DStv versus Netflix price increases

Netflix Premium’s price has increased more over the past six years than that of DStv Premium. This is despite Netflix only increasing its prices once in 2021, while MultiChoice increases its DStv prices annually.

However, the prices of DStv Compact Plus have, on average, increased faster since 2018.

DStv’s subscriber base, particularly its Premium subscribers, has seen noticeable declines since Netflix entered the South African market in 2016.

Between March 2015 and March 2016, DStv lost more than 250,000 Premium subscribers after peaking at 2.35 million Premium subscribers in March 2015.

This figure had dropped to 1.92 million by March 2018 — the last time it reported Premium subscribers separately.

It grouped DStv Premium subscribers with Compact Plus customers in its Premium segment in the years that followed.

However, it is possible to estimate subscriber numbers for each package using MultiChoice’s historical operational information and trends.

MyBroadband estimates that DStv’s Premium subscriber base in South Africa had dropped to roughly 600,000 subscribers by March 2024.

While the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has acknowledged the existential threat that international streaming platforms pose to South African broadcasters, MultiChoice is confident it will stay relevant.

“On-demand music and video online streaming services are seriously disrupting the industry globally,” the department said in its annual performance plan for 2024/25.

However, MultiChoice says its Showmax offering means it is well-positioned to deal with the threat.

“Showmax is designed for our markets and brings our subscribers the continent’s best and most-loved African stories,” MultiChoice said.

“It’s also the home of HBO online in Africa as well as a broad selection of award-winning and blockbuster international movies and series, with an ever-growing catalogue of exclusive Showmax Originals and the best kids shows, as well as live sport from SuperSport on our Showmax Pro package.”

It has also made it possible for its satellite TV subscribers to access streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ directly through their Explora Ultra decoder.

Price hike comparison

MyBroadband tracked DStv’s Premium and Compact Plus price increases from 2018 to 2024 and compared them to Netflix’s price hikes over the same period.

It should be noted that Netflix launched in 2016. However, until 2018, Netflix charged South African customers in dollars, meaning the monthly fee fluctuated with the exchange rate.

It started offering rand-denominated pricing in August 2018, with Netflix Standard priced at R139 per month and Premium at R169 per month.

The global streaming giant has only increased its South African prices once since 2018. The price hikes came in 2021 when Netflix Premium increased to R199 per month and Standard to R159 per month.

These represented 17.75% and 14.39% hikes, respectively.

Meanwhile, DStv has increased the pricing of its Premium package five times since 2018, while Compact Plus has seen six price increases over the same period.

Since 2018, DStv Premium’s price hikes have ranged from 1.21% to 5.69%, with an overall increase of 14.83%. This works out to an average of 2.47% each year.

Compact Plus’ price has risen by R110 since 2018, when it was R509 per month. Its average price increases are roughly 3.6% per year.

In comparison, Netflix’s Premium price has increased by 17.75% over the period, working out to an average of 2.95% each year. Netflix Standard has increased by 14.39% overall, or 2.4% annually on average.

The table below compares DStv Premium, and Compact Plus increases to Netflix Premium and Standard price hikes from 2018 to 2024. Percentage increases are shown in brackets.

Year	DStv Premium	Netflix Premium	DStv Compact Plus	Netflix Standard
2018	R809	R169	R509	R139
2019	R809 (0.00%)	R169 (0.00%)	R519 (1.96%)	R139 (0.00%)
2020	R819 (1.24%)	R169 (0.00%)	R529 (1.93%)	R139 (0.00%)
2021	R829 (1.22%)	R199 (17.75%)	R539 (1.90%)	R159 (14.39%)
2022	R839 (1.21%)	R199 (0.00%)	R549 (1.86%)	R159 (0.00%)
2023	R879 (4.77%)	R199 (0,00%)	R579 (5.46%)	R159 (0.00%)
2024	R929 (5.69%)	R199 (0.00%)	R619 (6.91%)	R159 (0.00%)
Overall	R120 (14.83%)	R30 (17.75%)	R110 (21.61%)	R20 (14.39%)
Average increase per year	2.47%	2.95%	3.60%	2.40%