{"id":640682,"date":"2026-04-14T21:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=640682"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:21:36","slug":"good-news-for-south-africans-who-subscribe-to-dstv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/640682-good-news-for-south-africans-who-subscribe-to-dstv.html","title":{"rendered":"Good news for South Africans who subscribe to DStv"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MultiChoice has launched numerous initiatives to make its DStv service more attractive, including lower decoder prices, split billing, and better streaming content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DStv is South Africa\u2019s dominant pay-TV service, offering subscribers a mix of live sport, movies, TV series, news, documentaries, and kids programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service has gained millions of subscribers in South Africa over the last three decades due to its quality content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DStv\u2019s unmatched entertainment, including its world-class SuperSport offering, made it a must-have for anyone who could afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, things changed over the last few years with the rapid growth of global streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many South African households under financial pressure migrated from DStv to lower-cost streaming services to save money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2025 financial year, MultiChoice reported losing 589,000 DStv subscribers in South Africa. This trend accelerated in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of MultiChoice\u2019s strategy was to take on Netflix and Disney+ through its own streaming service, Showmax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Showmax announced that it will discontinue its streaming service on 30 April 2026 as its substantial annual losses were unsustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously, these events are good news for DStv subscribers as they will benefit from MultiChoice\u2019s initiatives to bolster its subscriber numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Canal+ acquired MultiChoice in late 2025, it developed a turnaround and integration plan for MultiChoice to restore profitable growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plan includes pumping around R2 billion into the company to enhance the attractiveness of DStv and stem subscriber declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users will now benefit from better content, simplified commercial offers, more aggressive prices, and better promotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No DStv price increases in 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in decades, MultiChoice did not increase the price of its DStv products in South Africa on 1 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice CEO Willington Ngwepe told MyBroadband that DStv prices will remain unchanged in South Africa this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not be having an inflation adjustment to pricing. So we\u2019ll keep the prices flat again in appreciation of the circumstances that we are in,\u201d Ngwepe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another positive development for DStv subscribers was the introduction of bill splitting in January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This service allows subscribers to share their bills with another person, making it more affordable for individuals in the same household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill splitting allows the primary holder of a DStv account to use the MyDStv app to send a payment link to split the monthly bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice confirmed to MyBroadband that the feature applies to all month-to-month decoder and streaming DStv packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrently, you can only split your DStv bill with one other person, but there are plans to enable splitting the bill with more than just one household member,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe feature reflects the reality of shared living arrangements, where subscription costs are often divided across households.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower DStv decoder prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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MultiChoice has significantly reduced the price of its DStv decoders, making the service more affordable for people to access the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This forms part of the plan to accelerate subscriber growth by lowering entry costs through equipment subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DStv is maintaining its lower upfront hardware costs in 2026, including the promotional price of the entry-level HD decoder at R499.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice has also lowered the price of its DStv Explora decoders by up to 57%, serving the higher end of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discounted pricing makes it more affordable for people to join DStv or for existing customers to replace older equipment or add an extra TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat matters now is how DStv fits into people\u2019s lives and budgets month after month,\u201d said Ngwepe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want customers to have options that make it easier to stay connected, even when budgets are tight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better content on DStv packages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the year, DStv strengthened its Access package by adding three channels: Trace Ngoma, Trace Gospel, and WWE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additions broaden the mix of music, faith and live entertainment available on one of DStv\u2019s most affordable packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the closure of Showmax, MultiChoice announced that Showmax Originals and other titles are moving to DStv Stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This content is now available in a dedicated Showmax section within the DStv Stream app at no additional cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move ensures the Showmax content remains widely available after the Showmax service closes on 30 April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showmax Originals and other content will be available to DStv Compact and DStv Premium satellite and streaming-only customers via the DStv Stream app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice added that the stories that defined Showmax are not disappearing. Instead, they are finding a new home on DStv Stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DStv Rewards programme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice launched DStv Coins as part of its broader DStv Rewards programme in October 2025, which is experiencing strong uptake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People can pay for their DStv subscriptions using DStv Coins. Since launch, customers have redeemed more than 20 million DStv Coins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was used to offset the cost of their DStv subscriptions through both full and hybrid coins-and-cash payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gives customers greater flexibility in managing their monthly subscription and reinforces Rewards as an ongoing benefit rather than a one-off promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rewards programme is positioned as an ongoing benefit for loyal customers rather than a short-term promotion,\u201d MultiChoice said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MultiChoice has launched numerous initiatives to make its DStv service more attractive, including lower decoder prices, split billing, and better streaming content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":640135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[21383,85,104504,78366,475,92875,46745],"class_list":["post-640682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-canal","tag-dstv","tag-dstv-coins","tag-dstv-rewards","tag-multichoice","tag-showmax-originals","tag-willington-ngwepe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":640892,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640682\/revisions\/640892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}