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MultiChoice looks to AI to boost offerings

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 21 Sept 2017
DStv Now will now be available to all customers by the end of the year.
DStv Now will now be available to all customers by the end of the year.

Pay-TV operator MultiChoice is dipping its feet in to the artificial intelligence (AI) space.

So said Graeme Cumming, MultiChoice group general manager of digital media, during a media briefing this morning at the company's Randburg offices.

According to Cumming, MultiChoice is making use of IBM's cognitive computing platform Watson to improve its programming as well as customer engagement. Watson is an artificially intelligent computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language.

Through AI, MultiChoice is also looking to boost its self-service offerings, Cummings said. "We are making it easier for customers to help themselves through their favourite social platforms," he noted.

"Chatbots on Facebook and Twitter allow for clearing error codes, balance enquiries and other useful features."

With these functionalities, viewers can also rent a BoxOffice title from within Facebook Messenger, Cummings explained.

He also pointed out that MultiChoice's TV on-the-go service, DStv Now will now be available to all customers by the end of the year.

DStv Now is the live streaming mobile option for DStv subscribers, viewers can watch live events on their phone or watch a series on a laptop. Previously, customers had to have a full DStv Premium subscription but that has now changed. The service is available to Premium, Compact plus and Compact customers.

"We are seeing a great adoption of DStv Now," said Cummings. "There has been a 361% year-on-year of DStv Web video plays as well as 265% year-on-year increase in app video plays."

He also revealed that AirPlay and Chromecast have also been added to DStv Now.

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