Recap To The Month: Canal+ Looking To Make MultiChoice A Global Powerhouse Against The Likes Of Disney And Netflix By Making Local Content Go Global

During the month, Canal+ Group CEO was approached by journalists where he addressed several matters regarding MultiChoice. As reported, he's been given the greenlight to acquire the remaining shares and is currently drawing up a proposal to appease legislation. 

Together the merged company would have reached 50 million households (30 million reside within Africa). It would make it the biggest entertainment company across the world that's not based in the United States.

Apart from the MultiChoice deal in Africa, the group had increased its share in the Hong Kong-based streaming platform Viu to 30% - with the option of increasing it to 50%. Viu has accumulated 15 million subscribers in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Canal+ plans for MultiChoice's local endeavors 

Saada says the new, merged company will take a "very, very different approach" than the American companies, by focusing on the highest quality local content. "And it's not necessarily very difficult, but it needs resources. And once you reach a scale of 50 million subscribers, then you have the resources."

Implying that local content from M-Net and various of other brands like Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and KykNET will likely resurface in parts of Europe and Asia. Now that funds coming into MultiChoice will have additional outlets and possible increase local commission. 

MultiChoice Studios' offering was limited to Showmax and various M-Net channels. With Canal+, we'll probably be seeing more of Blood Psalms and Recipe For Love And Murder and possible content distributed in France before Africa. 

Where does this leave brands like eNCA and SABC News?

Nothing can be for certain in regards to that as Canal+ does supply various local channels from DStv onto their platforms in Francophone Africa. These include Africa Magic Epic, M-Net Movies, SuperSport La Liga and Premier League and Zee World.

South African content has been known to be kind of pricey one of the reasons eNCA is not viewable on a platform like Openview. It's not necessarily about exclusivity but the fact that there's not much competitors that can aid in MultiChoice's pursuit in that regard.

If anything, it would probably be a miracle if some content from these channels wind up on French based news channel Canal+ 8 (C8). There's been scenarios where TV channels would just invest in regional content it was like that with BBC News and CGTN.

Media24 To Close City Press, Daily Sun, Rapport And Beeld In October

Media24 will reportedly be closing 4 of its print publications in October, including Daily Sun, Beeld, Rapport and City Press.

This according to a report by Moneyweb which cites four sources have confirmed the media house’s decision to shut down some of its mainstream publications.

In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Media24 considered the closure of 5 magazines and 2 newspapers.

A total of 510 positions were impacted and the company consolidated several positions in a long-term restructuring process.

It is now reported that a rapid decrease in circulation numbers has led to the decision to shut down the 4 publications mentioned above.

As reported by Moneyweb, it is unknown whether Media24 will continue with the online brands for these publications which lives as sub-sections under News24 and Netwerk24 websites.

Rapport’s circulation reportedly fell from 335 000 in 2000 to just 60 000 in 2024.

City Press declined from 233 000 to just 14 000, while the Beeld dropped from 100 000 to 20 000.

News Shorts: TPA Noticias Broadcasts The Angola ICT Forum 2024 For Consumers In South Africa, DStv Access Gets More Kids Channels Alongside SuperSport Football And TBN And Disney Channel Potential HD Feed Likely Scrapped On DStv

Angola ICT Forum 2024 is also viewable to DStv consumers in South Africa 

Mário Oliveira welcomed the participants to Angotic/2024. On the occasion, the minister listed the sector's challenges that began 45 years ago and that now allow the country to be at the forefront of leadership in the ICT sector in Africa. Despite all the achievements already achieved, the leader of MINTTICS said that the focus continues on ensuring infrastructures capable of revolutionizing communications on the continent with a focus on optical fiber and cable networks. These commitments, according to the minister, are visible in the quality of ICT services and the continuous training of national staff, to respond to the country's challenges.

MultiChoice allocated TPA Noticias on channel 530 to all DStv Premium, Compact+, Compact, Family, Access and Easyview customers from June 13th to 15th as part of the commemoration.

DStv Access gets more entertaining 

MultiChoice decided to add Cartoonito, Disney Channel, Nicktoons and DreamWorks to DStv Access from June 15th to July 7th as kids are at home for the school holidays. Weirdly enough, no open window had been announced for their Family to Compact audience.

