We now have choice on who to choose when it comes to PayTV service provides. Whereas it used to be a DSTV hegemony, things have since changed with the entry of other players in the Pay TV space like StarSat, Zuku TV, Azam TV and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Transmission) players like GoTV and Startimes plus others in cable like Zuku Fiber.
The ultimate utility is TV as consumers look for who to subscribe to. Sports aficionados have a particular liking for DSTV and now Kwese TV but its doesn’t relegate others to nothing nothing to offer when it comes to sports.
This has led many players to cultivate a niche, while others are employing a cost leadership or differentiation strategy to stay afloat. Others have also decided to sit upon what they offer but hey, we have done the digging for you. But Of all, which one has a better deal and why?
Let us start with satellite providers
Here DSTV leads with a bigger margin thanks to its grip on the much loved sports content like the English Premier league and other European soccer tourneys like the Champions League, Spanish La Liga among others. Joining it is Kwese TV with the Carabao Cup (Formerly Carling Cup), Live NBA Action, the Olympics and other sports programming.
It doesn’t end there, others like Zuku TV and Azam both have Fox Sports 1 and 2 that have some sporting action to enjoy.
Allow us answer the cost question. How much does each satellite provider charge for its service and for what channels?
DSTV
It is the giant of all. It has quite the offering having more than 3 bouquets to offer its customers some of which are aimed at expats/foreigners like the Chinese and the French which it treats as Add ons.
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| DSTV Premium | 179+ | 280,000 |
| DSTV Compact Plus | 175+ | 180,000 |
| DSTV Compact | 165+ | 115,000 |
| DSTV Family | 130+ | 60,000 |
| DSTV Access | 121+ | 33,000 |
| DSTV Great Wall (Chinese) | 35 | 5,860 |
| DSTV French Touch | 7 | 26,500 |
Kwese TV
Kwese TV is a new kid on the block and part of their strategy is employing a pay per view option as a subscriber watches whatever channels the service offers (Over 65 Channels) but for particular durations broken down into monthly, weekly or daily. This also attributes to how much you pay but according to how much of viewing hours you spend.
| Duration | 30 Days (Month) | 7 Days (Week) | 3 Days |
| Cost (UGX) | 106,000 | 32,000 | 17,000 |
StarSat
StarSat is the satellite TV arm of Startimes that initially launched with the DTT service we are accustomed to. It has three main bouquets and other 3 targeting 3 particular nationalities that being Chinese, the French and Indians.
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| Super | 106+ | 54,000 |
| Smart | 77+ | 24,000 |
| Nova | 45+ | 12,000 |
| Chinese | 17 | 80,000 |
| Indian | 10 | 24,000 |
| French | 22 | 72,000 |
Zuku TV
This has also been around but only that they’re so quiet about their services. We found them as actually being obe the most affordable but it will double down to what channels appeal to you or the satisfaction you derive from each player. Many of the satellite providers share some channels while others are exclusive to their respective platforms. Here is the breakdown of what Zuku TV has to offer
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| Zuku Premium | 91+ | 33,500 |
| Zuku Classic | 65+ | 23,500 |
| Zuku Smart | 41+ | 10,500 |
| Zuku Asia | 21 | 31,000 |
| Zuku Asia Standalone | 26 | 35,000 |
Azam TV
This is probably the latest entrant in Uganda’s satellite TV space having launched just over four years ago. Azam TV has just 3 bouquets priced affordably if you compare it to the competition but at the end of the day, it will be to according to how the subscribers derive value as said before. Azam TV is also the only player that lacks language specific add-ons like Chinese, Indian etc since some of them come bundled within the main bouquets.
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| Azam Play | 105+ | 37,000 |
| Azam Plus | 85+ | 25,000 |
| Azam Pure | 50+ | 10,000 |
And Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) players
The battle here for Pay TV players is actually between two people, that being Startimes and GOtv. The other player is signet that powers most of the Free-to-Air decoders. We shall leave these out of the picture for now.
GOtv
GOtv is to DSTV what Startimes is to StarSat. It is the DTT arm of Multichoice and it is safe to say that this is a mass market product, though transmission is over the antenna. It had three bouquets that is GOtv Plus, Value and Lite that were later joined by GOtv Max. Here is a breakdown of how much each of these will cause damage to your pockets
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| GOtv Max | 54+ | 49,000 |
| GOtv Plus | 50+ | 26,000 |
| GOtv Value | 28+ | 16,000 |
| GOtv Lite | 18+ | 9,500 |
Startimes
Startimes is GOtv’s answer when it comes to DTT Pay TV services in Uganda. For now it has just 4 bouquets that is Unique, Classic, Basic and Nova.
| Bouquet | Number of Channels | Price/Month (UGX) |
| Unique | 71+ | 54,000 |
| Classic | 61+ | 36,000 |
| Basic | 44+ | 18,000 |
| Nova | 23+ | 10,000 |
We also have cable providers
Zuku Fiber is the only provider on the list that provides cable TV and doing so through their Fiber. Limited in access we must say as the service is only live in parts of Naguru and Bukoto with promises of other areas being in the pipeline. However, Zuku Fiber provides no mention of how many channels one gets through its four triple play packages but just breaks them down into Basic, Preferred, Premium and Advanced.
With the Basic package, you will get up to 10 Mbps internet speeds plus TV for UGX 147,000.The Preferred TriplePlay package has internet speeds of up to 20 Mbps plus TV for UGX 197,000. The Premium and Advanced packages come with speeds of up to 40 Mbps and 100 Mbps respectively, and will cost 297,000 and 497,000 respectively. Looks like the prices are so competitive that people can’t wait to try out their services. The Advanced package will come with premium TV channels.
Note: This list will be updated with time as more changes happen.
