DStv channel changes in 2022

DStv has announced several changes to its channel list this year, with the broadcaster shaking up its catalogue by dropping six channels and adding two.

The MultiChoice-owned broadcaster announced that it would be adding three new channels in 2022. Two of them have already launched, and the third — a new movie channel — is expected to be made available later in the year.

The latest addition to its catalogue, KIX, arrived on DStv’s Family and Access subscriptions on 31 March 2022. KIX provides viewers with a combination of combat sports programming and action movies.

Before that, DStv added Dreamworks — a 24-hour kids and family entertainment channel — on 18 March 2022. It is known for producing popular children’s movies, including Shrek, Madagascar, and How To Train Your Dragon.

DStv’s customers lost access to the Russia Today (RT) news channel on 2 March 2022 after its distributor for the region stopped providing the feed due to European Union sanctions imposed on Russia.

RT is a state-controlled international television network funded by the Russian government. DStv’s broadcast of the channel showed a “Feed Stopped Abruptly By Supplier” message.

More recently, DStv revealed that its subscribers would lose access to the Lifetime TV channel on 1 May 2022. The distributor, A+E Networks UK, announced that it was closing the African version of the channel following the closure of Lifetime in Great Britain, Ireland, and Malta.

On 1 April 2022, DStv announced it would cut four E-tv channels from its catalogue, leaving eNCA (channel 403). It will also carry E-tv’s daily Afrikaans news bulletin on kykNET (channel 144).

The channels in question are eMovies, eMovies Extra, eExtra and eToonz. An eMedia spokesperson explained that MultiChoice had opted not to carry these channels when it renewed its channel supply agreement with eMedia.

However, TV journalist Thinus Ferreira reported that the channels would remain on DStv for at least another two months.

eMedia has taken the matter to the Competition Commission, with hearings scheduled for Monday, 25 April 2022.

DStv’s contract with the SABC is also set to change after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa amended regulations to allow the state-owned broadcaster to charge pay-TV providers for its free-to-air channels.

Subscription broadcasting services like DStv must carry SABC 1, 2, and 3. These channels were previously broadcast on satellite TV platforms like DStv at no additional cost.

DStv’s current channel catalogue is summarised in the table below. It highlights a few key channels in each content category.

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