DStv increase subscriptions

Michael Cookson

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Mar 10, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/10/97

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Well they finally did it.

After constantly telling us how much AstraSat is going to cost us,
it finally turns out that AstraSat is still free, but DStv have
put up their monthly subscriptions to R 195 per month (payable in
advance).

So this is obviously the outcome of the crisis management meeting
that they must have had after they did not even reach half their
"critical mass" of subscribers. What else could they do?

The letter explains how the country has had a 22% decline in the
value of the Rand against the US$, and they've gone from 16 channels
to 28, from 2 radio services to 7, and yet they're *PLEASED* to
have kept the increase so low...

Of course the letter has all their "usual" promises about "further
enhancements" and bringing us "the best in entertainment from around
the world", but after waiting 18 months for them to keep *one*
of their original promises, I don't think I can believe anything
MultiChoice have to say anymore.

Despite all their claims of cost increases that they have had to
bear, I find it surprising that my local video rental store just
reduced their prices, and Vinesh Jackpersad just brought down
the price of imported laserdiscs.

I guess that now that DStv will cost R 2340.00 a year in
subscriptions alone, this has to be the last straw for many existing
subscribers, as well as any potential customers. Good luck
to MultiChoice and all the poor installers who rely on satellite
sales to keep their businesses going. I suppose that this *has*
to make analog very attractive.

I don't know how much longer I can justify this enormous expenditure,
when all I seem to get is more and more repeats and artefacts, and
less and less entertainment. Even the SABC are apologising for the
artefacts these days. Saturday evening's news had a clip from the
BBC (which obviously came off DStv's backhaul) and was full of
artefacts. The announcer apologised for (what he called) "picture
breakup".

So I'm obviously not the *ONLY* one who can see them anymore.
DStv's helpless line has always told me that the picture breakup is
"normal", and is due to my installation being "critical". Well
someone should tell them that their 9.1 metre Scientific Atlanta
dishes are also "critical". Seems that they can't get through
*clouds* anymore!

But what do they do? They don't fix it - they just increase the
subscriptions! Nuts!

- Mike

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Greg Murrell

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Mar 11, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/11/97

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Hi Mike,

Michael Cookson wrote:
>
> Well they finally did it.
>
> After constantly telling us how much AstraSat is going to cost us,
> it finally turns out that AstraSat is still free, but DStv have
> put up their monthly subscriptions to R 195 per month (payable in
> advance).

That is only a R20 increase. R10 for normal M-Net, and R10 for DStv.
Or you could look at it as being only 45 US Dollars, or better still
only 30 British Pounds. That makes it sound a lot cheaper!

> The letter explains how the country has had a 22% decline in the
> value of the Rand against the US$, and they've gone from 16 channels
> to 28, from 2 radio services to 7, and yet they're *PLEASED* to
> have kept the increase so low...

I have a copy of the formula used by Multichoice to determine the
price increase every year somewhere. I will dig it out and post it
to you. The decline in exchange rate has nothing to do with it, as
there will be an increase EVERY year based on this formula. And
remember, those artefacts are still completely FREE! ;-)

>
> I guess that now that DStv will cost R 2340.00 a year in
> subscriptions alone, this has to be the last straw for many existing
> subscribers, as well as any potential customers.

If the installation of a dish and IRD is still around R4500, then any
new subscriber is looking at an initial cost of nearly R7000 for the
first year. As you can be assured that if DStv is still with us this
time next year there will be a further 12% increase, so the fee is
likely to rise to around R2700 per year.

