{"id":563714,"date":"2024-10-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=563714"},"modified":"2024-10-05T07:03:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T05:03:53","slug":"dstv-in-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/563714-dstv-in-trouble.html","title":{"rendered":"DStv in trouble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South Africans are dumping DStv as access to affordable uncapped broadband improves and online streaming services gain popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice\u2019s annual report for the year ended 31 March 2024 revealed that active DStv subscribers in South Africa declined from 8.0 million to 7.6 million over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although South Africa only accounted for 48.5% of MultiChoice\u2019s active subscribers, it accounted for 60% of group revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means South Africa is a core part of MultiChoice\u2019s operations and is important to ensure its financial sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the company is struggling to hold on to its subscribers \u2014 South Africans are dumping DStv in droves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cActive subscribers declined from 8.0 million to 7.6 million, while the 90-day active base reduced from 9.3 million to 8.6 million,\u201d MultiChoice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is particularly concerning is that all segments of MultiChoice\u2019s DStv subscriber base declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>DStv Premium declined by 8% year-on-year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>DStv mid-market declined by 9% year-on-year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>DStv mass market declined by 1% year-on-year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply put, DStv is losing subscribers across the board, and there is no clear way to convince them to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice dusted off its book of excuses, including severe economic pressure, consumers\u2019 financial distress, the high cost of living, and elevated interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe impact of consistent load-shedding creates an environment where customers are reluctant to reconnect,\u201d MultiChoice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis translated into an overall drop in viewership, subscriber activity, and subscriber numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, as MultiChoice should have discovered by now, excuses do not make up for lost subscribers or lower revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice\u2019s financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/technology\/54115\/dstv-owner-multichoice-is-technically-insolvent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">showed that<\/a>&nbsp;it recorded a R4.1 billion loss and has become technically insolvent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1204\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/MultiChoice-active-subscribers-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-563715\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/MultiChoice-active-subscribers-2024.jpg 1204w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/MultiChoice-active-subscribers-2024-600x279.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/MultiChoice-active-subscribers-2024-1200x557.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/MultiChoice-active-subscribers-2024-768x357.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1204px) 100vw, 1204px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The bad news for MultiChoice is that the factors that caused its subscriber decline and dismal financial position are accelerating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main reason for DStv Premium\u2019s decline over the last eight years was a combination of uncapped fibre and Netflix launching in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uncapped fibre was initially only available in richer areas, so DStv Premium was the first segment to decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As uncapped fibre and wireless alternatives, like Rain, started reaching middle- and lower-income areas, those households also started to dump DStv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies like Vumatel and Herotel are now accelerating the rollout of affordable fibre services in lower-income communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It does not take a rocket scientist to predict what will happen to DStv subscriptions in these areas as households get uncapped Internet access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make matters worse, online streaming is also improving rapidly. Netflix and Amazon Prime are no longer DStv\u2019s main concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether people are looking for sports, movies, TV series, or documentaries, a streaming service serves that need. Many of them are free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice saw this problem coming and, in preparation, launched two initiatives \u2013 bundled broadband access and a bundled streaming package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, these initiatives were not as successful as MultiChoice would have hoped. It failed to get the traction it anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice discontinued its DStv Internet fibre products, including bundled offers that combined Premium or Compact subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice told MyBroadband it will \u201ccontinue to review the DStv Internet offerings as demands shift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To rub salt into their wounds, Telkom plans to launch a content platform with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and other streaming services for one fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Telkom is building a content aggregating platform where users can subscribe to a bundle of streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Telkom Consumer CEO Lunga Siyo said Telkom will provide the data needed for their subscribers to stream the content they subscribe to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As entertainment moved from satellite to Internet streaming, it opened the door for companies like Telkom to compete against MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MultiChoice previously warned that over-the-top (OTT) streaming providers like Netflix and YouTube pose an existential competitive threat to its DStv offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This scenario is now coming true, and unless MultiChoice can become a big streaming player through Showmax and DStv Stream, it will face serious challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This article was first published by <a href=\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/technology\/64959\/dstv-in-serious-trouble-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daily Investor<\/a> and is reproduced with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africans are dumping DStv as access to affordable uncapped broadband improves and online streaming services gain in popularity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341108,"featured_media":484951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[85,29548,48518,475,109,25299],"class_list":["post-563714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-dstv","tag-herotel","tag-lunga-siyo","tag-multichoice","tag-telkom","tag-vumatel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563720,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563714\/revisions\/563720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}