Pay-TV giant MultiChoice Group is piloting a weekly subscription model for its DStv service in Uganda, aiming to better align payments with customers’ income patterns, particularly in markets where earnings are often daily or weekly. The trial, which began seven weeks ago, could expand to other African countries, including Nigeria, within the next three to six months if successful, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela told South Africa’s Sunday Times.
Mawela explained that offering weekly passes is a significant shift designed to ease payment burdens for subscribers facing economic challenges, likening it to the transformative effect prepaid mobile services had on telecoms. He also revealed that the company is exploring a hybrid channel packaging model, starting with a base package and allowing customers to add specific channels, though a full à la carte option remains off the table.
In response to subscriber declines, especially in Nigeria and South Africa, MultiChoice is considering unbundling its sports channels into a separate subscription package to retain customers. The company’s latest financial results showed a net profit turnaround to R2.02 billion for the year ending March 2025, largely due to the sale of a stake in its insurance arm. However, overall group revenue fell 9%, driven by an 11% drop in subscription revenue, with the Rest of Africa region losing 1.8 million subscribers over two years, 77% of that loss coming from Nigeria.
