The days when square eyes and excessive hours glued to our TV screens are may be coming to an end.
In a recent report by Saturday Star, MultiChoice, DStv operators disclosed a heavy decline of over 100 000 DSTV Premium subscribers in the last financial year.
The decline has been blamed on so-called “unregulated” competition from streaming services, the likes of which include Netflix and ShowMax. It is, however, old news as DSTV is quite the luxury service and charges a seemingly excessive price for its offerings. These prices can only be justified in the case of dedicated sports fans, looking to watch all the games from home.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA wants to wrestle some of the “market dominance” away from the MultiChoice group. However the South African company isn’t happy, claiming some of the international streaming services offered in the South Africa do not pay tax here, amongst a list of other complaints.
This may come as a surprise for older generations but not so much for Millennials and Generation X-ers. Over the years, the use of internet and convenient devices such as cellphone, PCs and tablets have become increasingly popular and streaming platforms that can be accessed via these devices in turn have also seen a spike in sales.
Recent Stats on South Africa conducted by We Are Social and Hootsuite, show the habits of South African’s shifting to the use of the internet from other devices and less time spend on TV than previous years.
The need for internet is fast overtaking the need for DSTV and even the need for having a TV as more and more South Africans opt for easy stream devices and the use of YouTube becomes more and more prevalent.
According to a study conducted by Omnicom Media Group agency Hearts & Science, almost half of millennials and Generations Xers, age 22 to 45 do not own or watch TV.
Pictures: Pixabay & The Space Station