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Tv - I got Netflixed.

Almost six months today I traded my DStv subscription from MultiChoice the South African company and  Africa biggest and leading Tv and video entertainment company for something cheaper. Netflix,an American multinational entertainment company providing streaming  of media and video on demand online. 

In these parts some may say calling Netflix, less expensive is arguable because of the cost of broadband internet connection but at least by my own estimate it is. First off, it gives me a bit more control to pick what's available to watch and watch it when I chose to,not saying Netflix it's  by any means perfect entertainment but I have grown to love it. 

To start my Netflix experience, all it took was downloading a free app, and not buying or upgrading to another expensive decoder thats if i had wanted to get more out of my DStv. 

Even with our beloved Nigerian currency the Naira on a free fall,a monthly dollar paid subscription on Netflix is still somewhat cheaper than what the average  DStv bouquet cost,even if you own the no frills decoder like I do, you pay about N6500 or $18 for cheapest bouquet of channels, but my Netflix subscription costing my $10 or N3500 a month . 

I have chosen not to upgrade my basic decoder DStv to the DStv Explora, the high end decoder that will give a bit more control and flexibility to watch or download what you wish to watch when you want to watch it. For now anything DStv is on pause until there's some form of real competition in the market, maybe someday Strive Masiyiwa's - Kwese TV might be that competition. 

For anyone on the basic decoder, think of it this way, most folks with a 9 to 5, or more like 8 to 6 in the Nigerian context, and if  you reside in the busy financial capital called Lagos it's more like 7am to near infinity ( if you work on the posher ikoyi,lekki victoria island side of town and  yet live in the mainland or further ashore in the more affordable hinterland of Ogun state, now masquerading as Lagos )..just joking, but most lagos folks would understand what I mean, however for most working class or business folks they would typically do barely  2,maybe 3 hours max, of Tv viewing time on a weekday assuming electricity is stable. 

So honestly in a place like Nigeria with unstable electricity and people working longer hours than usual DStv  offering only a full monthly subscription really is king here, you pay for what you don't really watch and so far nobody or regulatory agency can make the one and only DStv offer subscribers a  Pay-per-view (PPV) option or at least a hybrid of both systems just to be fair to customers considering the unique challenges of the Nigerian consumers,but (talk about monopoly) if you hold all the A's what's your motivation to treat customers fairly ? well story for another day.

Anyway, on my part I decided to migrate to a video on demand platform VOD, that offer a bit more flexibility and there are many free VOD where I can watch some free contents and International news channels like the BBC, Al jazeera, CCTV etc, thus I only do just one paid VOD subscription. 

Netflix is VOD of choice for now, for just less than  $10 a month -  the content I  get, I believe  gives  me my money's worth -thank God am not so into European football or any-type of football, the craze of most Nigerian males, so DStv got nothing on me. In case you think this is just trying to create some bad press for DStv, No! . This got nothing to do with disliking DStv,I can only imagine now what terrestrial Tv was like before DStv took over or is it overtake.

I just  decided to explore a little bit more because  if  I spend some of my free time in front of the Box (Tv) then I think I should be watching what I really want to watch. 

Am a sucker for good documentaries, and anything that's a real life story or has one built into the script - and if you wish to go VOD or experiment like am doing , I would say do well to invest in a (Chromecast) casting device by Google or any good casting device so you can stream from your hand held devices  and watch on your TV screen. I recommend chromecast cause that's what I use, it's very cheap yet works like a charm - and to end this here's some of my pick on Netflix that's been part of my evening entertainment for the last couple of months.


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