DStv playing with fire

MultiChoice has removed one of DStv’s biggest drawcards – the trust that SuperSport will carry all major sporting events without exception.

Last week, MultiChoice said that SuperSport will not have any coverage of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

A spokesperson for MultiChoice, now owned by Groupe Canal+, told MyBroadband that there wouldn’t be live coverage or highlights on Catch Up.

After not sending a team to the Winter Olympics since 2018, South Africa has sent its largest-ever winter sports delegation to the games this year.

Despite this development, MultiChoice has decided to save money by not covering the Winter Olympics from 6 to 22 February 2026.

This decision weakens DStv’s SuperSport offering, which will not go down well with DStv Premium subscribers.

Most of these subscribers are willing to pay R1,000 a month to ensure access to all high-profile sporting events.

Whether it is a top-level boxing match, a rugby championship, a cricket tournament, or the English Premier League (EPL), Supersport would cover it.

The 2026 Winter Olympics fall firmly into the category which DStv subscribers could expect to watch.

However, MultiChoice has now broken the trust of DStv Premium subscribers for failing to cover this important event.

Even more concerning is that the pay-TV service did not inform subscribers that they would have to look elsewhere.

This shows that MultiChoice no longer views covering significant sporting events on SuperSport as a non-negotiable decision.

Instead, the decision is made by the finance and operational executives, based on whether it makes financial sense.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with that. However, it puts DStv, especially DStv Premium, at risk of losing subscribers.

These subscribers will now have to find alternative ways to watch certain sporting events, and they will soon discover that it is available for free online.

This, in turn, will cause them to question why they are paying nearly R1,000 per month for content which they can get for free.

MultiChoice’s plummeting numbers

MultiChoice’s latest operational numbers showed it is rapidly losing DStv subscribers, which is a serious concern to its new shareholder, Canal+.

Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada recently provided details about its turnaround strategy for MultiChoice during the presentation.

He told investors that the turnaround will focus on returning the company to growth, leveraging cost optimisations, and driving synergies within the group.

The numbers, which include declining subscriber numbers and revenue, clearly showed why MultiChoice needs a turnaround strategy.

Over the last year, MultiChoice’s subscribers declined from 14.5 million to 13.1 million. Simply put, MultiChoice lost 1.4 million DStv subscribers.

The declining DStv subscriber trend accelerated over the last few years. It began with DStv Premium and has since spread to lower-end bouquets in recent years.

The company attributed this decline to several factors, including increased competition from streaming providers and a challenging economic environment.

“The past two financial years have been a period of significant financial disruption for economies, corporates, and consumers across sub-Saharan Africa,” MultiChoice said.

It stated that its challenges include macroeconomic factors and the impact of structural changes in the video entertainment industry.

Its operational challenges related to DStv subscriptions include the rise of piracy, streaming services, and social media.

This has materially affected the overall performance of the MultiChoice Group in the 2025 financial year. It lost 2.8 million active linear subscribers.