DStv embarrassed by Barry Roux parody account

Popular Twitter account @AdvBarryRoux is well known for its left-leaning politics and apparent support for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). It is less well known for having strong views about what the best way to consume television is.

A tweet from the account juxtaposes the subscription fees of DStv Premium with those of Netflix Premium, showing that while the former would set you back over R23,000 every two years, he latter would cost only R3,960 over the same period. “Retweet to annoy DStv,” the tweet is captioned.

Whether the parody account was paid or the tweet was sponsored by Netflix is unclear, although it appears that this is not the case and that the account is only expressing its personal opinion on the matter.

The tweet will likely be embarrassing for MultiChoice, the company behind DStv. @AdvBarryRoux has a massive following and the tweet has been retweeted over 4000 times at the time of publication of this article.

READ MORE: What will DStv do to survive?

In July, MyBroadband reported that MultiChoice SA CEO Calvo Mawela defended his view that Netflix has an unfair advantage over DStv in South Africa, and that a regulatory change is needed to address this problem.

At the time, MultiChoice called on ICASA to ensure the regulatory environment takes the changing entertainment landscape into account.

Mawela said it is not fair that DStv must adhere to numerous regulations while a competitor like Netflix is unregulated.

READ MORE: DStv subscription fees to increase again

But a story in The Citizen last year suggested that rising prices, billing system and debit order problems, a waning channel line-up (with no premium TV channels) and channels that abruptly vanished while you are watching may be more to blame for the company’s struggles than competition from Netflix.

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