Older audiences can enjoy the best sporting action on channel 205 until July 16th. Other content also offered on SuperSport Football include Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Serie A and La Liga.

TBN and Disney Channel HD is a bust

A few years ago, MultiChoice was working on two HD feeds for both TBN and Disney Channel, and from the looks of the duration had been in development hell. Now TBN had been phased out for Zambezi Reloaded while Disney Channel by Racing240.

Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are already in high definition and were commonly known as the big 3 alongside Disney Channel. Those numbers continue to fall short on MultiChoice's end while with TBN I think what's more shocking was its nomination for such frequency. 

Developing Story: StarSat Scraps Possibly Delays Price Increase Following News Of Its Possible Closure In South Africa

Not long ago, it was announced that StarSat would implementing a price increase effective from July 1st. Now the pay-tv company has removed any mentions of such across their social platforms following possible news of its closure in South Africa. 

On Digital Media, the parent company and license holder for StarSat's broadcast license was said to be revoked by ICASA. With sources mentioning that they had until September 18th to address staff and the various parties affected by this matter.

StarSat in these regards is exploring all the regulatory and legal issues regarding its licencing. This could have been the contributing factor as to why any mentions of these prices had since been taken down.

But StarTimes continues to sell their decoders when in such regards you would have to pause the distribution of your products. Various consumers worried and concerned wonder what will happen with AMC, One Free Televisual and Da Vinci.

MultiChoice had packaged and once distributed some of the channels viewed on their platform. The demise of StarSat means none of this content would be available in South Africa while others like CBS Reality and National Geographic reside on DStv.

Another downside pertains to the local offering viewed on the platform such as One Freestate Televisual and Rising Sun TV. Unlike the latter above whose reach extends to Africa, these are regional channels and as such don't have much avenues to stay on air.

News Shorts: Supa Strikas To Be Dubbed In IsiZulu For Play Room, Zee World Is Living Every Moment With New On Air Look By June 17 And Zambezi Reloaded Might Be Relaunching On DStv In The Coming Weeks

Supa Strikas goes local

As reported, Play Room had acquired rights to Supa Strikas after being made available to multiple kids channels on DStv already. The channel will add a new spin toward the animated series by dubbing the show in Zulu being the first for older viewers.

When Play Room launched later in 2023, it was only the preschool offering that received such treatment with Cocomelon and Akili And Me. With the soccer stars set to join this trio daily at 17:00 from 17 June.

Zee World is lighting your viewing experience 

Zee World was launched back in 2015 and has since then become one of the leading destinations for Bollywood entertainment. It's success led to the additions of Zee One, Zee Alem in Ethopia and the recent Zee Zonke in Southern Africa. 

Now the channel is gearing up for a new campaign titled Living Every Moment from June 17 with Zee World that is set to rollout updated graphics. 

Fan favorite channel makes a comeback

Zambezi Reloaded was added onto MultiChoice's DStv as catchup channel to Zambezi Magic. This was only applicable to consumers in Malawi after MultiChoice had its DStv license suspended with consumers having to catchup on past episodes during the festive season. 

Now MultiChoice appears to be looking at possibly reviving the channel for the second time of course the intentions for this iterations has yet to be mentioned. 

New Series Alert: Jeyran Currently Streaming On eVOD, Might Launch On eExtra Or eSeries

With little to no publicity from eMedia Investments on the endeavors on their platforms. The streamer eVOD added the Iranian historical drama 'Jeyran' making this the first outside of Istanbul to be allocated on the platform following Dayan, Destructive Beauty. 

It captures the 6 years of the life of Naser al-Din Shah and his favorite mistress, Jeyran and takes place in Iran, 19th century, after the death of Amirkabir. The king of Persia, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, falls in love with Jeyran, who loves Siavash.

It starred Parinaz Izadyar as Jeyran, Bahram Radan as Naser al-Din Shah, Amirhossein Fathi as Siavash Panjsangi, Mahdi Pakdel as Salman, Setareh Pesyani as Noghreh, Ghazal Shakeri as Malekzadeh and Samira Hassanpour as Galin Khanum.

Jeyran made its debut on the Iranian network Home Video on February 13, 2022 with 52 episodes having being filmed. The forbidden love story is currently streaming on eVOD with more details regarding its availability on Openview to be announced soon.

