will eventually start to negatively impact DStv Media Sales ad rates for these premium-packaged channels and MultiChoice's advertising revenue as well.

Flexibility to finally pick-and-choose DStv how you want

As part of new market research, MultiChoice has been directly targeting potential pay-TV consumers, like former DStv Premium subscribers who have left, asking their opinions in a set of questions.

MultiChoice wants to know if they would return to DStv and a possible "DStv Flex" subscription that would consist out of a basic entertainment pack priced at R299 for premium content, with sports and movies as optional add-on packages.

MultiChoice wants to know if former DStv Premium subscribers feel that DStv Flex, together with the various optional sport add-on packages are structured enticingly enough.

With DStv Flex, subscribers would get a compulsory entertainment TV channels package consisting out of 64 linear TV channels for R299. 

This would include M-Net, kykNET, 1Magic, Mzansi Magic Moja Love, Comedy Central, FOX, BBC Brit, BET and 10 more channels; movie channels like M-Net Movies 3, M-Net Movies 4, TNT and Studio Universal; as well as kids channels like Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and 4 more.

The basic DStv Flex pack would also include documentary and lifestyle channels like National Geographic, History, Food Network, Discovery Channel and 3 more; News channels like eNCA, CNN International, Sky News, SABC News and 3 more; music and religion channels like MTV, Trace Urban, Channel O, 1Gospel and 5 more; as well as free-to-air channels like e.tv, SABC1, SABC2, SABC3 and 7 more. 

To this entertainment pack, MultiChoice, for the first time ever, would offer sport as an add-on in the form of three different sport packs that could be switched on in any month, and that could be cancelled and removed from the basic subscription from month-to-month as a subscriber wants to.

There would be Sport pack 1 for R349 per month that has football and all other sport besides rugby and cricket, Sport pack 2 for R349 per month that has rugby and all other sport but not football, and Sport pack 3 for R499 per month that has all sports similar to what DStv Premium currently offers.  

Sport pack 1 will have the SuperSport channels of EPL, PSL, Football, Golf, Motorsport, Action, La Liga, Tennis, Variety 1-4, as well as ESPN and ESPN2.

Sport pack 2 will carry the SuperSport channels of Rugby, Cricket, Motorsport, Action, Golf, Tennis, Variety 1-4, and ESPN2.

Sport pack 3 will have the SuperSport channels of Grandstand, Rugby, Cricket, Action, PSL, Motorsport, Football, La Liga, Golf, EPL, Variety 1-4, Tennis, as well as ESPN and ESPN2.

DStv Flex subscribers would also get the option to bolt on the existing, optional Add Movies package for R99 per month that has the M-Net Movies 1, M-Net Movies 2 and fliekNET channels. 

DStv Flex subscribers would be able to stick with just the basic entertainment package of 64 TV channels, add any of the three sports packages if they want, have the option to add just the movies package, or would be able to add both a sports package and the movies pack.

MultiChoice wants to know from former DStv subscribers whether they feel that the sport add-on's appeal enough to different types of sports lovers, for instance, soccer fans and rugby fans, or why not.

MultiChoice also wants to know how likely a DStv subscriber would be to add on one of the sports packages if they are offered as an optional add-on to a basic subscription.

If sport is spun loose

Until now MultiChoice has been adamant that it's not possible to extract and spin off its SuperSport content from its existing, tiered and bundled DStv packages.

However, overseas pay-TV operators, like Sky in the United Kingdom, have realigned their bundled pay-TV content and spun out sports content as separate add-on packages. 

Sky for instance now offers Sky Signature as a basic entertainment package for £27 (R537 per month), to which subscribers can add one or more TV packs like Sky Sports (£20/R397), BT Sport (£27/R537), Sky Cinema (£11/R219), as well as streamers like Netflix and Disney+.

MultiChoice could likely follow suit with a similar plan since it would align perfectly with its new strategy of pivoting to become a so-called "super-aggregator". 

MultiChoice is fast reshaping its traditional direct-to-home (DTH) satellite pay-TV business into becoming a platform for not just traditional linear TV channels but also over-the-top video streaming services like Showmax, Netflix and others.

