White is the new black: MultiChoice's next DStv Explora Ultra will be white and likely voice-controlled

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice decided to leak a first look of its next DStv Explora Ultra decoder which will be white - a first-ever in this colour - together with a brand new form factor for its top-end decoder that is another radical departure from previous versions.

The 4th generation DStv Explora Ultra also has a completely redesigned remote control, likely AI voice-controlled, similar to what overseas pay-TV operators have been offering their subscribers the past few years.

Taking its design cues from Sky in the United Kingdom's "Sky Q box" decoder, the new DStv Explora Ultra box doesn't have a market release date yet although it will be rolled out to consumers within months.

MultiChoice included the first look at its latest DStv Explora Ultra decoder in its 2024/2025 half-year financial results documentation for investors. MultiChoice declined to comment on various questions TVwithThinus asked last week about this to-be-released decoder.

The new DStv Explora Ulta decoder unveiling is similar to June 2020 when MultiChoice showed investors in its financial presentation that it was going to add both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as third-party streaming apps to its DStv Explora Ultra, after which it later did so.

The next generation DStv Explora Ultra decoder will be the latest hardware release from MultiChoice and takes the place of the much-hyped DStv Glass - a customised version of Comcast's Sky Glass for South Africa that MultiChoice planned to release here but scuppered because of its worsening financial position.

Initially, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO in September 2022 announced that DStv Glass - a proprietary smart TV set with a built-in DStv decoder - would launch in South Africa in 2023. 

In May 2023 this was suddenly pushed out by two years.

In June this year Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), told me that DStv Glass is dead - one of the victims of the financially stretched pay-TV operator's drastic cost-cutting measures coming as MultiChoice awaits an aggressive buy-out by France's Vivendi SE's Canal+ to help it fight against Netflix's streaming proliferation in Africa.

The latest DStv Explora Ultra decoder is inscribed with a Norman window design on top, a brand design flourish that MultiChoice adopted two years ago. 

The Norman window, in grey, also appears on the right of the decoder front-face and inside it, the word "DStv". 

The words "Ultra decoder" appear on the decoder front-face on the left.

The DStv Explora Ultra does away with the black plastic grate design in exchange for a smooth white plastic surface, a grey bottom-third base, and a thin grey trim around the top border. 

The decoder's form factor is a rectangle with rounded corners, very similar to the Sky Q box. 

Sky has what it calls a Sky Q Booster box, an extender to help with a better and amplified Wifi signal in the home. The new DStv Explora Ultra looks 90% similar to this white box. 

Sky New Zealand's latest new decoder box is now also white and also looks similar - and now also has a white remote control.

The new DStv Explora Ultra is the first white DStv decoder line ever from MultiChoice. 

MultiChoice's previous DStv decoders were black, its first PVR decoder line was metallic silver, and it also made one very rare, golden decoder. 

This 24-carat gold-plated M-Net decoder was made in 1993 to celebrate M-Net's millionth decoder and is part of MultiChoice's corporate museum.

Remote control with voice control

The new DStv Explora Ultra remote control represents a somewhat shocking and eye-popping departure from the "half-banana oval" black shape shipped with DStv decoders up until now, with the next generation remote control switching to white.

The new white remote control has a reduced number of buttons.

The white remote control is very much similar to the design of the Sky Q remote control - even having a dedicated blue button directly underneath the grey circle omni-directional arrows and "Enter" button.

On the Sky Q remote control this blue button is pressed to activate voice control AI and to give voice commands to the decoder like "Find Sky News", "Go to movies", "Tune to channel [channel number]", "What should I watch?",  "Open my recordings", "Take me to Catch Up" and multiple others.

Since MultiChoice and Comcast's Sky are Showmax 2.0 IT partners and worked on DStv Glass until its rollout was abruptly canned, it's clear that MultiChoice decided to go the Sky Q route with its next top-line decoder and remote control design.

While Sky Q has the functionality of pressing the "Q" button on the front-face of the decoder to find a lost remote control that will then beep for30 seconds, it doesn't look like this functionality will be included with the new DStv Explora Ultra that doesn't have a pressable button on the front-face.

Like the existing DStv Explora Ultra (its latest version in this range is 3B), the newest version will allow the recording of hundreds of hours of TV, give access to live linear and on-demand library content, as well as access to other video streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

In its latest half-year financial results MultiChoice said that DStv decoder sales increased 46%.

MultiChoice finally gives DStv subscribers the ‘Watch from Start’ function – but there's a catch

by Thinus Ferreira

While its financial position forced MultiChoice to scrap its announced plans for DStv Glass - a TV set with a built-in decoder based on the UK's Sky Glass - the pay-TV operator is now rolling out some of the functionality that would have been incorporated in that for DStv Stream customers, like "Watch from Start" and cloud recordings.

