Kwese TV is the new kid on the block and a number of people are contemplating whether they should jump ship or not.
Kwese has come up with a number of interesting spins on their service to separate themselves from their competitor, DStv. They (Kwese) are offering things like one bouquet, 5 devices on one package, users able to pay using any local payment methods.
For those that are still stuck in the “valley of indecision” here’s some feedback from a recent Kwese TV customer, who shares what they have gone through in the last three weeks while using the service.
I have been with Kwese for about three weeks now. Honestly as it stands, DSTV Compact package is way above Kwese. Kwese needs to improve on these aspects:
1. Movies:
Zimbabweans, and I believe, Africans have been fed on a Euro (Anglo)-American entertainment diet for time since TV reached the African continent. Yes, we need to appreciate other cultures but it seems to me that Asian (read Chinese/ Indian/Korean/Japanese) movies do not just have the same appeal as British or American movies to us. Kwese has far much more Asian than Western movies in their movie channels. To add on, the information about the movie when you press the i button on the remote control often leaves out important detail about the movie, e.g. year of production.
African Movies shown on Kwese channels are almost all Nigerian movies leaving one wondering whether African means Nigerian. I know for sure that South Africa has a significant film industry and produces way better quality films in terms of picture and sound quality as well as accent of the actors. For many of the so called African movies on Kwese the picture and sound quality leaves a lot to desire. It would even help to have English subtitles for many of us to really get the gist of what the Nigerian actors will be saying.
2. Documentaries:
Thumbs up to Kwese for Discovery Science, IDx, Odisseia etc, but I would like Kwese to include Discovery Channel, Discovery History Channel, BBC Earth Channel and National Geographic as well as National Geographic Wild Channels.
3. Kids Programmes and International News
For Kids Programmes and International News Kwese does a good job. However, Kwese needs to include a local/Zimbabwean News Channel, NOT ZBCTV.
4. Sports:
This is where I think Kwese currently is no match for DStv. Only one English Premiership live match per weekend is just not good enough. Kwese do have club TV channels for Liverpool, Arsenal, Totenham and Man City at least but none of these club channels seem to allow Kwese to broadcast their matches live. Liverpool TV will only show you live video of supporters on the terraces and the live match is broadcast only as audio. I can’t be sitting on a couch for two hours listening to the radio on TV.
Australian Soccer League, Brazilian Serie A or even the Argentine Super Liga should actually be selling points for Kwese but not the main soccer leagues for an African Audience. We need Spanish La Liga, The Premier League, Italian Serie A not Serie B, League 1 and Bundesliga not B leagues of these European countries.
European Champions League and Europa League are a must for any TV network broadcasting in Africa. Kwese has nothing of it. The Morrocan, Nigerian, South African Premier Leagues would also add value to Kwese Sports. A twenty four hour exclusive sports News channel would also give busy viewers a quick update of each days major events.
Oh and thank you Tendai Samukange for the comment 😉
So, have you signed up for Kwese? If so what has been your experience?? If not, you still can join in the conversation by telling us what your ‘Kwese expectations’ are.
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49 comments
There is no local news channel for Zimbabwe – only ZBC – someone could/should start one though 🙂
Actually its an opportunity there, you never know, there is a lot that people do not know about happenings in Zim
BAZ, the Broadcasting/Blocking Authority of Zimbabwe won’t allow such a channel in this country.
My expectation is that you get what you paid for. These new “expectations” are not free, acquiring additional content means that you’ll also have to pay more. Low subs is one of the reasons people opted for Kwese. It’s a vicious circle.
well said
I don’t concur because DSTV itself has lowered its prices, have you ever wondered why now? I can tell you they were ripping us off and they know it. Also consider that when DSTV itself started it didnt have all those goodies and so does Kwese but give them time and things will turn out different.
No UEFA
No Laliga
No Bundasliga
Sport is life it takes away all racism and bring love among different cultures . Kwese lacks that and more .
on which channel is zbc because i have browsed through and i do not seem to see it. on sports why not go for the french league which is up for grabs and others mentioned by the reviewer. for now whatever the case maybe dstv is still streets ahead and these kwese guys have a lot of homework to do. after getting the equipemnt installed 3 weeks ago and realised that liverpool tv channels block their matches i went back to dstv up until the league and uefa champion is over and will review.
