DStv, TopTV ordered to change contracts

daveza

daveza

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http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/DStv-TopTV-ordered-to-change-contracts-20111021


Cape Town – The National Consumer Commission has told DStv's operator MultiChoice and TopTV's operator On Digital Media to amend their current contracts with subscribers which the commission says do not apply with South Africa's new Consumer Protection Act.

In a move that could have serious repercussions for South Africa's pay TV industry, The National Consumer Commission also wants both South African pay TV operators to break down the channels in its bouquets and give subscriber the choice of a la carte channel subscriptions.

The Commission has issued compliance notices to MultiChoice and ODM.

The National Consumer Commission wants MultiChoice and ODM to allow subscribers to pay for just the specific TV channels they want, and want the DStv and TopTV channel selection to be grouped into genres.

TopTV told Channel24 on Friday that the operator can only comment at a later stage.

"We are engaging with the National Consumer Commission on some procedural aspects," said Thato Mahapa, senior manager of regulatory affairs at TopTV.

"We have not yet taken a decision or adopted a view as regards the signing of the notice or opposing it."

Jackie Rakitla, general manager for corporate affairs at MultiChoice South Africa, told Channel24 "we have received a compliance notice and we are currently considering it."
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Going to be interesting watching this one.
 
In a move that could have serious repercussions for South Africa's pay TV industry, The National Consumer Commission also wants both South African pay TV operators to break down the channels in its bouquets and give subscriber the choice of a la carte channel subscriptions.

The Commission has issued compliance notices to MultiChoice and ODM.

The National Consumer Commission wants MultiChoice and ODM to allow subscribers to pay for just the specific TV channels they want, and want the DStv and TopTV channel selection to be grouped into genres.
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Sounds promising, but we know how that's likely to go down - R100 per channel if we're lucky.
 
This could backfire badly actually.

Sport channels 75 rand each x 10. Other channels between 15-35 bucks :eek:. It could work out well for them and end up costing us more.

Have they thought this through because sure it could save people money but it could end up costing people more. Obviously the sport channels will be the most expensive. I hope for us sport addicts it doesn't go that way.
 
Hmmm, this is strange because the bundling of channels is an industry wide standard throughout many countries.
Their current pricing structure does not really allow for end user selection.
This is because they buy the channels in bouquets from the satellite providers as well.
It doesn't pay them to carve those channels off and sell them only individually.

Don't get me wrong, I hate DSTV and would like nothing more than to see them die. I would love more user choice.
I just can't see them pulling it off though without radically and drastically shaking up their entire company structure.
 
My love for dstv is very strong :D. Mostly because we have a world class line up of sport, we see more sport than most 1st world countries.

Gary how does that pay per view work in the states? don't they have channels with just sport that you pay x amount for like we have? Is pay per view only for people who do not have cable and that sort of thing? I have seen boxing on pay per view for 30 dollars which seems very high to me.

If it works the way i think it could i sure hope they don't adopt that approach.
 
Garyvdh said:
Hmmm, this is strange because the bundling of channels is an industry wide standard throughout many countries.
Their current pricing structure does not really allow for end user selection.
This is because they buy the channels in bouquets from the satellite providers as well.
It doesn't pay them to carve those channels off and sell them only individually.

Don't get me wrong, I hate DSTV and would like nothing more than to see them die. I would love more user choice.
I just can't see them pulling it off though without radically and drastically shaking up their entire company structure.
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A common practise it may be, but that doesn't make it right.

The people who don't watch a lot of sport are going to love this.

Go NCC!
 
killadoob said:
My love for dstv is very strong :D. Mostly because we have a world class line up of sport, we see more sport than most 1st world countries.
Gary how does that pay per view work in the states? don't they have channels with just sport that you pay x amount for like we have? Is pay per view only for people who do not have cable and that sort of thing? I have seen boxing on pay per view for 30 dollars which seems very high to me.
If it works the way i think it could i sure hope they don't adopt that approach.
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It's exactly the same as here. It may be cheaper, and they may have more channels, but they bundle the crap with the good just like they do here. In fact they boast pretty much in who has the most channels. There are no sport only options that I know of.
 
