What South Africa's viewers have been asking for is now happening in India: Pick and pay only for the individual pay-TV channels you want.

A quiet but dramatic change is coming to India with something that South Africa's pay-TV subscribers have been clamouring for: From 1 February India's satellite pay-TV customers will get to pick and only pay for the TV channels they want - although there are some catches.

The idea or hope is that pay-TV subscribers in India will be paying less for their monthly pay-TV subscription bill when they only choose the TV channels they want and pay for those.

That, however, might not necessarily be the case and the regulatory move is more about improving "openness and transparency" about the price of pay-TV services - something that the change will do, than making pay-TV subscriptions cheaper.

According to reports, in a move that will have a far-reaching impact for pay-TV viewers and pay-TV operators in India, the country's regulator is forcing all pay-TV companies to publish prices of individual pay-TV channels, and to allow pay-TV consumers to pick only the channels they individually want, and to then only pay for those.

In Canada a similar regulatory move by the CRTC in 2016 was an epic failure when that country's broadcasting regulator ordered pay-TV companies to provide consumers with a limited bundle of main TV channels, and in 2017 ordered them to make an option for individual pick-and-pay TV channels available.

Since the introduction of the so-called a-la-carte option instead of the so-called bundling of channels into pay-TV packages, Canada's pay-TV subscriptions have been in decline (further fuelled by the growth in video streaming services like the arrival of Netflix).

India's broadcasting regulator, is now mandating similar sweeping changes from 1 February in that country - something that South African pay-TV subscribers have also asked for, but that companies like Naspers' MultiChoice (that runs the DStv and GOtv services in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa) have said is not possible to do or to provide.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has not just ordered that country's pay-TV operators to provide the pick-and-pay of individual TV channels as a new system option to existing and potential pay-TV subscribers, but has also ordered pay-TV companies to list upfront the price of every TV channel.

TRAI is going even further and although India is a free-market consumer economy, has ordered a cap on the maximum price per TV channel a pay-TV operator will be allowed to charge - Rs19 or R3.78 per month.

TRAI says the new pick-and-pay system for the TV channels pay-TV users want will "free" viewers in India from having to pay for a specific set of TV channels in a bouquet or package in the way that MultiChoice, China's StarTimes/StarSat, Deukom and others in South Africa and Africa have sold traditional pay-TV subscriptions.

There are several small print caveats, however.

India's pay-TV subscribers should get ready for the listicle bill. Similar to hospital, hotel and restaurant bills, India's pay-TV subscribers are going to hit pay-TV subscribers with itemised billing.

It does mean bigger transparency for every purchased line-item with customers able to see exactly what they're charged for but also the opportunity for pay-TV operators to add additional charges for items and services that previously were lumped in somewhat for "free" or as part of an overall cost.

For instance: It won't be possible to pick and pay for just one TV channel. Every pay-TV subscriber will pay from the outset for a basic package of 100 standard definition (SD) free-to-air TV channels. Those 100 channels will come with a base cost called a monthly "connection fee".

It also means that receiving free-to-air channels through pay-TV in India will no longer be free.

Beyond the basic 100-channels bundle, pay-TV subscribers will be able to pick and add channels individually, each at a different cost, but no channel allowed to be more expensive that the maximum fee for an individual channel set by the regulator.

After reports that pay-TV costs will rise, TRAI in a press release admits that India's pay-TV subscribers will pay less but that it's from the understanding that a pay-TV household will also have and want a reduced number of TV channels. TRAI says consumers will pay less because they will decide to have less TV channels.

TRAI worked on a model of 50 TV channels, saying "more than 90% of TV homes view/flip 50 or lesser number of channels".

"Therefore any analysis that keeps 250 or more channels for pricing of monthly tariffs, creates a false impression."

"If a consumer chooses the channels which he really watches, then he will be paying a lesser amount compared to what he's paying as of now."

Will watching pay-TV in India get costlier? Well, not from the beginning, and not immediately, and also not if a consumer chooses only a few channels. Pay-TV operators are already working on offering and building in steep discounts to maintain current pricing levels and to prevent any bill shock during and after the switch-over.

But over time - and only time will tell - once heavy discounts expire or are phased out, monthly pay-TV bills in India could possibly increase. Consumers who also opt for a lot of TV channels will pay more.

Also to keep in mind is that the administration systems and admin costs of running and implementing numerous different customer channel choices, as well as paying for channel carriage agreements in order to have those potential channels available as a choice for potential picking by consumers, will add a big financial burden to pay-TV operators' operating costs bottom-line.

These are costs that pay-TV companies, like any business in the business of making a profit for shareholders, will pass on to customers.

