DStv surprisingly resilient

Over the last six years, MultiChoice’s pay-TV platform, DStv, has outperformed other global providers, including Dish Network and Charter Communications.

Globally, there has been a decline in pay-TV subscribers. This is known as cord-cutting, with households moving to streaming services.

Cable and satellite TV providers have lost over 20 million subscribers in the United States over the last decade, and this trend is accelerating.

The latest research reveals that there are expected to be 80 million cord-cutting households in the United States by 2026.

Young people aged 18 to 29, who have grown up with the Internet and streaming services, are the most prolific cord-cutters.

A good benchmark is Dish Network, an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services.

In 2018, Dish had 12.3 million pay-TV subscribers. In 2024, the company’s video subscribers plummeted to 8.1 million subscribers.

This means that Dish has lost a large percentage of its video subscribers over the last six years. The loss illustrates the growing consumer shift towards streaming services.

Charter Communications, another American telecommunications and mass media company, saw a similar decline.

In 2018, Charter Communications had 16.5 million residential pay-TV customers. By 2024, this number dropped to 13.5 million.

Charter Communications lost 3 million subscribers over the last six years as competition began to bite.

DStv, in comparison, has enjoyed growth over the last six years. In 2018, the company had 13.5 million DStv subscribers.

In March 2024, MultiChoice had 15.7 million DStv subscribers. Despite a decline over the last year, MultiChoice grew its subscriber numbers by over 2 million.

While Dish and Charter Communications lost subscribers over the last six years, MultiChoice enjoyed strong DStv growth.

How DStv outperformed Dish Network and Charter Communications

DStv’s strong performance raises the question of how it has performed so much better than international powerhouses like Dish Network and Charter Communications.

The answer is multi-fold and includes DStv’s exclusive local content, excellent sports offerings, and Africa’s unique Internet and business environment.

For many South African households, bars, hotels, and bed-and-breakfasts, DStv has been a must-have service for two decades.

DStv is the only platform on which users can enjoy local programming, such as Afrikaans series and talk shows, and watch all rugby, cricket, and soccer matches.

DStv and Supersport have invested billions to secure exclusive local content and sports broadcasting rights, which has created a loyal customer base.

Although free, local platforms like SABC, Openview, and E-tv do not offer significant competition to DStv. Their value cannot be compared to DStv.

MultiChoice’s strategy of continuing to invest in the best sports and local content has made it more resilient to increased competition than many international pay-TV platforms.

It must have been tempting for MultiChoice to cut its sports offering when the rand weakened and broadcast rights increased.

However, maintaining their high-quality SuperSport offering was the right decision to make DStv sticky. This is clearly seen in DStv outperforming Dish Network and Charter Communications.

MultiChoice is also increasing its local content investment. It is the largest producer of original content on the African continent.

Over the last year, MultiChoice produced over 6,500 hours of local content, and its local content library now has more than 84,000 hours of content.

Another factor which puts MultiChoice in a unique situation is the countries in which it operates.

Most African countries have poor broadband penetration, especially fast, affordable, uncapped fibre connectivity.

This creates a barrier to entry to many global streaming services geared towards fixed-broadband and smart TVs.

MultiChoice’s DStv service relies on satellite technology, which means it can service subscribers in all areas, independent of Internet connectivity.

These factors have helped DStv weather the cord-cutting storm better than companies like Dish Network and Charter Communications.

It also provided MultiChoice with more time to build alternative revenue streams, including Showmax, Moment, SuperSportBet, DStv Internet, and DStv Stream.