Reported by Musa Antiketu, Journalist at Sele Media Africa.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — MultiChoice Group has signalled a cautious DStv pricing stance as it heads into 2026, citing inflation, currency weakness and subscriber pressure across key African markets. The Johannesburg-based pay-TV company said its pricing approach must balance revenue protection with customer retention in markets where households face rising living costs.
The company set out that position in its FY25 results materials and strategy updates, which show how macroeconomic pressure continues to shape its decisions. MultiChoice said inflation across its Rest of Africa footprint averaged about 20 percent, with Nigeria and Angola above 30 percent, while currency weakness cut reported revenues and trading profit.
Pricing Under Pressure
MultiChoice’s latest reporting shows the company still leans on inflationary pricing to offset subscriber losses and foreign-exchange shocks. The group said it applied average local-currency price increases of 31 percent across Rest of Africa in FY25, while South Africa saw a 5.7 percent increase.
That approach now faces fresh scrutiny as subscribers in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya continue to complain about repeated increases in the cost of premium TV access. MultiChoice’s own numbers show why the pressure persists: the company lost 1.2 million active linear subscribers in FY25, down 8 percent year on year, with declines split evenly between South Africa and Rest of Africa.
The company linked those losses to a stretched consumer environment, power shortages in several markets and ongoing piracy. It also said revenue fell 9 percent to ZAR50.8 billion, while subscription revenues dropped 11 percent, partly because of currency weakness and lower volumes.
Subscribers Push Back
Consumer concern around DStv pricing has sharpened because household budgets across Africa have weakened under inflation and currency depreciation. MultiChoice said inflationary pressure hit its markets hard, especially Nigeria and Angola, where inflation exceeded 30 percent on a weighted-average basis, leaving fewer households able to absorb higher entertainment costs.
The company has tried to soften the blow with new products and distribution changes. Its investor materials say it grew DStv Stream and DStv Internet, while also expanding Showmax and bundling options in select markets. MultiChoice frames those moves as part of a wider effort to retain customers without abandoning price discipline.
Even so, the market signal remains clear: MultiChoice now faces a trade-off between maintaining margins and defending its subscriber base. The company said “inflationary pricing” helped it protect organic revenue, but it also acknowledged that subscriber volume pressure continues to weigh on the business.
What The Numbers Show
The numbers reveal a business under structural stress, not a short-term wobble. MultiChoice reported a ZAR5.2 billion revenue decline and a ZAR3.1 billion negative trading profit impact from currency movements alone in FY25.
The company also said Rest of Africa active subscribers fell 7 percent year on year, with Nigeria accounting for more than half of that decline. It added that inflationary pricing delivered 3 percent organic revenue growth in Rest of Africa, but currency weakness still pushed reported revenues down 23 percent.
That tension explains why MultiChoice sounds cautious about 2026 pricing. The group has not announced a universal new tariff schedule in the materials reviewed, but its strategy documents show that management expects inflation-linked pricing to remain central to its short-term plan.
Competition Changes The Game
MultiChoice also faces a broader shift in how Africans pay for video entertainment. The company says streaming, piracy and social media have changed viewing habits, while its own strategy now puts more weight on DStv Stream, Showmax and other digital offerings.
That shift matters because premium pay-TV no longer enjoys the same pricing power it once had. Households in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa can now compare satellite packages with cheaper internet-based alternatives, even where data costs remain high. MultiChoice appears to recognise that reality in its push to become “the streaming service of choice for all Africans,” while still preserving the core DStv business.
The company’s latest results also show that new growth areas help, but not enough to erase the pressure on linear television. Showmax active paying subscribers rose 44 percent year on year, yet the group still recorded a sharp fall in overall subscription performance.
Africa’s Pay-TV Fault Line
MultiChoice’s pricing dilemma carries wider significance across the continent because it mirrors the strain on consumer-facing media businesses in inflation-hit markets. Nigeria, South Africa and Angola all face sharp currency or price pressures, and those conditions now shape what households can afford to watch, read and stream.
The issue also speaks to broader debates about affordability and access in African media markets. In Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, regulators and consumer advocates increasingly question whether essential entertainment and news platforms can raise prices faster than wages rise. MultiChoice’s results show the company trying to protect commercial sustainability while operating in economies where purchasing power has weakened.
For Africa’s media ecosystem, the stakes extend beyond one company. If pay-TV prices climb too fast, more viewers may shift to free-to-air channels, mobile clips, social platforms or piracy, weakening the economics of original content across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and beyond.
What Comes Next
MultiChoice now enters 2026 with a clear but difficult mandate: defend revenue, slow subscriber losses and keep enough households inside the DStv ecosystem to justify its content spend. Its next results update will show whether management keeps leaning on inflation-linked pricing or softens its stance to protect volumes.
Subscribers, regulators and competitors will all watch the next move closely. If MultiChoice raises prices too aggressively, it risks accelerating churn across Africa’s biggest pay-TV markets; if it holds back, it may absorb more pressure on margins and cash flow.
Sources:
- MultiChoice Group, FY25 annual results press release and results announcement, June 2025
- MultiChoice Group, FY25 consolidated annual financial statements, June 2025
- MultiChoice Group, strategy and latest results pages, accessed April 2026
- Sele Media Africa, related past coverage if applicable, https://selemedia.org/
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