There’s been a link doing the rounds on social media this week to a video clip of the first official TV broadcast in South Africa on January 5, 1976.
I remember staring, mouth agape with the rest of the family at our Sony CRT box with its built-in wooden speaker and stand as Dorianne Berry and Heinrich Marnitz welcomed viewers to the broadcast TV age.
Viewed through the lens of 40 years of progress, technological and social, it’s embarrassingly old-fashioned, a snapshot from a bygone era.
By contrast, the arrival of streaming video service Netflix just over a week ago was pretty much a non-event in our household.
There was no local launch, but I caught the news on Twitter and within minutes I’d downloaded the app on my Android phone, had signed up for the one-month free trial and was watching the series, Narcos, on our TV set.
I’d paused the show for a moment when my teenage daughter walked in and pressed the ‘i’ button on the DStv remote to see what I was watching. When the remote didn’t respond, I explained it was a Netflix, not a DStv show. “Oh, are they here now?” she asked. Then she walked out.
My son was a little more interested, but not much. To a generation for whom marvels like pocket computers (smartphones) and free, streaming video (YouTube) have become mundane facts of life, the arrival of a new paid subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service is hardly startling.
But make no mistake, Netflix finally coming is a big deal.
Think of the impact Uber has had on the metered taxi industry in a little over two years since its arrival here.
Will Netflix prove as devastating to DStv? You could be forgiven for thinking so, judging by the reaction on social media. The following tweet is typical of many: “Yay, Netflix is finally in SA. Time to cancel my DStv subscription”.
But I won’t be writing an obituary for DStv anytime soon. Unlike the metered taxi companies, it’s owned by a global media juggernaut, Naspers, which has been bracing itself for this contest for more than a year.
It’s also misleading to compare Netflix – an internet-delivered service – with the satellite-based DStv. The latter’s premium bouquet will set you back close to R700 a month, but you don’t need an internet connection to use it – although there’s a growing range of “value added” features that do require web connectivity.
SVoD services require a reasonably fast internet connection with a generous, preferably uncapped, data bundle.
And there’s still nothing – Netflix included – that comes close to DStv’s range of content, international and local, especially if you’re a sports fan.
If you’re going to compare Netflix with anything, it should be to other SVoD players such as ShowMax, OntapTV, VU, and Vidi.
Netflix is easily the most expensive. Packages start at $7.99 (R134) and there’s no local pricing, so your subscription will fluctuate depending on how the rand fares against the dollar.
By contrast, ShowMax – also owned by Naspers and the service that comes the closest to competing with Netflix in terms of the volume of content it offers – costs R99 a month.
Speaking of content, it’s quite difficult to compare the competing services. In terms of sheer volume, Netflix and ShowMax lead the pack, but each has its own mix of movies and TV shows that will appeal to different tastes.
If you want anything approaching the choice offered by DStv, you’ll probably need to subscribe to more than one of them.
Ironically, some of Netflix’s best content, including shows it commissioned like House of Cards, are not available here due to prior licensing deals and you’ll need – wait for it – a DStv subscription to watch them.
One thing you can be sure of is that Netflix’s local offering will improve in the coming months, encouraging DStv as well as other SVoD services to up their game. It looks like competition in the local video space has finally arrived – great news for consumers.
But for now, I feel ShowMax offers the best mix of international and local content. It’s substantially cheaper price tag compared with Netflix makes it even more attractive.
Where Netflix shines is in the variety of devices it supports. I use Google’s Chromecast, a clever, hockey puck-sized gizmo, to “throw” Netflix content on to my TV – if you have a smart TV, use your set’s Netflix app.
Netflix also supports Apple TV, Xbox, Playstation and other devices. ShowMax says support for these is coming soon.
So which of these web-TV offerings is the best? That depends on your tastes and budget. Most offer free trial periods to give you a chance to try out the viewing experience and I suggest you do this before making a choice.
As mentioned earlier, you will need a reasonably fast internet connection – I’d recommend 4mbps minimum – and plenty of data. You’ll also need a web-connected device like a Smart TV, smartphone or tablet to view the content.
To get started, visit one or more of the following websites:
Netflix – netflix.com
ShowMax – showmax.com
Vidi – vidi.co.za
OntapTV – ontaptv.com
Vu – whattovu.com
Follow Alan Cooper on Twitter @alanqcooper.