Multichoice Bleeds Subscribers; South Africans Blame Repetitive Programming

• Multichoice, which owns DStv, has reportedly lost over 1 million DSTV subscribers across different price platforms
• The decline was measured over a four-year period beginning in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic
• South Africans joked that DStv lost subscribers over the years because of airing the same movies

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist with nine years of experience, offered valuable insights into South Africa's business environment during his three years at Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG — Multichoice has lost over 1 million subscribers since 2020, and the numbers are not good.

DSTV loses subscribers

According to Moneyweb, DStv, which Multichoice owns, began losing subscribers at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Premium and Compact Plus memberships declined by over 21% in four years. Most of the customers DStv lost were those who subscribed to DStv Compact.

DStv reportedly lost 500,000 subscribers over the last year, dropping to 8.1 million from 8.6 million in 2023. It recorded a 14% decline in the first year in the rest of the African continent, with the most significant decrease in Zambia. Its growing reliance on Showmax and DStv Stream has seen a 50% increase for the former and a 71% increase for the latter.

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SA mocks DStv

Netizens on Facebook roasted DStv's programming.

Tshilidzi Manavhela said:

"Watching the same movies you watched 10 years back. Hai, no way."

McTerry Tee Zunza said:

"Netflix and TikTok are so much more interesting than sitting and watching DStv unless you have been living under a rock."

Sitshela SabaKwena said:

"Repeats and is too expensive."

Lebs Black said:

"The only thing left with Multichoice is Supersport otherwise it's finished."

Anira Pather said:

"It's not the tough economy. It's the unjustified exorbitant fees and the poor content."

Refunds demanded after Janet Jackson cancels show

In a related article, Briefly News reported that South Africans demanded a refund after Janet Jackson cancelled her performance at the DStv Delicious Festival.

This was after her brother, Tito, passed away. Many demanded that the tickets they bought be refunded because of the cancellation.

Source: Briefly News