Business and Technology

This is how Netflix killed DStv in South Africa

Netflix killed DStv in South Africa by being customer-centric, futurist Craig Wing said at BCX Xcite on Thursday. DStv got killed by Netflix because of its high prices, lack of new content, and forced adverts,” Wing said.

“Technology and business models are not the biggest disruptors. Not being customer-centric and creating for users is the biggest threat to any business.”

Wing said that the same is true for other industries too, such as how Uber disrupted the taxi cab industry, iTunes disrupted CD stores, Amazon is disrupting physical retail, and how Airbnb is disrupting the hotel industry.

DStv vs Netflix

Netflix launched around the world in January 2016, including South Africa, bringing a dramatic halt to MultiChoice’s unchallenged growth in the premium video entertainment space in South Africa.

The first indications of Netflix’s effect on MultiChoice’s DStv Premium offering came from Naspers financial statements in 2016, which showed that there was a dramatic slowdown in new DStv Premium sign-ups.

In 2018, Naspers finally reported that DStv was losing Premium subscribers.

An analysis of Naspers financial results – using the figures it reports for total subscribers and its subscriber mix of Premium, Compact, and lower-end packages—showed that across its entire African operation, MultiChoice had been losing DStv subscribers since its 2015/16 financial year.

It should be noted that while MultiChoice’s DStv Premium packages suffered after the launch of Netflix across the African continent, its overall subscriber base continued to grow.

Even though DStv Premium was losing popularity, MultiChoice was still signing up customers to mid-tier (Compact) and lower-end services.

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Source: mybroadband