With TopTV about to launch on 1 May 2010 starting from R99 per month, DSTV has responded by introducing DSTV Lite.

Multichoice has announced that it will provide customers with more value and choice by introducing a brand new bouquet called DSTV Lite. There will now be six bouquets available on the DSTV network ranging from R20 per month to the premium package of R529 per month.

DSTV will also be adding additional channels to the lower end bouquets. DStv Select 1 will get 8 additional video channels, to have a total of 34 video channels, 32 radio and 10 DMX music channels. DStv Select 2 will get 6 additional video channels, to have a total of 32 video channels, 32 radio and 10 DMX music channels. DStv Compact will get 4 additional video channels, to have a total of 44 video channels, 32 radio and 10 DMX music channels.

The various options subscribers will now have on DSTV include the following:

• DStv EasyView R20
• DStv Lite R99
• DStv Select 1 R148
• DStv Select 2 R148
• DStv Compact R232
• DStv Premium R529

For a comprehensive channel guide to the various packages check out the DSTV website.

Its clear that Multichoice is feeling the pressure from soon to be launched TopTV, who knows maybe we will soon have affordable premium pay TV in South Africa.

With the arrival of TopTV on 1 May 2010 every South African will now be able to afford premium quality Pay TV.

From as little as R99 per month subscribers will now have access to over 2o channels consisting of local and international programming. TopTV will initially offer four different Pay TV packages namely Variety, Kids and Music, Entertainment and Knowledge and Ultimate Movies.

“The majority of South Africans who can afford to pay between R99 and R249 a month, will have access to world class television entertainment across all genres including News & Knowledge, Movies, Family and Sport, Kids, Music and Cultural programming.” says Vino Govender, CEO of On Digital Media (ODM). Govender adds, “Some of the highlights of these channels include the Top History channel which will bring the history of South Africa to the fore as never before, BBC News, Eurosport News, 6 dedicated 24 hour movie channels, as well as services for the Portuguese and French communities in South Africa.”

TopTV has established partnerships with leading studios around the world, including CBS, Fox, Warner, Discovery and Disney.

TopTV subscribers can look forward to channels such as Zee Cinema, Discovery Travel & Living, Fox Entertainment, Fine Living Network, Current TV, BET, MGM, Showtime, Discovery Science, Silver, Baby TV, Setanta Africa, France24, BBC World, Hi Nolly, Kidsco, Jim Jam, Baby TV, Fuel TV, and Fox FX just to name a few.

TopTV’s set-top boxes and dishes will be available at a introductory price of only R499. The introductory price includes a TopTV decoder (STB), Installation, Smart Card, Power Supply, Male / Female RF Cable, RCA Cable, Remote Control Unit, Batteries and instruction manual. Set-top boxes and dishes will be available through Makro, Pep, Dion, Game, selected Jumbo Cash & Carry stores, CCW, Brown’s, Weirs and House & Home stores.

South Africa’s second Pay TV operator TopTV is set to launch on the 1st of May by ODM (On Digital Media)

TopTV will be the first competition DSTV faces which had the monopoly for Pay TV in South Africa for the past decade. The question remains will TopTV pose a threat to DSTV?

Top TV is set to launch with a range of seven channel bouquets ranging from R99 to R249. The bouquets will consist out of channels made up from several categories namely Variety, Kids & Music, Entertainment & Knowledge and Movies.

The R99 package will only include channels from the Variety category where as on the R159 package users will get the Variety channels and have the choice of either Kids & Music or Entertainment & Knowledge channels. The R189 package from TopTV includes Varienty channels, Kids & Music channels as well as Entertainment & Knowledge channels. For R220 users will get the same benefits of the R159 package with Movie channels added, and for R249 users will get all the channels available on TopTV.

People interested in TopTV can either their existing DSTV dish and turn it or can obtain a full installation voucher for R699 which includes a decoder, dish and installation. There are rumors floating around that TopTV is set to have a launch price of R499 for the whole package.

It would be interesting to see how many people will make the move to TopTV. I foresee the die hard sport fanatics will stay with DSTV and people more interested in entertainment and movies will probably make the move over to TopTV as their pricing is much more attractive.

What is your opinion? Is it worth moving over to TopTV or are you staying with DSTV? Also if you have never been a DSTV subscriber are you considering taking up one of the TopTV packages?