MultiChoice increases Nigeria DSTV rates by over 18%

South African Pay TV provider, Multichoice, has announced new rates for its Nigerian subscribers.

The company said the rates will go up by at least 16.3% from May 1, its latest raise following several rate hikes in the last three years.

“Due to the various economic challenges impacting our business operations, we have had to review the price of our packages to continue delighting our customers with great entertainment, anytime, anywhere,” the company said in an internal memo.

– Key points to note

In messages to customers, the firm said its highest DSTV bouquet, premium, will be N24,500 and no longer N21,000, a 16.7% change.

Compact+ will cost N16,600 from N14, 250 monthly and Compact bouquet will increase from N9,000 to N10,500.

Confam package will go for N6,200 as against N5,300; Dstv Yanga will increase from N2,500 to N3500, while Padi bouquet will increase from N2,150 to N2,950.

The highest percentage increase is for the Yanga package, which is 18.6%.

The firm claims the rates are the “lowest possible”. Customers can retain the old price for the next year recharging by April 30, it said.

“Multichoice acknowledges the difficult economic climate thus kept the increase at the lowest possible point whilst ensuring sustainability and provision of quality services,” it said.

– Why this matters

The increase means Nigerians will pay more for satellite television, a further burden on monthly utility budgets at a time of Nigeria’s record inflation.

Multichoice is the largest pay TV provider in the country, and millions of Nigerians rely on it to access news channels like the CNN and Sky News. The service is most popular for its offering of the English and other European football leagues, which it has exclusive rights to.

The company has about 12.8 million subscribers as of March 2022, according to its annual report. It has repeatedly raised prices blaming inflation and other economic conditions. The latest announcement is coming two weeks after its rival, Star Times, increased its subscription rates.

– More hikes

Besides DSTV, Multichoice also offers Gotv. Under the new price regime, Gotv Supa package will go from N5500 to N6400 while GOtv max will move from N4,150 to N4,850.

GOtv Jolli subscribers will be expected to pay N3,300 from the previous N2,800 and GOtv Jinja and GOtv lite will increase from N1,900 to N2,250; and from N900 to N1,100, respectively.

– Learn more

On April 14, Chinese company StartTimes announced its price raise too, asking its Basic bouquet customers on DTT (antenna) to pay N2,100 as against N1,850 and Classic Bouquet N3,100 as against N2,750.

Nova bouquet subscription increased to N1,200 from N900 and the DTH (dish) users are also affected, with the subscription for the Smart bouquet going up to N2,800 per month from N2,600.

Also, StartTimes Super Bouquet monthly subscriptions now increased to N5,300 from N4,900 that was previously used in subscribing for the package.