In a presentation published on its website detailing its 2020 financial results, MultiChoice said in a section headlined “Further enhancements to customer experience improve retention”, that it has launched field trials of its standalone DStv Streaming product which is expected to be launched soon and signed the Explora deals with Netflix and Amazon.

The move might not be as crazy as it sounds. Although Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are competitors to MultiChoice’s DStv and Showmax offerings, keeping customers on its hardware could help reduce churn. MultiChoice also announced that it has launched field trials of its DStv standalone streaming product in South Africa. Other initiatives the company has taken to improve retention include implementing targeted offers and enhancing its Catch Up offering.

Another interesting statement within MultiChoice’s annual results was its referral to the closing of distribution agreements with international Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) providers. “To position, the business for the future, leverage the group’s scale and enhance the product ecosystem by providing access to a wider variety of content, the group recently concluded distribution agreements with two major international Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) providers,” MultiChoice said. “Showmax also commenced the trialling of sport to subscribers with positive early user engagement.”

MultiChoice’s annual results for the year also showed a continued decline in Premium subscribers. MultiChoice combined Premium and Compact Plus into a single category for the purposes of showing year-over-year subscriber decline of 4% or 100,000 subscribers in the region. “Growth was affected by one-off sports events in the prior year and some country-specific issues.” The company added that despite global and country-specific macro-economic challenges, it added 900,000 90-day active subscribers over the past year.