MultiChoice has launched DStv BoxOffice, its satellite-based movie rental service. The company will offer subscribers with personal video recorders the latest movies for rental for 48 hours for R25/movie.

The service will be available to DStv Premium customers from Friday, 22 July. A second phase of the launch, to follow in a few months, will introduce an online offering. The online product will be available to non-DStv subscribers, too, when it launches. It will be available for Apple and Windows platforms.

Movies will be available in standard- and high-definition, depending on whether subscribers have SD or HD decoders. Subscribers will have a choice of up to 15 movie titles at any one time. The first movie that subscribers choose to watch will be made available free of charge. Movies can be watched multiple times during the 48-hour rental window.

Titles on offer will be refreshed regularly as new titles become available.

This is how it will work: subscribers will create a BoxOffice account from which they’ll pay for their movie rentals. The account is separate to their DStv account. If they pay their DStv account by debit order, their BoxOffice account will also be paid through a separate debit order every month.

If subscribers use other payment options, such as electronic funds transfer or credit cards, then they can top up their BoxOffice accounts in that way, too, says MultiChoice.

A current list of movies available to rent will be displayed on the BoxOffice screen on subscribers’ screens. They then select the movie they want to watch and SMS an associated code to a central number. Movie previews will also be available without the need to make a purchase.

MultiChoice says some of the movies available in BoxOffice will be made available at the same time as they become available for home rental in video stores. The content will be offered through BoxOffice before it is released to broadcasters, including the company’s own DStv broadcast service. — Staff reporter, TechCentral