DStv, South Africa’s largest pay-TV broadcaster, is facing a significant subscriber exodus due to the growing popularity of video streaming services.
Parent company MultiChoice reported a staggering loss of R4.15 billion for the 2023/2024 financial year, following a R2.92 billion loss the previous year. This financial deterioration has left MultiChoice technically insolvent, with liabilities now exceeding assets.
The main driver of MultiChoice’s poor performance is a 7% decline in subscription revenues, dropping from R48.66 billion to R45.24 billion, as the company lost approximately 1.62 million subscribers between March 2023 and March 2024.
The decline in active 90-day subscribers was even more pronounced at 11%, falling from 23.51 million to 20.93 million. Additionally, advertising revenue decreased by 6.8%, from R4.2 billion to R3.9 billion, due to declining linear TV viewership.
In Nigeria, DStv subscribers have declined by 18%, and the numbers continue to drop. The company attributes this to harsh economic conditions rather than addressing criticisms of repetitive and outdated content.
DStv faces significant challenges as more Africans, particularly South Africans and Nigerians, shift to video streaming services. Subscribing to all major international streaming platforms and MultiChoice’s own Showmax is now cheaper than DStv’s Premium or Compact Plus packages.
MultiChoice acknowledges that international streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video pose a major threat to its business.
The launch of Netflix in early 2016 significantly impacted DStv’s subscriber base, reversing the positive growth of its Premium package and continuing to cause declines despite MultiChoice’s efforts to obscure the exact numbers.
