PayTV operator, Multichoice Group, is considering a weekly subscription model across its markets, including Nigeria, if the pilot phase launched in Uganda becomes successful.
MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela, disclosed in an interview with South Africa’s Sunday Times, noting that the trial in Uganda began seven weeks ago and could be expanded to other African markets within three to six months, depending on the outcome.
According to Mawela, the pilot is designed to align subscription payments with customers’ cash flow patterns, particularly in markets where users earn income on a daily or weekly basis.
“It’s a big change, and we think when people are struggling, as we have seen, offering them weekly passes will help, in the same way prepaid mobile services changed the telecoms industry,” he said.
Other considerations
Mawela also addressed long-standing customer demands for customizable channel packages.
While he ruled out a full à la carte option, he said MultiChoice is exploring a model where users start with a base package and then add specific channels as needed.
Meanwhile, MultiChoice, which has seen a significant decline in subscribers, especially in Nigeria and South Africa, said it may also unbundle its sports channels into a separate subscription package its retain subscribers.
Presenting the group’s results last week, Mawela was asked whether the company was considering separating its sport channels into a separate package.
“As part of our product offering, we have always had this project that we ran every year where we look at our packaging structures, similar to what Sky did some years back where they had a basic package, they had a sports package on the side (and) they had a general entertainment package on the side,” Mawela said.
Multichoice financial performance
The company’s latest financial results reflect a turbulent period. For the year ended March 31, 2025, MultiChoice recorded a net profit of R2.02 billion, a sharp turnaround from the R2.52 billion loss reported in the previous year.
The swing was largely due to the sale of a 60% stake in its insurance arm to Sanlam in November 2024.
- However, overall group revenue declined by 9% year-on-year, driven by an 11% drop in subscription revenues. While the South African market showed some resilience with revenue rising slightly to R41.73 billion, operations in the Rest of Africa and its streaming platform, Showmax, faced notable pressure.
- The pressure from the RoA stemmed from a consistent decline in subscribers. According to the company’s results, the RoA lost a total of 1.8 million subscribers in the last two years, bringing the total subscribers down to 7.5 million in 2025 from 9.3 million recorded in 2023.
- Nigeria accounted for 77% of this loss, having shed 1.4 million customers in the last two years.
