DStv Kenya has announced the prices of its new packages, and each of the four costs less than the old package DStv says it replaces. From 5th November 2026, the six packages Kenyans pay for today, from Lite to Premium, give way to four: Starter at KES 750 a month, Select at KES 1,500, Sports at KES 3,000 and Ultimate at KES 7,300. DStv is the satellite and streaming pay-TV service run by MultiChoice, which the French broadcaster Canal+ took over last year. These are the packages behind the new era DStv has been teasing since 6th October.
What most subscribers want to know is what they’ll pay from November. DStv’s announcement names the old package each new one takes over from, so for four of the six there’s a straight answer:
| Today | Price today | From 5th November | New price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | KES 11,700 | Ultimate | KES 7,300 | KES 4,400 less (37.6%) |
| Compact Plus | KES 7,300 | Gone | n/a | n/a |
| Compact | KES 4,200 | Sports | KES 3,000 | KES 1,200 less (28.6%) |
| Family | KES 2,250 | Select | KES 1,500 | KES 750 less (33.3%) |
| Access | KES 1,450 | Starter | KES 750 | KES 700 less (48.3%) |
| Lite | KES 750 | Gone | n/a | n/a |
Premium subscribers save the most in shillings, KES 4,400 a month. Access subscribers save the most for what they pay now. DStv calls Starter “formerly known as DStv Access”, and at KES 750 it costs about half of what Access does today, which is also exactly what Lite costs.
The prices match the unconfirmed figures we wrote about in September, which put Kenya’s packages at KES 1,500, KES 3,000 and KES 7,300. Those figures had three packages, though, not four, and only Select had the right name. The other two were called Compact and Premium.
What each package carries
The four packages still work as a ladder, where each step up adds channels to the one below. DStv says Sports has all of Select’s entertainment channels, and Ultimate has everything on Sports. In South Africa and Nigeria, DStv also added a Movies & Series package, so someone there can pay for films without paying for football. Kenya doesn’t get one. Here, the M-Net Movies+ and Stars channels start on Select.
Starter has 117 channels or more on DStv’s Kenyan package page, and the slide shown at the launch said 116. It adds SuperSport Kickoff, a new channel that shows selected Premier League and Champions League matches, and its channel list includes SuperSport La Liga. Select has 149 or more channels: movies on M-Net Movies+, Stars and Legends, kids’ channels such as Nickelodeon, CNN, WWE and selected Premier League and Champions League matches.
Sports, with 159 or more channels, is where football fans gain the most. DStv says it carries every Premier League match and every Champions League match. Right now, DStv’s compare page lists the Champions League among the highlights of Compact Plus at KES 7,300, while Compact at KES 4,200 lists the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. So if you only pay for DStv because of football, from November you get both competitions for KES 3,000, which is KES 4,300 less than Compact Plus costs now.
Ultimate, at 180 or more channels, adds Formula 1, MotoGP, Grand Slam tennis and major golf tournaments. On the Kenyan channel list, it’s also the only package with the SuperSport rugby and cricket channels, M-Net’s series channel and Discovery Channel.
If you watch on DStv Stream, the app-only version of DStv that needs no dish or decoder, the same four packages cost the same four prices.
SuperSport Swahili and cheaper decoders
On 5th November, the day the packages change, MultiChoice also launches SuperSport Swahili, a 24-hour sports channel with Swahili commentary for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. DStv says it will carry the Premier League, UEFA competitions, La Liga, Serie A, athletics, UFC and WWE. The Kenyan channel lists put it on Sports and Ultimate only, so Starter and Select subscribers won’t get it.
DStv will also sell selected decoders and hardware bundles at a discount from 2nd November 2026 to 28th February 2027. It hasn’t published those prices.
What DStv hasn’t said
The announcement doesn’t mention Lite or Compact Plus. Lite costs KES 750, the same as Starter, but DStv hasn’t said whether Lite subscribers move to Starter. Compact Plus subscribers have more riding on the answer, because they pay KES 7,300, the same as Ultimate. A move to Ultimate would keep their bill where it is and put them on DStv’s top package, while a move to Sports would cut KES 4,300 off the bill and still carry the Champions League.
DStv also hasn’t said whether current subscribers move to the new packages on their own, or whether a Kenyan on Access will see their bill fall from KES 1,450 to KES 750 without doing anything. When South Africa switched in September, DStv moved subscribers automatically and let Compact Plus subscribers keep their package and price. DStv Kenya hasn’t said it will do the same.
Who pays less from November
DStv had 259,047 active satellite subscriptions in Kenya at the end of June 2026, by the Communications Authority’s count. Anyone on Premium, Compact, Family or Access should pay between KES 700 and KES 4,400 less a month from November, as long as DStv moves them to the package it names. The cut is deepest for football fans, who no longer need DStv’s second most expensive package to watch the Champions League.
If you’re on Lite or Compact Plus, the announcement doesn’t tell you where your account lands. Ask DStv before 5th November which package you’ll move to and what it’ll cost.
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