Sport has always been one of the main attractions in the DStv subscriber bouquets, especially the Premium package. MultiChoice spend millions to have the rights to premium sporting competitions around the world, which it uses to justify what many believe is a very expensive subscription service. When lockdowns hit and most sports were put on hold, DStv Premium subscriptions dropped significantly. The company had hoped that the resumption of all major sports around the world would increase retention of DStv Premium subscribers, but this has not proved to be the case.
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MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said that many of its DStv Premium subscribers who downgraded or cancelled their services would return when live rugby is back on the air. “This past year has been very difficult for rugby. This is why we have seen a significant number of people who have downgraded from DStv Premium,” said Mawela. “As soon as rugby comes back, they upgrade to DStv Premium”.
What actually transpired was a continued loss of customers, not only with DStv Premium subscribers but also in its mid-market. MultiChoice lost over 100,000 subscribers across its DStv Premium, Compact, and Compact Plus packages.
The company saw an increase in its cheaper mass-market segment, meaning they have reported an overall customer increase of about 2 percent. Many Premium subscribers that didn’t outright cancel their prescription downgraded to a lower tier service.
“Growth rates were impacted by rising unemployment levels and a short disruption caused by the tragic July riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg,” MultiChoice stated.
The company reported a 7 percent increase in profitability to R6.2 billion.
“This higher profitability can be attributed to the boost in advertising revenues and the group’s cost optimisation programme and was despite the costing of major sporting events such as Euro 2020, the British and Irish Lions rugby tour and the Tokyo Olympics in the current period,” MultiChoice said.
While MultiChoice bled high-end DStv Premium and Compact subscribers, it saw an increase in Connected Video users on the DStv app and Showmax. “Paying Showmax subscribers were up 42%, with overall online users increasing 33% from the prior period, representing a 3% gain in share of the African OTT market since December 2020,” the company said.
