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Multichoice Group of South Africa, African pay-TV giant, has bemoaned the loss of 243,000 Nigerian subscribers on its Digital Satellite Television, DStv, and General Entertainment on Television, GOtv, services between April and September 2024.
The company disclosed the losses in its Interim Financial Results for the period ending September 30, 2024.
It blamed the development on Nigeria’s high inflation rate and the low exchange rate of the Naira to the US dollar. The inflation rate now hovers over over 35 to 37 per cent while the exchange rate is well over N1500 to a dollar.
The statement noted that the anomalies pushed up costs of food, electricity, and fuel to astronomical high level, leading many customers to disconnect or abandon the platform.
MultiChoice had reported an 18 per cent subscriber loss in Nigeria in its financial report for March 2024 as well as losing 566,000 in the Rest of Africa (RoA) operations over the past six months.
Zambia and Nigeria contributed the largest shares to the decline.
According to the report: “The group’s linear subscriber base declined by 11 per cent or 1.8m subscribers YoY to 14.9m active subscribers at 30 September 2024.”
It further said the loss in the rest of Africa has been primarily due to the significant consumer pressure in Nigeria, where inflation has remained above 30 per cent for the majority of the last 12 months and, more recently, due to extreme power disruptions in Zambia.
Of the decline, 298 thousand related to Zambia and 243 thousand, related to Nigeria, with remaining markets on the continent reflecting only a minor decline of 25 thousand, the report said.
However, it is gathered that a major contributor to these losses is the frequent hike in subscription rates.
The company risks losing more subscribers in the months ahead, as more Nigerian customers, who have been threatening to pull-out of the Paytv platform due to incessant price increases by Multichoice may do so.
