MultiChoice – Good Sport, Bad Movies

RECENTLY MultiChoice Namibia sent out a circular to its subscribers, informing them of an increase in monthly subscriptions.

Whilst I can understand the need to increase subscription fees, what with the cost of living rising almost daily, what really caught my eye was the closing paragraph of the same letter, viz. “we will also endeavour to bring you the freshest movies, documentaries, international news and the best music channels”.There is no doubt that MultiChoice offers the viewer the best choices with regard to sporting events.Sadly, the same cannot be said for movies.Over the last few months, I have noticed that the same tired old movies are shown, over and over and over again.One does not mind if the odd movie is re-flighted once in a while – in fact, some of them are worth watching again – but really, to switch on your television and have to endure movies that you have already seen (several times!) every single evening of every single day is pushing it.What is going on? Is there so much money being spent by MultiChoice to secure the rights to rugby, soccer, etc that there is nothing left in the budget for any other form of entertainment? The documentary channels show the same programmes several times throughout the day and even throughout the month, therefore, they cannot be considered to be the best form of viewing entertainment – after all, one can only watch a documentary so many times.Similarly, whilst I do enjoy sport, there is only so much of it that I want to watch.When I am at home in the evenings or over weekends and want to relax, I would like to be able to switch on my television and watch a movie, and preferably one that I have not seen several times before.If this is what the viewer has to look forward to in the future, then I’ll be the first one to reconsider my options once the pay-per-channel competition arrives.I really feel that my N$420 per month is being wasted at the moment and hope that MultiChoice will get back to being the premium entertainment medium it used to be.Barbara van der Westhuizen Via e-mail”we will also endeavour to bring you the freshest movies, documentaries, international news and the best music channels”.There is no doubt that MultiChoice offers the viewer the best choices with regard to sporting events.Sadly, the same cannot be said for movies.Over the last few months, I have noticed that the same tired old movies are shown, over and over and over again.One does not mind if the odd movie is re-flighted once in a while – in fact, some of them are worth watching again – but really, to switch on your television and have to endure movies that you have already seen (several times!) every single evening of every single day is pushing it.What is going on? Is there so much money being spent by MultiChoice to secure the rights to rugby, soccer, etc that there is nothing left in the budget for any other form of entertainment? The documentary channels show the same programmes several times throughout the day and even throughout the month, therefore, they cannot be considered to be the best form of viewing entertainment – after all, one can only watch a documentary so many times.Similarly, whilst I do enjoy sport, there is only so much of it that I want to watch.When I am at home in the evenings or over weekends and want to relax, I would like to be able to switch on my television and watch a movie, and preferably one that I have not seen several times before.If this is what the viewer has to look forward to in the future, then I’ll be the first one to reconsider my options once the pay-per-channel competition arrives.I really feel that my N$420 per month is being wasted at the moment and hope that MultiChoice will get back to being the premium entertainment medium it used to be. Barbara van der Westhuizen Via e-mail