DStv and Netflix crack down on password sharing
MultiChoice and Netflix are cracking down on subscribers who share their accounts with people outside their households. However, the two companies are approaching the issue very differently.
DStv has opted for an immediate, restrictive approach — limiting every account to a single stream at any given time.
It announced the change on 22 February and implemented it on 22 March.
In addition to reportedly achieving its goals, the sudden change also came with side effects.
Soon after MultiChoice implemented the change, subscribers claiming to be legitimate customers flooded social media platforms with complaints.
Different models of TVs and smartphones were throwing an error in the DStv app, saying users had exceeded their concurrent streaming limit, even though only one device was active on their account.
The single-device streaming limit also completely broke screencasting. Several months later, MultiChoice had still not fixed the feature.
Subscribers who relied on Chromecast or AirPlay to watch DStv had simply been cut off.
In the wake of the backlash, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said that the change had been successful as they had seen an uptick in streaming subscribers after implementing the limit.
He also said they were working on allowing more simultaneous streams.
MultiChoice South Africa CEO Nyiko Shiburi later revealed that the company was working on a “proximity control” system.
This would allow households to stream more than one video or channel simultaneously — provided they were using supported DStv devices.
Netflix has taken a much different approach. It has tried to develop functionality matching how subscribers use the service, which they might be willing to pay for.
It launched a key piece of the puzzle last week — Profile Transfer.
Profile Transfer has already started rolling out in South Africa
Profile Transfer lets Netflix subscribers move profiles between accounts, including their personalised recommendations, viewing history, saved games, and other settings.
This addresses one of the major adverse effects Netflix viewers would face if forced to get their own account.
It also introduces functionality that isn’t only useful for “account borrowers”.
Couples who break up and children leaving the house might want to transfer their profiles to another account, for example.
Before its Profile Transfer launch, Netflix had been testing a feature that asked users to pay a small fee to add sub-accounts for people outside their household using their subscription.
This fee was always less than a Standard Netflix subscription in the country it was being tested.
Months later, Netflix began testing a system that prompts users to pay the additional fee if they used an account outside their primary household for more than two weeks.
No official price for this feature has been announced. However, if it works out to be around 23–29% of the Standard price, as was the case in the test countries, it should cost between R37 and R46 in South Africa.
Netflix announced last week that it intends to launch these features, and by implication clamp down on account sharing, from early 2023.
DStv can learn much from Netflix about how to treat customers
In fairness, MultiChoice’s challenge is somewhat different as it also offers linear channels and live events, while Netflix only does on-demand video.
Shiburi said they had noticed a sharp jump in viewership during certain sporting events that did not translate into a correlating subscriber number increases.
That said, Netflix has attempted to meet subscribers halfway by developing products and functionality matching how they use the service.
MultiChoice’s approach does not seem to consider the consequences to customers or their needs at all.
While this could work in the short-term, that kind of thinking will only quicken DStv’s demise as international players with better customer experience encroach more on its territory.
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