South Africans kiss DStv goodbye

South African households are dumping DStv as more affordable and convenient streaming services gain traction.

This is one of the biggest challenges MultiChoice faces in South Africa, and there is no clear way the company can stop this decline.

MultiChoice’s integrated annual report for the year that ended 31 March 2025 shed light on the extent of the DStv exodus in South Africa.

The number of DStv subscribers in South Africa declined by 589,000 over the last year, representing an overall base decline of 8%.

The DStv Premium base, which includes Compact Plus, declined by 96,000 subscribers. This represents a year-on-year decline of 9%.

MultiChoice explained that its DStv Premium decline is driven by customer affordability and competition from third-party streaming services.

Another contributing factor is the impact of the non-recurrence of popular sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup.

MultiChoice’s middle-market subscribers declined by 99,000, representing a year-on-year reduction of 5%.

It explained that the DStv Compact base is most exposed to mid-market consumer affordability challenges, including high levels of indebtedness.

There is also growing competition from lower cost local general entertainment options on streaming and satellite.

The mass-market tier was down by 394,000, a year-on-year decline of 9%. This is the second year it has experienced a decline.

MultiChoice said Access customers were impacted by load-shedding and negative macro-economic pressures, like inflation and high unemployment.

Growth has further been impacted by the reduction in decoder subsidies, which has improved the quality of customer on the package and reduced costs.

MultiChoice explains the DStv challenges

Commenting on the DStv subscriber decline in South Africa, MultiChoice said consumers continues to be under significant financial pressure.

It highlighted that unemployment rates in the country remain elevated and economic growth forecasts are below 1%.

It added that the benefits of lower interest rates and inflation will take time to translate into an increase in real disposable income for consumers.

There are also multiple industry factors and global trends that impact DStv’s performance in South Africa.

There is an ongoing shift to cheaper streaming services and younger customers spend a significant amount of time on social media platforms.

Stronger free alternatives continuing to improve and there are higher levels of piracy, across all genres, especially in younger market segments.

To address these challenges, Canal+, which acquired MultiChoice this year, said it has big plans for DStv in South Africa.

Over time, it will aim to provide DStv subscribers with more local African content, series, sports, and superior value for money.

Canal+ said the company is now focused on integrating Canal+ and MultiChoice as quickly as possible to benefit DStv’s subscribers.

It said current subscribers will not notice any immediate change in terms of offers, services, or content, which will all remain the same.

“But over time, we look forward to providing them with greater local African content, series and local sport and superior value-for-money,” the company said.

Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said they are set to establish the new company as the absolute best value proposition with the best user experience.

“We will join forces and bring the best content from both companies to our consumers all across geographies. We intend to do this as quickly as possible,” he said.

DStv subscriber breakdown