eBusiness Weekly
Pay TV group MultiChoice has announced that from March 22, subscribers will only be allowed to stream DStv content on one device at a time.
This applies to both library/on-demand content as well as live channels. Currently, subscribers are able to stream concurrently on two devices.
It says these “measures to limit concurrent streaming” are being introduced in light of “password sharing and piracy” which are “challenges for streaming providers globally”. The changes will be “made to all DStv subscriptions across Africa, however, only customers making use of more than one concurrent stream will be directly affected by the change”.
It asserts it is not limiting “the number of people using a login”, although the new limit effectively does just that. The limit of four registered devices for streaming remains unchanged. Customers will also be able to still watch previously downloaded content on a second device.
That the change is being made with such an aggressive timeline — customers are being provided with just 30 days’ notice — and ahead of its financial year-end suggests that the pay-TV operator is acting from a position of weakness. Subscriber numbers of its top-tier (Premium and Compact Plus) offerings have been under pressure for a number of years as competition from rivals, particularly Netflix, intensifies.
Judging from anecdotal evidence, many customers share logins across families or friend groups. This has been enabled to a large extent by the rapid adoption of uncapped fibre access by consumers.
This typically enables one party to watch live football, for example, and another to watch on-demand or lifestyle content at the same time with only one subscription. In certain instances, this sharing is even formalised to the extent that both parties share the subscription cost. This is particularly common among younger viewers.
One could argue that with this change, MultiChoice is actively reducing the value provided to customers. People who use shared logins in the same household “legitimately” will now no longer be able to watch different live or on-demand content simultaneously.
The effective limit (without additional decoders) will be two different channels at the same time (one on the primary decoder/TV and another, streamed, on a tablet/phone/smart TV).
It is somewhat astonishing that its most valuable customers, those on Premium, who will pay R949 per month from April are being restricted in this way. But, the operator may argue that it is precisely this base that it is trying to shore up.
Netflix offers four simultaneous streams on its top plan (Premium, R199 per month), with two concurrent streams available on its Standard plan (R159 per month). Showmax — owned by MultiChoice — limits subscribers to two simultaneous streams. DStv says this limit will not change.
Investors have long pressured Netflix on acting on account/password sharing, but the platform has until now not cracked down on this practice.
It must be noted that in the UK, Sky limits concurrent streams on ‘Sky Go’ to two devices. On its high-end subscription offerings (targeted at entire households), this limit is four. — Moneyweb.