MultiChoice is busy building out a new "bundle" of pick-and-choose services where the consumer is offered a "superstore"-carousel of TV choices - something that is putting increasing pressure on its existing traditional model of limited DStv packages that are no longer aligned for the binge-watching video streaming era where pay-TV consumers are seeking out specific shows instead of channels.

With the release of its latest 2020/21 financial results, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, said that sport - especially rugby and more precisely the lack of rugby during the last year because of the global Covid-19 pandemic - is the biggest driver behind DStv subscribers who are abandoning its premium bouquet offering. 

MultiChoice's new calculus is premised on the idea that if sport, and rugby as a content subset, were a separate add-on package, then at least some DStv subscribers would choose to remain subscribed to a basic entertainment package during the part of the year when certain sports or championships are out of season and not taking place.

Subscribers would just cancel the sport add-on and keep the rest of the premium bouquet of general entertainment content - instead of leaving entirely or downgrading to a lower-tiered DStv bouquet.

MultiChoice was asked when DStv Flex, with sport as a separate add-on package, could be introduced but didn't respond.

MultiChoice: '8 out of 10 DStv subscribers who switch to Netflix keep us'; lack of rugby broadcasts the big reason customers are abandoning DStv Premium.

by Thinus Ferreira

When a premium DStv subscriber switches to video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, 8 out of 10 subscribers decide to keep their DStv subscription as well although they might downgrade to a lower package MultiChoice's new market research has found, with the lack of live rugby broadcasts that is one of the biggest reasons why the DStv Premium subscriber base keeps shrinking.

On Thursday last week MultiChoice released the results for its financial year ending 31 March 2021, with the report that notes that another 100 000 premium DStv subscribers - DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus - have abandoned its top-end offering that they no longer see as offering enough value for money.

Although MultiChoice's overall pay-TV subscriber base grew thanks to an increase in its mass-market segment, its top-end customer segment in South Africa saw further erosion from 1.5 million to 1.4 million DStv subscribers - representing another 8% decrease in an ongoing decline in its most valuable subscribers.

The result is that MultiChoice's average revenue per user (ARPU) continues to decline for its customer base that brings in the most money, with the monthly ARPU of premium DStv customers that slid further from R588 to R580.

MultiChoice now has 20.9 million active subscribers of which 8.93 million (43%) are in South Africa - that remains the pay-TV operator's country with the largest subscriber base - and with 11.93 million (57%) combined in the rest of Africa (RoA).

"In terms of DStv Premium subscribers what we have seen is that we have customers who come down to the lower bouquets but at the same time we have customers who move on to the online platforms," Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, said on Friday in the pay-TV operator's bi-annual investors' call.

"Those DStv subscribers who move on to the over-the-top (OTT) platforms - what our research has given us - is that 8 out of 10 of those that move on to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video also remain on the DStv platform, which means that they stay in the lower bouquets."

Calvo Mawela noted that rugby broadcasts are one of the biggest drivers of DStv Premium uptake and that the loss of rugby because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is a very big reason behind the ongoing decline in its top-end subscribers.

"What we've seen is that as a result of the lack of rugby, you see people coming down, but as soon as rugby comes back, you see people going up."

"Because this past year has been a very difficult year for rugby - that's why we are seeing a significant number of DStv subscribers who have downgraded from DStv Premium as compared to the previous year."

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: We won't add on SABC TV Licence fees to DStv subscribers' bills and collect licensing fees on behalf of South Africa's public broadcaster.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice sheds another 100 000 premium DStv subscribers and with it comes further top-channels ratings share erosion - but that doesn't mean advertisers will pay less to reach these dwindling but sought-after viewers.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice coins it during Covid and grows to 20.9 million subscribers although it continues to shed top-end DStv customers jumping to video streaming.  

MultiChoice sheds another 100 000 premium DStv subscribers and with it comes further top-channels ratings share erosion - but that doesn't mean advertisers will pay less to reach these dwindling but sought-after viewers.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has shed another 100 000 highly-prized premium DStv subscribers over the past year with customers who no longer see its expensive top-end bouquet as offering enough value for money as they switch to video streaming - an exodus that's also having an ongoing negative impact on the TV ratings share of top-bundled channels like M-Net, Discovery Channel, SuperSport Grandstand and kykNET.

