This week there was an announcement by the main television provider in South Africa that their rules were changing. In the past one could have purchase a monthly package and the rest of the household could use the password to login on their devices.
I used to have the premium package as it was basically used only for the sport. The new rules coming this March will only allow I streaming service so a household would now basically have to buy a package for every person under your roof. Pure madness as who would try and come up with such a genius idea that has now pushed everyone away.
The problem is the Tv provider is losing customers as a steady stream are not seeing the value for money. We used to pay in the region of $75 per month for our top of the range package and I love sports and couldn't see the value so I canned it. They phoned me back 2 months later trying to get me back offering a 50% discount and thought it was too little too late.
With the economy like it is many others are seeing what I saw 4 years ago and is the first thing to be cut back. Last month the subscription service lost over 100 000 subscribers and this is a panic move to try and stop the bleeding.
Actually I think it will make things worse as some knuckle head thinks families will buy more subscriptions which wont happen. They are chasing away who is left with this move as it is that dumb. It doesn't take much effort if you have high speed internet and a smart television to find a better solution for free or very little.
The programs they were offering besides live sport were various international series and all reruns that were rarely up to date and were played over and over until you were brain dead. Streaming services like Cinema and Cyberflix I choose the latest films and various series that I want to watch which are all current from around the world. I checked tonight to see one series they are streaming and DSTV were 3 months behind the US release this week. Others are not months behind but years as that is how they buy the packages when doing deals.
The reduced fee of $45 is still not worth it in my opinion for what they offer and with services that are legal like IPTV offering every sports channel in the world for $20 per month plus series and movies it is a no brainer and they are going to lose everyone by this move. I can watch every single English premiership match that is broadcast live for 1/3rd of what they are billing plus all the latest and greatest that is available. Not only that I can stream every movie that has been produced along with any TV show.
Internet up until 2 years ago was not fantastic and was over priced for the services and band width on offer, but with the introduction of cable things changed. Most house have decent internet and that has changed how we entertain ourselves in our homes. Lockdowns forced everyone to find entertainment at home and having reruns is not going to excite anyone as they need to be entertained. DSTV has made billions over the years and expect them to be bought out by a SKY or someone soon as they are on their last legs. Losing 100K plus per month in subscribers is not something you can stop by wanting to charge them more for what they are currently getting.