In other developments, eMedia Investments will be adding more content from BET with a second season of Black Tax. No word as to why eMedia Investments would allocate season 2 on e.tv instead of season 1 airs Saturdays at 19:30 from June 15.

New ‘Regular Show,’ ‘Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends’ Series And More Unveiled At Annecy

J.G. Quintel’s new “Regular Show” and Craig McCracken’s “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” spin-off both feature in a new production slate from Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

Unveiled Wednesday at Annecy, they join a new “Adventure Time” series, “Side Quests,” as greenlights at the Warner-owned companies.

The news slate also boasts two more “Adventure Time” shows in development, plus an unannounced Scooby-Doo project.

The big question raised by the studio’s Annecy focus is whether the surge in new shows is a temporary anomaly or marks a broader indicator of a more sustained return by Warner Bros. Discovery to fuller-on animation production after the lull of the recent past.

Certainly, the news will not come much bigger at this year’s Annecy than “Adventure Time,” “Regular Show” and “Fosters” returns, shows which helped shape fandom’s sense of modern-day animation entertainment in the 2010s and just before. 

The WBA-CNS-HBSE bonanza also underscores Warner Bros.’s declared strategy of returning to top fan favorites but making them for different age group demos.

McCracken’s original “Foster’s” targeted 6-11s, while the new “Foster’s Home” is preschool; the unveiled “Adventure Time” titles include a preschool show, “Heyo BMO,” and a family feature “Adventure Time Movie.”

Below, a brief breakdown of new shows announced by the three companies at Annecy.

Greenlights Announced at Annecy

“Foster’s Funtime for Imaginary Friends” (Cartoon Network Studios)

Creator of “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends,” which won Emmys and Annies, Craig McCracken (also known for “Powerpuff Girls”) is back with a completely new original series targeting pre-schoolers. In it, a now-young group of preschool imaginary friends learns from an immature elder friend, Bloo, who, as in the original, still unintentionally gets things wrong. McCracken has promised the same fast pace but a fun, simpler structure and less cynical humor. Only Bloo and Madame Foster return.

“Adventure Time: Side Quests” (Cartoon Network Studios)

As Variety has just announced, while adult-skewed “Fionna & Cake” is airing on Max, “Side Quests” takes the franchise back to a kid’s show, marking a return to early days with kid Finn and best buddy Jake fighting monsters on epic quests in an episodic series, eschewing the long story arcs of later “Adventure Times.” “Side Quests” looks set in the same world as the early original repeating characters such as villain The Ice King. Nate Cash, a creative (2012-13) and then supervising director (Season 5) on “Adventure Time,” figures as the series creator.

Untitled Regular Show Project, (Cartoon Network) 

Details on the new show are being kept under wraps. It’s not even known if Mordecai and Rigby are back. The key, however, is that it’s from J.G. Quintel. The show is entirely new, though it will feature some characters from the original series, Variety has learned. 

“Go-Go Mystery Machine” (Cartoon Network)

A Scooby-Doo spin-off series takes the gang to Japan. “While visiting Japan on the ultimate foodie adventure, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo unwittingly unleash hundreds of mischievous mythical monsters that are now causing trouble all over the country,” the description runs.  Scooby turns to his uncle, Daisuke-Doo, and magical friend Etsuko and gadget wiz Toshiro to help solve the mystery and catch the monsters. 

“Adventure Time: Heyo BMO” (Cartoon Network Studios)

The first-ever “Adventure Time” pre-school series. “In the fantastical Land of Ooo, the little robot BMO is on a new adventure. Now settled in a new neighborhood with new friends, BMO approaches each challenge he faces with his unique brand of enthusiasm and curiosity in a quest to learn and fill his database,” the description runs. Adam Muto, “Adventure Time” showrunner from mid-Season 5, returns as the main creative talent alongside Ashlyn Anstee, a storyboard artist on “Distant Lands.”

“Untitled Barbara Throws a Wobbler Project” (Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe)

A preschool series based on award-winning author and illustrator Nadia Shireen’s picturebook, about a young cat who most days does what other cats do, until one day she throws a tantrum she can’t control. Creative lead is animation supervisor Joris van Hulzen, a 2D animation director on “The Amazing World of Gumball.” 

