MultiChoice’s GOtv DTT service launches in South Africa


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 03 February 2016




South African pay-TV giant MultiChoice is introducing its commercial digital terrestrial television (DTT) service GOtv to its domestic market today (3 February).


Subscriptions to GOtv will cost ZAR99 (US$6.10) per month for the Value bouquet, following an additional one-off payment of ZAR699 ($43.10) for a GOtv set-top box. Additionally, a MultiChoice-recommended GOtenna antenna for the decoder is priced at ZAR299 ($18.40).

The DTT service delivers 12 channels. These comprise the lower tier M-Net channels M-Net Movies Zone, AfricaMagic Epic, Mzansi Wethu, Mzansi Bioskop, Mzansi Magic Music and Channel O, along with Discovery Networks International’s TLC Entertainment, Naspers’ SuperSport Blitz and SuperSport Select channels, Viacom’s NickToons, Disney Junior and Dumisa.

A cheaper pay-DTT package, GOtv Lite, will cost ZAR45 ($2.78) for three months and offers two channels: Mzansi Magic Music and Dumisa.

Industry commentators remain unsure what will happen to M-Net analogue subscribers who need to switch to digital transmission if GOtv doesn’t include M-Net’s premium channels, as is currently indicated.

GOtv is already available in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

In South Africa MultiChoice’s pay-DTT service will compete with free-to-air DTT offerings from e.tv and SABC, now that the government has commenced a dual illumination period whereby digital transmission will run alongside analogue transmission of TV signals.

e.tv’s DTT service is expected to include some of the channels currently carried on its OpenView HD (VHD) free-to-air satellite platform Platco Digital. SABC’s DTT offer provides the national broadcaster’s five channels SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, SABC News and the library re-run channel SABC Encore.

All 12 channels on the GOtv service are already available in South Africa via MultiChoice’s more expansive DStv satellite pay-TV platform.