MultiChoice adds NBCUniversal's on-demand service Universal+ to DStv Catch Up from 14 October.

by Thinus Ferreira

Universal+ will be added to MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up service from 14 October as an on-demand video streaming service not requiring additional payment and will be accessible through the DStv app or DStv Explora decoders which are connected to the internet.

Universal+ or "Universal Plus" is not Peacock - NBCUniversal's over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service taking its name from the logo of the American TV network NBC - which isn't yet available in South Africa but is run as a streamer in the United States and countries like the United Kingdom through Sky's pay-TV service.

Universal+ which is not accessible on its own and must be accessed through DStv's pay-TV platform will contain series and films from NBCUniversal International Networks' set of available TV channels on DStv in South Africa like Universal TV, E!, DreamWorks, Studio Universal and Telemundo.

Universal+ is already available through pay-TV services in Latin American countries like Brazil, Spain and India and will now make binge-watching possible for DStv subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa. NBCUniversal says the on-demand service will have "thousands of hours of compelling entertainment", including a "huge selection of full boxsets to binge, new shows and movies".

"We're thrilled to launch Universal+ with our long-standing partners DStv, giving their customers a brand-new way to enjoy a vastly expanded catalogue of our best content," says Lee Raftery, managing director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for NBCUniversal International Networks & direct-to-consumer, in a statement.

"From 14 October, the incredible line-up of entertainment available to DStv customers ranges from award-winning original production Celebrity Game Night – which shortly goes back into production for a fourth season – to gripping dramas and Hollywood blockbusters. And, it's all at no extra cost to a subscription."

Simon Camerer, MultiChoice South Africa chief operating officer, on the addition of Universal+ says "We are excited to bring the best of international content and the widest possible choice of great shows to satisfy all our viewers".

It's not clear why NBCUniversal is adding Universal+ for Africa now, with the company late to the video streaming party in the continent where MultiChoice's streamer Showmax, Netflix Africa, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Disney+ are making inroads in the video streaming market segment.

South Africa's public broadcaster is still to launch its SABC+ streaming service in the third quarter of 2022, with Paramount planning to roll out its Paramount+ video streaming service sometime in 2023 and with Warner Bros. Discovery which hasn't yet confirmed any launch for South Africa of its combined and to-be-renamed HBO Max and discovery+ streamers.

Smaller existing streamers like VIU, Britbox and TelkomONE are also battling for a piece of the pie in the ramping up streaming wars, with eMedia's eVOD service that launched in August 2011 which has now passed the mark of 500 000 registered users with its content carousel of movies, series, Afrikaans telenovelas and documentaries.

It's 2021. After MultiChoice's latest price hike has DStv become too expensive? A TV expert unpacks the questions that you should actually be asking.

by Thinus Ferreira

After MultiChoice announced it's latest price hike that will start April 2021 has DStv become too expensive? What is DStv doing wrong and right? And is it offering value for money? I asked a TV expert to help you to decide.

MultiChoice has announced its annual DStv price hike for 2021 that will come into effect from April 2021 with Simon Camerer, MultiChoice Group chief operating officer (COO), who said that MultiChoice is doing 2021 price increases below inflation and that "on a weighted average basis, you're looking at a 2.4% increase".

However, it has since also come to light that DStv's most loyal subscribers - legacy M-Net subscribers  - are getting a massive 11.49% price hike from April 2021 - far larger than inflation. 

From April DStv Premium subscribers will pay R829, DStv Compact Plus will pay R539, DStv Compact will cost R409, DStv Family subscribers will pay R295, and DStv Access will increase to R115. 

The DStv Access fee increases to R105 and a DStv BoxOffice rentals will now cost R40.

With DStv Premium costing R829 per month from April, it's now possible for video content consumers to build their own "connected-home home-made" TV bundle that would actually be cheaper.

In South Africa a DStv Premium subscriber can - for the same amount of money and with change left for some popcorn - now get an Openserve uncapped 10 Mbps fibre line from an internet service provider (ISP) like Telkom for R399 per month, and subscribe to Netflix South Africa (R99), Amazon Prime Video (R88.39), Showmax (R99) and even Apple TV+ (R85) for a combined bundle-cost of R770.39.

