DStv losing more channels

DStv has recently announced that four channels will be removed at the end of 2025, BET Africa, CBS AMC networks, CBS Justice and MTV Base. 

This is caused by Paramount Africa, a broadcasting company based in South Africa and Nigeria, who plans to shut down its South African operations.

In addition, the DStv bouquet stands to lose 12 more channels, as negotiations to renew a distribution agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery have reached a deadlock.

If an agreement is not reached, by the end of 2025, the company could lose:

• Discovery;
• CNN;
• TLC;
• Discovery Family;
• Real Time;
• TNT Africa;
• Food Network;
• HGTV;
• Investigation Discovery;
• Cartoon Network;
• Cartoonito; and the
• Travel Channel.

DStv has suggested that the cost of renewing the agreement is too high. “While discussions between the parties continue, no agreement has been reached at this stage,” MultiChoice told customers.

“If this remains unchanged, a number of Warner Bros Discovery channels may no longer be available on DStv from 1 January 2026,” DStv said to its customers in an email.

These are not the first channels that DStv has lost in recent years. It has been slowly losing channels and subscribers over the last five years, although many channels have been replaced by new ones.

In 2020, the company dropped two popular UK-based channels – ITV Choice and BBC First, as well as indie-focused movie channel Sundance. 

It also lost SABC Encore in June 2020, Disney XD and Fox Life in October. This was part of a lineup refresh. The channels were replaced by three new channels, ESPN, ESPN2 and FliekNET. 

Furthermore, in October 2021, the M-Net City and Vuzu channels were merged into one channel, Me, but this channel was later removed in March 2024. 

DStv was forced to cut the RT news channel in March 2022, due to sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union that led to the global distributor cancelling servies to all suppliers, including Multichoice. 

In May 2022, DStv renewed its agreement with eMedia to continue broadcasting its channels, however, it cut five channels from the media company.

These were:

• eTV;
• eMovies;
• eMovies Extra;
• eExtra; and
• eToonz.

The company said at the time that it constantly reviews its channel offering and that, even without these channels, its customers would continue to have access to many alternatives. 

Losing channels and losing subscribers

The same month, DStv lost access to the Lifetime TV channel when it was closed in Great Britain, Ireland and Malta. 

Only a month later, in June 2022, DStv terminated the community Islamic channel, iTV, again claiming that it was optimising its collection of channels, and looking for content that resonates with its customers. 

This year, in 2025, DStv started off the year by cutting the 1Max channel, integrating its programming into Mzansi Magic in March. 

The company said “the decision followed detailed research into audience consumption behaviour.”

DStv added that it does not reduce fees when channels are removed because, “in the same way, we do not increase prices when we add new channels or services to our platforms.”

The company then sent an email to customers on 1 December 2025, warning of the upcoming loss of four channels and the possibility that 16 channels will be removed by January 2026. 

Multichoice insists that customers will, however, “continue to enjoy an exceptional entertainment experience” across packages, supported by “strong alternative channels in every genre.”

And so, by January 1, 2026, at least 22 DStv channels will have been cut in the last five years, and potentially as much as 34, if the Warner Bros. Discovery negotiations fail. 

DStv currently has 142 channels. In 2020, the company had 143 channels, according to Electronics Diary. The company has kept the number roughly stable because, as channels are removed, new channels have been added over the years as well.

With the potential cuts, however, DStv could have as few as 108 channels in 2026.

According to DStv’s integrated annual report for the year ended March 2025, the number of DStv subscribers in South Africa declined by 589,000 over the last year, representing an overall base decline of 8%.

The DStv Premium base, which includes Compact Plus, declined by 96,000 subscribers. This represents a year-on-year decline of 9%.