Broadcasting28.07.2026

DStv shrouded in darkness

By Jan Vermeulen

DStv’s subscriber numbers have become shrouded in secrecy following the publication of Groupe Canal+’s latest interim financial results.

Canal+, which acquired and took control of MultiChoice in September 2025, published its first half-year results with the South African pay-TV broadcaster fully integrated into its financial report.

It did not bode well for those hoping to continue tracking MultiChoice’s performance, as much of the DStv owner’s operational data was obfuscated.

Rather than providing a breakdown of MultiChoice’s subscriber numbers, Canal+ has broken down its overall subscriber base by geography, grouping Africa and Asia.

Canal+’s total subscriber base reached 41.157 million on 30 June 2026, an 8.4% increase compared to the 37.959 million from the prior half-annual period.

Its subscribers in Africa and Asia grew by 7.2%, from 21.079 million to 22.591 million, over the 12-month period.

Meanwhile, its European subscriber numbers grew by 10% from 16.880 million last year to 18.567 million on 30 June 2026.

Stated differently, African and Asian subscribers went from representing 55.5% of Canal+’s overall base to representing 54.9%.

Canal+’s results contained only two indications of how MultiChoice may have performed: subscriber growth in French-speaking Africa and revenue decline in South Africa.

“In French-speaking Africa (i.e. excluding MultiChoice territories), pay-TV delivered very strong growth over the past 12 months, with more than 1 million additional subscribers,” it stated.

“This performance was driven by a compelling line-up, including the Africa Cup of Nations at the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, and improved distribution efficiency.”

Since Francophone Africa accounted for over 1 million of Canal+’s net subscriber additions, the remaining 500,000 new subscribers came from MultiChoice’s African operations and Asia.

The only other indication of DStv’s performance came from Canal+’s revenue breakdown, which showed that MultiChoice’s revenue had declined by €36 million (R687 million).

Canal+’s financial statements showed that MultiChoice’s revenue had declined by 2.95% from €1.22 billion (R23.29 billion) to €1.184 billion (R22.6 billion).

Claiming a win with “broadly flat” growth

Following its consolidation of MultiChoice, South Africa has become a massive geographic segment for the Canal+ Group.

South Africa alone generated €764 million (R14.6 billion) in revenue in H1 2026, representing 17.8% of the Group’s total revenue.

This €764 million accounts for roughly 64.5% of MultiChoice’s total H1 2026 revenue of €1.184 billion. Therefore, South Africa remains a critical market for MultiChoice.

Before acquiring MultiChoice and consolidating its financials into the Group, South Africa made up just €2 million of Canal+’s overall revenue, or 0.1%.

Despite not reporting any concrete subscriber numbers for MultiChoice in these results, Canal+ tried to talk up MultiChoice’s performance.

It said subscriber acquisitions across MultiChoice countries were up 40% compared to H1 2025, and that it had recorded the best subscriber acquisition month in South Africa in a decade in June 2026.

However, despite this seemingly outstanding growth, Canal+ also stated that MultiChoice’s subscriber portfolio was “broadly flat” compared to H1 2025.

It noted that MultiChoice’s subscriber base had been in decline, which was being offset by the success of key sports competitions such as the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup.

DStv’s death by a million cuts

When Canal+ published its annual financial results in March, it revealed a continued decline in MultiChoice’s subscriber base and profitability compared to the prior year.

MultiChoice’s revenue fell by 6% to €2.4 billion (R45.4 billion), while subscribers declined from 14.9 million to 14.4 million for the 12 months ended 31 December 2025.

However, MultiChoice’s past annual reports show this downward trend started years ago. MultiChoice reported subscriber declines in South Africa each year from 2021 to 2025.

Its annual report for the year that ended 31 March 2025 showed that the number of DStv subscribers in South Africa declined by 589,000.

Additionally, it was striking that all segments of the DStv subscriber base declined in 2025 and indicated an accelerating trend. It was likely that this trend continued into 2026.

The premium base, which included Compact Plus and DStv Premium, declined by 96,000 subscribers. This represented a year-on-year decline of 9%.

MultiChoice’s middle-market subscribers declined by 99,000, representing a 5% year-on-year reduction among DStv Compact and Commercial package subscribers.

The mass-market tier, including DStv Access and DStv Family, was down by 394,000, a 9% year-on-year decline. This was the second year it had declined.