Cheers
Greg

Joel Saacks

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Mar 11, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/11/97

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In article <fe7_970...@dv.co.za>, mi...@dv.co.za (Michael Cookson) wrote:
>Well they finally did it.
>
>After constantly telling us how much AstraSat is going to cost us,
>it finally turns out that AstraSat is still free, but DStv have
>put up their monthly subscriptions to R 195 per month (payable in
>advance).
>

>So this is obviously the outcome of the crisis management meeting
>that they must have had after they did not even reach half their
>"critical mass" of subscribers. What else could they do?
>

>The letter explains how the country has had a 22% decline in the
>value of the Rand against the US$, and they've gone from 16 channels
>to 28, from 2 radio services to 7, and yet they're *PLEASED* to
>have kept the increase so low...
>

I'm a normal MNET subscriber and I got a similar letter in the post.
They raised the MNET subs to just under R110 a month and justified it by
promising better programming.

What I want to know is why did they ignore the rands sudden appreciation.
The rand also gained quite a bit against the dollar in the last few months.

If the dollar crashed, Multichoice certainly wouldn't decrease subscriptions.

Joel

Greg Murrell

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Mar 12, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/12/97

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Hi Joel,

Joel Saacks wrote:
>
> What I want to know is why did they ignore the rands sudden appreciation.
> The rand also gained quite a bit against the dollar in the last few months.
>
> If the dollar crashed, Multichoice certainly wouldn't decrease subscriptions.

The value of the dollar against the rand has nothing to do with the
price increase. This is just a lame excuse. I will try to find the
formula that Multichoice use to determine the price increase, as I
have it in some papers here.

Cheers
Greg

Cobus Coetzee

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Mar 12, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/12/97

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>If the installation of a dish and IRD is still around R4500, then any
>new subscriber is looking at an initial cost of nearly R7000 for the
>first year. As you can be assured that if DStv is still with us this
>time next year there will be a further 12% increase, so the fee is
>likely to rise to around R2700 per year.

Why are people not making use of DSat. Do they know something I don't know.
I have got my decoder, dish and subscription for R240p/m and I can upgrade to
newer technology when it become available. If I don't upgrade within the
contract period (5 years) the docoder is mine. If one take the R65 (240-175)
and multiply with 60 months the decoder would have cost me R3900 (including
dish, smartcard and installation). Thus one could reason that it is bought at
0% interest and one also don't need to be too much worried about future
IRD incompatibility problems.

The R65 also includes maintenance and insurance on the equipment.

Cobus

Cobus Coetzee
PPC Cement
Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: co...@ppc.co.za
Phone: +27833753750

Rodney Gold

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Mar 12, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/12/97

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co...@ppc.co.za (Cobus Coetzee) wrote:

>Why are people not making use of DSat. Do they know something I don't know.
>I have got my decoder, dish and subscription for R240p/m and I can upgrade to
>newer technology when it become available. If I don't upgrade within the
>contract period (5 years) the docoder is mine. If one take the R65 (240-175)
>and multiply with 60 months the decoder would have cost me R3900 (including
>dish, smartcard and installation). Thus one could reason that it is bought at
>0% interest and one also don't need to be too much worried about future
>IRD incompatibility problems.
>
>The R65 also includes maintenance and insurance on the equipment.
>

Take R240 and multiply it by 60 - you get R14 400 - at least I can
cancel my DSTV subs - you locked into a 15 grand deal.

I could sell my decoder as well - b4 5 yrs are up.

Rodney Gold
"The nicest thing about banging your head on the wall is-
the feeling you get when you stop."

Greg Murrell

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Mar 13, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/13/97

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Hi all,

> The value of the dollar against the rand has nothing to do with the
> price increase. This is just a lame excuse. I will try to find the
> formula that Multichoice use to determine the price increase, as I
> have it in some papers here.

OK, I have found it. Multichoice have a policy that all fees or
subscriptions "should increase annually by a percentage equivalent
to the percentage by which the consumer price index for January
of any year exceeds the consumer price index last notified in the
Government Gazette for the month of January of the immediately
preceding year."

So the value of the rand against the dollar is meaningless. It is
purely the "consumer price index" which dictates the annual price
increase which Multichoice impose. If there are any economists
lurking in this newsgroup, maybe they can tell us exactly what this
means, and if this index has ever been, or will ever be, lower from
one year to the next.

Cheers
Greg