African pay-TV operator, Multichoice Group of South Africa, has announced a loss of 243,000 Nigerian subscribers on its Digital Satellite Television (DStv) and General Entertainment on Television (GOtv) services between April and September 2024.
Multichoice lamented the loss in its Interim Financial Results for the period ending September 30, 2024.
The company attributed the decline to Nigeria’s high inflation rate, which is now hovering over over 35 to 37 per cent and the low exchange rate of the Naira to the US dollar.
These anomalies, the statement said, have driven costs of food, electricity, and fuel to astronomical high level, causing many customers to disconnect or abandon the platform.
In its financial report for March 2024, MultiChoice reported an 18 per cent subscriber loss in Nigeria.
The company also reported a 566,000-subscriber loss in the Rest of Africa (RoA) operations over the past six months, with Zambia and Nigeria contributing the largest shares to the decline.
“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,” the report said.
According to the report, 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.
More Nigerian customers have been complaining about constant price increases by Multichoice and threatened to pull-out of the Paytv platform.