South Africans have reacted angrily after pay TV company Multichoice increased DStv rates just days before the start of Rugby World Cup, a sport wildly popular in the country.
MultiChoice has the exclusive rights to broadcast and stream the tournament, which starts on Friday, September 8, 2023. All live matches will be shown on SuperSport channels, only available on the DStv Premium package.
The streaming-only option for the DStv Premium package costs R799 per month (N33,000) per month. To watch all the matches for the 51 days of the tournament, users will need to subscribe for at least two months.
“Our DStv Business Packages have not had a price review in many years despite the weakening rand, inflationary increases to double digits in some areas, and a poor economic trading environment,” said DStv.
The new DStv Premium package prices went into effect on September 1 with some packages increased by as much as 24%.
The actual increase is even higher, as MultiChoice has also moved rugby, cricket, and motorsport to the most expensive package and limited the number of TVs that can be used per subscription to two, from three.
One business owner said that the combined effect of these changes could mean that she will have to pay 125% more for the services.
“Unconscionable”
The Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa) condemned DStv’s decision, calling it “unconscionable, unjustified, and unaffordable.”
“The calculated timing of this massive 50% increase is designed to hold our members and broader hospitality industry to ransom,” said Alberts, according to IOL.
“The Rugby World Cup belongs to all South Africans … it is an incredible opportunity to stimulate tourism and boost the hospitality industry, which is still recovering from the effects of lockdown, load shedding and many other challenges.”
Alberts said MultiChoice had ignored the hospitality industry’s request for talks.
Anton Gillis, CEO of Kruger Gate Hotel, said that a typical 100-room hotel spends around R468,000 a year on DStv.
He said that the industry needs to shift to offering guests streaming services
This could mean that hotels implement software systems that guests can use to log in to their streaming accounts as they check-in, and it definitely means that hotels need to provide excellent Wi-Fi.
“This could mean that hotels may implement software systems that guests can use to log in to their streaming accounts as they check-in, and it definitely means that hotels need to provide excellent Wi-Fi,” he said.
Streaming is illegal
Multichoice reached an agreement for state-broadcaster SABC air 16 matches for free. But with the high new rates, young South Africans are considering streaming the remaining matches using a virtual private network (VPN) service – a move the SuperSport owner has warned that as illegal.
“SuperSport has the rights for all forms of pay transmission, including television, internet and mobile, for Rugby World Cup 2023,” Multichoice was quoted by South African tech outlet MyBroadband.
“Any other forms of live streaming the Rugby World Cup in our territories is therefore illegal.”
Nigeria rates
While the company said there had been no DStv Business Packages increases in South Africa for “many years despite the weakening rand, inflationary increases to double digits in some areas, and a poor economic trading environment”, rates hikes in Nigeria, where the company is the biggest service provider, have been more regular.
The most recent increase was in May 2023 when all rates went up by over 18%. That followed multiple rate hikes in the last three years.
In messages to customers, the firm said its highest DSTV bouquet, premium, will be N24,500 and no longer N21,000, a 16.7% change.
Millions in Nigeria rely on DStv to access international news channels and European football leagues. By March 2022, DStv had 12.8 million subscribers.
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