DStv’s big sports boost

MultiChoice recently reported that its advertising revenues in South Africa grew 3% thanks to a strong sports schedule that compensated for a weak macroeconomic environment.

“True to its reputation as one of the world’s leading sport broadcasters, SuperSport delivered the most extensive Olympic Games broadcast globally during Paris 2024,” the company stated.

“It covered 1,200 live events over 2,900 live broadcast hours, across 19 days, through eight dedicated linear channels, five OTT streaming channels, and dedicated SuperSport SuperScreen and 24-hour Olympic News Update channels.”

MultiChoice said this led to a 20% increase in unique viewers relative to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“Euro 2024 also delivered strong viewership ratings, notably in the group’s two largest markets where the event was tactically tiered down to DStv Compact in South Africa and DStv Access in Nigeria.”

A similar strategy helped MultiChoice improve activity and reconnection rates in its DStv Access subscriber base.

MultiChoice announced in February that its DStv Access subscribers would receive the La Liga football channel after it renewed its licensing agreement with the league.

MultiChoice said the elimination of load-shedding and the addition of other popular programming also contributed to the improvement it saw in DStv Access.

The performance of South Africa’s national cricket team was another boost for DStv.

“The Proteas’ progression to the final of the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup drove a 17% increase in viewership compared to the 2022 tournament,” MultiChoice reported.

“These events were complemented by an exciting Rugby Championship, won by the world champion Springboks, and a thrilling conclusion to the 2023/2024 English Premier League season.”

MultiChoice also reported that SuperSport Schools crossed the milestone of 1 million registered users on its app in August 2024.

It said SuperSport Schools roughly doubled its user base year-on-year and delivered over 35,000 hours of app and TV viewing content during the first six months of the fiscal year.

“Chasing the Sun 2, with its production fully funded through commercial sponsors and advertising revenue, was SuperSport’s third most-viewed sports documentary ever, following closely behind Chasing the Sun and Rassie,” MultiChoice said.

“An exciting new initiative during the half was the launch of SuperSport Experiences, in partnership with DStv Rewards,” it added.

“Working with SA Rugby, the group offered loyal DStv Premium subscribers the opportunity to buy ‘Early Bird’ tickets to the Springbok’s home test matches, which were fully subscribed.”

MultiChoice also said it had renewed or extended the rights to several leagues and events. These include the Premier Soccer League, La Liga, the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup, HSBC Sevens, and World Athletics.

DStv was not the only platform that benefited from MultiChoice’s strength in sports content.

The pay-TV operator also experimented with showing additional sports on its Showmax Premier League product during the off-season of the English Premier League.

Showmax Premier League is a mobile-only sports streaming service available standalone or as a bolt-on for existing Showmax Entertainment subscribers.

The extra sports content MultiChoice tested on the platform included the FA Cup Final, several Euro 2024 matches, and a compilation of Olympics content.

MultiChoice said the trial’s results were encouraging. As a result, Showmax added the current Premier Soccer League season in South Africa to the package in September 2024 at no additional cost to subscribers.