MultiChoice increased subscriber growth across Africa hurt by higher programming cost

Naspers released its financial results for the six months ended September 2013, revealing that its pay-TV revenue grew by 18% to R17.1 billion. Profit increased by 11% to R4.477 billion.

The subscriber base increased by a net 560,000 and now totals 7.259 million households in 48 countries in Africa.

In South Africa MultiChoice increased its DStv subscriber base by 531,000 over the last year, totalling 4.699 million.

Naspers said that its PVR subscriber base increased 19% year on year to 1 million. It further said that it saw strong growth on its DStv Compact offering.

DStv programming cost soars

Naspers revealed that MultiChoice’s (DStv’s) programming cost increased significantly over the last twelve months.

This was partly due to more local content, the weaker rand and additional satellite costs.

In South Africa, M-Net launched two new local content channels, Mzansi Wethu and Mzansi Bioskop, showcasing South African content.

The DStv service was boosted with several new channels, including Telemundo, M-Net Series Showcase, M-Net Series Reality, M-Net Series Zone and M-Net Movies Zone.