For MultiChoice just 2 desired DStv channels remain more valuable and are costing more than the entire rest of its pay-TV collection: M-Net and SuperSport's rugby.

by Thinus Ferreira

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as the saying goes but with MultiChoice two very special TV birds in the hand, based on the price you pay, is worth more than all the rest of the birds in the DStv bush together.

MultiChoice sees and values two TV channels - or more specifically just two types of particular content that it packages and broadcasts as a pay-TV service - as being worth as much, and even more, than the entire rest of the combined content collection that it offers on DStv.

M-Net (DStv 101) and SuperSport - specifically SuperSport's rugby component and to a slightly lesser degree cricket - is worth more to MultiChoice than all the rest of its content combined.

MultiChoice charges DStv subscribers more for access to just M-Net and SuperSport's rugby than what MultiChoice charges for the entire rest of its collection of TV channels on DStv. 

But can you even get "just" M-Net and SuperSport's rugby? Doesn't MultiChoice use bundling whereby content from M-Net and SuperSport comes bundles in packages like DStv Premium where you get CBS Reality and E! and the Discovery Channel even if you don't want those specific channels?

There are indeed, still, DStv subscribers who get "only" M-Net. 

They are legacy M-Net subscribers who have been with M-Net when it sold terrestrial M-Net decoders when M-Net was a stand-alone channel that later added SuperSport as a brand extension and channel.

New and current DStv subscribers can no longer subscribe to this M-Net GOtv package but original M-Net subscribers who were migrated during DStv's switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT) were and are allowed to keep it. 

These subscribers still get just the M-Net channel, stacked with its premium HBO, Showtime and leading Hollywood studios content, and a so-called "community channel" that is essentially a SuperSport channel - a customised SuperSport channel version repackaged with specifically rugby and cricket content as the main focus. 

A study of MultiChoice's latest DStv price hike with the increases that will come into effect from 1 April and an analysis of the price segmentation for the various tiered DStv packages, effectively serves as an illustration of not only which channels and content are costing MultiChoice the most, but also what channels and content it considers the most valuable and in turn charges the highest prices for.

From 1 April DStv Premium subscribers will pay R829 per month for 159 TV channels. 

This includes M-Net as MultiChoice's most-prized channel, occupying spot 101 on the DStv channel number grid, as well as the SuperSport channels with rugby, cricket and other premium sports content.

MultiChoice didn't reveal this information in its press release when it responded to a media enquiry about its latest DStv price hike, but from 1 April, M-Net GOtv - subscribers with just M-Net and SuperSport's rugby and cricket content - will see a price hike of over 11% to R485 per month.

With this R485 of M-Net and SuperSport in value stripped out of DStv Premium's R829, it leaves R344. 

This R344 is the value or worth that MultiChoice assigns to the combined rest of its DStv Premium bouquet without M-Net and SuperSport's rugby and cricket content.

Last week and again this week MultiChoice was asked why the pay-TV service is hiking legacy M-Net GOtv subscribers' monthly fee by 11.49% from April - much higher than South Africa's inflation rate - from R435 to R485. MultiChoice didn't respond to the media enquiry.

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice last week, and again this week, if it is possible to talk to Simon Camerer, MultiChoice Group chief operating officer (COO), about DStv's latest price increases.

This was after the pay-TV company selected Simon Camerer to do interviews with three media outlets about the price increase during which Simon Camerer said that MultiChoice is doing 2021 price increases below inflation and also said that "on a weighted average basis, you're looking at a 2.4% increase".

It's not clear if the massive 11.49% price hike for legacy M-Net subscribers is part of the price hike basket that MultiChoice used to calculate the 2.4% weighted average increase.

Benedict Maaga, MultiChoice spokesperson, told TVwithThinus on Monday that Simon Camerer is unfortunately not available at this time for an interview.

Interestingly, the R344 - the upfront rand-value of what DStv Premium is supposedly worth when it's stripped of the M-Net channel and SuperSport's rugby and cricket - is much less than what MultiChoice charges for DStv Compact Plus (R539 from April) and DStv Compact (R409), with both of those packages that don't contain the M-Net or SuperSport Grandstand (DStv 201) channel. 

ALSO READ: MultiChoice's 2021 price hike: Here is what you will be paying for DStv from April 2021 in South Africa.

ALSO READ: How important - how valuable a brand - is M-Net to DStv? In essence more valuable than all of the other DStv Premium TV channels combined.

ALSO READ: Greedy MultiChoice 'doesn't get it' that DStv has become too expensive says independent analyst.

M-Net is switching off its analogue signal to M-Net decoders at the end of March - if you're one of these M-Net subscribers who haven't yet switched, here's what you need to do right now.

Pay-TV broadcaster M-Net is switching off its analogue M-Net signal to its M-Net decoders by the end of March.

Many M-Net subscribers have not yet switched to a specially customised M-Net GOtv package and a new digital decoder, and these longtime M-Net viewers are going to completely lose their signal in just over a month's time. 

People still watching M-Net through a M-Net decoder must call DStv extremely urgently on the specially dedicated number of 011 289 2270.

These M-Net subscribers will be helped so that they can be switched to either a special M-Net GO package of GOtv that includes the M-Net channel, or the DStv satellite service.

Many of these mostly older and Afrikaans speaking M-Net subscribers are not aware that they're going to lose their service, or have simply not bothered to switch to a digital M-Net channel version.

M-Net can no longer continue to keep its obsolete analogue M-Net decoders going and has to switch these subscribers over as part of the overall South African TV industry's change from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT), a process called digital migration.

It's however been difficult to get a hold of all of these legacy M-Net analogue subscribers, and M-Net and MultiChoice haven't had a ready-made like-for-like package available to switch these subscribers to.

MultiChoice South Africa's DTT pay-TV service GOtv doesn't have the premium M-Net channel included, but MultiChoice and M-Net did now create a special M-Net GO package that does have the M-Net channel included and is only available for existing M-Net analogue subscribers.

MultiChoice says that it has has been talking to our M-Net analogue customers for the last 3 years about digital migration.

If an existing M-Net analogue subscriber is in the growing GOtv DTT reception area where the digital signal can be received, they get a GOtv installation with M-Net GO.

MultiChoice says this "is a special package we created just for them which has M-Net and CSN included with free-to-air channels and costs the same as their current M-Net analogue."

"If they are not in the DTT reception area, they get a DStv satellite installation with M-Net GO."

MultiChoice is footing the bill of the switch-over and M-Net analogue subscribers don't have to be scared that it will cost them anything,or that they will lose out, or lose access to M-Net.

"To assist these long-time loyal customers, we pay for the decoder, the installation set-up and arrange for an accredited installer to come out at our expense."

"We’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get hold of many of our M-Net analogue customers, so are now playing out a ticker tape across their screens asking them to contact us on 011 289 2270 so we can assist them."

"There is a variety of different options, depending on the current set up the customer has," says MultiChoice.

"Some M-Net analogue customers already have a DStv set up, while others just have their M-Net analogue. That is why it’s important that customers get in touch with us, so we can give them the offer that applies to them."

"M-Net analogue customers will get a much better viewing experience once they migrate – they’ll have clearer picture and sharper sound quality. They’ll also, for the first time, get access to the electronic programme guide (EPG) so they can see what is currently showing and what is up next."

"We’re committed to help our M-Net analogue customers to migrate in the next month or two. As we’ll be switching off this service at the end of March, it is important that customers act immediately," says MultiChoice.