DStv’s biggest package overhaul in 12 years takes shape

Fourteen months after MultiChoice told TechCentral it was working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv, the possible shape of that overhaul has begun to emerge – and a fairly radical redesign of its bouquets may be on the cards.

M-Net, for example, will no longer be a DStv Premium exclusive channel and the broadcaster will introduce a standalone sports package from 17 September, according to internal documents and package graphics seen by News24.

The material, reported by television industry writer Thinus Ferreira, describes a new Movies & Series bundle priced below Premium that carries M-Net (DStv 101), Mzansi Magic, KykNet and the renamed M Movies+ and M Movies Stars. Discovery Channel (DStv 121) and BBC Earth (DStv 184), both Premium-only until now, move down with it.

If the report is correct, MultiChoice also plans to launch a separate sports package – the first time DStv subscribers will be able to choose sport or general entertainment rather than buying both, marking a significant departure from its previous strategy. On the leaked line-up it carries Currie Cup rugby, one United Rugby Championship match a week, UFC, Premier League and Champions League football, and IPL, ICC and SA20 cricket.

The marquee content stays where the money is: a Springbok-All Blacks series would reportedly remain locked in Premium.

News24 reports that MultiChoice briefed advertisers on the changes on Tuesday but has made no public announcement, and that the graphics have since been pulled from dstv.com. The company declined to answer questions on the restructure, saying only that it reviews its products continually and that nothing has changed for existing subscribers yet.

Entire bouquet structure

Then-MultiChoice South Africa CEO Byron du Plessis said in July 2025 that the review had widened well beyond SuperSport to take in the entire bouquet structure. The company had not made a significant change to its packages or its go-to-market approach in 12 years, he said, pointing to Sky, Canal+ and the US cable operators as businesses that had already abandoned bouquets. He put a six-month deadline on the work and was blunt about the timing: MultiChoice was, he said, “a little late on this”.

That deadline came and went. Canal+ took effective control on 20 September 2025 and squeezed out the remaining shareholders the following month. Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada told investors in March that DStv carried 17 price points and up to five decoder types, and that European and African experience said customers wanted simplicity instead.

The package reshuffle comes amid an aggressive a cost-cutting programme. Canal+ is targeting more than €400-million in annual savings by 2030, with more than €250-million in adjusted Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) savings pencilled in for 2026.

Showmax was shut on 30 April after roughly R8.7-billion in losses. About 655 staff across MultiChoice’s African operations, including some 312 in South Africa, took voluntary severance by mid-June. Various channels have been axed, too.

Against that, Canal+ has committed about €100-million to a 2026 “boost” plan and held DStv prices flat in April, breaking a long run of annual increases.

Moving M-Net down-tier costs Canal+ Premium revenue from subscribers who stay. It only works if enough of the people who already left come back — and if the ones paying for Premium today don’t simply trade down. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media

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