Would you purchase a fridge which, every time you opened it, caused a voice to constantly remind you not to forget that it also has a freezer section?
Or what if your motor vehicle constantly reminded you about the fact that the rear doors have child lock options, and persisted in doing so irrespective of whether of whether you have children or not?
Imagine a smartphone which, prior to making a call, forced you to listen to a message about how wonderful its latest features are, and did so before each and every call you made.
I dare say that if such annoying messages were included with any gadgets or appliances we considered purchasing, all of us would opt for products which did not include such an annoying feature.
And yet, when it comes to Multichoice's DSTV, we are forced to put up with all of the above.
DSTV considers it necessary to constantly remind us about how wonderful it is. How unnecessary. We pay through our noses for DSTV. We do so because we know that we like the sport, or the movies, or some other aspects thereof. We do not need to be told that DSTV has so much more…..
Why does DSTV insist on spending vast sums of money on DSTV commercials telling us about how wonderful the product we already have is? Wouldn’t it be better to save the money and lower the outrageously high subscriptions?
Yes, DSTV, might say, but perhaps those of us who do have decoders may be joined by visitors who don’t have DSTV, and the adverts are directed these people, so that they could see what they are missing. Well, if someone comes to me to watch the rugby because they don’t have DSTV, they know exactly what they are missing.
That’s why they are joining me for the rugby in the first place! I doubt there’s a single potential DSTV subscriber, out there, who is not aware of the difference between DSTV and SABC.
And forcing those who pay for PVR to watch ads aimed at those who don’t have it is surely no way to reward those who pay the highest DSTV subscription. There must be a way of putting a channel featuring the benefits of PVR only on those DSTV packages which do not have PVR.
The DSTV promos are repeated incessantly, and in fact, AD nauseam. (I make no apologies for the appalling pun.)
And then there are the constant advertisements about, DSTV’s parental control features, aspect ratio, and dozens of other DSTV features which are repeated incessantly.
Surely these can be set out in the decoder’s manual, or on the DSTV channel 100 info feature, or on a separate features channel which sets out all the DSTV features for new users, and perhaps for those who are so bored with repeats on the usual channels, they might even be tempted to check for new features on the suggested DSTV features channel. This channel can constantly repeat a half hour or hour long promo of DSTV features 24 hours a day.
Those who can afford DSTV surely represent the upper crust of South African society. And yet, DSTV insults our intelligence daily by constantly repeating the same messages over, and over and over, when once was probably more than enough.
I realise that there is dead airtime on DSTV, i.e. airtime where DSTV has failed to sell adverts, or where overseas channels are airing adverts which are not to be relayed here. Surely, there is room for DSTV to use this space to provide a daily insert, which could be sponsored by news 24, or someone else, with news headlines, weather, or other information which would be of interest to viewers instead of boring them while they wait for the programme to continue? These daily inserts could be automated, linked to computer apps which source info from the internet automatically, and which could even have an advertising banner somewhere on it from which DSTV could earn additional revenue.
It is so that PVR recordings allow us to bypass some of these irritating and repetitive inserts. As much as I enjoy and use the PVR feature, there are many other times when I enjoy channel hopping while watching live TV. I usually watch the news live and often have to switch from one news channel to another to avoid being told about the Aspect ration feature for the 563rd time.
I resent being forced to channel hop against my will in order to avoid a repetitive and annoying DSTV insert. Please don’t treat your customers like idiots, DSTV. If we can afford the subscriptions, chances are we are of above average intelligence!
After recently republishing this article on a DSTV web site, I received a call from someone at DSTV. I was thanked for my comments and told that DSTV would look into my suggestions.
WATCH THIS SPACE> UPdate. No change. TIME FOR UR REVENGE. Email / Tweet or post this article to DSTV & Multichoice as often as you can. Ask ur friends to do the same. Bombard & bore them with the same disgusting Disdain they show to their paying customers.
Update again: There is a change. I was contacted by someone at DSTV who was either clearly illiterate or she had chosen not to read my article.
Trained by +Multichoice to spew out one of the standardised DSTV responses instead of actually listing to or helping the client, the lady went on to explain that repeats of DSTV content like movies & series are due to limited product being produced. ... As it happens, I fully understand DSTV's argument about repeat CONTENT/.
Sometimes I even find it useful to see a good show or movie again.
BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS COMPLAINT IS ABOUT.
I bought the decoder, read the instructions. I am also capable of going online to find out more. So I don't need to see irritating promos by DSTV about Parental Control, Aspect Ratio, Decoder Care, Weather interruptions, etc etc etc.
And since I actually have DSTV and pay a small fortune for that pleasure, I certainly don't need constant Ad's telling me about how wonderful DSTV is.
Siegfried Walther 20 February 2016
+DStv
#Multichoice
#DSTV
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