No separate subscription is required.
On Friday MultiChoice Group, announced adding YouTube to its high-end DStv Explora Ultra personal video recorder (PVR) decoder. This is part of its strategy of cooperating with competitors in the hope of keeping its customers satisfied.
The addition of Google-owned YouTube to the platform comes after MultiChoice launched the Explora Ultra, offering its own DStv and Showmax streaming services along with rival services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The new PVR offers MultiChoice customers a Dial protocol that makes viewers play YouTube videos from another device like a smartphone directly onto the TV without first pairing the devices. This makes it easier to watch shared or archived content from a secondary device of choice, the broadcaster said in a statement.
“All that is required to view YouTube content via the decoder is an active DStv subscription, access fee and a high-speed and stable Internet connection,” the company said. “There is no separate subscription required — customers can easily view YouTube as they would on any other Internet-connected device.”
“The addition of YouTube to the Explora Ultra builds on DStv’s ambition to be a one-stop video entertainment hub, giving our customers more convenience and choice to access local and international content on a single device,” said MultiChoice South Africa CEO Nyiko Shiburi in the statement.
In a related development, MultiChoice has announced that it has launched its channel on YouTube. Called “Oh Snack!”, it will offer a weekly “what to watch” guide. It will be available from June.
