South African consumers have been waiting for years for competition in the pay-TV market, and despite ICASA issuing 4 potential DStv competitors with licenses in 2007 consumers have yet to see a single competing service launched in the country.<\/p>\n
ODM currently seems to be the likeliest candidate of the four to launch pay-TV services first, and the company has now given some guidelines as to what consumers can expect from them.<\/p>\n
Pricing and content<\/strong><\/p>\n ODM Chief Marketing Officer Elouise Kelly says that the company is currently in discussions with various networks and channels throughout the world and they expect to complete negotiations and contracts by the end of February.\u00a0 \u201cOne of the networks we are chatting to are Fox,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n Fin24 previously reported that ODM will provide \u201cFox Entertainment, MGM and other international channels for the first time in SA\u201d and that they are \u201cin discussions with Multichoice to explore the possibility of acquiring content from DStv.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly said that pricing options will start from R99 right through to R249.\u00a0 This is a downward adjustment from their previously planned pricing models which ranged from R149 to R349 a month depending on the choice of channels selected by the subscriber.<\/p>\n According to the current online Subscriber Information Form new subscribers will have the following choice of content:\u00a0 Movies, Series, Documentary, Children, Music, Religion, News, Sport and Local Content.<\/p>\n Decoder<\/strong><\/p>\n ODM subscribers will be able to use an existing DStv dish for the service, but will need a new decoder.\u00a0 According to Kelly the \u201cbox we are going with at launch is what is known as a basic zapper box, however it will have some great functionality. \u201c<\/p>\n The decoder will be manufactured by Altech UEC, the same manufacturer which MultiChoice used for their new HD PVR decoder<\/a>.\u00a0 According to Fin24 ODM is also planning to launch a PVR within the next 12 months.<\/p>\n ODM previously said that the new decoders will be available through major retailers nearer to the launch at approximately R400, and added that exact details of the pricing and capabilities will only be announced once testing is complete.\u00a0 ODM added that they \u201care finalising the distribution strategy and will make announcements about this close to launch.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the weaknesses of the ODM offering is that they will not be providing popular sport coverage, i.e. rugby, cricket and PSL football.\u00a0 According to Fin24 ODM will however gain rights to niche sporting content such as martial arts.<\/p>\n ODM Pay-TV plans<\/strong><\/a> – vote for your favourate channels<\/p>\n