Cell C’s entertainment streaming service, black, will now offer newcomers to its service a 7 day free trial to Binge Elite, its premium subscription package. However, it also means an end to the 30-day free trial previously available on the Binge Select entry-level package.
Binge Elite gives subscribers full access to all content on the streaming service, including series, music, movies, sports, kiddies programming, documentaries, over 60 live TV channels and 8 FOX channels. The offer excludes subscription based movies that are available to rent. Until now. only the entry-level package was available for the free trial. The Binge Elitepackage normally costs R449 per month.
“We want to offer consumers the full experience when they register on black,” says PR Manager Precious Nkabinde. “The changes allowed for the quality of the package to be vastly better.”
This trial package allows new subscribers to binge on video-on-demand seasons of series on FOX and National Geographic, such as Empire, The Americans, Modern Family and Star.
“We are offering consumers the opportunity to trial the service before committing to a daily, weekly weekend or even monthly package,” says Nkabinde. “For seven days, the service is open to people to watch what they want, when they want. This is a fantastic way to keep the budget in check, while reviewing the content on the platform to see if it meets expectations.”
The offer appears to be an attempt to compete more directly with Netflix, which is continually expanding its content range in South Africa. However, Netflix offers a 30-day free trial, and black is likely to be severely disadvantaged by cutting back its trial period to a week.
This new trial replaces the free 30-day trial for Binge Select. Those who are currently in the middle of their Binge Select trial period will still be able to use the service for the full 30 days, says Nkabinde. He advises that payment details will not be required when signing up, and there will be no deductions.
black is available to customers across all networks and internet service providers, but Cell C customers signing up to black will benefit from free data when streaming or downloading black content on the network, until the end of February 2019.
The GET black app is available from app stores or www.black.co.za.