The price of DStv alternatives

The writer fails to mention that even when you have dstv you still need an Internet connection for things like online gaming and of course checking emails. So the cost of adsl should be excluded.

The sooner we get triple play offerings the better.

People would happily pay R1200-1500 for a premium pay TV service including Internet and calls.

In fact many(0.1%) already pay more for FTTH and and uncapped vdsl packages.

So what I'm saying is Naspers needs to buy telkom or neotel.
 
^^ I'm in the 0.1% ^^ getting rid of mono won't break the piggy
 
I have a question.... Has Multichoice offered a large sum to MyBB in the recent past? I am seeing an awful lot of pro-DSTV articles recently...
 
Debeer165 said:
I have a question.... Has Multichoice offered a large sum to MyBB in the recent past? I am seeing an awful lot of pro-DSTV articles recently...
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it does kinda feel like people have 'been gotten to' doesn't it .......
 
buyeye said:
The writer fails to mention that even when you have dstv you still need an Internet connection for things like online gaming and of course checking emails. So the cost of adsl should be excluded.

The sooner we get triple play offerings the better.

People would happily pay R1200-1500 for a premium pay TV service including Internet and calls.

In fact many(0.1%) already pay more for FTTH and and uncapped vdsl packages.

So what I'm saying is Naspers needs to buy telkom or neotel.
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My DSTV subscription was not tax deductible. My ADSL connection is!
 
its understandable that the cost of a streaming service, be it MTN, or Netflix or Hulu or any other, must include the cost of ADSL, as its the medium needed to carry the stream.

but maybe we shouldnt include the full adsl cost in here to compare with DSTV?
i doubt there are many users who get ADSL only/specifically for streaming service? i'd guess that most of us have ADSL with or without streaming service... at least speaking for myself, we have need for adsl internet for many other reasons, including work, school, play, etc etc.... we've had internet before we knew about Netflix and would still have that cost even if there was no streaming service... its just another thing we can use the internet for.
so for us, the extra cost to have Netflix, is only the Netflix subscription, don't even have VPN like Unotelly anymore, as we have the mediahint plugin, which, on our linux box connected to the tv allows NF no problem.

the time we spend watching streamed video is probly less than 10% of the time we use the internet for other things on all the connected devices.
of course for the little time we have at nights to watch "tv" its a small portion of our internet usage, but its very likely that for somebody else it could be a much bigger portion of their internet usage

we had the 'basic', entry level 'familiy' package on DSTV for a while, but all the repeats almost every time i had opportunity to watch TV was too much of a bummer for me, resulting in probly less than about 6hours a month of new content to see, so i had to quit.
i much rather choose what i want to see, when i have the opportunity to sit and watch, even if it will be a bit more expensive.
 
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StarSat is incredibly cheap. Is it really that bad?
 
CeeBee said:
but maybe we shouldnt include the full adsl cost in here to compare with DSTV?
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This is an interesting question, and certainly something I've thought about for such comparisons. I didn't do this one, but we obviously talk around the office about how to tackle articles like these.

What would the correct proportion be to use, though? Last year Cisco reported that 66% of all Internet traffic during 2013 was video (excl. P2P). How accurate would it be to apply that to SA VOD users, though?

Until we have an answer, at least this way we can see how the base costs of pay TV and VOD services in SA compare. Anyone reading the article can then apply whatever multiplyers/weights they feel relevant to their situation to see which is best for them.
 
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I don't regard the internet cost as being part of the cost of using VOD, I would have that anyway, and I did have that even when I was using DSTV for content.

But let's say we did want to add something. 100GB (solely for VOD) of data costs R200, and most people don't have enough time to use that up in a month.

The line cost is a fixed cost that you would have anyway, so you cannot add that, not even pro-rata.

I use capped data, of course it changes a bit with uncapped, as your marginal data cost then becomes zero, but your fixed cost is higher.
 
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It must be noted the comparison above fails to convey DStv’s unmatched SuperSport offering.
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It must also be noted that the comparison fails to convey that Netflix subscribers also have access to the internet… which kinda trumps SuperSport. ;)
 
I would be quite willing to use VOD for entertainment (my choice, it is better than DSTV), and to then buy sport content from DSTV.

But DSTV refuses to sell me unbundled sport content.

Nothing I can do about that, just means that I can't use DSTV.
 
Jan said:
This is an interesting question, and certainly something I've thought about for such comparisons. I didn't do this one, but we obviously talk around the office about how to tackle articles like these.

What would the correct proportion be to use, though? Last year Cisco reported that 66% of all Internet traffic during 2013 was video (excl. P2P). How accurate would it be to apply that to SA VOD users, though?

Until we have an answer, at least this way we can see how the base costs of pay TV and VOD services in SA compare. Anyone reading the article can then apply whatever multiplyers/weights they feel relevant to their situation to see which is best for them.
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Depends. 66% seems reasonable at certain times of day, while other times of day/night p2p and nntp make up the majority. Looking at a holistic number may still not tell you the full story. You'd need to look at how ISPs cost the accounts first...
 
Back in the day when you just got MNET and the sports channel, this was brilliant. You always got the best sport available for that day from a cricket and rugby perspective; and this currently costs in the region of R330 (If you can pick up signal on the old MNET Analogue decoder). There is no reason why an equal service can not be offered as part of the DSTV packages, but obviously they won't because an equal offering on the Satellite service would cost you R665 currently to get the same quality of sport and mnet that is available on the analogue offering.

I can afford premium dstv, I think they offer a good service, but when I look at the value for money side of it and the above example, I feel I'm being ripped off. Hence, why I've gone completely cold turkey on them from this month and gone right done to EasyView.
 
Milano said:
StarSat is incredibly cheap. Is it really that bad?
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Well you need another satellite dish on your house, but on the plus side, you get FOX for R200, (instead of R400 on DSTV), you get WRC, British Superbikes, Formula E, Copa del Ray but no rugby and cricket. Other than that, I'd imagine that you get better value out of renting movies.
 
You can't include the cost of ADSL when comparing prices. ADSL is an essential utility that you would pay for anyway regardless of whether or not you used any streaming video services. It's not like someone is going to go out and get ADSL just to stream Netflix. 99% of people who have DSTV and decide to switch to streaming video are already going to have an ADSL connection.

Also, as someone mentioned before, you can claim 100% of your ADSL back for tax purposes if you have a home office.
 
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