From Tuesday 12 November DStv Stream will allow viewers to jump back on certain linear TV channels and "rewind" up to 24-hours. 

The Telkom ONE streamer which was taken over by the SABC for its SABC+ streamer was the first to offer this linear roll-back option to users.

The functionality was also meant to become available in DStv Glass, where DStv subscribers would have been able to talk to their TV set to switch to a specific TV channel and to then order "Watch from Start" to see a movie or TV show episode from the beginning that might already have started.

MultiChoice will now also make it possible for DStv Stream users to save live shows to watch within 30 days. Traditional DStv decoders can't do "Watch from Start" or cloud recording.

MultiChoice says the added DStv Stream functionality will become available on 12 November for web users, with gradual updates across iOS, Android, and other platforms.

"With 'Watch from Start' and Cloud PVR, we're giving viewers more control over their viewing experience," says Marc Jury, MultiChoice South Africa CEO.

"We know customers want the freedom to enjoy content on their schedule, and these new features bring the flexibility of streaming to the live TV experience. Our customers can now enjoy the best of both." 

"Watch from Start" won't be available for all DStv linear TV channels but will include several SuperSport channels, M-Net (DStv 101), Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and kykNET (DStv 144).

The cloud recording function allows DStv Stream subscribers save live content, accessible in the "My Stuff" section. According to MultiChoice, both features are set to roll out with automatic updates where possible.

MultiChoice's DStv Stream adds its Watch from Start in preparation for the launch of DStv Glass.

by Thinus Ferreira

Like what has been possible with DStv decoders, MultiChoice has now added "Watch from Start" functionality to its DStv Stream app, making it possible for subscribers to begin watching content that has already started.

The Watch from Start functionality is something that is available in Sky's smart TV known as Sky Glass that works with an internet connection and no need for a mounted satellite dish.

MultiChoice is on track to launch a localised version of Sky Glass, rebranded as DStv Glass, by the end of this year in South Africa which will have to incorporate this function as well, hence its addition to DStv Stream.

Like with traditional DStv decoders where subscribers can drag back the cursor in the buffer bar to go back to the beginning or another point in the timeline, Watch from Start allows users to restart any live event by clicking a button.

According to MultiChoice, the newly added functionality is designed "to provide subscribers with greater control and flexibility over their streaming experience".

MultiChoice says Watch from Start "is a first step in bringing full cloud PVR functionality - recording live events from any device, to watch later - to DStv Stream customers, who could previously only access this if they were a PVR decoder viewer".

The Watch from Start feature is currently available in South Africa and the Rest of Africa on iOS, Android mobile, web, Hisense, tvOS, and most Samsung TVs. MultiChoice says it will be rolling out on other platforms soon.

"Along with this is a new and improved version of the smart TV user interface (UI) including enhancements that have made the app simpler for the customer to use and navigate. These updates have been rolled out on LG, Samsung and Hisense and will also be rolled out to DStv's connected Streama device soon."

Rochani Steenkamp, executive head of DStv Stream Product, says "These features not only improve convenience but also allow our subscribers to enjoy their favourite shows and live events exactly how and when they want".

According to MultiChoice the navigation for mobile has also been reworked to help subscribers with content discovery in the main section of the app.

Daniel Courtenay, DStv Stream executive head, says "These are just the first in a list of innovative improvements on our road map for the year".

MultiChoice pushes launch of Sky's DStv Glass TV out by 2 years.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has pushed the launch of its DStv Glass out by up to as much as 2 years, with the smart TV set taken from Comcast's Sky in the United Kingdom, which will no longer go on sale this year as originally promised but only between November 2024 and May 2025.

In September 2022, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO, said that the DStv Glass TV set would launch in South Africa in 2023.

On Wednesday, Calvo Mawela, during a virtual recording of MultiChoice's first Capital Markets Day presentation, revealed that the DStv Glass launch date has now been pushed out by between a year and a half, and up to two years.

"We plan to launch DStv Glass in a partnership with Sky in 18 to 24 months," Calvo Mawela said. "We are proud to be launching one of the most innovative television products and most-powerful content aggregation tools globally."

Sky in the United Kingdom which is part of Comcast, introduced Sky Glass in October 2021, and although it contains the word "glass" the product doesn't have a lot of real glass in it - the 4K QLED TV has a 4K Ultra HD Quantum Dot screen with Dolby Atmos and a built-in soundbar at the bottom.

While Sky Glass - which will be branded DStv Glass in South Africa - is available in five different colours and in 43, 55 and 65-inch sizes, it's not yet clear which of these colours and sizes MultiChoice will sell DStv Glass as in South Africa.

MultiChoice says the DStv Glass, similar to Sky Glass, will offer a "world-class streaming aggregation product that will include the collation and search functionality across MultiChoice's own content and third-party apps".

The DStv Glass will also come with voice search, but interestingly the streaming Sky Glass has no storage in the way that a traditional DStv Explora decoder has.

