Subscribers to DSTV and GOTV on Multichoice channels have mocked the South African company over its report that it has lost 243,000 subscribers in Nigeria within six months.
In its Interim Financial Results for the period ending September 30 , Multichoice had lamented the loss of the huge number of subscribers and attributed it to Nigeria’s high inflation rate, which has exceeded 30 per cent.
The company had also reported that it lost a total of 566,000 subscribers across Africa in the past six months with Zambia and Nigeria contributing the largest shares.
However, reacting to the loss, Nigerians took to social media to mock the company saying services offered by Multichoice are no longer attractive to them as well as the high cost of their subscription.
One @cashoggy on his X handle wrote: “They will still lose more subscribers. Internet and smart TV have rendered Dstv unattractive with their rate.
“Imagine paying 25,700 for a premium subscription when you can surf the internet and watch all the programs for less.”
Another X user @ gentle also wrote: “Why we dey sub again when 2/4/7, many people are using their phones to watch what they want.”
@realbl wrote: “MultiChoice lost 243,000 subs because there is Multi-hunger in Nigeria. More so, there are now multiple choices replacing MultiChoice on our tablets when we need to watch soccer.”
Some also complained about the lack of good content as they accused Multichoice of repeating the same contents over and over again. They expressed views that the only content they enjoy are football channels.
@NdubuisiNC: “The downfall of this company in Nigeria will be televised and will be sweet to me.
“A company this big can’t improve on their content? Nigerians have cried for years about how boring it is, only football channels are what’s keeping most of us.”
For @Jatiti_O, Nigerians no longer have time to watch television because they are busy looking for money.
“You people haven’t realized that people don’t watch TV anymore. They go out in the hot Sun to look for money.”
@ribaduabubakar2 said :“I subscribed to another platform and simply ignored them. They kept increasing the price as if someone would die without them. I am willing to give out my decoder and dish for free.”
@ekoh wrote: “Not only bad economy but also everyday increase in their monthly tariff. If they want to bounce back, they should cut their subscription price and make it a pay-as-you-go.”
There have been calls by Nigerians for government to provide alternatives to Multichoice.
They lamented the monopoly the South African company enjoys in Nigeria which has made them increase prices of their subscriptions at will.