'Pay-as-you-consume is something we may consider; if it is technologically possible and the business model supports it,' according to MultiChoice Nigeria boss John Ugbe speaking at the 5th Digital Dialogue Conference.

After first adamantly denying it and saying it's impossible, MultiChoice is now saying that the pay-TV operator might introduce a pay-per-view option for DStv subscribers with MultiChoice Nigeria's boss, John Ugbe, saying it is something the pay-TV operator might consider depending on the business model.

John Ugbe spoke to reporters at the 5th edition of the Digital Dialogue Conference that took place in Dubai in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) this week, organised by MultiChoice.

MultiChoice didn't invite any South African journalists or media to the conference facilitated by the satellite pay-TV operator, and there was no advance media advisory or notification.

The Digital Dialogue Conference was centred around gaining a better understanding of the future direction of the video entertainment industry across Africa as a whole.

According to reports after John Ugbe spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the 5th Digital Dialogue Conference, "pay-as-you-consume is something we may consider; if it is technologically possible and the business model supports it, we will".

John Ugbe 's latest statement is creating confusion for consumers and Africa's TV biz, since he, as well as other MultiChoice Africa spokespeople over the past few years have been adamant that "pay-per-view" where subscribers pay for only the time they watch is not possible, not done anywhere in the world, and not feasible or possible for Africa.

As other reports note, MultiChoice Nigeria publicist Caroline Oghuma, in 2017 said the pay-per-view option is impossible and that "pay-TV is not like the telecom version where you pay for the amount of airtime you want to use. Pay-as-you-go, as believed by some customers, is not obtainable in the pay-TV business".

Martin Mabutho, MultiChoice Nigeria's general manager for marketing and sales also explained previously that "pay-per-view is normally used when a special event is being broadcast. I will give you the example of the boxing bout of Floyd Mayweather vrsus Conor McGregor; that we broadcast to our subscribers at no additional cost."

"In America where a pay-per-view facility is being offered, people paid $100, only for the fight. The next day if you don't have subscription, you don't see anything. For that reason, we don't think it is a viable thing for us to do. We don't believe that our market can handle that."

MultiChoice looking at the possibility of offering a Sport bouquet on DStv and if offering big sport events as pay-per-view is economically viable.

MultiChoice is looking at and researching the possibility of offering a Sports specific DStv bouquet to DStv subscribers but is cautioning that it won't be happening soon, and is also researching the economic viability of offering big sport events as a pay-per-view (PPV) option in Africa.

Tim Jacobs, CEO of MultiChoice Africa, said at the MultiChoice Content Showcase in Mauritius that MultiChoice that offering a sports specific bouquet on DStv is part of MultiChoice's product development.

"We listen to consumers, but it's a different model to our current one." Tim Jacobs said MultiChoice is "constantly evaluating the viability, so it's something we're considering, but it's not imminent".

David Booth, chief content officer for MultiChoice Africa, also commenting on the possibility of a sports specific DStv bouquet on Wednesday at the Main Beach Marquee where MultiChoice held a MultiChoice Africa Media Roundtable press conference, said that MultiChoice is always looking at trends.

"We're not in a position at this time to go that far [introduce a sports specific package]. There's always a chance to improve our content and quality and over the next two years, we'll see how it goes," said David Booth.

"Pay-Per-View sounds attractive, but it's actually a red herring," said Tim Jacobs.

"An easy example is the Mayweather/Pacquiao boxing match earlier this year. It sold on Pay-Per-View across the world – in the USA at $99 for 3 to 4 hours of viewing.

"Across the continent, subscribers pay less than that for DStv Premium for a whole month of viewing across all our channels – and in this instance, that included that fight, which was broadcast on SuperSport. That's the benefit of scale for us."

"If you segment sports, for example the English Premier League (EPL), the reality is that the cost of that is much higher than everyone thinks because you need to divide up those expensive rights between a much smaller viewing population, so the cost goes up exponentially."

"That doesn't mean we're not looking at Pay-Per-View as an option – we need to be flexible and we get a lot of requests for it."

"We’re watching consumer demand and looking at whether it's economically viable. It's not on the cards right now, though, but we do have a research team trying to work that out," said Tim Jacobs.

MultiChoice's 5 day DStv Content Showcase in Mauritius started on Tuesday with the satellite pay-TV service doing a programming and content upfront where several TV channels - from Sony Television and BBC Worldwide to SuperSport, M-Net, Viacom's BET, MTV Base, A+E Networks UK's History, Lifetime and others - are presenting their latest and upcoming programming and content over the coming months.

MultiChoice excluded South Africa's press and TV critics from attending the MultiChoice Content Showcase that media from other Africa countries are attending, and MultiChoice didn't inform South African journalists covering the TV industry beforehand that the event would be taking place.