Is MultiChoice therefore pricing itself out of the market? Has DStv become too expensive? What is the Randburg-based pay-TV operator doing wrong and what is DStv doing right? 

TVwithThinus asked the TV expert Tashi Tagg, editor of TVSA, these questions and for some insight to help South African consumers navigate the increasingly tricky and treacherous pay-TV and video streaming service waters.

So, first up, the popular question-statement heard around the braai and dinner tables: Has DStv become too expensive?

"What's affordable for some is not affordable for others, what's expensive for some is not expensive for others? So, the idea of saying 'DStv, is it too expensive' - what are you comparing it to?" says Tashi.

"People have to pay for their entertainment just like you have to pay for anything else - you have to. And it's very important for the entertainment industry that people do pay."

"So this idea of 'what is too expensive' is a question that is actually impossible to answer as an individual because it really does depend on your individual budget and also what it is that someone wants to get out of their entertainment."

"You can't just say 'oh that is too expensive'. In our current economic climate in South Africa everything is expensive! In terms of the DStv Premium price, the right and better question to ask is: 'Are you getting enough from your pay-TV subscription that keeps you happy?" says Tashi Tagg.

"Have you got enough to watch? Is your PVR full? Do you want sports? Is it the case that you can't watch what you get on DStv anywhere else? Then no, it's not expensive. If you find that there's nothing on DStv, well then it's a waste of money."

Time to reinvent DStv packages

Asked for what she thinks MultiChoice is doing wrong, Tashi says "I've always thought that this multiple division of various DStv packages is a problem for numerous reasons".

"Number one, it's confusing. Number two, when people sign up for a specific DStv package they're never sure if MultiChoice and M-Net will keep a show on the channels available on that package or not."

"Number three, if you don't have DStv Premium you always feel like you're missing out on something which isn't nice because you don't want to be paying and be left feeling like you don't have everything."

"An example of this is like what happened with The Real Housewives of Durban recently that M-Net first announced as coming to 1Magic and then the announcement a week later that it's now only on Showmax for which you need to pay for data to watch it."

"I think this constant changing of shows from package to package, channel to channel, and the multiple packages - I think it is time to reinvent that," she says. "For me, the position would be to really simplify the DStv packages."

"MultiChoice needs to make a general entertainment package, and then a sports add-on," she suggests.

"So you pay the big bucks if you want that SuperSport and ESPN sports, and everybody pays the same for the entertainment package. That way everybody wins because it means that everybody can watch the shows on DStv."

"In this day and age of social media where some people are watching one season of a show on one channel, and some people are watching another older season on another channel and now you're all talking about it - it doesn't fit."

"The way in which the packages are structured is what MultiChoice is doing wrong - it could be overhauled to be made much simpler products," Tashi says.

"Just look at what happens when higher-tiered TV channels are made available for a specific period to lower packages like DStv Family or whatever - I mean the ratings soar. There's like a boom in DStv viewership and it just makes for a very exciting environment when those numbers come out and there are so many more DStv subscribers watching the same content together at the same time".

PVR perfection 

About what's good about MultiChoice and what DStv is doing right, Tashi Tagg says that the personal video recorder (PVR) is "really good".

"It's good, it's good - the ability to record, the fact that you don't need to have any internet for it, the fact that you have the advantage of linear TV watching and that you can watch as you want".

She also says that "DStv Catch Up is great - the fact that you can watch on-demand content on any device if you do want to use your data to watch - that's good. I think that that technology is really unique and really very valuable. For a real TV lover it's really, really valuable". 

TVwithThinus did an interview request and asked MultiChoice if it is possible to talk to Simon Camerer about DStv's latest price increases after he did interviews with three media outlets about the latest round of price hikes. 

Benedict Maaga, MultiChoice spokesperson said that Simon Camerer is unfortunately not available at this time for an interview.

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

ALSO READ: 'Fleeced' loyal legacy M-Net subscribers angry at MultiChoice's shocking 11.49% price hike for M-Net GOtv from April 2021: 'This increase in these Covid-19 times is outrageous'.