Ironically, the top-channel ratings erosion due to a smaller percentage of premium DStv subscribers having and watching these channels doesn't mean that advertisers will be paying less to reach this ever-decreasing share of sought-after viewers.

MultiChoice continues to lose its most-valuable DStv subscribers - those who pay the most for the most expensive packages in order to access premium entertainment and exclusive sports channels - with the ongoing churn that led to another 100 000 DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers who have abandoned these bouquets.

MultiChoice released its latest financial report for the year ending 31 March 2021 that indicates that although its overall pay-TV subscriber base grew thanks to an increase in its mass-market segment, its top-end customer segment in South Africa saw further erosion from 1.5 million to 1.4 million DStv subscribers - representing an 8% decrease.

MultiChoice's mid-market, comprising DStv Compact and DStv Commercial bouquets, grew by 3% from 2.9 to 3 million subscribers. 

The biggest growth came in the so-called mass-market bracket: DStv Family, DStv, Access and DStv EasyView bouquets.

This subscriber segment increased by 14% and roughly 600 000 subscribers in South Africa from 4 million to 4.6 million subscribers. 

MultiChoice now has 20.9 million active subscribers of which 8.93 million (43%) are in South Africa - that remains the pay-TV operator's country with the largest subscriber base - and with 11.93 million (57%) combined in the rest of Africa (RoA).

ARPU: Top end DStv subscriber revenue keeps falling

While MultiChoice is earning more revenue due to the ongoing growth of its overall DStv and GOtv subscriber base, MultiChoice continues to see a slide in what it makes per individual premium subscriber.

A breakout of MultiChoice's ARPU, or "average revenue per user" from within its latest financial report indicates that the ARPU of its premium subscriber segment taken over the past year shrank further from the 18% that it represented in the 2020 financial year, to 16% in the 2021 financial year.

ARPU from DStv Compact subscribers also slightly decreased from 34% to 33%. For the first time, ARPU from MultiChoice's combined mass-market segment represents more than half of the total - up from 48% in 2020 to 51% in the reported financial year.

Taking the DStv money shot from the point of average monthly subscription fee revenue, the ARPU derived from premium DStv subscribers fell further from R588 per month to R580 - a 1% decrease. The monthly DStv Compact ARPU increased by R3 from R298 to R301 - an increase of 1%.

The monthly ARPU of MultiChoice's mass-market subscribers grew from R88 per month to R95 - an increase of 9%.

Top-channels ratings pressure

Although not mentioned in MultiChoice's financial report, the 8% loss of top-end DStv subscribers translates to yet another 100 000 South African TV households who gave up access to premium TV channels ranging from M-Net and kykNET, to SuperSport Grandstand, Discovery Channel and others.

It means that these exclusively packaged channels are coming under ongoing and increasing TV ratings pressure.

These premium-positioned channels are losing viewers and ratings share - and at a much faster rate with their premium content offering that also costs more to produce - than what lower-tiered TV channels are gaining viewers with content that are not just cheaper to make but that's also the premium content that's later cycled down and scheduled across lower packages.

There is an in-built irony here in that the ratings share erosion of the top-end channels on MultiChoice's offering doesn't yet matter so much because of two still-valid-for-now reasons. 

Firstly, as a pay-TV operator, MultiChoice is less dependent on and less worried about ratings (and the ad income tied to those ratings) since its main source of income is derived from monthly subscriber fees that are paid irrespective of whether an individual watches or whether the TV and decoder is never switched on in a month. 

Secondly, DStv Media Sales spot pricing for TV commercials (can) remain stable and even increase despite decreases in audience share, since ironically the dwindling top-end audience makes reaching them even more important and desirable to certain advertisers.

To reach that extremely valuable, high-spending consumer segment - although it's a DStv viewer group getting smaller - advertisers are actually willing to spend the same, if not more, in highly-targeted ad campaigns to reach them with their commercial messages.

  

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: We won't add on SABC TV Licence fees to DStv subscribers' bills and collect licensing fees on behalf of South Africa's public broadcaster.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice coins it during Covid and grows to 20.9 million subscribers although it continues to shed top-end DStv customers jumping to video streaming.  

