About DStv’s Video-on-Demand offering
1. Will BoxOffice compete with DVD stores?
DVD stores are in the business of distributing physical DVDs to their customers, which is a different user experience. However, Box office titles are available in the same time-frame as the DVD stores
2. Is DStv launching BoxOffice as a result of competitors recently entering the VOD market?
No. DStv on Demand launched last year and Box office is an evolution of such a service. It fits in with our business objective of driving innovation and evolving our business across multiple devices.
About the BoxOffice service
3. What is BoxOffice?
BoxOffice is brought to you by DStv and is a satellite-based video-on-demand (VOD) service, which offers DStv Premium subscribers more entertainment choice by giving them the opportunity to rent Hollywood blockbusters on their PVR decoders, from the comfort of their own home.
4. Who can access this service?
Initially available to DStv Premium subscribers with a PVR decoder, and later on PCs.
5. Why is BoxOffice not available to all DStv subscribers?
Although the 1st phase of the BoxOffice roll out is limited to DStv Premium subscribers with PVRs only, later phases will make the service available to a wider range of consumers.
6. Why are HD movies charged at the same rental rate as SD movies?
For the current offering, we wanted to keep the pricing as simple as possible.
7. How many movies are available on BoxOffice at any given time?
There will be a choice of up to 15 movies at any one time. New titles will be updated regularly as they are released by Studios.
8. Why are there only 15 movies available at any one time?
Due to storage limitations on the PVRs, a maximum of 15 movies can be available at any one time.
9. What type of movies can I choose from?
Approximately 150 blockbuster movies from most of the major Hollywood studios will be available on BoxOffice during the course of a year.
10. How do I access BoxOffice on the PVR?
You need to have a valid DStv Premium and PVR subscriptionPush the green button on your PVR remote and follow the steps on screen
- SMS your smartcard number to 37569 to register for BoxOffice
- A BoxOffice account is automatically opened for you
- Rental of movies happens via SMS, so you can link up to 4 mobile numbers to your BoxOffice account
- The current list of movies available to rent will be displayed on the BoxOffice screen on your PVR. Simply select the movie you want to watch and sms the code to 37569.
- A confirmation SMS will be sent within minutes (network dependent) and you will be able to watch the selected movie. Please note, movies cannot be cancelled once a SMS request has been sent.
- Once the transaction is successful, the selected movie will be available to view as many times as you like over a 48-hour period.
- For launch, the first BoxOffice movie is free.
11. What is the price of a movie title on BoxOffice?
The introductory price is R25 per title.
12. Why an introductory price?
This is a new service and we will monitor its progress over time. The more successful the product, the better the chance we have of negotiating more favourable deals with the Studios.
13. How do I pay for my BoxOffice rentals?
There are three payment options available via debit order against your BoxOffice account, pre-loading funds into the BoxOffice Account or via credit card (Visa or MasterCard).
14. How does the BoxOffice account work?
BoxOffice transactions are made from your BoxOffice account, which is separate to your DStv account.
DStv subscribers who pay their monthly DStv account by debit order could also pay their BoxOffice account by debit order. BoxOffice rentals will be added to the monthly billing.
Subscribers can pre-load funds into their BoxOffice account using any one of the different payment options available – these are the same options that you use to pay your normal monthly DStv account. Rentals will be subtracted from this amount, which can be topped up via the DStv website or the mobi site.
15. As I pay my DStv subscription at Checkers , will I also be able to add funds to my BoxOffice account at Checkers?
Currently funds cannot be added to the BoxOffice account at Checkers tills. DStv will be introducing a new payment service in the future, which will cover various paypoints including Checkers.
16. Will BoxOffice repeat movies?
The same movie can be rented multiple times until the movie expires and is removed from the rental line-up. Once a movie has expired it will not be available to rent through BoxOffice again.
17. Are the movies on BoxOffice new movies?
BoxOffice movies are generally released at the same time as they become available for DVD rentals - usually 4 to 6 months after appearing in movie theatres.
18. Why do we have to pay to access BoxOffice movies when this will become available on other DStv channels such as M-Net at a later date?
BoxOffice is an additional DStv service, which allows subscribers to watch movies in an earlier period than when they become available on the regular DStv channels.
We buy the rights for the BoxOffice movies from the Studios, which are in an earlier window to movies on pay television. These two windows each attract a separate rights payment.
19. How long will a movie stay on the rental line-up?
Each movie’s availability will vary depending on consumer popularity and availability of new movie releases from the studios. Some technical aspects of the BoxOffice service
20. Can I turn off my PVR at night?
The PVR requires time to download titles, therefore we recommend that you leave your PVR on or in standby mode when not in use.
21. Will BoxOffice reduce the recording space I have on my PVR?
Similarly to DStv’s On Demand service, BoxOffice does not impact on your PVR recording capacity.
22. Why is the confirmation code made up of such a long number?
The 18-digit confirmation code is designed to offer additional subscriber security, it refers to your specific smartcard number and contains details of the rental, such as date and time.
23. Can I watch BoxOffice movies when there is no signal?
If the BoxOffice movie has already been rented and the menu displays a view now status, the movie can be viewed regardless of available signal.
24. Does this mean I can’t watch the movie unless the ‘view now’ status is displayed?
That is correct, view now indicates that the movie is available for you to view. Other status that will be displayed is rent now, to indicate that a movie is available for rent.
25. How do I instil control over what my children watch when I’m not around?
The parental pin that is active on your DStv decoder will also apply to BoxOffice, this allows you to set access limits according to PG ratings. You will also be able to block BoxOffice rentals with a pin number.
26. Is there a difference between the HD PVR and SD PVR?
Although BoxOffice launches on 22 July 2011, the BoxOffice titles will progressively download to build the playlist on the SD PVR. BoxOffice movies will only start to become available after the software has downloaded.On the HD PVRs, the titles will be available from 22 July 2011.
27. What could be the wrong if I don’t have titles or a different number of titles?
There are four factors that can impact the download of BoxOffice titles:
- User recordings scheduled which conflicts with times of BoxOffice downloads
- Marginal installation which results in poor break-up / pixilation of content. The PVR will discard the content immediately
- Bad weather ie rain storms etc
- Power failures including switching off or unplugging the PVR
28. Where do I find more information about BoxOffice?
visit - www.dstv.com/BoxOffice
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