DStv is too expensive — hotel boss
Kruger Gate Hotel CEO Anton Gillis has called on MultiChoice to offer more flexible DStv business packages while the hospitality industry recovers from South Africa’s Covid–19 lockdown.
In a column published in Business Day, Gillis wrote that DStv doesn’t care about the local tourism industry’s recovery.
He explained that the DStv bouquet used by most hotels costs R390 per month, per room.
“That means a typical 100-room hotel is spending close to R40,000 a month, and R468,000 a year, just on DStv,” explained Gillis.
Gillis said that while many people may feel that life has returned to normal, the hospitality industry is still reeling from the effects of Covid–19, South Africa’s lockdown, and travel restrictions still in place elsewhere in the world.
In a high-inflation environment where tourists from countries like China cannot easily travel overseas, hoteliers are making every cent count.
“The high cost of DStv sticks out like a sore thumb, especially when the typical hotel guest only spends about 10 hours of their day in their room. For eight of those hours, they’re sleeping,” Gillis stated.
To try and reduce his R678,000 per year DStv bill, Gillis contacted DStv to find out what could be done.
A representative provided details about their “price locks” (contract plans) and attendant discounts, which would amount to a 9% saving.
“That’s hardly going to turn anyone’s fortunes around,” said Gillis.
Anton Gillis, Kruger Gate Hotel CEO
Gillis said he would love to continue supporting DStv, as it is a South African service with excellent products.
“[However,] if the choice is between keeping staff employed and rewarding loyalty with salary increases or having DStv in every room, I know where my money’s going,” he said.
It’s worth noting that the R390 per month DStv package Gillis refers to is “Stay Essential” — a business package for in-room viewing that includes every sports channel.
DStv Stay Basic, which offers fewer channels, is R285 per month per TV.
That would reduce the 145-room Kruger Gate Hotel’s DStv bill from R678,600 annually to R495,900 — a 26.9% saving.
Also noteworthy is that in 2018, the DStv Stay Essential package cost R375 per month per TV.
The price of this package has only increased by 4% in four years — well below the inflation rate.
A room at the hotel, located on the banks of the Sabie river near Skukuza, starts at around R2,500 per person per night.
However, as Gillis points out, it is becoming easier for hoteliers to offer streaming as an alternative to DStv.
They wouldn’t even need to subscribe to the streaming services themselves.
Hotels could offer guests the ability to screencast from their smartphone to the room’s TV using their own video streaming subscriptions.
Gillis also said LG and Netflix are already offering a competitive product in this space.
In hotels with LG smart TVs, guests can log into their Netflix account while checking in and be automatically logged out on checkout.
“Sure, it means guests might not be able to enjoy DStv’s live sports offerings, but it will only be able to hold on to that monopoly for so long,” he said.
MultiChoice South Africa 90-day active subscriber numbers on 31 March 2022
In its annual results released in June, MultiChoice reported that it saw a decline in South African subscribers across its premium and mid-market segments.
Its premium segment includes DStv Premium and Compact Plus. It declined by 4% to around 1.4 million subscribers.
The mid-market segment includes DStv Compact and its commercial packages — like the ones hotels and other businesses subscribe to.
DStv’s mid-market segment declined by 6% from 3 million to 2.8 million subscribers between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
Another telling figure was that MultiChoice’s average revenue per user declined by 3% in South Africa, from R277 to R269.
Now read: DStv’s owner hits financial trouble
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