Showmax and DStv Now streaming resolutions also being dropped

Streaming resolutions of Showmax and DStv Now are being lowered as a means of easing network congestion.

The move by MultiChoice comes at a time when most networks around the world are strained as people work and school from home following lockdowns meant to curb the spread of the Coronavirus.

Users of mobile applications for Showmax, the streaming video-on-demand service and DStv Now, the online version of DStv that is available to subscribers at no added cost, will experience reduced bitrate and lower resolution when consuming content.

According to MyBroadband, MultiChoice is limiting streaming on the two services to just 576p, down from the standard 720p.

The move, aimed at reducing the data traffic on the networks subscribers are on, follows that of other such-like services around the world.

YouTube, which has seen its internet traffic surge to double that registered by Netflix, took the extraordinary measure to limit all the content on its platform to standard definition by default last week, following in the footsteps of Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and Netflix.

Unlike YouTube, which still lets its users go ahead and set their own preferred streaming resolution – HD all the way to 4K – mobile DStv Now and Showmax users will have to make do with the stepped down resolution as there is no option to set their own.

“No changes have been made to (the) browser, TV, or decoder-based streaming,” MyBroadband notes.

While both Showmax and DStv Now are available all across Sub-Saharan Africa, the reduction in video quality is reported to have been effected in the South African market at the moment. There is no word on the same happening elsewhere but it may be just a matter of time if it hasn’t happened already.

Have you experienced a drop in the quality of your DStv Now and/or Showmax streams recently?