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.

SuperSport rebrands and restructures its channels set on DStv to thematic viewing destinations from September, says it wants to make it easier for viewers to find the sport they're looking for.

by Thinus Ferreira

From September SuperSport is reorganising its curated sports channels set-up on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service - as well as how it funnels acquired live sports and other sports programming through those linear channels - in the biggest reorganising of the SuperSport channels set in 2 decades.

The SuperSport announcement comes after the return of the two ESPN channels from Disney to DStv after a 7-year absence, and M-Net that is also reducing and reorganising its set of M-Net Movies channels on DStv from September.

From September SuperSport is dropping the numbering system on DStv that it has used for its channels for more than 2 decades and replacing it with a "thematic" offering based around individual sports.

For instance, the new channel called SuperSport Motorsport will now carry only motorsport content whereas, in the past, motorsport would have been found on multiple different SuperSport channels.

SuperSport says the reorganising will make the content discovery process and channel navigation easier for DStv subscribers looking to find specific sport genres. 

According to SuperSport the new strategy will more closely align channel names in South Africa and across the rest of the African continent, and will indicate a clear destination for fans' favourite sports. There will be multiple themed channels, including a "Variety" channel offering.

The SuperSport sport channel reorganisation will be slightly different for DStv subscribers in South Africa, and for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

SuperSport says lower-tiered DStv subscribers will not see less sport and that none of the DStv packages will be worse off. Instead the viewing experience is improved by giving subscribers "a clear understanding of what content you will receive on the channel".

SuperSport will relaunch SuperSport 201 as the SuperSport Grandstand channel on that channel number with the SuperSport Blitz channel that will remain as the two channels comprising the front of the new channel set line-up. 

SuperSport's new flagship channel will carry the best of any live-curated sport available to DStv Premium subscribers at any one time, including soccer, rugby, cricket, golf and tennis. SuperSport Grandstand will be hosted in-studio on weekends and will be positioned immediately after Blitz at the front of the new line-up.

SuperSport viewers on DStv will get specially dedicated channels for various leagues and sports - among them the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the Premier League, La Liga, rugby, cricket, golf, tennis, motorsport and several others.

Rugby and cricket have been moved to SuperSport channels 211 and 212. SuperSport says this was done to align the channels across the entire African continent and ensure consistency across all markets.

"There is no less focus whatsoever on these channels. It does also allow for all the Premium channels to be grouped together between 211 and 215. Please remember that the best of any rugby and cricket will also be found on SuperSport Grandstand on channel 201."

Supplementary programming like magazine shows and highlights will still be available across all of the channels.

"This is a landmark decision in SuperSport's history and one we’re convinced will add a fresh and invigorating dimension to our broadcasts," says Gideon Khobane, SuperSport CEO, in a statement.

"The changes will mean that additional SuperSport channels of local and international sporting content will be added to the DStv package."

"Genre channelling will no doubt increase awareness of a broader range of content, which may have always been on the platform, but wasn’t necessarily easy to discover. This signals a radical change designed to make content discovery more seamless."

SuperSport says that market research has indicated that viewers would prefer to enjoy the sport of their choice on a dedicated, named channel.