DStv increases decoder promo prices
DStv is running a promotion through which customers buying new decoders can receive significant discounts. However, the company has quietly increased its promotional prices.
At launch, DStv’s promotion offered an HD Single View Decoder, without installation, for R299, marked down from R799.
The same decoder is now available for R499 without installation, but the promotion is still running. Similarly, DStv discounted the same decoder with installation from R1,299 to R699 during the promotion.
However, it has also quietly increased the promotional price to R799 for the HD Single View Decoder with installation.
MyBroadband asked DStv operator MultiChoice, now owned by Groupe Canal+, about the price increases, but it hadn’t answered our questions by the time of publication.
The decoder price reductions form part of DStv’s Thol-iUpsize promotion, which, in addition to offering discounted decoders, also enables decoder customers to upgrade to higher-tier packages at no charge.
The promotion, launched in early November 2025, was initially meant to run until the end of December 2025. However, MultiChoice extended it, and the promotional period ends on 31 January 2026.
Regarding the decoder price cuts, the HD Single View decoder typically costs R699, excluding installation, and R1,299 with installation.
The promotion initially lowered the prices of these to R299 and R699, respectively. However, the promotional prices have since increased to R499 and R799, respectively.
Overlooking the price increases, DStv has started offering promotional prices for the DStv Explora Model 3B decoder and the DStv Streama media device for accessing over-the-top (OTT) services.
The Explora Model 3 B’s recommended retail price is R2,299, and under the promotion, customers can get the device for R999.
According to MultiChoice, the DStv Streama has a recommended retail price of R799. However, it is available for R499 during the promotional period.
Before launching the Thol-iUpsize promotion, DStv held its first Open Time weekend in many years, offering subscribers on lower-tier packages access to the top-tier Premium bouquet for a weekend.
The Open Time promotion ran over the weekend of 8 and 9 November 2025, and DStv launched its Thol-iUpsize promotion on Monday, 10 November 2025.
DStv narrowly escapes disaster in December 2025
MultiChoice’s DStv was at risk of losing twelve channels from Warner Bros. Discovery at the end of 2025, after negotiations over distribution rights stalled.
The two companies’ licence agreement was set to expire on 31 December 2025, and for a long while it seemed as though they wouldn’t reach an agreement.
However, on the day, MultiChoice owner Canal+ announced that it had signed a multi-year, multi-territory agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.
“This expanded agreement covers both the distribution of HBO Max and the renewal of several Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels across numerous regions in Africa and Europe,” Canal+ said.
Home Box Office (HBO), a longtime MultiChoice partner and the inspiration behind the original M-Net channel, is part of Warner Bros. Streaming.
HBO network is home to popular franchises and shows like Game of Thrones, Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City, Veep, Six Feet Under, True Blood, and The Last of Us.
Had Canal+ not reached a deal, twelve channels, including Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, CNN, Discovery, Discovery Family, Food Network, and Investigation Discovery, would have gone dark.
Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery said the new agreement marks a significant milestone in the companies’ international collaboration.
“It builds on the landmark agreements concluded in France in 2024 — including the renewal of the exclusive pay-TV window for Warner Bros. Pictures films just six months after their theatrical release in France.”
However, while the last-minute agreement saved the twelve Warner Bros. Discovery channels, four Paramount-linked channels were removed from the DStv platform.
Paramount Africa closed its doors at the end of December 2025, bringing to an end the company’s South African operations.
MultiChoice confirmed in December 2025 that the channels set to leave the DStv catalogue following the shutdown were: BET Africa, MTV Base, CBS Reality, and CBS Justice.
The table below lists DStv’s various decoder offers in January 2026 and compares them to original pricing and promotional pricing offered in December 2025.
| Decoder | Original price | December 2025 offer | Current offer | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HD Single View | R899 | R399 (R299 online) | R499 | Save R400 (±45%) |
| With installation | R1, 299 | R899 (R699 online) | R799 | Save R500 (±39%) |
| Explora (model 3B) | R2,299 | N/A | R1,499 R999 (online exclusive) | Save up to R1,300 (±35% to 57%) |
| Explora Ultra | R3,299 | N/A | R2,999 | Save R300 (±9%) |
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