Pay-TV subscribers in South Africa have fallen 9.6 per cent in the year to September 2025 according to data from regulator Icasa.

The fall, to well below 7 million, is the lowest for five years. The number of subscribers, says Icasa, was 6.7 million (7.4 million in the previous year) and which in 2021 stood at 8.3 million.

Icasa put the decline down to “the rapid growth of over-the-top streaming services, which offer on-demand content accessible via the internet, allowing viewers more flexibility than traditional pay TV”, as well as rising costs and economic pressure on consumers.

However, the Icasa data was gathered prior to the period when Canal+ acquired local pay-TV operator MultiChoice/DStv.

The South African reductions were behind the MultiChoice decision to stop a price increase and the decision to cancel its Showmax, its premium platform.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, Pay TV, Research

Tags: Canal+, pay TV, Showmax, south africa