Nigeria accounted for more than half of MultiChoice’s 1.2 million subscriber losses in the fiscal year ending March 2025, as economic pressures and rising prices forced many viewers to cut back on pay-TV services across the continent.
This drove down the company’s revenue by nine percent.
The active subscriber base of the pan-African pay-TV operator dropped by eight percent to 14.5 million, with the reduction being equally distributed between its home market in South Africa and the rest of the continent.
MultiChoice’s revenue decreased by $280 million
Group revenue decreased by ZAR 5.2 billion ($280 million) to ZAR 50.8 billion. The company principally blamed the decline on the deconsolidation of an insurance business and foreign exchange headwinds, which reduced the top line by ZAR 5.2 billion.
The business was especially badly impacted in its operations in the rest of Africa, which includes essential markets like Nigeria. A 26 percent weighted average devaluation of local currencies relative to the US dollar caused a negative impact of ZAR 5.1 billion in revenue.
Although the segment’s reported sales decreased by 23 percent, average price hikes of 31 percent were implemented to fight inflation and contribute to a 3 percent organic revenue rise.
Nigeria responsible for more than half of MultiChoice subscribers’ loss
The Rest of Africa sector had 7.5 million subscribers at the end of the year. Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent, was responsible for more than half of the 7 percent subscriber decline.
High inflation, gasoline and power shortages, and persistent piracy were listed by the corporation as major operational challenges.
Showmax’s redesigned streaming service, which saw a 44 percent rise in active paying members year over year, was a bright point for the company.
Additionally, the company reported cost savings of ZAR 3.7 billion, which helped to somewhat offset the sharp drop in trading profit.
Key highlights
Trading Profit: Due to currency effects and a ZAR 2.3 billion increase in trading losses from the relaunched Showmax streaming service, trading profit fell 49 percent to ZAR 4.0 billion.
Subscriber Revenue: Subscriber revenue decreased 11 percent on a reported basis, but only 1 percent organically, demonstrating the negative impact of exchange rate fluctuations.
Adjusted Core Headline Earnings: After making ZAR 1.3 billion last year, Adjusted Core Headline Earnings fell to a ZAR 0.8 billion deficit.
MultiChoice price hikes
In March, Techpression reported that DStv announced its new pricing structure for 2025, reflecting changes in both South Africa and Nigeria.
The price adjustments aim to maintain the quality of content and services amidst rising operational costs.
DStv’s price hikes in South Africa took effect from April 1, 2025. The Premium package increased by R50 to R979 for decoder subscriptions and R799 for streaming, while the Compact Plus and Compact packages increased to R659 and R479, respectively.
The biggest jump is in the Showmax Premier League streaming package, which rises by R30 to R99 per month.
However, several streaming services were not increased, including the standard DStv Stream and Showmax.
In Nigeria, the price hike took effect on March 1, 2025. The DStv Compact bouquet increased from N15,700 to N19,000, the Compact Plus rose to N30,000, and the Premium subscription jumped to N44,500.
MultiChoice attributed these increases to rising operational costs due to currency depreciation and high inflation.
The decline in MultiChoice’s subscribers might be connected to these increases.