South African streaming television specialist Discover Digital is cutting the prices of its packages on its Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD) platform and adding new Hollywood content, it said on Monday.
DEOD (pronounced “dee-oh’d”) was launched in May, aimed at the local and broader African markets.
The company is cutting the price of its news channel pack to R40/month (down from R49), its sports pack to R79 (previously R99) and to R69 for its on-demand subscription entertainment pack (from R79). DEOD Premium (a “take-all” option) is coming down from R189/month to R159, it said.
At the same time, it has signed a content partnership with Los Angeles-based Entertainment Studios, which will offer viewers a mix of stand-up comedy, shorter-form comedies, sitcoms, daytime and reality TV series, and courtroom reality programmes.
Entertainment Studios has eight high-definition networks, first-run syndicated shows and over 5 000 hours of HD programming. It also owns a film distribution company and a podcast network.
“We feel much of the Entertainment Studios content has never before been brought to South Africa, and the fact that many of the programmes are shorter form and easy content to ‘dip in and out of’ on the go, means they should resonate well with viewers who are concerned about data or are simply looking for light entertainment on the move,” said Discover Digital executive head for content Taryn Uhlmann in a statement.
The company has also acquired two new international news channels, the German Deuche Welle and Turkish TRT World, as well as three inspirational channels, including GodTV, Sonlife and Inspiration TV.
Freely accessible
It has created a freely accessible “OTT TV” zone on DEOD. These channels, in addition to existing DEOD channels France 24, Russia Today and Al Jazeera, are all part of a new free TV channel section and are available to customers on deod.tv, without the need to register.
“The free TV zone provides a curated platform of free-to-air news and inspiration-themed channels, allowing Discover Digital to not only demonstrate its various video-on-demand tech products such as the electronic programme guide on a live service, but also gather customer feedback and insights and in turn provide customers with easy access to world news and inspiring content on a single platform,” the company said in the statement.
Both the on-demand and premium packs are available on a per-week and per-weekend basis with on-demand available on a per-day basis for R5/day. The company offers movies to rent, too, with prices of between R18 and R30 per title. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media