MultiChoice coins it during Covid and grows to 20.9 million subscribers although it continues to shed top-end DStv customers jumping to video streaming.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice continues to coin it during Covid and saw an ongoing surge in mass-market DStv subscriber growth over the past year with 7% year-on-year growth to 20.9 million active subscribers, although its base of DStv Premium subscribers continues to plunge as these top-end customers are switching away to online video streaming.

The MultiChoice Group released its results for the financial year that ended at the end of March 2021 on Thursday, noting that it grew its 90-day active linear pay-TV subscriber base by another 1.4 million DStv and GOtv subscribers of which 8.93 million (43%) are in South Africa that remains its country with the largest subscriber base, and with 11.93 million (57%) in the rest of Africa (RoA).

Of the 1.36 million new subscribers, about 500 000 were in South Africa, representing 6% growth year-on-year in South Africa.

In South Africa, the base of DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers has plunged another 8% from 1.5 million to 1.4 million subscribers. 

The mid-market comprising DStv Compact and DStv Commercial bouquets grew by 3% from 2.9 to 3 million subscribers. 

The biggest growth came in the so-called mass-market bracket - DStv Family, DStv, Access and DStv EasyView bouquets - that increased by 14% from 4 million to 4.6 million subscribers. 

In the rest of Africa DStv's top-end subscribers dropped 10% from 1.2 million subscribers to roughly 900 000.

Similar to Britain's Sky pay-TV operator, MultiChoice and M-Net are pivoting to a new content strategy in South Africa as well as in the rest of Africa (ROA).

The Randburg-based pay-TV operator continues to lessen its spending on acquiring international content and is boosting its production spend on local content and African originals in an attempt to differentiate its content offering from global streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others like Disney+, Paramount+ and HBO Max that are not yet, but might launch their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services on the African continent in future.

Despite production stoppages and travel restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, MultiChoice and M-Net produced 19% more content than during the previous financial year - a total of 4 567 hours. MultiChoice's total local content library now exceeds 62 000 hours, with 42% of the pay-TV operator's general entertainment spend that was on local content.

MultiChoice grew its revenue by 4% to R53.4 billion. 

"The Covid-19 pandemic taught us more about the art of the possible," says Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, in a statement. "We started the year confronted with severe disruptions to our programming schedules, bleak macro-economic forecasts for many of our markets and sharply weaker currencies. In the face of these challenges, our teams rallied together – this helped us deliver on all our key performance metrics."

MultiChoice says that to help manage US dollar-based costs, two major international content agreements and several smaller ones were renegotiated into South African rand (ZAR). 

MultiChoice also launched 11 new local language channels across sub-Saharan Africa, completed 5 new co-productions with global content producers and sold 16 of its series to international buyers.

MultiChoice renewed the rights to the English Premier League (EPL) and UEFA Champions League and also secured broadcasting rights to the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. On the international content front MultiChoice says that it maintains mutually beneficial relationships with its studio partners, and has successfully added access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube on its DStv Explora Ultra decoder.

MultiChoice says that both advertising and commercial subscription revenues were significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Advertising revenues were down 34% year-on-year to R0.6 billion at the interim stage but recovered well in the second half as Covid restrictions eased, ending 11% down year-on-year at R2.8 billion.

Similarly, commercial subscription revenues started to recover in the latter part of the financial year but finished 35% lower than the prior year. The hospitality industry is expected to take some time to return to normal trading.

MultiChoice says that Connected Video users on the DStv app and Showmax continue to grow as online consumption increases. According to MultiChoice local content is also a key differentiator on Showmax, with local content viewership that is up significantly during the financial year and with 4 out of the top 5 titles on Showmax that are local productions. 

A record number of Showmax originals were launched during the year, including the first Kenyan and Nigerian original series.

"We are enjoying good momentum and are excited about our prospects for the year ahead," says Calvo Mawela.

"Our advertising business is recovering, and we have plans to further enhance our entertainment ecosystem. We look forward to an exceptional slate of local content and the meaningful return of live sport as we catch up on the events missed in this past year."

"We are however cognisant of ongoing consumer pressure in what remains an uncertain Covid-19 environment, continued macro-economic volatility in our markets and the need to absorb deferred content costs in the new year."

"We will look to counter potential headwinds through tight cost control and by driving operational excellence. Our strong balance sheet positions us well to withstand these uncertainties and deliver value to our customers and shareholders."

