Pay-TV operator MultiChoice has said that\u00a0it is looking into offering television shows\u00a0as\u00a0a video on-demand (VOD) online service that\u00a0would be open to anyone in South Africa.<\/p>\n
DStv\u00a0does currently offer\u00a0a few types of on-demand services, but when it comes to\u00a0TV series the on-demand option (DStv Catch Up), it is\u00a0limited to subscribers of DStv\u2019s Premium bouquet (R665 per month + R75 per month PVR access fee).<\/p>\n
MultiChoice does offer an online movie rental service called DStv BoxOffice, which is available to anyone in South Africa regardless of whether they\u2019re one of DStv\u2019s pay-TV subscribers or not.<\/p>\n
Asked if it would launch a similar stand-alone VOD offering for series to complement BoxOffice,\u00a0the CEO of DStv Digital Media, John Kotsaftis, said that they are looking at all options.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly doing some sort of subscription service for non-subs is on the cards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, Kotsaftis stressed that the content on Catch Up\u00a0comes well before any of the other services.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because\u00a0Hollywood releases\u00a0TV series in certain windows,\u00a0Kotsaftis said: from theatrical, to paid, to free, to subscription. The availability of content on a service like Catch Up can\u2019t be made available on a stand-alone VOD platform because it\u2019s exclusively related to broadcasting, the executive said.<\/p>\n
To\u00a0offer a Netflix, iTunes, or Vidi-like VOD service, MultiChoice could buy content, much like all the other players in the VOD market are doing with series such as Breaking Bad and other \u201cclassic\u201d titles,\u00a0Kotsaftis said.<\/p>\n
He added that MultiChoice could also offer content it produced on-demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly we are looking at that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
DStv Explora Wi-Fi streaming on the way: sources<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n