Viewing FAQs

We understand some customers find repeats frustrating. The main reason programmes are repeated is to give people a chance to see something they might have missed, or to record the shows they might have missed. 

Different channels have different levels of repeats – a kids' channel will repeat far more shows than a channel like M-Net. Different channels also cater for our customers on the different DStv packages – Premium customers will see content that they had access to a few months ago, repeated later on channels that are open to customers on other packages like DStv Compact. 

Some channels also have a programming block of six or eight hours. This means that the same block of programmes will repeat either four (for six-hour blocks) or three (for eight-hour blocks) times during the course of a day. 

There is also a limit on how much new content is produced every year. A single channel broadcasting 24 hours a day needs 8760 hours of content a year. In comparison, Hollywood only makes about 600 new English-language movies every year, which equates to only about 1200 hours of movies. This means that there will always be older content that plays. 

Having said that, there is a lot of new content available on a weekly basis – there are never-seen-before shows and movies that premiere every week. As this is spread across many channels (and customers tend to stick to their few favourite channels), we recommend using the TV Guide to see what is on across all the channels.