MultiChoice has announced its annual DStv price adjustments, which are set to kick in on 1 April 2016.

For the most part, the subscription fees on DStv’s various packages will be going up by 8% or more.

Exceptions are the prices for DStv Access and decoder insurance, which did not change, and the monthly fee for DStv EasyView, which has decreased.

The big price increases were not unexpected, considering how the rand devalued, in part, after President Jacob Zuma removed finance minister Nhlanhla Nene to replace him with David van Rooyen.

A summary of the new prices and the percentage changes from 2015 is given in the table below.

DStv packages 2015 price 2016 price % increase DStv Premium R699 R759 8.58% DStv Extra R425 R459 8.00% DStv Compact R319 R345 8.15% DStv Family R199 R219 10.05% DStv Select* R199 R219 10.05% DStv Access R99 R99 0.00% DStv EasyView R39 R29 –25.64% M-Net Analogue/CSN* R335 R369 10.15% DStv specialist packages 2015 price 2016 price % increase DStv Indian R319 R345 8.15% DStv South Indian* R239 R260 8.79% DStv Portuguesa R410 R445 8.54% DStv add-ons 2015 price 2016 price % increase Access Fee R80 R85 6.25% BoxOffice PVR rentals R30 R35 16.67% DStv Indian add-on R205 R220 7.32% DStv South Indian add-on R155 R170 9.68% DStv Portuguesa add-on R205 R220 7.32% *No longer on offer – only available to subscribers still on the package.

DStv prices versus inflation: 2000 – 2016

MultiChoice stated that the rand’s weakness was the main reason for the larger-than-normal price increases.

“We buy most of [our] content in foreign currency, and due to the depreciation of the rand by 29% since April 2015, our costs have gone up dramatically,” said MultiChoice.

“Over the past five years our adjustments have been in line with inflation. We’ve worked really hard to keep this year’s fees manageable.”

The graph below compares the monthly price of a DStv Premium subscription from 2000 to 2016 to inflation figures from Statistics South Africa from the previous year.

Average CPI for 2015 was 4.56%.

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