I agree with your Guest Author 100%. That so far has been my experience and I have had to switch from Kwese to DStv and vice versa.
I will wait for them to add English PremierShip That’s the only reason I want a dish
For now until then l will keep tuned to DSTV, the guest is right their compact package, which has almost the same price as the kwese bouquet is way better
Almost a month watching Kwese TV but noted these ,
1)Music is mostly Nigerian
2)African movies mostly Nigerian
3)Gospel trace – American i believe
4)Recurrent problems of NO SIGNAL on a number of channels – No message to alert whether it’s technical fault or not . Have been faced with this challenge for the third time in October alone . During this , only one news channel will be showing , the rest No signal .
5)No programme line ups and time as compared to DStv – you can scroll down through all the programms and know when another program commences and ends and what;s following.
6)
i think some of the local media outfits like bustoptv should grab this opportunity t have a channel on kwese tv for zimbabwean news
That’s a good point
2 things,
1. until the next cycle of licenses are sold by EPL no change in what they have now unless they buy from DSTV.
2. They need to have the financial muscle to complete with DSTV in purchasing rights or persuade the EPL to unbundle the rights and distribute across many players
Kwese is simply bulls**t
I thought Kwese were just starting out!
I thought Kwese were just starting out! Does anybody have any idea what DSTV was like 22 years ago?
Good question Caleb…a 9 month year old baby vs a 22 year adult
Do you think we have the patience – and money – to nurse them until they get to 20? When a benchmark has been set you have to match it – moreover you have the advantage of not inventing the wheel anew.
If you are sports fan tell me rights which available right now on the market ? This Rights are sold at a period of 3-5 years depending on rights owner. It takes time to build a catalogue…. people are not forced to subscribe to kwese ..they other options .we just saying let’s not judge this new baby harshly .A kid is not born walking
DStv had 17 channels in 1995…when they started two sports Channels…. ESPN and Super sport
DStv is rubbish now after 22 years!
Yes, but its like coming up with a rival to samsung TV, and come up with that old monochrome TV. You want us to buy the Black and white tv because you are starting up, no ways, Kwese has to match and better the DSTV package
I have had a no signal for more than three days now.
KWESE JUST CAME AROUND A FEW MONTHS AGO…REMEMBER THAT!!!
I AGREE THAT WHAT IS NEEDED IS A PURELY INDEPENDENT ZIMBABWEAN NEWS CHANNEL…ALSO IF THEY INCLUDE S.A SOAPS SUCH AS GENERATIONS THEY WILL KILL DSTV….NOT EVERYONE IS INTRESTED IN SOCCER
Kwese is convenient in Zimbabwe as compared to dstv in terms of payment methods. The most annoying thing with dstv particularly in mutare is that most if not all dstv/multichoice agents are charging extra money for subscriptions for example the eleven dollar package you pay sixteen dollars which is very annoying please dstv do something on these guys
U shld be appreciating thoz guys who are still facilitating DSTV payments at an extra charge since MULTICHOICE AFRICA does not accept BOND NOTES, remember after you give them your BOND$16 they have to convert it to USDs, if nt mistaken their profit will be less $2.
Let’s give them time to improve guys.these guys seems that they can do more than dsv
I totally agree
Okay. In movies, Kwese absolutely sucks. All the movies look old. I say this because you cant actually see the year of the movie on the information window. I dont watch much documentaries but I guess it’s kind of okay. But it still can’t compete with DSTV because Multichoice has tons of documentary channels and Kwese has like 3 only. Sport…I have had kind of a bitter sweet experience here. I had high hopes when Kwese came but lack of proper football tanked it. Australian and Argentinian league football?? And noone watches American Football. C’mon. So I said fuck this and switched back to DSTV. Then I found myself missing the NBA and LFC TV. Also DSTV repeats are just annoying.
Kids are the only winners. Tons of cartoons and children are not choosy.
I signed up for Kwese after they told me it covered Formula 1. This turned out to be false and had to switch back to DSTV after missing the Austin GP. I would advise them to provide accurate information to potential clients.
However my kids seem to like Kwese more than DSTV.
