MultiChoice To Begin Sports-Only Package After Losing Millions Of Subscribers, Details Emerge

• MultiChoice Group, operators of DStv and GOtv, said it has lost about 1.4 million subscribers in Nigeria in the last two years
• Across all its African operations, the company also reported a significant loss of customers and has blamed economic hardships
• MultiChoice Group has now revealed that it is considering launching a new package that will bring subscribers back to their decoder

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The last two years have been doubly tough for the MultiChoice Group, and its latest audited results show that it has lost millions of subscribers across different countries.

In Nigeria, the pay-TV lost 1.4 million subscribers in the last two years, and blamed it on the high inflation and increased energy costs, which reduced purchasing power and disposable income for the populace.

As Nigerians struggled to make ends meet, they prioritised necessities like food and shelter, while perceived luxuries like pay-TV subscriptions fell off the list.

As the report put it:

“Households are struggling to make ends meet and many had no choice but to give up their DStv subscription for the time being."

The inactive subscribers in Nigeria account for 77% of total subscribers lost across all the African countries where the pay-TV operates.

There are reasons to believe the company is now mulling a new package to lure subscribers back to their decoders.

MultiChoice to offer sports-only package

The MultiChoice in South Africa is considering a new subscription package that will contain all of the sports channels only, the CEO, Calvo Mawela, has said.

Mawela said this in a Reuters interview on Thursday, 12 June, just a day after reporting a $45 million (or 800 million rands) loss.

He said:

"As part of our product offering, we have always had this project that we ran every year where we look at our packaging structures, similar to what Sky did some years back where they had a basic package, they had a sports package on the side (and) they had a general entertainment package on the side."

Mawela explained that they had observed that many customers only subscribe to the premium package because of the Sports channels, and then cancel their subscriptions when it is off-season.

Mawela disclosed that the company is set to finalise decisions on the bundled sports-only package in the 2025 financial year.

"We're considering all options as part of a broader product offering going forward."

Note that there is also a global shift in video consumption behaviours, with many customers now going for cheaper services like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

Competitor lures MultiChoice subscribers

Legit.ng earlier reported that the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, praised the introduction of SLTV, an indigenous satellite pay television service.

The ex-Kano governor described SLTV as a genuine alternative for Nigerians and stressed the brand's critical role in information dissemination for the country's socio-economic development.

MultiChoice hikes price amid public outrage

Recall that MultiChoice defied the federal government's order and went ahead to implement the rate hike ahead of schedule.

Legit.ng reported that the FCCPC had asked the Pay-TV company to maintain the old subscription rate pending investigation.

However, findings showed that MultiChoice flouted the Commission’s order and implemented the new rates despite the outcry from Nigerians.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng