DStv Subscription Options - Suggested Alternative

[DELEVEX]

DStv Subscription Options - Suggested Alternatives

I'm sure this question have been asked before, but I'd like to see how many (if any) agree with my argument.

It's no secret that the DStv Premium bouquet have reached a point where it's almost impossible for the middle-calls, average person to afford this luxury? I've also learned that a great number of viewers downgraded and cancelled their subscriptions after the last annual price increase. A surprisingly large number of our customers indicated that they're only subscribing to the "premium" package to watch rugby and cricket.

My questions:

1) I fail to see how the SS3 & SS4 combination can cost MC that much more than a SS1 & SS2 combination? So if DStv Compact caters for a specific group of viewers opting for Soccer on SS3 & SS4, why can they not provide an alternative choice, which includes SS1 & SS2 only? They're doing it with Select 1 & 2, where Kyknet + MK = Series + Channel O. Why not do the same with the sport channels & create a Compact 1 & Compact 2 option?

2) If you're a rugby / cricket enthusiast, who either cancelled your DStv subscription or planning to do this soon in light of affordability, would you reconsider if this option became available? Especially since we honestly don't have a lot of options with regard to sport on television in SA at this stage.

I'd like to get as many responses as possible to give me "something to work with" in the near future, if you get my drift? :

We started a poll on our FB page, which can be found here, if you wish to remain anonymous.

Thanks guys (&girls)
HP (www.mydstv.org)

P.S. Thank you for the continued support!

 

[killadoob]

It isn't actually that much if you watch a lot of sport, if anything it is darn cheap if you consider the amount of hours one spends watching sport. I cannot think of anything that could keep me busy for 50-80 hours a month and only set me back 700 bucks. Sure you can download sport but honestly if isn't live it will suck, you can stream it but boy what a mission to find all the sport they offer.

If you don't watch sport, get adsl uncapped and download everything. 1 meg uncapped will set you back roughly 400 bucks. There is no reason to pay dstv if you don't watch sport.

 

[Speedster]

Referring to a cricket / rugby sports bouquet as Afrikaans is not only narrow-minded and offensive but completely inaccurate.

 

[akescpt]

they will never allow you to choose. the sport is the reason they make their money. like you say many people just have it because of the sport.

 

[Nerfherder]

Referring to a cricket / rugby sports bouquet as Afrikaans is not only narrow-minded and offensive but completely inaccurate.

+1

Not entirely sure what you were trying to say but it definitely came out wrong

 

[DELEVEX]

Agree - it almost sounded racial and that was not my intention. I've changed the wording.

 

[Speedster]

Agree - it almost sounded racial and that was not my intention. I've changed the wording.

In that case I'd love to have a package with SS1 + SS2, or even only SS channels but I doubt DSTV will consider this option, at least not at a significant discount to the current premium price. A large percentage of DSTV subscribers are in it for the sport, and Multichoice know it. Also, SS own most of the local sport - - all SANZAR rugby, Supersport series cricket etc etc - in that they provide the funding for it to happen as well as the broadcast production itself which makes it a more expensive product than simply buying the broadcast rights of international sport.

 

[badtrev]

They wont do this simply because SS1 and SS2 show the bulk of all the good live sport - cricket, rugby, golf, athletics, F1. SS3 and SS4 show only soccer. What DSTV could do is throw a bone to the subscribers who are on compact by showing one Super Rugby game or the odd cricket match on SS4 when the channel is available ie. when there is no live PSL match on. They did show Rugby World Cup on SS4 and the occasional First Division Currie cup match.

 

[w1z4rd]

I dont watch sports, so I dont care. TopTV ftw

 

[Chevron]

I'm sure this question have been asked before, but I'd like to see how many (if any) agree with my argument.

It's no secret that the DStv Premium bouquet have reached a point where it's almost impossible for the middle-calls, average person to afford this luxury? I've also learned that a great number of viewers downgraded and cancelled their subscriptions after the last annual price increase. A surprisingly large number of our customers indicated that they're only subscribing to the "premium" package to watch rugby and cricket.

My questions:

1) I fail to see how the SS3 & SS4 combination can cost MC that much more than a SS1 & SS2 combination? So if DStv Compact caters for a specific group of viewers opting for Soccer on SS3 & SS4, why can they not provide an alternative choice, which includes SS1 & SS2 only? They're doing it with Select 1 & 2, where Kyknet + MK = Series + Channel O. Why not do the same with the sport channels & create a Compact 1 & Compact 2 option?

2) If you're a rugby / cricket enthusiast, who either cancelled your DStv subscription or planning to do this soon in light of affordability, would you reconsider if this option became available? Especially since we honestly don't have a lot of options with regard to sport on television in SA at this stage.

I'd like to get as many responses as possible to give me "something to work with" in the near future, if you get my drift? :

We started a poll on our FB page, which can be found here, if you wish to remain anonymous.

Thanks guys (&girls)
HP (www.mydstv.org)

P.S. Thank you for the continued support!

Because they can. It's mostly poorer black people that watch soccer and more rich white people that watch Rugby. That's it really.

If you want an alternative get TopTV and watch your sport at the pub.

 

[DELEVEX]

If you want an alternative get TopTV and watch your sport at the pub.

That simply won't work for me personally! :erm: The amount of beer I consume during a match at the pub, is probably equal or more than the difference between Compact & Premium. And that's one game only!

 

[McGuywer]

2) If you're a rugby / cricket enthusiast, who either cancelled your DStv subscription or planning to do this soon in light of affordability, would you reconsider if this option became available? Especially since we honestly don't have a lot of options with regard to sport on television in SA at this stage.

This.

