Johannesburg - It was 1986 – 29 years ago – and I still remember the excitement of watching M-Net ‘open time’, when the whole country could experience the ‘magic’ for just two hours a day.
DStv has monopolised the pay-TV market for the past three decades, but that is slowly starting to change. We look at some of the options available to you and what might work best for your pocket.
Note that when you compare the different options, you should factor in the cost of your data and internet connection per month. You do not need a smart TV to access any of the options below because you can view content on any device that has an internet capability, such as your laptop, smartphone or tablet.
However, you can use a high-definition TV set with a media-streaming device to access, for example, Netflix, writes Neesa Moodley
DStv, which has had a near monopoly on pay TV in the country until now, offers you different viewing bouquets with different prices to suit your monthly budget.
First, you have to factor in setup costs.
A DStv Explora decoder will cost you R1 999, excluding installation, while a high-definition (HD) decoder will cost you R799, including installation, or R499, excluding installation.
A DStv Explora decoder costs more because it boasts a 2-terabyte hard drive, which allows you to record up to 220 hours’ worth of programmes or movies. An HD PVR, on the other hand, only has a 500GB hard drive, which means you can record up to 50 hours of television.
You also have to buy a satellite dish. One online dish-installation company we found had quotes on its website for satellite dish plus installation ranging from R1 500 for a simple installation up to as much as R7 590 to connect a satellite dish with an HD PVR decoder in up to four points in your home.
DStv’s premium package will give you access to more than 130 channels, of which more than 20 are HD. Popular channels available on the premium package include Nickelodeon, all the SuperSport channels, Vuzu Amp, Discovery Channel and BBC Knowledge.
The monthly cost for the premium package is R699, with an additional R80 optional access fee. The optional access fee applies if you are watching on more than one television.
Or you can opt for DStv Compact, which gives you access to more than 85 channels, including SuperSport 4, SuperSport 3, M-Net Movie Action, Cartoon Network and Disney XD, for R319 a month, or R399 including the optional access fee.
Netflix has announced it will officially be launching a video-on-demand (VOD) service in South Africa next year.
However, some tech-savvy South Africans have already been accessing Netflix. You need a subscription to Netflix and a subscription to a service that allows you to unlock “geo-blocking”, such as UnoTelly. Geo-blocking is the restriction enforced on viewing content in certain territories.
You would have to pay Netflix a monthly subscription of only R66.18 to R120.20 a month.
One of the major advantages of the Netflix option is that it has the widest range of content across the different VOD options. You can watch Netflix on your HD-ready TV or on any device with internet capability. Note that a smart TV is not a requirement.
Remember, Netflix is not the same as iTunes, which is an electronic platform that allows you to individually purchase music, television series and movies just as you would at a store such as Musica.
ShowMax
This offering is one of the cheapest on the market and will cost you just R99 a month. There is a seven-day free trial period, but there are a number of comments on the ShowMax Facebook page that indicate that it is off to a shaky start.
Lucia Salters writes: “I am being billed R110 instead of the advertised R99. Second, when I play any movie or video, it is stuck in fast-forward mode, which I cannot change.”
Haemish Kyd reported that he had been billed five times and was then billed a further five times. “ShowMax now owes me R800. This is becoming unacceptable.”
However, not all the viewer feedback is negative. Gaynor Paynter says she is really enjoying her trial of the service and is currently using a 6MB Telkom uncapped line.
When it comes to content, Marnus Viljoen says: “ShowMax really did something right – my entire childhood is there! Brakanjan, Wiekie, Sinbad, Niklaas! R100 a month well spent! Consider me signed up.”
Other viewers report that ShowMax gives you access to all the HBO shows that are not available on Netflix and Hula. Popular shows available on this medium include The Big Bang Theory and The Fixer.
On tap TV is a fairly recent entrant into the market and offers subscriptions ranging from R39 to R89 a month. You can watch the programmes and movies on your PC or laptop, or on Android or iOS devices.
Lynette Hundermark, tech expert and CEO of Useful & Beautiful, points out that Ontap TV is the cheapest option and the only offering that allows you to download content to your chosen device and then watch it later when you are offline.
This means you can still watch your content without being connected to the internet.
“At the end of the day, the new video-on-demand offerings do work out cheaper than DStv, provided that you already have an ADSL line with uncapped data,” says Hundermark.
She says that, typically, if you stream data, you can expect to use roughly 1GB of data per hour of viewing.
“I would recommend a broadband connection speed with a 1.5MB/s to 2MB/s download speed. For HD-quality viewing, you should be looking at a broadband connection with a 4MB/s download speed,” she says.
Have you tried any of the new pay TV options and do you like them?SMS us on 35697 using the keyword PAY and tell us what you think. SMSes cost R1.50
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Publications
Partners
