MultiChoice eyes weekly subscription plans for DStv, GOtv users across Africa

Pan-African PayTV giant, MultiChoice Group, is considering rolling out weekly subscription plans for its popular DStv and GOtv platforms in Nigeria and other African markets. This follows a pilot scheme currently underway in Uganda.

Speaking in an interview with South Africa’s Sunday Times, Group CEO Calvo Mawela disclosed that the trial began seven weeks ago and is showing promising results. If the pilot proves successful, the flexible payment model could be implemented more widely across the continent within the next three to six months.

According to Mawela, the move is designed to align better with the financial realities of customers in many African countries, where income is often earned in smaller amounts and on a more frequent, weekly basis.

“It’s a big change, and we think when people are struggling, as we have seen, offering them weekly passes will help, in the same way prepaid mobile services changed the telecoms industry,” Mawela said.

Mawela, who also spoke to the company’s evolving approach to content packaging, said MultiChoice  is evaluating a system where users begin with a core package and add individual channels based on preference.

The company is also considering creating a standalone sports package—a shift that could appeal to sports fans who may not be interested in general entertainment content.

“As part of our product offering, we have always had this project that we ran every year where we look at our packaging structures, similar to what Sky did some years back where they had a basic package, they had a sports package on the side (and) they had a general entertainment package on the side,” he explained.

MultiChoice’s recent financial disclosures reveal mounting pressure, especially in key markets like Nigeria and South Africa.

For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, the company posted a net profit of R2.02 billion, reversing a R2.52 billion loss from the previous year. The rebound was primarily attributed to the sale of a 60% stake in its insurance business to Sanlam in late 2024.

Despite the profit, the group’s total revenue dropped by 9% year-on-year, with subscription income falling by 11%.

While the South African division posted marginal gains, reaching R41.73 billion in revenue, operations in the Rest of Africa (RoA) region and its streaming service, Showmax, were under strain.

The subscriber base across RoA markets shrank by 1.8 million over the past two years—dropping from 9.3 million in 2023 to 7.5 million in 2025. Nigeria alone accounted for 77% of the loss, shedding 1.4 million customers during that period.