DStv’s death by 1.6 million cuts

DStv lost roughly 1.6 million subscribers in the past financial year, according to its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2024.
As of the end of March 2024, DStv’s active subscribers were 15.7 million — 1.6 million fewer than the 17.3 million it reported for the year ended 31 March 2023.
This represents a 9% decline in active DStv subscribers. However, MultiChoice says subscriber losses in the Rest of Africa are primarily to blame.
“The group’s 9% decline in active subscribers was mainly due to a 13% decline in the Rest of Africa business as mass-market customers in countries like Nigeria,” it said.
MultiChoice said viewers in these countries had to prioritise necessities over entertainment during the period.
This is problematic for the pay-TV broadcaster as the Rest of Africa business used to be the one adding subscribers while South African subscriber numbers fell.
The trend has now shifted and appears to be accelerating.
MultiChoice said its South African business showed more resilience with a 5% decline.
It blamed the South African subscriber decline on a weak macroeconomic environment and load-shedding during the year.
It added that it mitigated the revenue impact through a 5.6% average price increase, which took effect on 1 April 2023.
MultiChoice says it is primarily focused on its 90-day subscriber metric, which provides shareholders and market observers with a measure of monthly volatility in the subscriber base.
South Africa’s 90-day active subscriber base declined by 8%, from 9.3 million subscribers in FY2023 to 8.6 million subscribers in FY2024.
MultiChoice’s 90-day active metric splits subscribers into three categories: Mass Market, Mid-Market, and Premium.
These include the following DStv customers:
- Mass Market — DStv Family, Access, and EasyView subscribers.
- Mid-Market — DStv Compact and Commercial subscribers.
- Premium — DStv Premium and Compact Plus subscribers.
While each segment saw notable subscriber declines on a 90-day active basis, the Mid-Market segment was the hardest hit, with a decline of 15%.
MultiChoice noted that part of the losses stemmed from the ending of a pricing promotion launched in 2022 to provide financial relief to customers amid load-shedding.
To this end, it removed 399,000 “Surprise and Delight” customers from its subscriber base.
In addition, MultiChoice said the declines were due to pressure in the Family base, the impact of load-shedding, and reduced decoder subsidies.
The Premium segment saw the next-highest losses, with 90-day active subscribers declining by 8% from 2.7 million in March 2023 to 2.3 million in March 2024.
The Premium segment has been in decline for several years.
Customers who can afford DStv Compact Plus and DStv Premium will likely have access to uncapped broadband packages.
They can likely also afford video streaming services — a significant rival for traditional TV services.
The Mass Market segment saw the smallest decline at 5%.
However, MultiChoice’s Rest of Africa business suffered the most. Its overall 90-day active subscriber numbers declined by 13%.
This included a significant departure in the Mass Market segment, where subscriber numbers fell from 11.1 million in March 2024 to 9.3 million in March 2024.
The Mid-Market segment in the Rest of Africa saw a slight decline of 1%, while MultiChoice’s Premium segment subscribers grew by 4%.