“The Adventure Time Movie” (Cartoon Network Studios)

Billed by CNS as: “Jake and Finn embark on their greatest adventure yet.” Rebecca Sugar, behind “Steven Universe” and a storyboard artist on “Adventure Time” Seasons 2 and 3, serves as creator with Muto and another “Adventure Time” veteran, Patrick McHale, a writer, creative director and storyboard artist on the original series from 2010-17. 

“Bad Karma,” (Warner Bros. Animation)

A family movie project set in a fantasy mythological world billed by WBA as an “exciting and epic tale about courage, loyalty and an unlikely friendship.” This title features a young demon princess, Chandra, and the legendary demi-god, Hanuman. A clip shown at Annecy turns on Chandra’s travails with men until she meets the giant Hanuman.  Creators take in Sanjay Patel, dictator of Oscar-nominated “Sanjay’s Super Team,” Rajesh Devraj (writer of “Arjun: The Warrior Prince”), Vikash Shankar and Katie Rice.

“Lovey Dovey,” (Warner Bros. Animation)

A romantic wedding dove, in search of his one true love, gets stuck with a bunch of streetwise pigeons whose only goal is to screw the large bird from a popular kids TV show. Ava Tramer, a writer on “Harley Quinn,” takes the creative lead.

MultiChoice Reports Resilient Performance While Expanding Its Platform

Clear strategic milestones were reached, with the group successfully launching Showmax 2.0, SuperSportBet and Moment, all of which are now revenue-generating and supporting the group’s future growth prospects.

“Four years after setting out a clear strategy of building Africa’s entertainment platform of choice and investing in services to support a broader ecosystem, our three core segments are now fully operational: video entertainment, interactive entertainment and fintech. Our focus now shifts to building on these solid foundations to drive growth in these new areas, and on further enhancing business efficiency across our operations.

While we are not alone in feeling the challenges of a weak consumer environment, I am proud of the speed and effectiveness of the team in implementing strategic actions to retain customers, safeguard cash generation and drive costs savings which surpassed our targets. It is the strength of this team, the quality of the underlying business and the clarity of our strategy which underpins my confidence in delivering on our potential,” said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO.

Some key points for the past financial year:

• Subscriber base: Given the challenging consumer environment, overall active subscribers declined by 9%. This was mainly due to a 13% decline in the Rest of Africa business, with Nigeria, Angola and Zambia most affected, while the South African business was more resilient, declining by only 5%.  

• Group revenue: increased by 3% on an organic basis. However, due to weaker local currencies and consumer pressure, reported Group revenue declined by 5% to ZAR56.0bn.

• Subscription revenues: grew by 2% on an organic basis. However, on a reported basis, subscription revenues declined by 7% due to a weaker Naira.

• Group trading profit: increased 24% on an organic basis, despite the additional ZAR1.4bn investment in Showmax to drive future growth. After factoring in the ZAR4.5bn impact related to foreign exchange weakness, reported trading profit declined by 21% to ZAR7.9bn.

• Positive operating leverage: Given the positive impact of the lower expenditure (including ZAR1.9bn in cost savings and ZAR1.5bn in reduced decoder subsidies), the group achieved positive operating leverage of 4.3% (i.e. a 3.3% organic revenue increase against a 1% organic reduction in operating expenses).

• Adjusted core headline earnings: Higher realised hedging gains and benefits from a narrower gap between official and parallel Naira rate, was more than offset by the weaker trading profitability, resulting in adjusted core headline earnings (which now includes losses on cash remittances after tax and minorities) decreasing by 20% to ZAR1.3bn.

• Free cash flow: amounted to ZAR589m, impacted by lower profitability and the 7bn in Showmax platform payments.

Retained cash and cash equivalents: ZAR7.3bn in cash (before short-term commitments) and access to ZAR4.1bn in undrawn borrowing facilities provides significant headroom and flexibility to fund opportunities.

 

MultiChoice is by far the largest producer of original content on the African continent. In FY24, the group again produced over 6 500 hours of local content and its local content library now has more than 84,000 hours of content, a 12% increase YoY.