 

[Sonic2k]

I do not watch sport. And with the tripe they show lately I rather use the money towards uncapped ADSL. Besides their HD chanels are compressed to the point that it looks like Youtube on a Bravia

 

[stevenv]

Oh, and there goes the dead horse.

Bottom line is that Multichoice is a company that has a profit & loss as well as a holding company and shareholders to answer to. They aren't going to change their bouquets or make them cheaper for Average Joe unless there is a financial benefit that will increase the profit and decrease the loss. Sure, if they made them cheaper they will probably increase their subscriber numbers but I'm sure they've done market analysis and determined their current strategy is more financially beneficial.

Complaining about it on MyBB isn't going to help anything. If you don't want to pay their exorbitant subscriptions, don't sign up or if you have: cancel. If you want your sport fix, either subscribe and live with the cost or make another plan to watch the game. And the argument that watching sport is your constitutional right and therefore DSTV should be cheaper has been discussed here before and still won't hold any water http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/380273-Is-DSTV-Exclusive-Rights-for-Rugby-etc-legal.

I'm not picking a fight, just stating my opinion on the topic. Almost every week someone is complaining about the cost of DSTV. Ultimately its a luxury so if you don't want to pay for the luxury of rugby/cricket in your lounge, thankfully we have a free society where you don't have to.

 

[stevenv]

Besides their HD chanels are compressed to the point that it looks like Youtube on a Bravia

Really? Have you put YouTube next to an HD channel on your Bravia?

 

[McGuywer]

Oh, and there goes the dead horse.

Bottom line is that Multichoice is a company that has a profit & loss as well as a holding company and shareholders to answer to. They aren't going to change their bouquets or make them cheaper for Average Joe unless there is a financial benefit that will increase the profit and decrease the loss. Sure, if they made them cheaper they will probably increase their subscriber numbers but I'm sure they've done market analysis and determined their current strategy is more financially beneficial.

Complaining about it on MyBB isn't going to help anything. If you don't want to pay their exorbitant subscriptions, don't sign up or if you have: cancel. If you want your sport fix, either subscribe and live with the cost or make another plan to watch the game. And the argument that watching sport is your constitutional right and therefore DSTV should be cheaper has been discussed here before and still won't hold any water http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/380273-Is-DSTV-Exclusive-Rights-for-Rugby-etc-legal.

I'm not picking a fight, just stating my opinion on the topic. Almost every week someone is complaining about the cost of DSTV. Ultimately its a luxury so if you don't want to pay for the luxury of rugby/cricket in your lounge, thankfully we have a free society where you don't have to.

Great post!

Really? Have you put YouTube next to an HD channel on your Bravia?

Great question!

 

[DELEVEX]

Oh, and there goes the dead horse.

Sure, if they made them cheaper they will probably increase their subscriber numbers but I'm sure they've done market analysis and determined their current strategy is more financially beneficial.

Nobody disputes any of the valid points you mention, in fact I fully agree with all of them. We all also know complaining about prices is also not the answer.

Let me rephrase: We all know the DStv Compact option, right? It includes SS3, SS4 and 55 other channels. The question I asked was, if the broadcasting of local & international soccer matches costs MC the same as the broadcasting of local & international rugby, why can't subscribers choose exactly the same package with SS3&4 substituted for SS1&2?

A very large number of subscribers cancelled their DStv Premium subscriptions since they can no longer afford it and they're not interested in downgrading, because they don't watch soccer. The idea with my post was to get an indication if these people (and others planning to cancel in future) would reconsider, if the above choice became available.

 

[Chevron]

Nobody disputes any of the valid points you mention, in fact I fully agree with all of them. We all also know complaining about prices is also not the answer.

Let me rephrase: We all know the DStv Compact option, right? It includes SS3, SS4 and 55 other channels. The question I asked was, if the broadcasting of local & international soccer matches costs MC the same as the broadcasting of local & international rugby, why can't subscribers choose exactly the same package with SS3&4 substituted for SS1&2?

A very large number of subscribers cancelled their DStv Premium subscriptions since they can no longer afford it and they're not interested in downgrading, because they don't watch soccer. The idea with my post was to get an indication if these people (and others planning to cancel in future) would reconsider, if the above choice became available.

If the people cancelling were as many as you make out MC would do something about it. They're not. They've probably weighed the cancellations against the amount of people that would downgrade if they offered what you're suggesting and decided that it's better to fleece the remaining subs.

The only way to do anything about it is to get more people to sign up with competitors. Strong competition is the only way to get anything done.

So sign up with TopTV.

 

[stevenv]

We all know the DStv Compact option, right? It includes SS3, SS4 and 55 other channels. The question I asked was, if the broadcasting of local & international soccer matches costs MC the same as the broadcasting of local & international rugby, why can't subscribers choose exactly the same package with SS3&4 substituted for SS1&2?

The problem is that SS1 and SS2 are the main reason many subscribers keep paying the premium. The other "popular" channels such as MNET, MovieMagic, Discovery etc are also a reason but if you polled the subscriber base, I'm sure sport is one of the main reasons for subscribing (i.e. rugby and cricket). If Multichoice made it an option to choose any two SS channels on Compact, I would think that a large number of premium subscribers would downgrade. That equates to a revenue loss of R330 per month per subscriber. On the other side of the equation, subscriber numbers would increase as a result of the better choice on the cheaper package. However, even if for every downgraded subscriber, they got a completely new subscriber, they would still be losing R70 per month per downgraded subscriber.

So the way I see it, it doesn't make financial sense for Multichoice to offer a better selection on the lower-end packages unless they could guarantee to get multiple new subscribers for every one that downgrades, something I'm sure management isn't prepared to risk considering the aforementioned shareholders.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Multichoice or Naspers