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

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

by Thinus Ferreira

A greedy MultiChoice "doesn't get it" that the prices and incredible price hikes of the pay-TV operator's DStv and GOtv services have become too expensive for consumers.

So says the Chris Gilmour, an independent analyst during an interview this week on Stock Watch on Business Day TV (DStv 412), answering viewers' questions like MultiChoice's ongoing price hikes.

MultiChoice confirmed its annual DStv price hike for 2021 last week. 

After Simon Camerer, MultiChoice Group chief operating officer (COO), said that MultiChoice is doing 2021 price increases below inflation and that "on a weighted average basis, you're looking at a 2.4% increase", it has also come to light that DStv's most loyal subscribers - legacy M-Net subscribers  - are getting a massive 11.49% price hike from April 2021 - far larger than inflation.

While more and more global and local subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Netflix SA, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ are taking an ever-growing bite out of the discretionary spending that consumers are channelling to video services, MultiChoice that also has its own Showmax streaming service, keeps raising DStv prices.

This had led to ongoing declines in especially the percentage of MultiChoice's DStv Premium subscribers who no longer see the expensive price of this top-tier bouquet as offering enough value as they switch to the internet and alternatives like Netflix.

Chris Gilmour says that MultiChoice is "frankly a rapacious bunch and their price increases are just incredible and until very recently they were getting away with it".

"They don't seem to quite get it. At the end of the day there's a price for everything but as the old expression goes, 'When the ducks are quacking you've got to feed them and I think they'll be quacking for a wee while yet".

About MultiChoice's new partnership with streamers of which Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have already been added and made available through MultiChoice's latest DStv Explora Ultra decoder, Chris Gilmour says "I'd be very surprised if that works out in the longer term".

He says MultiChoice has "done a few good innovative things and they have to keep on innovating because at the end of the day it's content that is king".

Joseph Buscher from JM Boucher Investments said that "MultiChoice had a captive market in Africa, they had the boxes in most homes".

"When they brought in Big Brother and soccer certainly it has taken them into the rest of the continent. I think that Netflix and some of the online services are going to bring a lot of price pressure in terms of margins."

"If they tie up [SVOD players], they will be able to increase a little bit of their margins. With 5G and broadband going into homes MultiChoice must be very, very innovative".

Last week TVwithThinus also asked MultiChoice, and again this week, if it is possible to talk to Simon Camerer about DStv's latest price increases after he did interviews with three media outlets about the latest round of DStv price increases.

Benedict Maaga on Monday said that Simon Camerer is unfortunately not available at this time for an interview.

ALSO READ: 'Fleeced' loyal legacy M-Net subscribers angry at MultiChoice's shocking 11.49% price hike for M-Net GOtv from April 2021: 'This increase in these Covid-19 times is outrageous'.

ALSO READ: 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.

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

'Fleeced' loyal legacy M-Net subscribers angry at MultiChoice's shocking 11.49% price hike for M-Net GOtv from April 2021: 'This increase in these Covid-19 times is outrageous'.

by Thinus Ferreira 

MultiChoice has shocked decades-long loyal M-Net viewers who are upset and confused after they're getting hit with an 11.49% annual increase from April 2021 that will see their monthly DStv bill skyrocket from R435 to R485 per month.

MultiChoice confirmed its annual DStv price hike for 2021 last week. 

In the numbers of its 2021 DStv price increase that it released to the media MultiChoice excluded any mention of the steep hike that legacy M-Net subscribers - who still exist and who pay their monthy subscription fees - will have to fork out from April.

M-Net subscribers and their 11.49% subscription fee shock come after Simon Camerer, MultiChoice Group chief operating officer (COO), said that MultiChoice is doing 2021 price increases below inflation and that "on a weighted average basis, you're looking at a 2.4% increase".

It's unclear if MultiChoice's 11.49% price hike for legacy M-Net subscribers is part of the price increase basket that MultiChoice used to calculate the 2.4% weighted average increase.

A few years ago legacy M-Net analogue TV viewers and subscribers were folded into the wider MultiChoice pay-TV system. 

