In our previous editorial depicting the unusual sectors recording a boom in their businesses while the rest of the industry suffers massive losses, the entertainment sector has had mixed fortunes so far. From an increase on the number of monthly subscribers to a fluctuation on number of shows being filmed at the moment; the industry is hit hard on one side while the other records unusually large numbers of customers. Technology has been a major hindrance in Dstv’s fortunes, the once household pay tv provider in Kenya is now facing competition from the likes of Netflix which is surging in customers and has more current films than the later.
Dstv has however been able to tighten its grip on exclusive rights to air sporting events such the English premier league in the country. Many of these sporting events have either been postponed or cancelled altogether rendering the pay tv provider a major blow. To sweeten its offering, MultiChoice Kenya has announced a 75 percent payment discount for its commercial clients, this is an effort to counter lack of major sporting events around the world.
Commercial clients expected to benefit from the discount include hotels, restaurants, pubs, lodgings, and football joints. The offer is expected to run for the next three months according to MultiChoice Kenya managing director Nancy Matimu.
Speaking on the development, Nancy acknowledged the current atmosphere which has been so far negatively impactful on their customers, promising to continue ensuring that commercial customers continue to receive Dstv services as well as access to the best in sports, entertainment and news programming currently available.
Commercial customers who had already settled April invoices, will not be billed in May and June. In addition, the Pay TV provider has also added channels to its premium customers as a replacement to sporting event losses. The new channels include CNN International (channel 401), TV Record News (channel 671) and ReLive Sports (channel 205).
Commenting on the added channels, the managing director acknowledged the extra sport documentaries from around the globe should partly mitigate the absence of sporting events across the globe. Multichoice has further revised DStv and GOtv subscriptions to reflect a two percent reduction in value-added tax (VAT) from 16 per cent to 14 per cent under the 2020 amended VAT tax rate.
New Dstv Kenya and Gotv Kenya charges after 2020 amended VAT tax;
DStv Premium subscribers will now pay Sh7,370 from Sh7,500 while DStv Access customers pay Sh885 from Sh900.
On the other hand, GOtv Max will now cost Sh980 from the previous Sh999 whereas GOtv Value will drop from Sh499 to Sh480.
All existing Dstv and Gotv customers to get free upgrades
All existing Multichoice customers will from this month be upgraded to higher bouquets at no extra costs under a campaign dubbed ‘We’ve Got You!’. If for example a customer pays for DStv Family package that costs Sh1,180, they’ll be upgraded to DStv Compact while DStv Compact Plus subscribers that costs Sh4,420 will be upgraded to DStv Premium. The same applies for all GOtv Lite, Value and Plus packages.