Global media and entertainment group, Naspers has published its financial report for the year ended 31 March 2018, which shows a massive decline in the premium subscription of MultiChoice’s DStv.
According to the report, over the last year, subscribers on the DStv platform grew by a 13 per cent margin, an increase from11.942 million to 13.476 million with most of this growth coming from lower-end subscribers, which shows that MultiChoice’s mass-market growth is continuing.
MultiChoice’s high-end customers who are DStv Premium subscribers suffered a decline from 1.962 million to 1.921 million over the last year, resulting in a loss of 41,000 DStv Premium subscribers in the previous financial year. This staggering loss of high-end subscribers also nose-dived the average revenue per user (ARPU) from $26 (R353) per month to $25 (R344) per month.
According to Naspers: “The trend of mass market growth continues, premium tier growth experiences a decline while the compact tier growth is beginning to enjoy some stability”.
It comes as no surprise to experts in the media and telecommunications sector that with more reliable internet connection in some parts of Africa, terrestrial and pay-tv might become a thing of the past.
In earlier reports Chief Operating Officer, MultiChoice SA Mark Rayner balmed Service-Video-On-Demand platforms for the losses pay-tv is experiencing. He believed that these SVOD brands would fundamentally disrupt the pay-TV industry and that the broadcasting regulatory body in South Africa was not paying enough attention to these alarming developments.
