Pay-TV provider MultiChoice, which is adding complementary services to secure new revenue streams, says a crackdown on the sharing of passwords on its DStv streaming platform has resulted in more subscribers for its online content.
Password sharing, which was meant to enable people living in the same household to watch different programmes, has become a headache for streaming services as it dampens subscriber growth. While companies have allowed sharing to grow audiences, this is now holding back their businesses.
MultiChoice SA CEO Nyiko Shiburi said sharing was not a problem only for the company but for the entire industry.
“This is piracy and hurts the whole industry. When we invest in content we expect certain returns and when people share [passwords] we don’t get our money back,” he said.
“Whenever there is a major event, the number of users rockets — afterwards they disappear. We realised we have piracy problem,” he said.
“After we limited the number of streams we have seen an uptick in the take-up of DStv as some of those people who were given passwords came on board,” said Shiburi.
The number of customers is expected to grow following the company’s announcement on Thursday that it had reduced the subscription fee for DStv online streaming.
We are building an ecosystem to make it easier for customers to access services. We want to be the destination where they find services they are looking for
— MultiChoice SA CEO Nyiko Shiburi
MultiChoice, which has 9-million subscribers in SA, has been diversifying into a platform-based business that will provide a range of complementary services to its customers — including funeral insurance, wireless and fibre internet packages, sports betting, online education via Udemy and a rewards programme.
Its insurance business has 2.4-million active policies, while the rewards programme, which offers customers products such as petrol vouchers and discounted sports tickets, has almost 3-million customers.
“We are building an ecosystem to make it easier for customers to access services. We want to be the destination where they find services they are looking for,” said Shiburi.
“The best part about these services is that as they are bundled together, so customers save. They have one bill to pay,” he said.
On Thursday, MultiChoice announced the acquisition of security app Namola, which connects users in distress with private or public security and medical response units close to their locations. The app gives users the option to select the type of emergency they need to deal with, and the most appropriate medical or security service is sent to the geolocation of the user. Users get access to crime, fire, accident and medical emergency services.
“Namola is part of our strategy to expand our ecosystem beyond entertainment to offer a suite of consumer services. Our aim is to provide value to customers through services that address their challenges and enrich their lives,” Shiburi said.
He said MultiChoice selected services based on customers’ needs. “We look at issues customers are struggling with and find technology solutions to solve that problem.”
MultiChoice is also considering a payment services component for its platform.
He would not comment on the company’s growth projections for its noncore services, except to say: “We are expecting significant growth from these services.”
MultiChoice, which delivers services to 21.8-million households across 50 countries in Africa, has been facing competition from international streaming services such as Netflix, which has resulted in a decline in pay-TV customers.
However, the group has kept pace with the competition by integrating competitor streaming platforms Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video on its decoder and devices like DStv Streama, a streaming box that was launched on Thursday.
By integrating competitors’ streaming services the group hopes to retain customers on its network and earn an extra fee while providing a variety of entertainment on a central platform.
“This is a continuation of our business. If you look at how M-Net started, we took content from other people in addition to our own channels. DStv is also made up of our own channels and third parties,” he said.
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