Multichoice and DStv, the bastion of traditional distribution of the media you crave, are still fighting for relevancy in an increasingly digital space. From the sounds of things, Multichoice CEO Calvo Mawela is very confident the service has what it takes to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Netflix. Better than that, Mawela states that DStv is about to double its numbers in 2021. For those confused, he’s talking about users and not the amount of re-runs. We know, it was the obvious assumption to make, right?
During an interview with CNN Connecting Africa, Mawela made some choice statements about the service every South African loves to complain about. The solution to DStv’s struggling relevancy: A massive investment in local content. While Showmax doffs its hat towards the idea, we doubt DStv is planning on going all-in on anything as spicy as Temptation Island. Still, there’s a chance Multichoice embraces its trashy side and gives the people what they want.
Multichoice or spoiled for choice?
“We have invested a lot in local content across the continent – we call it going hyper-local,” Mawela said during the interview. “Our plan is to increase our local content composition from 38% to 45% in the next two years.” It’s no secret that local content is at the forefront of many production and distribution companies at the moment as both Showmax and Netflix have begun looking to increase the range of home-grown shows on offer.
With that strategy in mind, Mawela thinks the future of DStv and Multichoice looks brighter than ever. Currently sitting at around “20 million subscribers”, Mawela claims that the company will hit the 50 million mark “…very quickly”.
“If we focus on going hyper-local that is a key differentiator, whereas the likes of Netflix, they will come and have some level of local content but I’m not sure if they will get to the level of localisation that we do in terms of different languages across the continent,” said Mawela.
It’s a solid idea to grow the Multichoice subscriber base, especially now that DStv is making a bigger push into the world of video on demand and streaming services. Unfortunately for all existing subscribers, you can expect a small hike in how much you’re paying for DStv every month. We have a list of the new prices here…
Source: CNN Connected Africa