Business
South Africans Are Quietly Switching Off DStv, One Subscription at a Time
There was a time when cancelling DStv felt unthinkable. For years, it was the soundtrack of South African living rooms. Saturday sports, weekday soaps, and Sunday night movies all came bundled with a monthly debit order. Now, that relationship is fraying fast, not with one dramatic cut but with millions of small, deliberate ones.
Over the past two years, DStv owner MultiChoice has lost 2.8 million subscribers across its group. At its peak in March 2023, the company counted 17.3 million active pay TV customers. That number has since slipped to 14.5 million, a sharp drop that mirrors the growing strain on household budgets across the country.
The cost of living meets the cost of TV
South Africans do not need an economics lecture to explain why entertainment subscriptions are being scrutinised. With formal unemployment sitting at around 32 percent and economic growth forecasts still below one percent, luxuries are often the first thing to go. MultiChoice itself has acknowledged that consumers remain under heavy financial pressure and that any relief from lower inflation or interest rates will take time to show up in real disposable income.
This squeeze is visible in the company’s numbers. Group revenue fell from R58.42 billion in its 2023 financial year to R49.98 billion two years later. Trading profit followed the same downward path, even as the company cut costs and focused on holding onto higher-value customers rather than chasing pure volume.
Streaming changed the rules
The decline did not start yesterday. In South Africa, DStv’s most valuable Premium subscribers began slipping away as far back as 2016. That was the same year Netflix announced its global rollout, making on-demand entertainment suddenly affordable and easy to access.
Since then, cheaper streaming platforms have multiplied, offering flexible month-to-month options that feel better suited to unpredictable incomes. MultiChoice has pointed out that this shift mirrors global trends, but the local impact is particularly sharp. Younger viewers are spending more time on social media and free video platforms, while traditional linear TV struggles to compete for attention.
Piracy has added another layer of pressure. MultiChoice has flagged rising levels of illegal streaming across all genres, especially among younger audiences who are less willing to pay for content they believe they can find elsewhere.
South Africa still matters most
Despite the subscriber losses, South Africa remains the backbone of the business. The country accounts for 65 percent of MultiChoice’s group revenue, even though it represents just under half of the total active subscriber base. That imbalance shows how valuable the local market still is and why DStv remains deeply woven into the national media landscape, even as numbers fall.
There are signs of strategic adjustment. By prioritising customer quality over sheer growth, MultiChoice managed a four percent year-on-year increase in average revenue per user. Still, that has not been enough to offset an eight percent annual drop in linear TV subscribers.
Image 1: MyBroadband
Showmax and a risky pivot
MultiChoice’s streaming play has not been cheap. Showmax recorded trading losses of R4.9 billion in the 2025 financial year, almost double the previous year. Those losses, combined with higher operating costs and weaker subscriber activity, dragged reported trading profit down sharply.
The gamble reflects a difficult truth for traditional broadcasters. Standing still is not an option, even if the transition to streaming hurts in the short term.
Image 2: MyBroadband
The deal that stopped the bleeding
One of the most significant moments in MultiChoice’s recent history came from outside television altogether. The group sold 60 percent of its microinsurance arm, NMS Insurance Services, to Sanlam. The deal brought in R1.2 billion upfront, with the potential for more depending on performance, and resulted in a recognised profit of R3 billion.
That transaction helped pull MultiChoice back from technical insolvency and return it to profitability after a R4.15 billion loss the year before. By the end of the 2025 financial year, the company reported an after-tax profit of R1.78 billion and positive net equity of R1.6 billion, despite cash reserves continuing to decline.
Image 3: MyBroadband
A slow goodbye, not a sudden blackout
The story of DStv’s decline is not one of collapse but of gradual change. Millions of South Africans are not rejecting television altogether. They are reshaping how they watch, what they pay for, and how much loyalty they are willing to give to a single platform.
On social media, the mood is pragmatic rather than nostalgic. Many users talk openly about downgrading packages, sharing passwords, or rotating streaming subscriptions depending on what they want to watch that month. For them, cancelling DStv is less a statement and more a survival tactic.
For MultiChoice, the challenge now is balancing a shrinking traditional base with an expensive digital future. The remote control is still in South African hands, but the way it gets used has changed for good.
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Source: MyBroadband
Featured Image: MyBroadband