Instead, you press the "+" button on the remote control which adds items to your playlist. The device then grabs the episodes wherever they might be found and then lists them for watching. There's no recording with everything streaming on demand.

ALSO READ: Sky's new Sky Glass raises the pay-TV ceiling with an integrated new smart TV that seamlessly aggregates content everywhere to 'reimagine' the biggest screen in the home.

America's Comcast unveils its new XClass TV set enabling seamless video streaming.

by Thinus Ferreira

Following the unveiling of Sky's new Sky Glass TV set in the United Kingdom earlier this month, Comcast in America on Tuesday afternoon unveiled its new XClass TV set from Hisense that is 4K capable and that will enable seamless streaming for pay-TV consumers eliminating the need for a decoder or set-top box.

There's not yet been any indications that the MultiChoice Group in South Africa plans any similar integrated TV set for its DStv service in Africa that seems to lag behind international industry trends.

MultiChoice announced that it's launching a DStv Streama decoder in August 2020 but over a year later MultiChoice's DStv Streama became so-called "vapourware" with the company offering no explanation for not launching it.

Comcast announced that the XClass TV, priced at $298 (R4339) for a 43inch model and with a sticker price of $348 (R5068) for a 50-inch 4K Ultra HD model will come with a year's free subscription to NBCUniversal's Peacock Premium subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service.

The XClass TV sets will go on sale from this week in the United States.

The Hisense XClass TV sets include support for Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 and can enable the pass-through of Dolby Atmos from compatible content sources when the TV is connected to a compatible audio device.

Similar to Sky Glass that bundles a whole collection of streaming services, the XClass TV aggregates content from Hulu With Live TV, YouTube TV and America's Dish Network's Sling TV.

XClass TV users also get access to video streamers like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, WarnerMedia's HBO Max, Hulu, YouTube, Comcast's Xumo, ViacomCBS's Pluto, Fox's Tubi and Amazon's IMDb TV.

"We're thrilled to bring our award-winning entertainment experience to smart TVs nationwide and for the first-time, offer consumers inside and outside our service areas a simple way to navigate their live and on-demand content, whether streaming or cable," says Sam Schwartz, Comcast's chief business development officer, in a press release.

David Gold, president of Hisense USA, in the statement says that "As a rapidly growing brand in the Untied States, Hisense is committed not only to quality products but also to providing an array of options for our customers".

"We're excited to partner with Comcast to bring the first XClass TVs to market in the United States."

Key features of the XClass TV operating system include simple search and discovery that gets consumers quickly to the content they want to watch, regardless of what app or service it resides in with just a click or a voice command, Comcast says.

The XClass TV also has gives users the functionality to create a personalised playlist with the "My List" feature, enabling consumers to save and quickly access shows or movies from across apps and services from the home screen or through a button on the remote.

The XClass TV has a curated interface that combines automated suggestions with editorial recommendations to help consumers discover programming from across streaming apps and services.

Comcast says that the XClass TV set gives "convenient and seamless access to recently viewed apps, services, content, HDMI inputs, and over the air TV channels on the first row of the home screen to help consumers get back to their favourite entertainment faster".

The XClass TV has built-in voice technology that allows consumers to discover content quickly with a simple voice command, working in and out of apps to get content wherever the viewer is in a viewing experience.

"Comcast's global voice platform supports more than 40 million commands daily in 5 different languages across North America and Europe," the company says.

ALSO READ: Sky's new Sky Glass raises the pay-TV ceiling with an integrated new smart TV that seamlessly aggregates content everywhere to 'reimagine' the biggest screen in the home.

Sky's new Sky Glass raises the pay-TV ceiling with an integrated new smart TV that seamlessly aggregates content everywhere to 'reimagine' the biggest screen in the home.

by Thinus Ferreira

Comcast's Sky pay-TV service in the United Kingdom on Thursday announced that it's launching a new pay-TV and video streaming integrated smart TV set service called Sky Glass that that doesn't need a satellite dish or decoder and offers the Sky pay-TV bundle as well as numerous video-on-demand (VOD) services without the need for a satellite dish.

Sky's jaw-dropping launch of Sky Glass at a media event held in Greenwich, London on Thursday once again sharply underscored just how far the MultiChoice Group in South Africa also operating across sub-Saharan Africa under CEO Calvo Mawela has fallen behind when it comes to product and service innovation and to aggressively and pro-actively respond to the dramatic evolution of the global TV industry and VOD services.

While MultiChoice still struggles with many standard definition (SD) channels on its DStv service it couldn't upgrade to high definition (HD) and without any 4K channels, MultiChoice doesn't have anything remotely approaching the Sky Q box or service that was launched 5 years ago already back in 2017.

