Wednesday, January 23, 2013

dt2: Yet another new logo and name to add to the madness of South Africa's digital television migration process already frought with confusion.


You're reading it here first. 

An already confused and uninformed South African public is getting confused even further: With new "dt2'' television adverts now running on South African television regarding South Africa's long-stalled digital television migration process, I can reveal that it's nothing more than yet another awareness campaign - it's not a new product, and it's not a new service.

dt2 - yet another new moniker, and yet another new logo - is set to confuse South Africans even further, who have already been told (incorrectly) in newspaper ads last year that digital terrestrial television (DTT) means that they will get access to high definition (HD) channels (not true: none of the terrestrial broadcasters are planning HD channels).

The dt2 logo also adds to the clutter of the digital migration process where the "Go Digital" logo already exist.

And this is even before the SABC and e.tv introduce their bespoke joint set-top box (STB) and channels which will in all likelihood be called a service offering known as MultiView. M-Net will of course introduce their own new set of TV channels and their own new decoder box for its terrestrial subscribers which will also have its own name.

Whether MultiChoice which just launched GOtv in Ghana as the latest African country where it introduced a DTT service will also be launching GOtv in South Africa, is not yet known or certain.

it is however clear that all these logos and names will most likely just add to huge consumer confusion regarding digital television and the switch-over process already frought with delays, in-fighting and industry confusion.

The new dt2 is a government initiative from the department of communications to drive consumer awareness around DTT and doesn't represent any of the upcoming DTT brands from the individual broadcasters such as the SABC, e.tv or M-Net in South Africa.

Why suddenly dt2 is being used to drive consumer awareness in South Africa of DTT, instead of the Go Digital logo with which it started, is not clear. I'm hearing from a lot of confused people who are now thinking that dt2 is a new service or a new type of television. Meanwhile its just a new advertising awareness campaign.