Kwese African movies (Nigerian) are achaic. The movies show actors during their teens yet in DSTV the same actors are even shading white hair. Kwese sports is just eeeiisshh. Yes it is a new kid on the block, but technological kids are born adult so that they can compete with other same service providers. For the same price, you watch better channels on DSTV. Action Kwese pliz. No call center in times of need.
Kwese should just reduce its price to suit the content it provides, as things stand they are ripping people off based on the fact that they are a local company. Go down to $15 thts what that bouquet is worth.
there is not much difference between kwese and openview hd
personally I think like what most said, Kwesé is a new kid on the block(Caleb Mutsumba) and every new product is received with mixed feelings. Yes it has it’s own flaws but it’s not that bad. remember for every decision we make in our lives we think over it before endulging. I understand these guys are working on rights etc hence the little but fair content they have. I see better in kwese as time goes but ultimately one man’s meat is another man’s poison choices differ.I also loved the fact that during bad weather, as recently experienced, picture quality was good no problems all the best Kwesé!
I agree with the author, kwese needs to do better. To many repeats on the same channel.
what are your plans as Kwese people on bringing us full coverage of the English premier league, especially UEFA Champions league, La Liga amaana, UEFA Europa, Bundesliga ??????????? pliiiz KWESE shld not suck please feed us on what your plans are
I don’t know how many people would like to pay for a company’s R&D. Kwese provides an alternative to Multichoice but have a lot of work ahead for them to try and satisfy the paying public. The void that is not going to be filled is the absence of independent radio & TV stations to give us fairly objective local news. The dictators we have, who some people believe are leaders or visionaries, are a very cruel and myopic lot. We’re still a very long way from freedom because what they provide is not adequate to fill that void. It’s the sad but cruel truth. I don’t know how many countries are actually oppressed by their so-called “liberators” like Zimbabwe.
my great concern is we need ztv on kwese so that we maintain our national identity, a lot has been said by collegues on EPL , UEFA and Bundesliga we desperately need these channels
i stopped readintb the article the moment i read this line.
1. Movies:
Zimbabweans, and I believe, Africans have be…….
how a persongeneralise his or her opinion. nxaa
On another note :
The ads on techzim are just too much. Could you reduce the number of ads, personally your website looks less credible with all these ads.
HeadLine : TechZim review just dismantled all the Kwese tv hype.
I personally will rate the article 6/10.
Firstly there is a way to see the date of release, genre, Director and the Stars on a movie. You press the EPG button and then the ‘i’ button on the program you like. We can not use lack of knowledge to prejudice a product.
Kwese was never supposed to be Dstv. Never. It is Kwese. The sound and picture are very good especially on HDMI. Not forgetting that the decoder can be used to view content from USB, music or Movies.
Nice one the content
Fact is it does not have alot of epl. The reasons are well documented. Just as the reasons dstv has no NBA.
I think as Zimbabweans we have always limited ourselves to what we know. We use that as a yard stick. There are many sports that we could have liked but we were limited to a few. I recently watched the Joshua boxing match on kwese. This was not available for compact viewers on Dstv. Even the Copa del Rey and the Carabao.
The author failed to even realize the choices for entrepreneurs on kwese. I m talking about serious business content on the kwese Inc channel.
The issue of a Zim news station/ channel is not a kwese issue. It’s a govt issue. When they are ready for alternative facts, we will get an alternative to ZBC.
I m a huge NBA Fan. Was feeling left out on Dstv. Yet the idea is for a provider to provide as much content as possible to cover all tastes and pleasures. A product that is “a work in progress”, should not yet be compared to a “finished” product.
In time it will be easy to compare.
Notice how dstv is making adjustments already. You can’t say that kwese is a bad product when competition is shaking. Adjusting prices and content.
If you are into American sports kwese is great. Exclusive NBA and NFL . Plus boxing and supporting local rugby. Then we also have the business shows that I think are great
I’m not happy I feel that my installer from kamfinsa was not honest when he done my installation it was set up on Friday 24hrs later still not activated the guys from kamfinsa need to be trained in customer care very very Bad service from you guys
for kwese activation just 119
I’m happy with the Uhuru TV experience instead.