DStv vs Openview vs StarSat — prices and channels compared

South Africans who want to ditch DStv and its yearly price hikes but still want access to satellite TV can consider StarSat and Openview as alternatives and will likely save some money by doing so.

MyBroadband compared DStv’s new prices for its Access, Family, and Compact packages to StarSat and Openview’s offerings.

In February 2023, DStv announced price increases for its packages that will take effect from 1 April. The price changes are as follows:

• DStv Access — increasing to R129 from R120
• DStv Family — increasing to R319 from R309
• DStv Compact — increasing to R449 from R429
• DStv Compact Plus — increasing to R579 from R549
• DStv Premium — increasing to R879 from R839
• Access fee — increasing to R115 from R110

These subscription fees are in addition to the once-off installation cost of R699 for an HD DStv decoder.

StarSat customers also have to pay a once-off decoder and installation cost. However, it is slightly cheaper than DStv’s at R499.

Openview has the highest setup and installation cost of the lost, but it is the only price they pay to access the service. The broadcaster doesn’t charge any monthly fees.

Regarding monthly costs, StarSat offers three packages — Special, Super, and Max — for R120, R230, and R330 a month, respectively.

The available packages and their associated fees are summarised in the table below. For DStv’s up-front costs, we used the cheapest decoder available — its HD Decoder — which goes for R699 with installation.

Selecting a more powerful decoder pushes up the up-front costs significantly.

StarSat’s Max package promises the most extensive catalogue of the lot at 140 channels, with DStv Compact in second place with 122. This is even though DStv Compact’s monthly subscription fee is R119 more.

The trend changes somewhat when we look at the mid-tier packages. Here DStv’s Family plan takes the top spot with 105 channels, while StarSat’s Super subscription offers 70.

Competition between StarSat and DStv at the lower end of the spectrum — DStv Access and StarSat Special — is close, with only two channels separating the packages.

DStv’s Access subscription offers 62 channels, while StarSat’s Special plan includes 60. Openview has the smallest catalogue of the services compared, with 21 channels.

MyBroadband also analysed the cost of these packages over ten years to determine which is the cheapest over time. The comparison is summarised in the chart below.

Openview worked out the cheapest thanks to its once-off installation fee and lack of a monthly subscription fee. While it’s upfront price makes it the most expensive over the short term, it is quickly overtaken by other broadcast TV subscriptions.

DStv’s Compact and Family packages are the most expensive over ten years. However, it should be noted that the accumulative cost of StarSat’s Max package will overtake that of DStv Family at some future point.

Over ten years, DStv Compact and Family’s costs will accumulate to R5,189 and R3,889, respectively. StarSat’s Special, Super, and Max plans reach R1,699, R2,799, and R3,799 over the same period.

Therefore, StarSat’s Max plan could be an attractive option compared to DStv Compact as it offers 18 more channels and will save subscribers R1,390 over ten years.

However, viewer content preferences must also be considered, which is not something easily quantified.

The DStv Access plan becomes more expensive than Openview HD around the six-year mark, while Starsat’s Special package does the same in the ninth year.

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