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: We won't add on SABC TV Licence fees to DStv subscribers' bills and collect licensing fees on behalf of South Africa's public broadcaster.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice sheds another 100 000 premium DStv subscribers and with it comes further top-channels ratings share erosion - but that doesn't mean advertisers will pay less to reach these dwindling but sought-after viewers.

TV REVIEW. M-Net’s botched and poorly produced Love Island South Africa is unacceptably bad.

by Thinus Ferreira

Love Island SA on Sunday night made a shockingly embarrassing debut as the worst-ever local TV production in the 35-years of M-Net (DStv 101) by far, with South African television and DStv subscribers who deserve much, much better than Rapid Blue's shamefully shoddy South African adaptation of the ITV Studios format.

The long-awaited debut episode of Love Island South Africa on M-Net was atrocious and unacceptable. 

Marred by the biggest mess with any local reality show it has ever done, M-Net must know that it's unacceptably bad since Love Island SA's botched first episode by Monday morning wasn't even made available for viewing on DStv Catch Up.

On a technical level Rapid Blue's Love Island SA is a poorly produced TV flop. 

While ITV and M-Net sell images of waves, beaches and words like "Islanders" it's hard to believe that Rapid Blue - the very same company that was responsible for the latest UK and French versions of the same ITV Studios format - is really giving South Africans a very badly lit, badly done pastel-coloured paint-job that looks like a guest house overlooking a vineyard far away from the sea.

Why must M-Net and DStv viewers feel that watching this lacklustre "villa" - from JD Unlimited responsible for set design and built by JDMBuildco with Dewet Meyer as production designer - is worth their time?

It doesn't look remotely aspirational or luxurious and literally comes with dead air.

South African students, if they were to hand in an episode like Love Island SA as a team project at any film school in the country, would fail with nothing that the first episode offered up that is even remotely up to M-Net standards.

It's shocking that MultiChoice and M-Net executives like Yolisa Phahle, Nkateko Mabaso, Jan du Plessis and Kaye-Ann Williams as M-Net's head of local productions saw the first episode of Love Island SA and didn't find it unacceptable for broadcast on DStv and didn't postpone the broadcast to get it up to spec. 

If they haven't seen it, and still decided to air it, that is also a big problem.

It's also a problem that Rapid Blue's executive producers Adi de Lancey and Duncan Irvine, series producer Abigail Clark, series director Nadia White, and head of production Kim Thwaites all making Love Island SA are fine with churning out and offering up something so bad that either has budget problems, staffing problems, too few people, or people without basic competencies in their respective audio-visual production fields. 

Why are showrunners working on a show they can't execute and properly hold together?

The sound and sound mixing on Love Island SA was terrible and in several instances, there was just silence lasting all throughout the first episode with even a silent credit roll (that contains a litany of mistakes, including wrongly-spelt names). How does this happen? 

In some instances, production crew could be heard talking over the Islanders. There was cross-feed of audio channels. Mics overlapping. 

Every single person working on sound on Love Island SA deserves to be fired from Jeff Hodd as sound engineer HOD, to Gary Rundle and Gavin Turner as the sound HODs, and David Oosthuizen responsible for the audio final mix, all the way down.

The Love Island SA music done by Kaz-Leigh Staighfill as music coordinator, is terrible. In ITV's Love Island music makes a big part of the show. 

Once again: Is Rapid Blue and M-Net too cheap to pay to licence proper, suitable music? Pay for proper music. This is a pay-TV show made for pay-TV subscribers and in addition for DStv Premium subscribers on MultiChoice's top-tier who are paying the highest price for quality content.

The voice-over work done by Warren Robertson is absolutely terrible and he needs to be replaced, as well as the scriptwriter for his narration, Melt Sieberhagen. 

The voice-over narrating is likewise one of the crucial ingredients of the secret potion that makes Love Island "work" - it needs to be funny and sound spontaneous and be tongue-in-cheek.

It's hugely ironic that Rapid Blue also produces Come Dine with Me SA on BBC Brit that employs Dave Lamb who is also doing the voice-overs for the British version - so clearly M-Net and Rapid Blue are aware of how it could be done and that it is possible to do it correctly. Warren Robertson doesn't sound right and doesn't sound funny.