While Sky has signed deals with almost every global subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service - from Disney+ to Discovery+ and from Peacock to Paramount+ and SkyShowtime with ViacomCBS - and is bringing all of those shows and films to Sky Glass, MultiChoice only has Netflix SA and Amazon Prime Video as SVODs.

MultiChoice has failed to launch vapourware like the DStv Streama announced over a year ago and isn't moving fast enough or innovating quickly enough to reduce viewer friction in the TV content discovery process.   

While Calvo Mawela has stated that MultiChoice wants to become a so-called "super-aggregator" of TV content, it is Comcast's Sky that is actually and practically advancing in this consumer product and content process and really doing it.

Sky Glass that will become available in the United Kingdom from 18 October is essentially a smart TV and integrates content from everywhere, irrespective of its sources like traditional satellite pay-TV, free-to-air TV channels or streaming services.

Sky Glass brings all of that content to the subscriber in a combined "playlist" as it smooths out the increasingly complex and cumbersome effort for a viewer to search and find what they want to watch.

Sky Glass viewers "collect" and compile their favourite TV content from Sky, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, the BBC iPlayer and a slew of other TV channels and providers in this playlist, instead of having to log into different apps, or having to delve around in various places and services.

Sky Glass will even create a seamless experience for the viewer who will be able to watch episodes of a single series even if seasons are split across various different video streaming services with different licensing rights.

At a media launch held in London Brian Roberts, Comcast CEO who flew to London, said that "the big idea with Sky Glass was to reimagine television and Sky's role in the living room", saying that Sky Glass is transformative innovation of the biggest screen in the home.

"Just 10 years ago, we would never have imagined what we would all be doing with our television and on the internet today. Ten years from now, I think it is going to be unrecognisable."

"Everything you see is powered by a remarkably intelligent and flexible platform that makes finding what you love effortless."

Sky announced that Australia's pay-TV customers will also be getting access to Sky Glass with Australia's Foxtel Group as Sky's first Sky Glass syndication partner.

The launch of Sky Glass effectively means that Sky as a pay-TV operator is suddenly also competing with global smart TV manufacturers like LG Electronics, Sony, Hisense and Samsung.

Looking forward, facing streaming revolution challenges
Dana Strong, Sky CEO, said that with Sky Glass smart TV the company is "transforming the role of TV in the home". "This is Sky embracing aggregation as a strategy to overcome the mass frustration experienced by customers".

Sky Glass only needs to be connected to electricity and WiFi with "no dish, no box, no fuss" as the "first platform to fully integrate content from local broadcasters to global giants such as Netflix and Disney+".

"Sky Glass is the streaming TV with Sky inside, providing the total integration of hardware, software and content. Built on over 30 years of understanding what our customers want, this is a TV that only Sky could make, We believe this is the smartest TV available, and that customers will love it," Dana Strong says in the Sky Glass press release.

"The streaming revolution has brought a whole new set of challenges. Most people use multiple apps to find content but these experiences can feel fragmented and we end up spending more time searching for content than sitting back and enjoying it."

"In our already complex lives, we need things to be simple and this will dramatically simplify experiences and transform the role of TV in the home," Dana Strong said.

"We have had every major content provider into the offices to see this product and we've been blown away by their response - by how supportive they've been, how excited they are about it." 

"It's actually given us a lot of conviction that we're on the right path because you've got every leader from major organisations coming through and walking away with a smile on their face."

"This is all offense. This is not looking over our shoulder at all but looking forward. This is about really setting the standard for the next phase of innovation."

Sky Glass colours, remote, features

Sky Glass comes in different colours similar to a smartphone and has motion technology like Glance Motion Technology so that it turns on automatically when a viewer moves past in front of it. 

Sky Glass also has voice control and switches on with "Hi Sky".

Sky says that its Sky Glass "will operate across the whole value chain, from content production, through to connectivity and aggregation, all coming together on the Sky Glass screen".

Sky partnered with the design agency Map Project Office to create the Sky Glass product design and Sky Glass comes in a choice of three sizes: A small 43-inch, medium 55-inch and a large 65-inch.

Sky Glass also comes in 5 different colours: "Ocean blue", "Ceramic white", "Racing green", "Dusky pink" and "Anthracite black".

The various Sky Glass smart TV set colours come with matching remote controls and customisable speaker fascias.

Sky Glass has a 4K Ultra HD Quantum Dot screen, while the 10-bit HDR screen supports HLG, HDR10 and Dolby Vision to produce vibrant, more intense colour. It has 6 powerful, integrated speakers in optimal positions to deliver edge to edge Dolby Atmos sound and a sub-woofer designed for a rich, deep bass without the need to buy a separate soundbar.

Sky customers can buy Sky Glass together with a Sky pay-TV subscription. 

Subscribers can pay once-off for the Sky Glass smart TV or spread out the payments in instalments over months that are added to the pay-TV subscription similar to smartphone operator contracts.