DSTv operator, MultiChoice, has lost 2.8 million subscribers over the past two years, contributing to substantial declines in its revenue and trading profit.

Since achieving a high of 17.3 million subscribers across the MultiChoice group on 31 March 2023, active linear pay-TV customers have declined to 14.5 million.

Similarly, revenue declined from a high of R58.42 billion in its 2023 financial year to R49.98 billion two years later.

MultiChoice has attributed the declines to unprecedented operating challenges, which it said worsened further during its 2025 financial year.

In its most recent annual report, MultiChoice highlighted real GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, and currency devaluation in key markets, such as Nigeria, as critical challenges it faced.

It also explained that South Africa remained a significant part of the business, accounting for 65% of group revenues, despite representing 48.4% of the total active subscriber base at year-end.

For comparison, at the end of its 2024 financial year, South Africa made up 60% of group revenues and 48.5% of MultiChoice’s active subscriber base.

To explain its deteriorating performance, MultiChoice said that the South African consumer continues to be under significant financial pressure.

“Formal unemployment remains elevated at around 32%, economic growth forecasts are below 1%,” MultiChoice said.

“The benefits of lower interest rates and inflation will take time to translate into an increase in real disposable income for consumers.”

MultiChoice stated that it continued to observe multiple industry factors that also impacted pay-TV in South Africa, including an ongoing shift towards cheaper streaming services in line with global trends.

DStv’s decline has been evident in South Africa since 2016, when the company started losing its highest-value Premium subscribers.

That was the same year as Netflix’s global expansion. The company announced the global rollout of its services in January 2016 at CES.

Impact of social media and piracy

In addition to the impact of streaming, MultiChoice said younger customers were spending a significant amount of time on social media platforms while free alternatives continued to improve.

One disturbing development for MultiChoice was accelerating levels of piracy across all genres, especially in younger market segments.

“The group’s active subscriber base was impacted by the above factors, as well as a shift in management focus to the quality of the customer rather than absolute growth,” said MultiChoice.

The company said its focus on the quality of customer was seen by the 4% year-on-year increase in average revenue per user delivered.

Meanwhile, its overall linear TV subscribers declined by 589,000 year-over-year, representing an 8% decline across its customer base.

Despite cost-cutting initiatives, MultiChoice reported that trading profit on an organic basis declined by 9% during its most recent financial year, with its trading margin decreasing from 14% to 8%.

“Reported trading profit decreased by 49% to R4 billion on the back of foreign exchange losses of R3.0 billion, weaker linear subscriber activity, and the higher full-year run-rate operating costs of Showmax.”

Showmax, MultiChoice’s streaming service, reported trading losses of R4.9 billion in the 2025 financial year, up from R2.6 billion the year before.

Return to profit and technical solvency

A key development during MultiChoice’s most recent financial year was the sale of 60% of its micro-insurance business, NMS Insurance Services (NMSIS), to Sanlam.

NMSIS is licensed to underwrite non-life and life insurance products and has been operating for over 20 years.

It primarily focused on DStv-related insurance, including device, installation, funeral, subscription waiver, and debt waiver products.

When the transaction was approved, Sanlam was said to have paid R1.2 billion cash upfront for NMSIS, with a potential performance-based cash earn-out of up to R1.5 billion.

MultiChoice said in its 2025 annual report that the profit recognized on the sale of NMSIS to Sanlam was R3 billion.

The transaction helped push MultiChoice out of technical insolvency and returned it to profitability.

In its previous financial year, MultiChoice recorded a loss of R4.15 billion. MultiChoice’s liabilities also exceeded assets at the end of its 2024 financial year, meaning it was technically insolvent.

“The group returned to a positive equity position during the current year, despite a challenging operating environment,” MultiChoice said in its 2025 annual report.

Outside the NMSIS transaction, other factors contributing to its profitability and positive equity position were cost savings of R3.7 billion and the writedown of the Showmax put option liability of R1.4 billion.

Reduced foreign exchange losses on loans also bolstered its financial position. These were R1 billion, compared to R4.6 billion in FY24, due to a more stable foreign exchange environment.

For the 2025 financial year, MultiChoice reported after-tax profit of R1.78 billion. Its net equity at year-end was R1.6 billion.

However, the company continued to report a decline in cash and cash equivalents. During FY24, its cash and cash equivalents decreased by R300 million. In 2025, the decline was R2.2 billion. (MyBroadband, but headline rejigged)