Streaming away from DStv premium
The most fascinating number revealed in Naspers’s interim results for the six months to the end of September 2017 is one of the smallest: a seemingly tiny drop in subscribers to the DStv premium package on the MultiChoice pay-TV platform.
While overall DStv subscribers grew by 1.23 million, the number of premium customers fell by a “mere” 115 000. But there is deep significance to that number.
There has long been talk about the price of the premium bouquet being the Achilles heel in a seemingly invulnerable business. The moment people install high-speed fibreto-the-home and discover that the rich content of Netflix and Showmax video-ondemand comes at a fraction of the price of the premium package, goes the argument, they are going to jump ship.
This was one of the reasons MultiChoice decided recently to fold its own video-ondemand service, Showmax, into the premium bouquet at no cost.
It was a startling but revealing move. The massive range of exclusive sports broadcast licences held by MultiChoice has long been its bulwark against cheaper competitors. However, as new streaming services keep emerging, and the fibre user base keeps expanding, something had to give.
While some of the 115 000 premium migrants may well have downgraded to smaller DStv packages, it also represents the likely number of subscribers to streaming video-on-demand. And that was before the arrival, in the past few months, of two newcomers. First there was Kwesé Play, launched by African media company Econet, owner of Liquid Telecom and its new subsidiary, Neotel.
Kwesé Play is a set-top box and service that connects via the internet, and offers 100 streaming channels, including Netflix. The box comes with three months of Netflix at no cost. The idea is that, once people are hooked, the sub-$10 monthly subscription will be a no-brainer.
Last month, mobile operator Cell C launched another new streaming service, Black, available via the internet, a phone browser or on a set-top box. The device, called the blackBox, ups the ante through WatchApps, an apps platform that gives access to Facebook and Twitter.
The thinking is that users will be able to view and interact with TV and movie stars’ social platforms, through the box, while watching a movie or series. The strategy, however, is to embrace the rapid evolution of TV viewing.
In many markets, the migration from broadcast pay-TV to streaming video-ondemand, referred to as cord-cutting, is changing the foundations of the industry. Many broadcasters are so invested in their one-way platforms — both in technology and corporate culture — that they have been caught napping by the futureoriented strategies of the streamers.
The blackBox is a good example. It has introduced a feature so obvious and simple anyone using it will return to DStv with new disrespect. Says Black’s chief content executive, Surie Ramasary: “The remote control . . . features all the regular access buttons on the front, but also a full Qwerty keyboard on the back. You will no longer have to search letter by letter using the direction keys, but simply type in the information.”
A blindingly obvious solution to a user frustration, but it seems to take competition to reduce such frustrations.
Signpost Viewers jump ship for cheaper video-ondemand
Goldstuck is the founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter @art2gee and on YouTube