Good news for DStv users ditching the dish

MultiChoice recently announced changes in pricing for most of its DStv products, effective from 1 April 2025.

However, its DStv Stream packages are retaining their current fees, making them even more attractive to those willing to shift away from a satellite-and-dish product to streaming-only.

DStv’s top-end Premium package on satellite is increasing from R929 to R979 next month, a hike which roughly in line with annual inflation.

The streaming-only option remains R799 on a month-to-month option, which is now 18% cheaper than using the satellite package.

Customers willing to commit for longer can get an even better price of R699 per month on an annual contract as part of an ongoing promotion.

This is the same price that DStv cost in 2014 and is over 40% cheaper than it will be to use the satellite package from next month.

It should be noted that both the month-to-month and contract options also include a subscription to MultiChoice’s Showmax video streaming service, valued at R99 per month.

Therefore, the effective price of access to DStv’s live channels — including the most extensive selection of sports — is actually R700 on a month-to-month basis or R600 on a contract.

Some South Africans have expressed frustration with DStv’s prices compared to international streaming services.

However, multiple MyBroadband comparisons have shown that the streaming-only option is unmatched when it comes to sports.

It is the only platform in South Africa that offers live coverage of all high-profile rugby, cricket, football, tennis, golf, motorsport, boxing, athletics, and fighting events.

Similar services based overseas — like Sky Sports and Now TV — offer less content relevant to South Africa and are generally more expensive.

They also exclude any additional live channels or on-demand content outside of sport.

Showmax is particularly well-liked for its locally-relevant movies and TV shows, including crime documentaries.

It also boasts a strong slate of international content like HBO’s critically-acclaimed series and a wide range of content from major US production houses such as Paramount and Warner Bros.

Big streaming change

While many people welcomed DStv Premium’s reduced R699 price when it was introduced in September 2024, some continued to be frustrated by the single concurrent stream for TVs or monitors.

Fortunately, DStv recently announced a major change, restoring the ability to use up to two simultaneous streams on any device with each subscription.

“The update offers greater flexibility to customers, making it easier for them to watch what they want when they want,” MultiChoice said.

Although DStv satellite customers will be paying more per month, they will also get the benefit of an additional stream.

They can also enjoy more simultaneous viewing instances in total as a decoder subscriber.

It should be emphasised that a good experience on DStv Stream will require an uncapped Internet package with a minimum of 4Mbps speeds or 10Mbps for high definition streaming.

However, considering the rapid expansion of fixed and mobile broadband in South Africa, there are likely far more people for who this has become a viable option than a few years ago.

The table below compares the pricing of DStv’s satellite and streaming-only packages, effective from 1 April 2025.