Johannesburg, South Africa, October 22, 2024 – Television is undergoing a transformative shift as it moves from traditional Direct-to-Home (DTH) content distribution to the more flexible Over-The-Top (OTT) or streaming model. Sabelo Mwali, Chief Technology Officer at MultiChoice, highlights how the company is leveraging technology to ensure that streaming becomes just as seamless and reliable as the DTH experience.
OTT platforms offer customers flexibility, allowing them to choose what to watch, when, and where. This shift to consumer-controlled viewing is a major opportunity for content providers like MultiChoice, which offers 84,000 hours of local content on demand.
Innovation for an Enhanced Streaming Experience
However, with this opportunity comes new challenges. Viewers often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content available. MultiChoice is addressing this through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which offer personalized content recommendations based on user behavior.
AI is also being utilized to bring efficiency to subtitle and translation services. MultiChoice has successfully trained AI to provide Swahili translations on the Showmax platform and has rolled out similar features for regional languages in Nigeria. The next phase will include AI-powered audio dubbing in African languages, allowing content to be even more accessible across the continent.
Addressing Data and Latency Challenges
One of the significant barriers to widespread OTT adoption in Africa is data availability and cost. To address this, MultiChoice is deploying data compression and adapted bit rate technology that dynamically adjusts picture quality to match internet fluctuations. This ensures smooth streaming while optimizing data use. Partnerships with African telcos have further facilitated bundled data packages for customers, making streaming more accessible.
Latency and buffering issues also pose challenges, particularly during live events. MultiChoice has introduced low-latency solutions, reducing the discrepancy between satellite and streaming delivery times to just five seconds. This progress puts African streaming services on par with global standards.
A Seamless Future for Streaming
With innovations like real-time content delivery, personalized UX design, and optimized streaming quality, MultiChoice is confident that the streaming experience will soon match, if not surpass, the traditional DTH experience. The company has already achieved a buffering rate of 0.31%, well below the industry standard of 0.72%, and continues to push for further improvements.
“The future of television is already here,” says Mwali. “Our goal is to make streaming as good, as fast, and as seamless as traditional satellite TV, using the latest technology to entertain and engage our audiences.”
The transition to streaming is underway, and MultiChoice is leading the charge, ensuring that African streaming services are among the global leaders in this space.
