MultiChoice Loses 1.2 Million Subscribers in a Year—What’s Next
MultiChoice Group has experienced an 8% decline in linear broadcasting subscribers, losing 1.2 million customers in the past year.
The pay-TV broadcaster now has 14.5 million active subscribers, with losses evenly split between South Africa and the rest of Africa.
The downturn underscores the company’s ongoing struggles against economic challenges and increasing competition from streaming services.
MultiChoice’s financial results for the year ending 31 March 2025 reveal a challenging outlook, with the company reporting a significant loss.
The group cited “unprecedented headwinds,” including competition from streaming giants like Netflix, rising piracy, and weakened consumer spending.
Additionally, currency depreciation across African markets erased R10.2 billion from its revenue, deepening financial strain.
Despite efforts to counter losses, the company faced a negative free cash flow of R500 million, compared to a positive inflow of R600 million a year earlier.
MultiChoice, however, still holds R5.1 billion in cash reserves and has access to R3 billion in undrawn borrowing facilities.
To ease its financial burden, MultiChoice repaid part of a R12-billion term loan early, using R900 million from the sale of its insurance business to Sanlam.
In response to financial pressures, management has ramped up cost-cutting efforts to steady operations.
The company successfully reduced expenses by R3.7 billion—nearly double the previous year’s savings.
However, trading profit still declined by 9% year on year, impacted by rising operational costs at Showmax during its peak investment phase, which includes infrastructure expansion and content acquisitions.
According to TechCentral, Showmax recorded a 44% subscriber increase in the last year, marking a rare positive development for MultiChoice.
Despite this growth, it failed to counterbalance broader revenue losses, which fell by 9% to R50.8 billion, with subscription revenue dropping by 11%.
Trading profit plummeted by 49% to R4 billion, primarily due to mounting Showmax losses and currency depreciation.
Despite the optimism from streaming growth, MultiChoice faces mounting pressure to adapt to shifting consumer trends and economic challenges.
The upcoming acquisition by Canal+ presents a potential turning point for the company, offering a strategic opportunity to reposition itself in an evolving media landscape.
