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MultiChoice's GOtv all about staying relevant

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 02 Feb 2016
GOtv will be available for R99 per month for its "Value" bouquet.
GOtv will be available for R99 per month for its "Value" bouquet.

MultiChoice is looking to remain relevant in the market with its new digital terrestrial TV (DTT) offering - GOtv.

This is according to local analysts following reports that SA's biggest pay-TV operator will this week debut the commercial DTT offering in the country.

GOtv will be available for R99 per month for its "Value" bouquet. A GOtv decoder will cost the consumer a R699 once-off payment. The decoder works with an antenna and the recommended GOtenna is sold separately for R299, says GOtv on its Web site.

The DTT offering comes with 12 channels: M-Net Movies Zone, Africa Magic Epic, Mzansi Wethu, Mzansi Bioskop, TLC Entertainment, SuperSport Blitz, SuperSport Select, NickToons, Disney Junior, Channel O, Mzansi Magic Music, and Dumisa.

A cheaper package, GOtv Lite, will cost R45 for three months and comes with two channels - Mzansi Magic Music and Dumisa.

GOtv is already available in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck is of the view that if MultiChoice does not keep evolving and innovating, it will start losing relevance in the market.

"It has rolled out GoTV in 10 other African countries, so it would have been more surprising had it not launched here than that it has launched."

MultiChoice has clearly conducted market research and found a ready market for this kind of bouquet, Goldstuck notes.

However, he believes that since the pay-TV operator is going after an audience that is highly price-sensitive as well as resistant to spending on luxuries, the combined cost of the set-top box (STB) and antennae - almost R1 000 - will prove to be a massive barrier to entry.

"Although the GOtv offering is somewhat simpler and cheaper than the defunct Node, it is worth bearing in mind that complexity and cost torpedoed the Altech service. We can expect to see continual shifts in packages, programming and content strategy as a new era of video-on-demand dawns in South Africa.

He adds that each individual offering will be geared to niches that are not yet filled by the major or overarching services, so this will not be the last of this kind of shift.

ICT veteran Adrian Schofield says it makes sense for MultiChoice to make itself visible in this "new" market, although the operator may have to be patient if it is to build a viable number of subscribers, because the roll-out of STBs is likely to take some time.

Nonetheless, he points out MultiChoice's existing investment in managing subscribers and delivering digital channels means the opportunity cost of GOtv is probably relatively low.

"I can well believe MultiChoice has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Up till now, their market in South Africa has been limited to customers who can afford the satellite service. The long-awaited switch on of the digital terrestrial service is the golden opportunity for MultiChoice to reach a broader audience, albeit in a more competitive space," says Schofield.

For GOtv's success in the market, he believes much will depend on the bouquet of programmes included in this offering.

"Even at R99 per month, the broadcaster will have to compete with free-to-air services from other providers and they will not want to dilute their existing client base on the satellite platform. Much will also depend on the take up of the STBs required to receive the signals. A significant proportion will be subsidised ones, issued to poor households where there may be insufficient income to afford the subscription."

BMI-TechKnowledge director Brian Neilson believes the rationale of creating a separate brand for the different transmission medium is that MultiChoice hopes to create a different product in consumers' minds, rather than the satellite-based DStv offerings.

The price points are attractive and the R45 per quarter option is actually very cheap, while the R99 per month bouquet is quite similar to some of the entry-level satellite-based channels, he adds.

Neilson notes the name GOtv suggests a higher degree of mobility, which could be interpreted in different ways.

"The big uncertainty remains what happens to M-Net analogue subscribers who need to switch over, if the new GOtv service doesn't include the premium M-Net channels."

MultiChoice is set to officially launch GOtv tomorrow.

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