MultiChoice Group, the parent company of MultiChoice Nigeria, reported a loss of 1.2 million active DStv subscribers.
This was revealed in their financial results for the year ending March 31, 2024. The drop in Nigerian subscribers led to an overall 9% decrease for the year.
Although Nigeria’s specific numbers were grouped with other regions under ‘Rest of Africa’ (RoA), MultiChoice noted an 18% decline in Nigeria, reducing RoA’s active subscribers by 13% to 8.1 million from 9.3 million in 2023.
The company’s 9% overall subscriber decline was primarily due to a 13% drop in the Rest of Africa segment, driven by economic challenges in Nigeria that forced customers to prioritize basic needs over entertainment. South Africa saw a more modest 5% decline.
Despite implementing three price increases in the past year, economic difficulties in Nigeria, including the removal of fuel subsidies, sharp currency depreciation, and rising inflation, contributed to the 18% drop in subscribers.
This also decreased Nigeria’s contribution to RoA revenues from 44% to 35%. Ghana experienced similar trends due to high inflation.
MultiChoice shifted its focus from subscriber growth to maintaining profitability and cash flow in challenging markets like Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe.
Cost-saving measures included reducing decoder subsidies by 46% and cutting selling, general, and administrative costs by ZAR500 million, resulting in a 48% increase in RoA trading profit to ZAR1.3 billion.
South Africa also saw a 5% drop in subscribers, down to 7.6 million, partly due to frequent power outages. MultiChoice explained that while the Premium bouquet remained stable, the premium customer tier declined by 8%, the mid-market Compact base fell by 9%, and the mass-market tier decreased by 2%.
In response to rising inflation, MultiChoice raised DStv and GOtv prices three times over the past year.
Despite a restraining order from the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal in Abuja, MultiChoice implemented the latest price increase, resulting in a N150 million fine and a mandated one-month free subscription for Nigerians. MultiChoice intends to appeal the judgment.
