MultiChoice overhauls DStv pricing in first major shake-up under Canal+

KAMPALA — MultiChoice is overhauling the pricing structure of its DStv pay-TV service in Uganda. It is renaming every package, adding channels, and moving its most valuable sports rights down to cheaper tiers. The company calls it its most significant product update in years.

The changes take effect on 5 November. They come about a year after Canal+, the French media group, completed its takeover of MultiChoice in September 2025. The company now describes itself as MultiChoice Group, a Canal+ company.

MultiChoice unveiled the new line-up on Tuesday at a launch event at the MultiChoice Uganda head offices in Kampala. Hassan Saleh, the Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Uganda, said the restructuring was a response to changing viewing habits.

“Our focus is on giving subscribers better value and access to the entertainment they love,” Saleh said. “DStv’s strength is the combination of African entertainment, leading international content and unrivalled live sport in one place. We’ve reimagined our packages to better reflect how customers watch today, with tailored options specifically for general entertainment and sports fans.”

The central change is how MultiChoice packages its sport, its strongest asset in the market. Until now, viewers had to buy the top-tier Premium package to watch every Premier League and UEFA Champions League match. From 5 November, all those matches will be on a new mid-tier package called DStv Sports, priced at UGX 100,000 a month. That package replaces DStv Compact. The company says it is the first package it has built specifically for sports fans.

DStv Sports carries more than 115 channels, 17 of them dedicated to sport. Alongside the football, it includes cricket, which the company says was previously only available on Premium. It also has the United Rugby Championship match of the week, UFC, WWE and basketball, plus the general entertainment channels.

MultiChoice is also putting top football on its cheapest package. DStv Access becomes DStv Starter at UGX 25,000 a month. It adds a new channel, SuperSport KICKOFF, which will show selected Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches. The company says Starter will also carry every La Liga match and selected Ligue 1 games, across more than 85 channels.

DStv Family becomes DStv Select at UGX 60,000 a month, with more than 100 channels. It is aimed at households, with the full movie and children’s line-ups. The movie channels have been reorganised into M-Net Movies+, M-Net Stars and M-Net Legends.

At the top end, DStv Premium becomes DStv Ultimate at UGX 185,000 a month. With more than 130 channels, it keeps the sport not found on the lower tiers, including Formula 1, MotoGP, international rugby, tennis and golf, along with M-Net’s international series.

The price list MultiChoice released shows the same rate for each package whether a subscriber uses a DStv satellite decoder, the DStv Stream app or GOtv. That points to one pricing structure across all the ways people can watch.

The industry regulator publicly welcomed the changes. Julianne Mweheire, Director of Industry Affairs and Content Development at the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), presented the update as the company responding to its customers.

“For the first time, we are not talking about economics, we are talking about customers speaking and the entity listening. This is really something to celebrate for the consumer,” Mweheire said. “I congratulate MultiChoice Uganda for being sensitive to the needs of their customers and to being able to apply all the modules, to listening and bringing them to effect.”

MultiChoice is also expanding into regional-language programming. On 5 November it launches SuperSport Swahili, a 24-hour sports channel for viewers in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. It will carry Swahili commentary and studio analysis on the Premier League, UEFA competitions, La Liga, Serie A, international football, athletics, UFC and WWE, along with locally relevant sports content.

The company said joining Canal+ gives it access to the French group’s global scale and content relationships, and more than 30 years of experience operating in Africa. It also said it would keep investing in local productions. In Uganda, these include Kampala Crème Season 4, Musama, Home of Our Stars Season 4, the relationships series Tie the Knot, and the Short and Byg Show, a podcast hosted by social media personalities Isaac Katende, known as Kasuku, and Shamim Mayanja, known as Zubeda.