The highlight for the year was Shaka Ilembe, which launched on Mzansi Magic in June to become Africa’s biggest TV series. Filmed entirely on location in South Africa, it was created through the skills and contributions of over 8 000 people. The premiere episode attracted over four million viewers and was the top-performing show with an audience share of over 45% in its time slot.

Other content highlights of the year was Reyka (season 2), Devil’s Peak and White Lies on linear (co-produced with Fremantle, Canal +, Abacus Distribution and BBC Studios-owned Lookout Point) and Spinners, Original Sin: My Son The Killer, and Catch Me a Killer, on streaming. Across Africa, the group launched 3 new proprietary channels - in Ethiopia (Maaddii Abol), Uganda (Pearl Magic Loko) and Mozambique (Maningue Magic Kool) while also producing content in Africa’s 4th most spoken language, Oromo.

SuperSport broadcast 34 490 live events during the year – arguably more live sport than any other broadcaster in the world. Highlights included the Rugby World Cup in France, the Cricket World Cup in India, a second  SA20 season in South Africa, AFCON, FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, as well as the Netball World Cup in Cape Town.

SuperSport Schools more than doubled its registered user base during the year. The fast-growing platform displayed more than 49 000 hours of live programming across 43 different sports codes, covering 900 school sport festivals and events, featuring more than 1 100 schools, and over 14 500 teams.

SEGMENTAL REVIEW

South Africa Pay-TV (MultiChoice South Africa)

Due to a strong focus on retention initiatives, the decline in active subscribers in South Africa was limited to 5%, despite the challenging environment. The base now stands at 7.6 million households.  Power outages experienced on 275 days of the year further discouraged potential subscribers without backup power.

Although the Premium bouquet is trending toward a stable base given the targeted retention efforts, the premium customer tier (which includes the Premium and Compact Plus bouquets) declined by 8%. The mid-market Compact base, which is most exposed to the macro-economic challenges, was down 9%, while the mass-market tier was 2% lower due to pressure in the Family base, the impact of loadshedding, and reduced decoder subsidies.

A consequent 3% decline in subscription revenues and softer advertising income weighed on the segment’s total revenues (-2% to ZAR33.6bn), but was partially offset by strong traction from new revenue streams, especially the insurance business (NMSIS) which reported a 35% increase in premium revenue to almost ZAR1bn. Several interventions to reduce costs enabled the SA business to achieve a trading margin of over 26%.  

Rest of Africa Pay-TV (MultiChoice Africa)

The business in the Rest of Africa faced the toughest macro-economic conditions in its core markets with high, double-digit inflation and extreme depreciation of local currencies, (especially in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and Zambia) which impacted USD revenues by 32%.

The active subscriber base declined to 8.1m, but effective retention efforts contributed to an improved subscriber mix.

Due to the challenging market dynamics, the short-term focus of this business shifted from subscriber growth to safeguard profitability and cash flows. Several cost-saving initiatives were implemented, including scaling back significantly on decoder subsidies (-46% YoY or ZAR1.3bn), and reducing SG&A costs by ZAR500m. These interventions enabled the Rest of Africa business to increase trading profit by 48% YoY to ZAR1.3bn.

Sub-Saharan Africa SVOD (Showmax)

FY24 was a pivotal year for Showmax as it relaunched across 44 markets in sub-Saharan Africa on Peacock’s world-class platform, which is 4K/HDR and ATMOS ready. Almost 100% of the eligible customer base was migrated to the new Showmax platform, and 88% of those migrated had reactivated their accounts in the seven weeks to year-end.

Alongside local content from M-Net, Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic, Showmax ramped up its local content, releasing 59 original movies and series in SA, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana (FY23: 48). Popular shows that drove viewership included Tracking Thabo Bester, Koek, The Mommy Club, Youngins, Red Ink, Adulting, Outlaws and Real Housewives of Durban in South Africa, Cheta’m, Real Housewives of Lagos, Dead Serious, Wura and Flawsome in Nigeria, and Single Kiasi and Second Family in Kenya.

Showmax revenues for the year grew by 22% (+22% organic) to ZAR1.0bn, while trading losses increased to ZAR2.6bn. These losses came in below the expected range of ZAR3-4.0bn. As noted before, due to the partnership agreement signed in 2023, 30% of Showmax’s funding requirements is contributed by Comcast.

