DStv Freezes Prices For 2026 As MultiChoice Tries To Win Back Millions Of Lost Viewers

For the first time in what feels like forever, DStv customers will not be bracing for the annual April price hike. Instead, MultiChoice is hitting pause on increases as the pay TV giant fights to win back subscribers who have walked away in droves over the past few years.

It is a major shift under new owner Canal Plus and a move many households will welcome in a tough economic climate.

A Break From Tradition

Speaking to TechCentral, MultiChoice Group CEO David Mignot confirmed that the broadcaster will freeze prices in April 2026, marking a dramatic departure from the company’s usual pattern of predictable yearly increases.

Mignot, appointed after Canal Plus completed its takeover in late 2025, did not mince his words. He said the company is in rebuilding mode and that raising prices right now would be out of touch with the reality on the ground.

“We are building subscribers, so it’s not the right time to increase pricing,” he said.
He added that no increases are planned at this stage, though the door remains slightly open for changes later in the year if economic pressures intensify.

Why MultiChoice Changed Direction

The freezing of prices is not simply consumer kindness. It is a response to a crisis.

MultiChoice has been bleeding customers at a scale the company has never experienced before. Between 2023 and March 2025, the broadcaster lost 2.8 million linear TV subscribers. Half of those came from South Africa, where competition from streaming platforms, rising living costs and load shedding have altered viewing habits.

The financial fallout has been severe
• Revenue dropped by R4 billion to R52 billion in the year ending March 2025.
• Trading profit plunged by nearly 50 percent.
• Subscriber losses accelerated again by mid-2025, hitting 1.4 million year on year.

This context makes the decision to hold prices steady much easier to understand.

Content Is Not The Problem

Mignot insists the decline has nothing to do with the quality of DStv’s programming. From Premier League football to African storytelling on M-Net and Africa Magic, the depth of MultiChoice’s content is still considered its biggest strength.

Instead, he says the company’s commercial engine fell behind. Marketing, onboarding and customer retention processes weakened in recent years, leaving MultiChoice unable to replace normal subscriber churn.

He believes the model can be fixed, and quickly, especially with Canal Plus’ experience across French-speaking Africa, where subscription fees have remained unchanged for more than a decade while the business continued to grow.

A Hint Of What Might Come Next

While the April freeze is official, Mignot did leave the possibility of future price cuts on the table. When asked whether DStv could go beyond a freeze and actually reduce prices, he answered simply: “Could be. I don’t know. Could be.”

The company is preparing to release its first combined financial results with Canal Plus on 11 March. More details about its long-term strategy are expected then, including whether the pricing rethink forms part of a broader reboot of the DStv ecosystem.

What It Means For SA Households

For many South Africans, DStv remains a go-to for sport, local storytelling and live news, even as Netflix, Showmax and Amazon Prime Video grow their footprint. With food prices climbing and municipal bills rising, the April freeze comes as a relief for millions of families.

It also signals something many customers have been asking for for years: a MultiChoice that listens.

The challenge now is whether price stability will be enough to slow the exodus of viewers, or whether deeper changes to packages, sports rights and streaming options will follow.

One thing is clear: under Canal Plus, DStv is no longer running business as usual.