By Jude Michael
MultiChoice Nigeria has lost 243,000 subscribers on its Digital Satellite Television (DStv) and General Entertainment Television (GOtv) services between April and September this year.
The South African pay-TV operator, MultiChoice Group, disclosed this in its Interim Financial Results for the period ending, 30 September 2024, which were released on Tuesday.
The company attributed the subscriber decline to Nigeria’s high inflation rate which exceeds 30%, driven by rising costs of food, electricity, and fuel, leading many customers to disconnect their services.
In its financial report for March, 2024, MultiChoice had already reported an 18% subscriber loss in Nigeria.
The company further reported a loss of 566, 000 subscribers in its Rest of Africa operations over the past six months, with Zambia and Nigeria contributing the largest shares to this decline.
‘With the Rest of Africa business having seen a decline of 803, 000 subscribers in 2H FY24, this rate of decline slowed to 566, 000 in 1H FY25,’ MultiChoice stated.
The loss included 298, 000 subscribers in Zambia and 243, 000 in Nigeria, while other markets saw only minor declines.
Extreme inflation and currency instability have negatively impacted the group’s profits. MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela, commented,
‘We are making good progress in addressing the technical insolvency that resulted from non-cash accounting entries at the end of the last financial year.’
Mawela noted that the group’s net equity position was expected to recover by November.
Regarding Zambia’s losses, the company attributed them to extensive power outages caused by drought, which left some regions with up to 23 hours of daily power shortages.
MultiChoice also cited competition from streaming services and changes in viewer preferences as pressures on its traditional pay-TV model.
To adapt, MultiChoice invested an additional ZAR 1.6 billion in its streaming service, Showmax, which reported 50% year-over-year growth.
Mawela added, ‘Showmax strategically positions the business to actively participate in the streaming revolution as it gains momentum across Africa.’
