Nigerians reject MultiChoice price cut offer as Pay-TV’s troubles deepen

MultiChoice Nigeria’s latest attempt to win back customers with a 50% price cut on its DStv decoders has been met with widespread criticism, as frustrated subscribers say the real issue is the company’s high monthly subscription fees, not the one-time cost of equipment.

On Tuesday, the South African-owned pay-TV giant announced it was slashing the price of its decoder from ₦20,000 ($13) to ₦10,000, along with a promotional offer of a free upgrade to the next package tier for subscribers who pay their full subscription between June 16 and July 31.

The company framed the move as part of its “We Got You” campaign, which it said was aimed at rewarding customer loyalty and making premium content more accessible amid Nigeria’s harsh economic climate.

But the response from Nigerians was swift and scathing. Across social media platforms, especially X (formerly Twitter), users dismissed the initiative as missing the point.

“The decoder is not the problem. The subscription is the problem. Even if they give out the dish & decoder for free, Nigerians won’t still subscribe. Slash the subscription rates by 50% & you get your customers back,” wrote one user, Miz Cazorla.

Another, Asiwaju Adedeji, added: “The high subscription has led to our decoders being left idle on the shelf.”

Mounting problems

MultiChoice’s troubles have been mounting as the company struggles to adapt to changing consumer preferences and a brutal economic environment. The firm has raised its DStv and GOtv subscription fees three times in 12 months, triggering outrage among customers already grappling with inflation, fuel shortages, and currency depreciation.

In the past two years, the company has lost 1.4 million subscribers in Nigeria alone, accounting for most of the 1.8 million subscriber losses across its African operations outside South Africa.

It has also been plagued by court cases and summons by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission over the hikes.

Multichoice’s crisis is made worse by Nigeria’s booming over-the-top (OTT) video market. With projected revenues of $1.22 billion in 2025 and user numbers expected to hit 14.8 million by 2030, streaming platforms offering cheaper, flexible, and often ad-free content are steadily eroding MultiChoice’s customer base.

Many customers have called for structural changes, such as the introduction of pay-as-you-go or pay-per-view options, long demanded but yet to materialize. But the company has ignored those calls over the years.

“You lost 1.4 million subscribers that already have decoders. It is a no-brainer to see where the issue lies— inability to subscribe. Instead of working on the sub fee or offering Pay As You Go, you are slashing the cost of decoders,” wrote user Aneke Leonard Arinze.

Another user, Kayode Babayomi, echoed the sentiment: “We’re saying DStv should reduce the cost of subscription or make it based on pay-per-view, you guys are reducing cost of decoder. You want people to get decoder and just install without paying on it, right?”

MultiChoice has so far not announced any plans to review its subscription pricing structure.

Whether the latest measures will be enough to stop the exodus remains to be seen. For now, the pay-TV giant appears to be battling not just economic headwinds but a growing perception that it is out of step with what Nigerian consumers want.

“The MultiChoice of old—dominant, unchallenged—is gone,” TechCabal wrote in its newsletter. “Today’s MultiChoice is buffering in real time.”