MultiChoice continues to lure customers into two-year subscriber agreements that it argues make entertainment costs cheaper.
It does this as part of a bid to retain customers and improve revenue amid continued pressure on consumer pockets.
On Monday, Africa’s largest pay TV provider announced its annual price and product adjustments for DStv and Showmax, “with an emphasis on providing exceptional value and diverse entertainment options to customers”.
Starting in April 2025, DStv Premium subscribers will soon pay R979 a month, an increase of 5.38% or R50, while the price of the Compact Plus rises by 6.46% or R40. The Compact subscription is up by 2.13% or R10. Family increases by 3.03% or R10, and DStv Access rises 7.91% or R11. Pricing for DStv’s cheapest package, Easyview, goes up R1 to R30 a month.
Customers may see even higher prices given that the VAT rate will increase 0.5 percentage points to 15.5% from May 2025, as announced in the recent national budget.
The company said it would communicate the effect of that tax increase on package pricing in April.
“Recognising the financial pressures faced by SA households, MultiChoice has implemented considered adjustments, focusing on enhancing value across its packages, with certain products receiving no increase including all DStv Stream packages, Box Office movies and Showmax Entertainment, with the ADD Movies premium movie bolt-on being reduced to just R49pm, a 38% price reduction,” said MultiChoice SA CEO Byron du Plessis.
To make its offering more attractive to customers, the group is selling its long-term contracts as good value.
“We encourage customers to take advantage of the great price-lock deals we have available, which offer amazing value (for example a 24-month price-lock contract, available until March 31 2025 at R899pm, saves a customer R2,400 over two years),” the company said.
In essence, customers who sign up will pay 2025 prices for their subscriptions until 2027.
The group has also instituted prices changes for its streaming products.
Showmax, whose price has remained steady since 2015, is unchanged at R99 a month, while its Premiere League option will go up by R30, or 43.47%, to R99. Showmax entertainment mobile, the company’s cheapest package, goes upR5, or 11.1%, to R50.
Showmax entertainment and football, the priciest package, rises 7.14% (R10) to R150 a month, with the mobile version going up R21 (21.21%) to R120.
At the start of 2024, the group unveiled an updated version of Showmax, underpinned by technology from US giant NBC Universal, available in 44 countries.
MultiChoice did not make any changes to pricing for its streaming only version of DStv.
This comes as MultiChoice is in the spotlight after a takeover bid by French media group Canal+.
Canal+, which already owns more than a third of MultiChoice, wants to buy out the rest of the company at R105 a share, or just more than R31bn in what would the biggest merger and acquisition deal in SA in 2024.
MultiChoice and its French would-be suitor have extended the date to complete the transaction to October, from April, citing delays in getting approvals from regulators and competition authorities.
Update: March 17 2025
This story has been updated with new information.
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