At the time, as part of South Africa's digital TV migration process and switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT), their analogue M-Net decoders and M-Net subscription got replaced by an M-Net GOtv subscription.

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 DTT switch were and are allowed to keep it if they don't cancel outright or change to an existing DStv package. 

These viewers, mostly older 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.

This customised SuperSport channel version is a repackaged with specifically rugby and cricket content as the main focus.

These legacy M-Net subscribers, now hit with an 11% increase, are regarded as being MultiChoice's most loyal subscribers.

They are pay-TV viewers who started watching and supporting M-Net with their money decades ago and who decided to stick with the specific brand when it was still a small Randburg-based company while the revenue derived from their subscription fees fuelled the ongoing evolution of the wider MultiChoice Group into what it is today.

'Why singled out to carry the heaviese increase burden?'

"I am disgusted by the attitude MultiChoice and M-Net has to its loyal customers, wanting to fleece them in these dreadful economic times," says Jenny Berk who together with her mom Jill have been legacy M-Net subscribers in South Africa for decades.

Jenny and her mom are part of the existing group of pay-TV consumers that MultiChoice switched a few years ago to become M-Net GOtv subscribers.

"An increase similar to the consumer price index (CPI) is fine - but 10% in these Covid-19 times is outrageous," says Jenny. 

"I suspect that this is a not so subtle attempt to force us into another package."

"However, they ignore the fact that people on these kinds of packages have been customers of theirs for a substantial amount of time - more than 30 years in our case."

"The increase of more than 10% is way more than that given to other subscribers. Why would that be? Why should we be singled out to carry the heaviest increase burden?"

Last week and again this week TVwithThinus asked Benedict Maaga, MultiChoice's senior manager for corporate communications; Sbu Mpungose, MultiChoice's senior manager for PR and brand engagement; as well as Aprio the PR company used by MultiChoice, all for comment on the issue and why M-Net GOtv subscribers are getting a 11.49% increase in 2021.

By the time of publication of this article there was no response to the media enquiry.

MultiChoice's webpage for GOtv South Africa is broken with parts that doesn't work.

Last week TVwithThinus also asked MultiChoice, and again this week, if it is possible to talk to Simon Camerer about DStv's latest price increases after he did interviews with three media outlets about the price increase and in those interviews said that MultiChoice is doing its 2021 price increases below inflation.

Benedict Maaga on Monday said that Simon Camerer is unfortunately not available at this time for an interview.

ALSO READ: 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.

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

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

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.

GAME OF CATCH-UP. Entire Game of Thrones box sets coming to MultiChoice's DStv Explora from 14 March before the 4th season starts on M-Net.

You're reading it here first. 

Not Winter as a season, but ALL the seasons are coming.

Get ready for a plan (not of the Lannisters' making), but as epic in scope. And yes, baby dragons are included. ALL of the episodes of the fantasy series Game of Thrones are coming to MultiChoice's DStv Explora for instant viewing from 14 March, before the brand-new 4th season kicks off on 18 April on M-Net (DStv 101).

MultiChoice that apparently loves dragons as much as Denys Targaryen, is doing some magic of its own: loading the entire box sets episodes of the previous three seasons of Game of Thrones on the DStv Explora decoder.

The 4th season of Game of Thrones will start on 18 April on M-Net - a new 10 episodes just like each of the previous three seasons. The new season's episodes will roll out shortly on the heels of America where the season starts on 6 April.

Later this week however Game of Thrones will be made available in glorious high definition (HD) from 14 March (season 1), 21 March (season 2) and 28 March (season 3) before the 4th season starts on 18 April on M-Net.

It will enable people who've never watched the show, those who've missed episodes, those who want to watch it again and refresh their background knowledge of the show, to watch whatever of the 30 episodes of Game of Thrones they want.

The Here-Be-Dragons on television stacking of an entire three seasons of Game of Thrones will be followed by more such similar all-you-can-view box sets on the DStv Explora in future.

"We are already looking into more partnerships that will allow us to super stack series and make box sets available through DStv Catch Up as just one of the many benefits of owning a DStv Explora," says Simon Camerer, DStv's chief marketing officer.