StarSat

StarSat is the South African branch of StarTimes Media, the largest satellite television provider in Africa. Since acquiring TopTV in 2013 StarSat has continued to provide South Africans with great entertainment at an excellent price.

Our mission is to offer South Africans comprehensive entertainment solutions that will satisfy a large range of tastes at prices they can afford. To that end, we have invested in creating a simple, easy-to-use and practical decoder void of unnecessary gimmicks so that we can offer you a fair price for access to satellite TV. Our brand new Sat3 decoder is a full HD compatible decoder with PVR recording capabilities wrapped up in a simple, attractive design. It’s remote and digital interfaces are simple and easy to understand and navigate. To make sure we can offer quality entertainment at a fair price we offer multiple channel packages for you to choose from.

Our entry-level Special Package comes with over 50 channels at a measly price of R130 per month. In this package, you will gain access to all SABC channels as well as E-TV (and E-TV Extra). Our local channel selection doesn’t end there, for you will also gain access to proudly South African channels which include Soweto TV and Rising Sun TV, as well as the StarSat channel ST Rise. We also feature a few African channels including African Movie Channel (AMC), and Africa News, as well as the StarSat channels ST Yoruba and ST Swahili.

For the kids, we offer multiple channels including JimJam, Toonami and our own ST Kids. For the extreme sports fanatics, we have ESPN as well as our own sports channels. Our news selection is extensive from the African Galaxy Universal Network to the international BBC World News, Aljazeera and Sky News amongst others. For those who love learning, we have dedicated international documentary channels including National Geographic Wild. We even have language-specific entertainment for Indian and Portuguese South Africans in the form of StarLife, Glow TV and RTP Internacional.

For God-fearing viewers, we have 6 channels dedicated to devotion towards God. These include the GOD channel and EWTN, as well as our own ST Gospel. Our latest Christian channel is TBN Yetu (ch 364), which brings you Afro-centric religious content, that truly reflects the vibrant and diverse worship in Africa.

Our value-for-money package is the Super Package. For R250 per month, you get all the channels in the Special Package plus 23 additional, top-tier channels. You will gain access to some of the best international channels for your every need, starting with National Geographic. In the world of sports, you’ll gain access to ESPN 2 and also to our group of StarSat sports channels. Lovers of telenovelas will find a home in TLNovelas and our very own ST Nollywood Plus.

Our premium, top-of-the-line Max Package is for those who want every channel that StarSat has to offer. This includes not only every channel in the Special and Super Packages but also over 60 additional language-specific channels, including French, Indian and Chinese. All this for only R360 per month.

StarTimes

StarTimes was founded over 30 years ago and entered the digital TV market over a decade ago. In that time, they’ve amassed over 13 million Digital Video Broadcasting subscribers in over 30 countries. Their OTT streaming app, StarTimes ON, boasts over 27 million users, firmly placing it in the top 10 entertainment apps in Africa. Their social media reach is substantial, having garnered over 12 million Facebook followers, ranking it a top-achiever in that metric. It’s no surprise why StarTimes is the most successful digital TV provider in Africa.

StarTimes broadcasts over 700 channels across its platforms, most of which are African-made (75%). StarTime’s in-house translation-and-dubbing centre, dub international content into 11 languages, producing over 10,000 hours of output a year. Currently, StarTimes employs over 5,000 people, of which ¾ are native Africans. StarTimes has an expansive network of independent contractors involved in its service delivery. With over 170 brand halls and 30,000 distributors who, thanks to StarTimes’ business, can support their families.

Growing their business is a means to an end. The ultimate mission? “To ensure that every African family can access, afford, watch and share the beauty of digital TV.” To that end, StarTimes has embarked on many corporate responsibility initiatives, including Access to satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages. This Chinese-Africa cooperative project spans over 20 African countries, installing digital TVs in community areas free of charge.

Besides series, dramas, documentaries, news and kids content (to name a few), StarTimes broadcasts soccer leagues from all over the globe. Some notable inclusions are Bundesliga, La Liga, Emirates FA Cup, Coppa Italia, and Copa del Rey.