DStv dominates SABC and Openview

The latest Google Trends data shows that DStv enjoys a significant lead over its main competitors, SABC and Openview, in South Africa’s traditional linear TV market.

Google Trends gives access to a largely unfiltered sample of search requests made to Google. This data can be requested for a specific country.

It provides a window into what people are searching for and the trend of whether a company’s search activity is increasing or decreasing.

Simply put, it shows the interest in a particular company or product and whether this interest is increasing or decreasing.

In South Africa, three providers dominate the linear television market – the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), DStv, and Openview.

• The SABC is South Africa’s public broadcaster, and many of its viewers get the service using a TV antenna.
• OpenView is South Africa’s first free-to-air satellite TV service platform.
• DStv is South Africa’s first satellite pay-TV provider with a range of entertainment options.

Although streaming services like Netflix are gaining momentum in South Africa, millions still use traditional TV services.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation has over 30 million viewers across its TV channels, with millions accessing the service through analogue and digital TV broadcasts.

DStv has 7.6 million active satellite TV subscribers in South Africa, and Openview has approximately 3.5 million activated decoders.

It raises the question of which company has the strongest brand and is best positioned to take on streaming providers like Netflix and Disney+.

The Google Trends data for South Africa for the last twelve months shows that DStv has a significant lead over its main competitors, SABC and Openview.

The results show the success of MultiChoice’s considerable investment in DStv, which has made it a household brand in South Africa.

It is interesting to note that the Google Trends data shows that DStv and Netflix have similar search data volumes, which points to the big competition between the two platforms.

The chart below shows the Google Trends data for DStv, SABC, and Openview over the last twelve months.