Speaking to the Sunday Times' Business Times recently, MultiChoice SA CEO Nyiko Shiburi said despite the pushback, the crackdown has resulted in more subscribers for its online content.
He said the service would allow family members to watch different things at the same time in the same house.
Shiburi said sharing was a problem for the industry.
“This is piracy and hurts the whole industry. When we invest in content we expect certain returns and when people share we don’t get our money back,” he said.
“Whenever there is a major event, the number of users rockets — afterwards they disappear. We realised we have piracy problem,” Shiburi said.
“After we limited the number of streams we have seen an uptick in the take-up of DStv as some of those people who were given passwords came on board,” said Shiburi.
The pay TV provider told the Sunday Times in July it was working on easing the rule for those in the same location.
“We are in the discovery phase of this process and will advise customers in due course.
“As it stands, we do not have set timelines for implementation. We are exploring options that will mitigate the issues of piracy while giving our customers additional viewing options.”
POLL | Do you share your streaming service password?
Image: 123RF/Marco Ciannarel
Netflix's plan to clampdown on password-sharing has thrust the debate back into the spotlight.
The popular streaming service announced this week that from next year users will have to buy additional accounts for sharing with loved ones.
According to US technology website The Verge, Netflix is giving users the option to transfer their profiles to new accounts and from 2023 will allow subscribers to create subaccounts for sharing, at an additional cost.
In Costa Rica and Peru, users have the option to pay for a subaccount if the service picks up that someone not in your household is using your account, while in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, users can buy additional “homes” for accounts.
Netflix recently announced an ad-supported tier.
It follows a decision by SA-based MultiChoice earlier this year to limit its DStv Now streaming service to one device at a time.
While some have welcomed the decision, others said it was the end of streaming.
Speaking to the Sunday Times' Business Times recently, MultiChoice SA CEO Nyiko Shiburi said despite the pushback, the crackdown has resulted in more subscribers for its online content.
He said the service would allow family members to watch different things at the same time in the same house.
Shiburi said sharing was a problem for the industry.
“This is piracy and hurts the whole industry. When we invest in content we expect certain returns and when people share we don’t get our money back,” he said.
“Whenever there is a major event, the number of users rockets — afterwards they disappear. We realised we have piracy problem,” Shiburi said.
“After we limited the number of streams we have seen an uptick in the take-up of DStv as some of those people who were given passwords came on board,” said Shiburi.
The pay TV provider told the Sunday Times in July it was working on easing the rule for those in the same location.
“We are in the discovery phase of this process and will advise customers in due course.
“As it stands, we do not have set timelines for implementation. We are exploring options that will mitigate the issues of piracy while giving our customers additional viewing options.”
READ MORE:
The days of sharing your Netflix password are coming to an end — Here’s what you’ll have to do instead
DStv shake-up leads to more customers
Netflix reverses subscriber slump
DStv is ditching its app on older Samsung and Hisense smart TVs: here is how to know if you will be affected
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