Big DStv streaming changes

MultiChoice has reintroduced the ability for DStv streaming-only customers to watch on up to two devices simultaneously, at a fraction of the cost of a full standalone subscription.

The adjustment comes shortly after the broadcaster announced it was renaming its streaming platform to DStv Stream and adding a few new features.

That announcement did not make mention of an extra stream feature, which many customers have been calling for since the company first started limiting concurrent streams to one device in March 2022.

While also impacting DStv customers with satellite packages, the change significantly undercut the value proposition of the streaming-only packages.

The newly-launched Extra Mobile Stream feature supports concurrently streaming on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop in addition to the primary stream, which will work on any Internet-connected device.

New sign-ups on the Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Family, and Access packages will be getting a discount.

During onboarding, customers are given the option to remove the additional stream and pay the current prices.

The discounted price of the Extra Mobile Stream varies based on the type of package you have.

On the top-end DStv Stream Premium plan, it costs R100, increasing the price from R699 to R799 per month — 14.3% more — if you want to stream on two devices concurrently.

However, the Extra Mobile Stream costs R110 on Compact Plus, so the default 2-stream plan now costs R579 instead of R469 for the 1-stream package.

This is a curious difference considering that Compact Plus offers less content than Premium.

On Compact, Family, and Access, the prices of the Extra Mobile Stream are R80, R50, and R30, respectively.

The screenshot below summarises the prices of the DStv Stream packages with the Extra Mobile Stream included.

DStv has also introduced a new streaming-only package for its cheapest bouquet — EasyView — at R29 per month.

This package does not come with the ability to add an extra stream but supports DStv’s Latest Movies add-on package for R79 per month.

This feature is also available on all the other packages and included on DStv Stream Premium.

The latter also gets MultiChoice’s Showmax streaming service for free, while the other packages qualify for a 50% discount on service.

At the time of publication, DStv did not appear to have plans to offer the Extra Mobile Stream feature to its customers that use its satellite packages.

While these currently allow for simultaneous viewing across multiple decoders, MultiChoice cut the number of concurrent online streaming feeds from two to one in March last year.

The table below summarises the prices of the DStv Stream packages with one stream or two streams, with the latter being the discounted pricing.

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