DStv hikes prices, Premium now R994 per month all-in

MultiChoice has announced its 2023 price increases that take effect from April 1. With the nearly 5% escalation in the Premium subscription and the access fee, a complete Premium subscription will total R994 per month from April.

The access fee allows subscribers to use PVR functionality on their decoders, or the ability to add an additional decoder elsewhere in their homes (XtraView).

The pay-tv operator says the average increase of 4.3% across its various packages is “far lower than projected consumer price inflation for 2023”. It acknowledges that consumers are facing pressure due to “continued rolling blackouts nationwide” as well as “remnants of the pandemic”. It says “DStv absorbed as much of the increase of the cost of doing business as possible in order to implement minimal adjustments”.

 

	Current price	From 1 April 2023	Increase
DStv Premium	R839	R879	4.8%
Dstv Compact Plus	R549	R579	5.5%
DStv Compact	R429	R449	4.7%
DStv Family	R309	R319	3.2%
DStv Access	R120	R129	7.5%
DStv EasyView	R29	R29	–
Access Fee	R110	R115	4.5%
Add Movies	R99	R79	-20%
Box Office	R40 per movie	R40 per movie	–

Promotional pricing for Add Movies bundle (at R79 per month) has been made permanent. This allows subscribers who on Compact Plus, Compact, Family or Access packages to add M-Net Movies 1, M-Net Movies 2 and fliekNET to their subscription. It has been offering this at a reduced fee of R79 since January.

Prices for its streaming-only packages remain unchanged. The subscription for a streaming-only Premium package is R699 – a significant difference to the full-priced satellite option, and an even bigger jump if the Access Fee is included.

MultiChoice has managed to stem the decline in its Premium base, with the number of subscribers on its top package up marginally in the six months to September 30. Subscribers have been abandoning the high-end package for a number of years, as streaming-only services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video, as well as the impact of emigration eat into this market. At the release of its interim results, it did not disclose the number of Premium customers but said the package is “stable after historic declines”.

In that six-month period, its Compact Plus base came under pressure with a 10% decline in subscribers. It blames this on the fact that it introduced this package as an upsell to mid-market Compact customers. It is these customers who are under financial pressure from fuel and food price shocks. Its mid-market Compact base was down 4% in the six months. Interestingly, it is currently running two promotions to incentivise upgrades. Customers who upgrade to Compact Plus will get a free month of Premium, and those who upgrade to Family (a big jump from Access) will get a free month of Compact.