Technology (Irdeto)

Irdeto’s strong execution, enabled it to become the market leader in managed security services for video with a 22% market share. It also saw significant success in combatting piracy, taking down some 30 000 streaming piracy services during the year. Revenue increased by 17% (7% organic) driven by external customers across video entertainment, gaming and connected transport, with some additional uplift from a weaker ZAR against the USD. Disciplined cost management supported a 23% trading margin.

Irdeto shipped its first keyless solutions to leading customers, including one of the largest fleet operators in the US market. This resulted in a revenue increase of 119% YoY in the connected transport division, with revenue from new services now representing a combined 35.7% of total revenues. 

Sports betting and interactive entertainment (KingMakers)

KingMakers reported strong growth in the online business in Nigeria, with monthly active users up 37% YoY and online gross gaming revenues up 26% YoY in constant currency. New products were also launched, including BetKing Casino and BetKing FootballGO, a virtual football sportsbook service.

Revenue of USD147m was affected by the weak Naira, while the business reported a positive EBITDA of USD2m. At the end of its December year-end the business had a retained cash balance USD113m to fully fund its growth initiatives.

KingMakers launched the SuperSportBet business in South Africa in January 2024. Its pre-game shows and live feed integration with SuperPicks, as well as the Playbook preview show were key drivers of uptake, further supported by SuperSportBet becoming the official betting partner of local soccer clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

Fin-tech (Moment)

After being founded during FY23, Moment officially launched in FY24. The business played a vital role in the Showmax relaunch stepping up to fill a critical payments gap. In January this year, Moment also began processing MultiChoice’s payments for DStv, reaching a milestone of processing USD85m in payments in early March 2024.

To-date, Moment has processed local and cross-border card payments in 44 Showmax markets and is already accounting for more than 20% of Group’s payment volumes. It also joined real-time payment networks in 18 countries, including South Africa, and is currently piloting instant payment and account activation for DStv.

The business raised an additional USD22m of funding, with MultiChoice contributing USD8m. As a result, Moment is now valued at USD82m and MultiChoice owns a 26% stake.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

The linear video-entertainment business remains the mainstay of the group’s operations and provides a valuable base from which to expand its service offerings. The new streaming, interactive entertainment, fintech and connectivity services are having a positive impact on the business, and more importantly, on the lives of its customers. Going forward, the group will focus its efforts on scaling Showmax, Moment, SuperSportBet, as well as on driving growth in insurance (NMSIS), DStv Internet and DStv Stream.

To counter the challenges around an uncertain economic recovery globally and across the group’s operating footprint, the group will continue to drive business efficiency and cost optimisation, with an increased cost savings target of ZAR2bn.

Not only should this mitigate the ongoing impact of currency volatility and consumer weakness on performance, but together with the company’s strategic plans to continue adapting its platforms to cater to customers’ evolving needs, it positions the group well to prosper once currencies stabilize and economies rebound.

Important Notice: StarSat SA To Implement Price Increase From July 1st Amidst Reports Of A Possible Closure Of The Platform

StarSat, a Chinese based operator which is formed as part of a joint venture with On Digital Media and StarTimes was rumoured to be closing by September 18th. Serving as one of the only pay-tv rivals to MultiChoice's DStv was launched in the market 14 years ago.

In an update, On Digital Media's CEO Debbie Wu is currently looking to explore all the regulatory and legal issues with their licensing. They don't intend to close their doors and should that be the case they will accept all obligations and inform the necessary parties.

Amidst these reports, StarSat will be implementing a price increase from 1st July after MultiChoice made the adjustments to the price rates for their platforms in April. With the new prices listed as follows:

* Special will go up from R130p/m to R140pm

* Super will go up from R250p/m to R280p/m

* Max will go up from R360p/m to R400p/m

For a company whose future is quo, this seems like a risky move on their part. Considering there's still uncertainty pertaining to the future in the market and also stemming from the rise in competition with the likes of Netflix and Showmax. 

MultiChoice continues to lose more DStv customers on the mid to higher end particularly Premium to Compact while their low masses ranging from Family to Easyview experience weak growth. Of course, this isn't a scenario that is carried in other parts of Africa.