DStv is set to launch a standalone Sports package alongside four other new streaming tiers, following years of subscriber pressure for choose-your-own-content bundles.
DStv’s new streaming packages are expected to roll out from 17 September but Multichoice would not confirm. Picture: iStock
For years, South African sports fans have asked DStv for one simple thing: a package that lets them pay for sport without also paying for channels they never watch and now, that package is finally on its way.
Details from DStv’s own webpages, reported by BusinessTech, show the broadcaster is preparing to roll out five new streaming packages from 17 September, including a dedicated Sports tier. The overhaul is the first major package shake-up since Canal+ took control of MultiChoice, and it signals a real shift in how the group plans to sell its content going forward.
Upfront, these changes apply only to DStv’s streaming packages. Satellite decoder packages are not affected, at least for now.
What the new packages cost
The five new tiers being introduced are Starter, Select, Sports, Movies & Series, and Premium.
Starter sits at the bottom of the range at R99 a month, offering 85 channels including a limited helping of sport. DStv is positioning it as a “taster” of the wider service rather than a package built to satisfy any one type of viewer.
Moving up, Select costs R299 a month for 100 channels, with more sports content added on top of Starter’s offering.
Then comes the tier everyone’s been waiting for: Sports, priced at R399 a month for 115 channels. It leans heavily into live sport but still carries some entertainment channels alongside it, rather than being a sport-only feed.
Movies & Series is priced identically in channel count but costs more, at R500 a month for 115 channels built around entertainment staples like M-Net, kykNET and M Movies+.
At the top is Premium, the only package in the current line-up to keep its name in the new structure. It costs R799 a month and carries 130 channels, remaining DStv’s all-inclusive offering for viewers who want everything in one bundle.
How this compares to the current line-up
Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada told investors in March that DStv carried 17 price points and up to five decoder types under the current model. These come with a maze of add-on fees for extras like reconnections, Showmax and Netflix bundling. Canal+ itself has described the structure as messy and overly complicated for subscribers.
There’s also a notable pricing move at the entry level. DStv’s current cheapest streaming-linked option, Access, has been priced from R150, while the new Starter package undercuts that at R99. This has been read by several industry insiders as a clear attempt to lower the barrier to entry rather than push new customers straight toward pricier bundles.
Historically, DStv has also kept its most in-demand sport largely locked behind Premium, encouraging upgrades rather than letting fans pay only for what they wanted.
The new structure lets sports-focused viewers opt out of paying for movie and drama content they don’t use, and vice versa for entertainment fans who have no interest in sport.
MultiChoice has declined to confirm these details directly, telling MyBroadband only that it would communicate any package changes to customers “in good time”.
It has said some subscribers may already be noticing name changes on certain platforms as part of ongoing product testing, and has stressed that current subscriptions and content are unaffected for now.
