South African tv dish satellite operator MultiChoice will soon be adding both streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to its DStv platform. This comes as the pay-TV operator continues to show growth in the market, adding roughly another 900,000 DStv and GOtv subscribers over its last financial year.
MultiChoice already offers its own subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service. Now, the company seems set to add another swathe of subscribers to its already robust base of 19.5 million users, according to its latest financial results.
By adding these two international streaming services to its existing platform with DStv, MultiChoice seems set on continuing its mission as a “super aggregator” – a tactic used by other pay-tv platforms in the US, UK or New Zealand over the past year.
Now, existing subscribers will receive access to further streaming services through DStv simply by paying their monthly bill in the local currency for the Netflix and Amazon add-ons. This will no doubt be a further way to dissuade customers from choosing these streaming services over DStv and abandoning the satellite service completely. Now, users need not leave DStv to receive access to Netflix.
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“We have long been a content aggregator, and this is proof of our aggregator model at work – providing simplicity, choice and convenience for our customers,” says Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO.
“As our industry evolves, we believe that we are well-positioned to benefit from both worlds – a large, growing pay-TV market in Africa, as well as an emerging over-the-top (OTT) opportunity, where our own OTT services and aggregation capabilities can drive success.”
MultiChoice has shown a 5% increase in subscriber growth in its 2019/2020 financial year, taking its total pay-TV subscriber base to 19.5 million households with South Africa still representing the company’s largest market (8.4 million households). The rest of Africa represents a total of 11.1 million households for the platform.
MultiChoice is also getting ready to roll-out and launch its as-yet-unnamed “DStv dishless”, stand-alone DStv streaming service that will mimic its existing direct-to-Home (DTH) service but without the need for any installation.
MultiChoice continues to produce local content
According to Channel24, MultiChoice has produced 3850 additional hours of local content on top of its already heft library of 56,800 hours of locally-produced content, at least 40% of its total library.
The company plans on doing two new co-productions, Blood Psalms and Rogue, launch four new local content TV channels including a new action movie channel and plans to further ramp up its local content production in 2021.
Edited by Luis Monzon
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