All the big DStv changes of 2021
DStv offers a range of packages for various budgets and tastes, and the broadcaster made several changes to its channel catalogue, pricing, and other services this year.
The changes come as many South Africans have begun to adopt internet-based streaming services over broadcasted television.
From price increases to channel cuts and the launch of new channels to DStv introducing its own internet service, the broadcaster has made several significant changes throughout 2021.
Here are all of the significant changes DStv made to its products and services in 2021.
Price increases
MultiChoice announced price hikes for its DStv packages in February 2021, and the changes took effect in April 2021.
The most comprehensive package is DStv Premium, which offers 157 channels and is currently available for R829 per month on a month-to-month basis.
For many households, this price point has become too expensive and as a result, MultiChoice has recorded consistent subscriber number declines in its premium segment.
DStv offers a selection of other packages at different prices, each with a different channel catalogue.
These packages range in price from R29 to R539 per month and include EasyView, Access, Family, Compact, and Compact Plus.
The pricing and channel offerings for each DStv package are summarised in the table below.
| DStv pricing and channel comparison | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Decoder package | Price (monthly) | Channels | Price per channel |
| Premium | R829 | 157 | R5.28 |
| Compact Plus | R539 | 143 | R3.77 |
| Compact | R409 | 126 | R3.25 |
| Family | R295 | 90 | R3.11 |
| Access | R115 | 66 | R1.74 |
| EasyView | R29 | 36 | R0.81 |
| Streaming-only package | Price (monthly) | Channels | Price per channel |
| Premium | R699 | 157 | R4.45 |
| Compact Plus | R539 | 143 | R3.77 |
| Compact | R409 | 126 | R3.25 |
| Family | R295 | 90 | R3.11 |
| Access | R115 | 66 | R1.74 |
| EasyView | R29 | 36 | R0.81 |
Channel changes
DStv Premium offers 157 channels on both the decoder and streaming-only packages. DStv Compact, Family, Access, and EasyView give access to a smaller subset of these channels.
DStv added tvN, a South Korean global entertainment network, as a pop-up channel on 1 March 2021. DStv said the network “will offer a variety of Korean entertainment” on its broadcasting platform. The channel was removed on 31 July.
In September this year, Disney pulled its Fox channel from African broadcasters, including DStv. It had previously removed the Fox Life and Disney XD channels from the service in September 2020.
In October 2021, MultiChoice announced that it would be killing two channels offered by DStv and replacing them with a channel called “Me”.
“Me” went live in November 2021, merging the M-Net City and Vuzu channels into one. The channel is available to Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, and Family customers.
“We’re changing the way we package content and creating a single, extensive, well-curated destination,” CEO of General Entertainment at MultiChoice, Yolisa Phahle, said in the announcement.
| DStv channel changes – 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Added | |
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Streaming-only and Internet services
MultiChoice also offers a streaming-only DStv Premium package for R699 per month — R130 less than its Premium decoder-based subscription.
The deal is only available to new subscribers who take up the special before 14 January 2022.
Once you’ve taken up the promotion, the discounted price of R699 per month is available for the first three consecutive months of subscription.
All other streaming-only packages are equal in price to their corresponding decoder-based TV subscriptions.
To go with its streaming offerings — and to supply Internet access to areas that lack fibre infrastructure — MultiChoice launched its DStv Internet service in September.
The plug-and-play Internet service is available to those living in areas with MTN LTE coverage, offering capped data packages with 25GB, 110GB, and 220GB usage limits.
These data packages include the necessary router and are priced at R229 per month for the 25GB bundle, R499 for the 110GB bundle, and R799 for the 220GB bundle.
MultiChoice’s online streaming options for DStv and Showmax offer video quality up to 720p, and customers that selecting the 25GB bundle can expect to stream at this resolution for approximately 28 hours.
Those on the 110GB package should manage to stream around 122 hours of 720p video, while the 220GB package should offer about 244 hours.
DStv’s internet packages are summarised below.
| DStv Internet packages | ||
|---|---|---|
| Packages | 24-month contract with a router | SIM-only |
| 25GB anytime data + 25GB night-time data | R229 (with ZTE MF286R router) | R199 |
| 110GB anytime data + 110GB night-time data | R499 (with ZTE MF286C router) | R479 |
| 220GB anytime data + 220GB night-time data | R799 (with ZTE MF286C router) | R779 |
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