DStv subscribers upgrade for Olympics

Cape Town – MultiChoice is experiencing an Olympic boon as DStv subscribers are upgrading lower-tiered bouquets for the month of August to catch the sporting action of the 2012 Olympic Games.

With SuperSport having the exclusive pay TV rights for South Africa for the Olympic Games in London with 24-hour television coverage across eight TV channels – four high definition (HD) and four standard definition (SD) channels – DStv subscribers have started upgrading to higher-tiered and more expensive bouquets in order to follow the rolling sports coverage.

MultiChoice allows DStv subscribers to upgrade to a bigger package with more TV channels at any time, for a minimum period of a month.

According to insiders, the MultiChoice call centre received numerous requests for bouquet upgrades for the coming month.

Process to upgrade is easy

"DStv subscribers want to see more of it [Olympic Games] and are willing to pay a bit more for a month than what they usually do since it's 'event television' for them," an insider told Channel24.

"It's add-on television which they're willing to pay for and which isn't always available, but is now."

MultiChoice declined to provide numbers on how many DStv subscribers have already upgraded or requested upgrades to bigger DStv packages for the month of August and said they "only share figures that are published in the Naspers financial results".

MultiChoice also declined to comment on what DStv is now providing to subscribers in terms of content or an additional value-added proposition which is possibly leading to subscribers requesting upgrades.

MultiChoice did however say that the process to upgrade to a bigger DStv bouquet is easy.

"Customers can log on to the self-service section of DStv.com and complete the process online. Or they can simply phone the call centre."

According to MultiChoice subscribers can upgrade at any time. A single downgrade is allowed in a month.

*Thinus Ferreira is an independent TV critic and journalist covering the TV industry. Read his blog here.