Recently, South African online publication, MyBroadband, interviewed MultiChoice General Manager, Nyiko Shiburi who sat down with them to explain why DSTV cannot let subscribers simply choose their own channels and pay for them.
Some of the extracts from the interview include the GM saying:
“Technology is built to place channels into a relatively small number of groups”…
…”If you let each subscriber become their own group, this would place more strain on the system than the bandwidth offered by DStv’s satellites could handle”…
…”For anti-piracy reasons, which are driven by Hollywood studios, DStv constantly has to cycle encryption keys through its decoders.If you have to generate content encryption keys for each individual subscriber, this would cause a massive amount of signalling traffic.It could take days for a new subscriber to be activated if such individual channel selection were allowed, said MultiChoice”…
…”We know that our subscribers want the flexibility of choosing their own channels.However, by packaging channels in the way we do into predetermined bouquets, we make the services more affordable for more of our customers. We are always improving choice and flexibility by improving our on-demand services, that is why we are looking at how we can further address that desire on various online platforms”…
Based on the interview the GM seems quite adamant that DSTV cannot and will not allow subscribers to choose their own channels, an idea that turned into a belief after M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle told listeners on a radio talk show that:
“DSTV is looking into letting consumers subscribe to only the channels they want“.
It seems as though the CEOs comments caused a bit of public stir and now Multichoice is looking to clear up any misconceptions the public may have of future DSTV package options.
Many of our readers had already expressed joy and excitement over the move by DSTV, and after DSTV Zimbabwe reduced its prices, it seemed like DSTV was finally on the right track, at least for its subscriber wants and needs.
So for now, its a big NO from Multichoice! You can read the full interview here.
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8 comments
economies of scale, something even a form 3 commerce student could understand. when you start breaking things down, it no longer becomes affordable.
But when you limit the potential of technology you are creating room for disruptors. Remember how long people used to be on the waiting list to get a landline…DSTV might soon make themselves irrelevant
They would be out of business already, if internet was as fast and affordable as it is in western countries.
As it stands in Africa, DStv aint goin nowhere! These online alternatives are great, but only if you are in SA. Here in Zim maybe kana uri tonaz (hre).
Those fb satellites or google balloons are not coming any time soon. We need new pipes to deliver content, thats the piece missing in the puzzle.
In which western countries is it cheaper.Do we have a comparison to prove this.It will be interesting to see the differences in the prices per each mb.
but whats the point of having a gymn without a bench,,you can surely have one without the treadmills.My point is customers want a bouqet that offers them what they really really need,I think most bachelours would settle for a bouqet with Ss3,blitz and cnn and not care about treadmills like zee or those african movie channels.
This guy is full of BS, just say it’s unprofitable bottom line instead of insulting us!
That is why I don’t go to gym!
I have said this before it is practically impossible and not cost efficient to have pay for view satellite TV for channels that run 24hour contents.And it is practically also impossible not to have repeat programmes not just from a cost point of view but also from a content availability point of view.
DSTV are already in the pay content market through Showmaxx (which is a sister company under the same Naspers group of companies) and thus it does’t make business sense for them to have pay per view.
At the end of the day with the cost of data etc for most people who watch TV more often DSTV is and will still remain the cheapest form of TV entertainment.
Am still waiting for someone to prove me wrong in this regard