Garyvdh said:
It's exactly the same as here. It may be cheaper, and they may have more channels, but they bundle the crap with the good just like they do here. In fact they boast pretty much in who has the most channels. There are no sport only options that I know of.
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So what is pay per view? if they have the same sort of system why do they need pay per view?

Let's say kippie next door does not have dstv but has the setup for dstv, he buys a pay per view then he watches that and it ends there. Something like that? Why would people pay 30 dollars for a pay per view when it's dirt cheap to have all the sport channels?
 
killadoob said:
So what is pay per view? if they have the same sort of system why do they need pay per view?

Let's say kippie next door does not have dstv but has the setup for dstv, he buys a pay per view then he watches that and it ends there. Something like that? Why would people pay 30 dollars for a pay per view when it's dirt cheap to have all the sport channels?
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Because sometimes other providers have the rights to the sport. For example, lets say you in the USA have TV with ESPN and all the other sports channels, yet HBO gets the broadcast rights to the next biggest boxing fight. If you want to watch the fight live you'll have to pay $20 to HBO to watch it, hence pay-per-view. As soon as the broadcast starts you'll be able to watch it. Once the fight ends, the broadcast to you ends.

WWE used to do this for Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble.

edit: lol seems HBO do this quite a lot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view
 
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This is going to be an interesting battle to keep an eye on. I for one would love to see similar options the SKY subscribers in the UK get.

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killadoob said:
So what is pay per view? if they have the same sort of system why do they need pay per view?

Let's say kippie next door does not have dstv but has the setup for dstv, he buys a pay per view then he watches that and it ends there. Something like that? Why would people pay 30 dollars for a pay per view when it's dirt cheap to have all the sport channels?
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pay per view is like DSTV on Demand.

You pay to watch movies or extra events when you want to see them.
 
hungrybeaver said:
Because sometimes other providers have the rights to the sport. For example, lets say you in the USA have TV with ESPN and all the other sports channels, yet HBO gets the broadcast rights to the next biggest boxing fight. If you want to watch the fight live you'll have to pay $20 to HBO to watch it, hence pay-per-view. As soon as the broadcast starts you'll be able to watch it. Once the fight ends, the broadcast to you ends.
WWE used to do this for Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble.
edit: lol seems HBO do this quite a lot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view
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Correct, except you are not paying a third party, you are paying your Satelite service for Premium Content.
It's not different to DSTV on Demand.
 
Eish so in a month in the states i could end up spending a pretty penny watching sport :eek:.

I would rather take 600 rand a month, we cover everything as opposed to pay per view in all honesty.

Thanx beaver i kinda get the issue now, too much competition driving the pricing up because they all have their own deals with various sporting events.
 
killadoob said:
Eish so in a month in the states i could end up spending a pretty penny watching sport :eek:.
I would rather take 600 rand a month, we cover everything as opposed to pay per view in all honesty.
Thanx beaver i kinda get the issue now, too much competition driving the pricing up because they all have their own deals with various sporting events.
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The difference is that their base satellite deal is like $30 (R250), their broadband is $30, and their telephone service is $30.

So they get all three for about R750. They can then afford to buy a few other premium items.
My internet is more than a grand alone.
 
They can have bundles if its to be benefit of the user but they must still offer the option single seperate channels. Thats CPA compliant I think from reading the Telkom voice and ADSL line/CPA threads
 
They can have bundles if its to be benefit of the user but they must still offer the option single seperate channels.
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That's how I see it.

DSTV are not going to find an easy way around this one.

Cellphone bundles will also be in the firing line.
 
I think we would end up paying inflated premium prices for the few decent channels and therefore have to pay more overall in the end. I also want the choice of all the channels, because there might be that one day a month where I sit and decide today I'm just going to chill out and watch some Cartoons ;)
 
There is not service in the world where you can pick individual channels. Genres yes, channels no.
 
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