Also, there is nothing wrong with your TV screen dear viewer. It's the camera quality of the actual cameras used by Love Island SA that is abhorrent. Grandma with her Nokia 3310 and Shoprite's CCTV camera system capture better visuals. 

The people in charge of editing should also be fired. Students learning basic editing, do better editing with PicsArt on their YouTube channels with proper transitions using free online software.

Multiple editors are listed as working on Love Island SA, ranging from Jacques le Roux as senior story editor to senior editors Alwyn de Bruyn, Daniel Modisakeng, Eckhard Groenwald, Graeme Hodge, Julian Thomas, Nicholette Nolte, Samantha Marais and Tumelo Ditshego. 

Why is the Love Island SA lighting done by Mauritz Neethling as lighting director and designer with lighting operators Hendrik Abraham Avenant and Mathai Lucky Lwele as lighting operators, so bad?

It's supposed to be bright and sunny and to give an atmosphere of holiday and a carefree competition. This is filmed in South Africa in late summer. 

Who is asleep on grading and colour correction under Nicci van Niekerk as post-production supervisor? Love Island SA looks grey and dull like the washing TV laundry commercials use for the "before" clothes before they turn sparkling white.

And speaking of white - yes the show is aimed at the M-Net channel's audience and its specific target demo that does skew white and female but that isn't an excuse for it to be almost another lily-white version of kykNET's Boer Soek a Vrou. 

A reality show like Love Island SA is still anchored and done in South Africa and must reflect at least a modicum of "reality" and "South Africa".

It's beyond comprehension that Rapid Blue would foist an unrepresentative cast and the worst production values for a local reality show ever seen on M-Net, on premium pay-TV subscribers and in prime time, and think that nobody would notice anything or that paying DStv subscribers would be fine with it. 

How does ITV Studios sign off on a localised brand extension that is so bad and so damaging to its format and how does M-Net put something on the airwaves that is so cringe-worthy terrible? 

With 6 weeks left of Love South Africa, M-Net and Rapid Blue need to make drastic and urgent changes and improvements because the standard and quality of Love Island SA make it look like someone is filming a primary school community theatre performance with a torch on a cellphone.

Rapid Blue and M-Net need to fix Love Island SA and fix it fast.

ALSO READ: M-Net pulls all Love Island South Africa repeats from its schedule and reduces original episode order by axing the Love Island SA Unseen Bits episode on Sundays.

ALSO READ: It is M-Net that is blocking Love Island South Africa episodes being placed on MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up to limit people seeing it, with an expert that says the content is misleading Africa’s viewers.

ALSO READ: Love Island SA's crew 'in a total flat spin' and 'living through a nightmare', as MultiChoice tells DStv subscribers that M-Net's botched show is affected and unavailable on all platforms.

ALSO READ: Now the pirates have come for Love Island SA. 

ALSO READ: Pain Island SA: Parody accounts, hate-watching, 'emergency blacks' and farm tractor noise for M-Net’s Love Island SA.

ALSO READ: LottoStar dumps M-Net’s controversial Love Island SA as its main sponsor.

ALSO READ: M-Net and Rapid Blue execs don't want to talk to the media about its Love Island SA fiasco but posts a social media card saying: 'We're working tirelessly to fix things'.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice hides M-Net and Rapid Blue execs from media after trainwreck Love Island SA debut, opts for attempt at damage control instead of being honest with DStv subscribers and TV industry over jarring mistakes.

ALSO READ: Meet the 10 Islanders of Love Island SA on M-Net: A Hooters girl called Summer, a bodybuilder, personal trainers and a woman who says 'I'm tired of these rats and I wants a real man!'.

ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 17 photos of the Love Island South Africa interior reveal a pretty-in-pink villa, infinity pool with a vineyard view, a bar, a gym, girls' dressing room, bedrooms, kitchen and fire pit.

ALSO READ: INTERVIEW. Love Island South Africa host Leandie du Randt: 'I'm excited to see if people find real love on this show - these days it's not bizarre really to discover that you meet the love of your life in a situation like this'.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice launches new Early Access functionality for DStv Premium subscribers who will now be able to watch episodes of M-Net's Love Island SA an hour earlier on DStv Catch Up before its linear broadcast.