Multichoice lost 2.3 million 90-day active DStv subscribers over the last year, which included 614,000 in South Africa and 1,73 million in the rest of Africa.
This was revealed in Multichoice’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025, released on Wednesday.
The company’s finances are a mess. Revenue declined by 9% to R50.8 billion, primarily due to an 11% drop in subscription revenue. Trading profit decreased to R4.0 billion.
What was exactly alarming was that most metrics declined, Revenue reduced in Multichoice’s South Africa, the Rest of Africa, and Showmax businesses.
Trading profits declined in Multichoice’s technology, Rest of Africa, and Showmax businesses, and there were very few signs indicating a recovery.
The biggest story is hat DStv subscribers has continued to decrease, which followed the same trend as last year.
In South Africa, Multichoice’s 90-day active DStv subscribers declined from 8.551 million to 7.937 million over the last year.
In the Rest of Africa, Multichoice’s 90-day active DStv subscribers reduced from 12.383 million to 10.655 million over the last year.
This resulted in 90-day active DStv subscribers across the group reduced to 18.592 million in 2024 from 20.934 million in 2025.
90-day active DStv subscribers are all the subscribers that have an active primary subscription within the 90 days on or before the reporting date.
In South Africa, Multichoice lost subscribers across all DStv segments. Multichoice lost 10% of premium subscribers, 6% of mid-market clients, and 7% of mass-market subscribers.
In the remaining part of Africa, 13% of premium subscribers, 12% of mid-market clients, and 14% of mass-market subscribers were lost.
Multichoice said the decline in DStv subscribers indicates ongoing broad-based pressure across the group’s entire customer base.
It explained that high unemployment, low economic growth, and the ongoing effect of load reductions put South African consumers under significant financial pressure.
This had adverse effects on businesses like Multichoice that provide discretionary products and services like DStv.