Nigeria drives MultiChoice’s revenue decline as DSTV owner loses subscribers

MultiChoice Group has reported a steep drop in its subscriber numbers, with Nigeria responsible for more than half of the losses recorded across its African markets outside South Africa.

The South African-based pay-TV giant said in its financial statement that its total subscriber base fell by eight percent to 14.5 million in the year ending March 2025, as rising inflation, weaker currencies, and economic hardship forced households to abandon their subscriptions.

The loss of 1.2 million subscribers was split evenly between MultiChoice’s home market in South Africa and the Rest of Africa segment, which covers markets such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.

However, Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, was the single largest contributor to the losses in the Rest of Africa division, accounting for over half of that regional decline. MultiChoice cited the country’s high inflation rate, foreign exchange challenges, fuel shortages, and worsening piracy as key obstacles to growth.

MultiChoice’s full-year revenue fell nine percent to 50.8 billion rand (N4.4 trillion), mainly due to steep currency depreciations in its African markets. The Nigerian naira and Ghanaian cedi were among the worst hit, contributing to a foreign exchange loss of 5.2 billion rand.

Over the past two years, currency devaluations alone have wiped out 10.2 billion rand in revenue for the company.

The company tried to cushion the blow by raising subscription prices. In Nigeria and other African markets, prices rose by an average of 31 percent, aimed at offsetting inflation and higher operational costs, including sports content licensing fees and technology upgrades. However, these increases were not enough to stem the tide of customer losses. Reported revenue in the Rest of Africa division slumped by 23 percent, even though organic growth, adjusted for exchange rates, rose three percent.

Not only Pay-TV

The traditional pay-TV business is not the only part of MultiChoice’s operations under pressure. The company posted a headline loss of 800 million rand for the year, a reversal from the 1.3 billion rand profit recorded the previous year. Trading profit also dropped 49 percent to 4 billion rand, weighed down by currency weakness and investments in relaunching its Showmax streaming platform.

Despite the losses, digital services provided some relief. Showmax subscriptions rose by 44 percent, while DStv Stream and DStv Internet both recorded strong growth. MultiChoice is currently in the process of being acquired by French media giant Canal+, which has offered 125 rand per share to take control of the company.