DStv vs StarSat price and channel comparison (2024)

While StarSat’s channels cater more toward foreign nationals and expats in South Africa, DStv’s sports coverage remains the best in the country, a MyBroadband comparison has shown.

We compared DStv’s Access, Family, and Compact offerings against StarSat’s Special, Super, and Max packages as these were the closest in price and number of included channels.

MultiChoice is known for its excellent sports broadcasting, making SuperSport a must-buy for local sports fans.

StarSat’s packages also offer sports, but with an international focus.

StarSat subscribers get access to ESPN, ESPN 2, Fuel TV, Manchester United TV, and its Sports channels — Sports 1 is dedicated to fighting, Sports 2 to various sports, and Sport 3 to international Football.

However, the entry-level DStv Access and StarSat Special packages only include two sports channels — so sports fans will have to opt for a more expensive subscription.

When you compare DStv’s Compact offering with StarSat’s Max Package, it becomes apparent that DStv has more North American entertainment channels, such as TLC, MTV, Comedy Central, and CBS Reality.

Since StarSat’s Max Package includes its Shembe and Indian add-ons, it focuses more on Asian audiences, as seen by the inclusion of China Global Television Network and a dedicated Bollywood channel.

Additionally, Novela E and Sino Drama feature TV shows from the Philippines, Mexico, Turkey, and China.

The table below summarises the prices of the DStv and StarSat packages used in this comparison.

DStv’s Family subscription offers more variety than StarSat’s Super Package for kid and teen entertainment, featuring channels like Cartoon Network, NickToons, and Disney Junior.

Compared to DStv, StarSat offers more dedicated West African content, with various Nigerian channels like ST Nollywood and ST Naija. It also features an Afro-pop music channel.

StarSat’s Super and Max packages offer more international news channels, focusing on East-African, West-African, French, and Latin news. These subscriptions also include Bloomberg and Sky News, which DStv only provides on more expensive packages.

Notably, DStv services have a more comprehensive selection of audio channels, including many international radio stations like BBC World Service English, Chinese Radio International, and Voice of America.

All DStv packages listed are on a month-to-month basis and excludes its On-Demand Access Fee and other once-off costs.

DStv is available via satellite with a dish and decoder installation or streaming if you have a good enough home Internet connection.

StarSat packages require a decoder and dish. It only charges for installation in a security complex or business premises, or if a special bracket is required.

The table below compares DStv Family and StarSat’s Max Package as these two packages were the closest in price.

It highlights a few key channels in each content category and shows the number of channels each package offers per category.

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