In 1986 pay-television came to South Africa when an analogue, single-channel service, M-Net, was launched by Naspers. For almost seven years, all of M-Net's operations were handled by a single company until 1993 when a second subsidiary company, Multichoice, was created by Naspers. The decoder sales, subsciber services, account management and other business related matters were handled by Multichoice. In 1995 a new digital satellite service in South Africa was announced by Multichoice and on 6 October 1995 DStv was officially activated to subscribers. The original selection of channels included M-Net, MGM, TNT, Sci-Fi Universal, SuperSport, ESPN, Cartoon Network, BBC World News, CNN International and Sky News amongst others. This was followed by the launch of new services including: W4 Eutelsat satellite with Ku-band services to sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands in 2000, Interactive Television in 2002, Dual View decoder in 2003, and the DStv PVR decoder and DStv Compact in 2005. DStv's own high definition broadcasts, viewed via the HD PVR decoder were launched in 2008. This year also saw the introduction of the XtraView Decoder and the M-NET HD channel. In 2010 DVB over IP and DStv on Demand services were launched. The HD PVR 2P decoder was launched in the same year and M-NET Movies 1 HD was broadcast for the first time. DStv BoxOffice and DStv Mobile were launched in 2011. In 2013 DStv subscribers across Africa reached 6.7 million, with 4.5 million within South Africa and the Explora PVR was launched. Two Indian channels, Zee World and Glow, were launched in 2015. A third, Star Life, was launched in 2018. In 2018, across Sub-Saharan Africa there were 13.5 million DStv subscribers with 7 million in South Africa alone. The number of DStv PVR decoders reached 1.4 million in that year. As of November 2019, Dstv's overall subscriber base now stands at 18.9 million, split between 8.2 million in South Africa and 10.7 million in the rest of Africa.
Channels and bouquets
DStv airs more than 200 television and audio/radio stations. The list of channels differs in all regions around Sub-Saharan Africa. There are six bouquets, each with a different price range, and two add-on packages for Indian and Portuguese channels. DStv EasyView The basic package which allows clear viewing of the free-to-air channels from SABC and e.tv. DStv Lite The lowest package in the country, with a total of 25 TV channels including Zimbabwe's ZBC TV and e.tv Africa. DStv Access The low-end package which includes movies, reality cartoons, local music, religion, sport updates and audio channels. DStv Family A family-orientated package with a mix of channels like Moja Love, Africa Magic Family, Boomerang, Discovery Family, Nick toons and Star Life. DStv Compact The mid-range tier from DStv. It is the most popular of all bouquets, due to the content from Mzansi Magic, BET and MTV, local and international soccer, live WWE wrestling and international music. Part of the subscription grants access to JOOX music streaming and more live channels on the DStv Now app, and a subsidised subscription on Showmax. DStv Compact Plus Previously DStv Extra, includes Comedy Central, 1Magic, CBS Justice and CuriosityStream and international series. Like DStv Compact, viewers get access to JOOX and a wider choice of live channels to stream on the DStv Now App. DStv Premium The high-end tier of DStv. Premiere episodes of international HBO series on M-Net and SundanceTV, newly released movies on M-Net Movies Premiere and music. In addition to JOOX, subscribers get free access to subscription video-on-demand service Showmax.
Reception equipment
DStv has their set-top boxes manufactured by domestic company Altech UEC, along with Arris International. The choice of boxes include a standard box with "XtraView" capabilities, an older personal video recorder, and the newest PVR box known as the Explora. An additional decoder known as the Drifta allows the conversion of a DStv DVB-H signal to another digital device such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone for portable in-home viewing.
