Netflix vs ShowMax vs FrontRow vs Vidi - pricing and content comparison

DJ... said:
You certainly can, and most large companies employ treasury functions for this purpose where their currency exposure is fixed.

In this case I imagine it's just Showmax trying to allow for new payment methods though, and PayPal dictate those and only charge in USD in SA...
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So they will always use the "higher exchange rate" to their advantage.
 
Necuno said:
I doubt it. Down to exactly R99.0000 ?; I would like to see that code block / implementation. You will always have a little more or less when you have exact precision in place.
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It's not code. It's a financial function and based on currency forecast exposure, and a combination of forward cover and other leveraged and standard asset instruments. It allows a company to fix their currency rates for set periods. Not all companies run a large forex book though - it all depends on economic conditions and volatility...
 
Grasmuis said:
So they will always use the "higher exchange rate" to their advantage.
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OK too much confusion going on here and not enough time for me to explain all of this on my side. But no, that's not how it works...
 
DJ... said:
It's not code. It's a financial function and based on currency forecast exposure, and a combination of forward cover and other leveraged and standard asset instruments. It allows a company to fix their currency rates for set periods. Not all companies run a large forex book though - it all depends on economic conditions and volatility...
Click to expand...

I'm talking adaptive, that is what the genius here expects. I'll like to see that...
 
They can compare until they are blue in the face, these SA offerings just cannot compete in terms of value for money
 
Necuno said:
I'm talking adaptive, that is what the genius here expects. I'll like to see that...
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Well the API is an expected currency rate, and it's simple to round up and down in code, but yes you'll not quite get that one right at all...
 
heartbroken said:
They can compare until they are blue in the face, these SA offerings just cannot compete in terms of value for money
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Nor will Netflix when they hit SA, in all likelihood. Or at least in comparison with their current USA/UK catalogues. I do hope I am wrong on that prediction.

But you must remember that these services are still very new and in their infancy in terms of the local market. Ironically, the lack of support for these current products keeps the pricing high and the content low, so it's a case of biting the hand that's trying to feed you each time one uses that as a justification not to buy. While there's a value element that needs to drive home to end-users, none of the offerings are overpriced in the market given current market conditions and costs...
 
SM just need to fix at least
1. sync issue
2. really rework user experience e.g. remember watched and being able to select quality

Also might want to drop flashplayer for html5 player.

Just those will already make it a lot better.
 
In the table listed in this article, does anyone know what exactly is meant by: Bonus SA features: (VIDI = Free ADSL data).
MBB1.jpg
 
Tried ShowMax, but they streaming quality was really bad. I easily get 720p on Netflix, often 1080p, but ShowMax looks almost like 384 :(
Webafrica, home capped, 20Mbit ADSL.
 
Tried ShowMax again tonight, the quality is still horrible, nothing has changed. Has anyone even got remotely close to 720p on Showmax?
 
DJ... said:
You certainly can, and most large companies employ treasury functions for this purpose where their currency exposure is fixed.

In this case I imagine it's just Showmax trying to allow for new payment methods though, and PayPal dictate those and only charge in USD in SA...
Click to expand...

There are also fees involved when paying through PayPay, and the difference may go that way.

Goods and services – Purchase payments:

There’s no fee to use PayPal to purchase goods or services. However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.

International payments:

There is a fee when you send a payment to someone in another country or if you receive a payment from someone in another country. Please note that exchange rate fees also apply if there is a currency conversion. The Fees section of the PayPal User Agreement has specific information. You can find the User Agreement by clicking Legal Agreements at the bottom of any PayPal page.
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Also, ZAR is not in the currency list. https://www.paypal.com/multicurrency

This means that you get charged in another currency (like USD) and PayPal does the conversion. Mostly likely ShowMax only updates their USD rate every now and again, disregarding the current currency instability. Perhaps a way to encourage EFT or similar above PayPal, but still have it available?
 
DJ... said:
Nor will Netflix when they hit SA, in all likelihood. Or at least in comparison with their current USA/UK catalogues. I do hope I am wrong on that prediction.

But you must remember that these services are still very new and in their infancy in terms of the local market. Ironically, the lack of support for these current products keeps the pricing high and the content low, so it's a case of biting the hand that's trying to feed you each time one uses that as a justification not to buy. While there's a value element that needs to drive home to end-users, none of the offerings are overpriced in the market given current market conditions and costs...
Click to expand...

I agree that these new offerings need time to develop and should be supported, but it is pretty clear with the launch of Showmax that Vidi and Frontrow were pretty disappointing services. Small catalogues, overpriced (Frontrow), limited devices etc. I don't know if these services have improved since launch with the support they currently have. The fact that Altech is shutting down the Node shows that you cannot launch an inferior service and expect people to carry you out of goodwill. In todays world every company is competing globally, especially in the entertainment industry, and your service needs to be comparable (albeit with a smaller start). If Showmax can sort out their streaming issues, and hopefully a Roku app, it will be the first SA VOD service I support. Because they have a decent catalogue and are not overpriced (even though they belong to Naspers :P).
 
Nuro said:
Tried ShowMax, but they streaming quality was really bad. I easily get 720p on Netflix, often 1080p, but ShowMax looks almost like 384 :(
Webafrica, home capped, 20Mbit ADSL.
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Shouldn't you be able to get 4K on a 20 Mbps line? Definitely always in 1080p?
 
pastech said:
In the table listed in this article, does anyone know what exactly is meant by: Bonus SA features: (VIDI = Free ADSL data).
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The have a service that lets you create a tunnel on your router to bypass adsl usage.
 
Oki just MTN Front Row - most of the content on there is old the series have either finished - was never completed.

Seems that Vidi has better content, than MTN FrontRow

If you had to choose would have to be ShowMax and Netflix for better content and movies
 
Wolverinewp said:
Oki just MTN Front Row - most of the content on there is old the series have either finished - was never completed.

Seems that Vidi has better content, than MTN FrontRow

If you had to choose would have to be ShowMax and Netflix for better content and movies
Click to expand...

Showmax AND Netflix is best.
 
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