Let's clear up the name first, because it is the reason a lot of people land on pages like this one.
No product by that name appears in MultiChoice's Kenyan package listings, on GOtv Kenya's pages, or in DStv Kenya's own customer-service replies. The two real products it is most likely being confused with are DStv Compact Plus (a genuine DStv Kenya bouquet at KES 7,300 a month) and GOtv Plus (a genuine GOtv Kenya bouquet at KES 999 a month).
With that out of the way, here is what is actually happening with DStv in Kenya — which turns out to be a more interesting story than a mis-remembered package name.
Current DStv Kenya packages and prices
These prices took effect on 1 August 2025 and remain current. They come from DStv Kenya's own announcements and its official customer-service account, cross-checked against DStv's Kenyan comparison pages.
| Package | Price per month | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| DStv Premium | KES 11,700 | 160+ (45 HD) |
| DStv Compact Plus | KES 7,300 | 150+ (35 HD) |
| DStv Compact | KES 4,200 | 135+ (30 HD) |
| DStv Family | KES 2,250 | 105+ (15 HD) |
| DStv Access | KES 1,450 | 85+ (10 HD) |
| DStv Lite | KES 750 | 45+ (5 HD) |
| Xtra View (add-on) | KES 1,700 | — |
One figure to confirm: most sources put DStv Family at KES 2,250, while at least one 2026 report shows KES 2,500, and no official announcement of a change has been published. Confirm the Family price directly with MultiChoice Kenya before budgeting on it.
The August 2025 increase was, according to Business Daily Africa, the fifth DStv Kenya price rise in under three years. MultiChoice framed it as an annual subscription review intended to keep pricing sustainable.
GOtv Kenya packages
GOtv is MultiChoice's lower-cost Kenyan brand and is where a lot of price-sensitive households have moved.
| Package | Price | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| GOtv Lite | KES 299 | 30+ |
| GOtv Value | KES 599 | 40+ |
| GOtv Plus | KES 999 | 50+ |
| GOtv Max | KES 1,699 | 60+ |
| GOtv Supa | KES 2,199 | 70+ |
| GOtv Supa+ | KES 3,199 | 75+ |
GOtv Plus at KES 999 is published on GOtv Africa's own Kenyan page. The remaining rows come from a third-party price aggregator.
What actually changed in 2026
Canal+ took over MultiChoice
Canal+ completed its acquisition of MultiChoice in July 2026, in a deal valued at roughly R55 billion. MultiChoice was delisted from the JSE and became a wholly owned subsidiary. Kenyan coverage since then has described Canal+ pushing DStv towards fewer product variations, clearer pricing and app-based viewing.
Decoder prices were cut before the World Cup
On 19 May 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup, MultiChoice Kenya cut hardware and installation costs:
- DStv Zapper decoder: KES 999 down to KES 599
- Dish kit: KES 1,500 down to KES 1,200
- Installation: KES 1,500 down to KES 1,000
All 104 World Cup matches went to every tier
This was the genuinely unusual move. All 104 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup were made available across every DStv tier from Access upward, and across GOtv as well. Access subscribers at KES 1,450 got tournament coverage that had never previously been available at that price point. It is the clearest signal yet of a strategy shift towards volume at the bottom of the market rather than margin at the top.
Showmax was folded into DStv Stream
The standalone Showmax app was discontinued in April 2026, with content migrating into DStv Stream — although not everything moved, because some licensing had expired. Several linear channels were dropped in the same period, reportedly including BET Africa, MTV Base, CBS Reality and CBS Justice.
The subscriber numbers, and why they need care
The Communications Authority of Kenya publishes quarterly pay-TV subscriber statistics, and the recent figures are stark.
- Q1 2026: DStv Kenya fell from 270,503 to 248,053 subscribers (−22,450). GOtv fell from 440,375 to 405,013 (−35,362). Combined, a loss of 57,812 in a single quarter.
- Full-year 2025: CAK figures show the entire Kenyan pay-TV sector down 4,530,195 subscribers, or 73.2%. GOtv was down 84.4%; DStv ended the year at 270,503. StarTimes fell 64.2%. Zuku (+23%) and Azam (+21.4%) were the only two brands to grow.
A 73% single-year decline across an entire national sector is extraordinary, and CAK published the numbers without a causal explanation. Declines of that scale in regulatory data often reflect a change in how active subscribers are counted rather than customers walking away in those numbers. The quarterly 2026 figures — declines of around 8% — are the more reliable indicator of the underlying trend.
Commentators have attributed the decline to repeated price increases, piracy, and a shift towards streaming and social platforms as Kenyan mobile internet penetration grew. Those explanations come from analysts and journalists rather than from CAK itself.
Is a Kenyan-style restructure coming to South Africa?
Some of it already has. The same simplification push that Canal+ described in Kenya appears to be behind the reported South African package restructure — new names, lower entry prices, sport sold separately. We cover what was shown and what remains unconfirmed in our guide to the reported DStv package changes and the R399 sports package.
The Kenyan World Cup decision is the interesting precedent. Putting premium live sport into the cheapest tier is not something MultiChoice has historically done, and if it becomes a pattern rather than a one-off tournament promotion, it changes the shape of the product everywhere it operates.
If you are installing DStv in South Africa
Kenyan pricing does not apply here, and Kenyan decoders are not a shortcut — DStv subscriptions are territory-specific and a decoder bought in another market will not give you a South African bouquet. If you need a dish installed, aligned or relocated in Gauteng, our DStv installation service covers the whole province, and our contact page will get you a quote.