African pay-TV operation MultiChoice Group has reported its interim numbers seeing a 5 per cent improvement in subscribers YoY, but its growth in its home South African market was lower at 2 per cent.

The broadcaster said that its subscriber count (subscrobers active within 90 days) was 21.1 million (split 12.2 million in the rest of Africa and 8.9 million in South Africa itself) with growth of 1.1 million overall.

“The business in the rest of Africa (RoA) experienced accelerated growth primarily on the back of major sporting events and successful local content productions, while growth rates in South Africa were subdued by rising consumer pressure and tough ‘comparables’ given the boost in the prior year numbers triggered by strict lockdown restrictions at the time,” the company said.

“Revenue increased 3 per cent (10 per cent organic) to ZAR26.8 billion (€1.5bn), with the stronger South African Rand (ZAR) reducing the revenue contribution on translation of the Rest of Africa and Technology segments. Subscription revenues amounted to ZAR22.1 billion, representing solid 7 per cent organic growth. Advertising revenues, which were impacted by Covid-19 in the prior period, rebounded strongly, growing 77 per cent YoY (84 per cent organic). This outperformance was driven by the return of live sport, sales linked to a strong local content line-up and the success of new digital advertising strategies. Commercial subscription revenues, which increased 50 per cent YOY (57 per cent organic) are also recovering as lockdown restrictions continue to be eased,” said the broadcaster.

The group’s OTT streaming platform Showmax had a strong performance with subscribers increasing by 42 per cent YOY.

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Tags: africa, multichoice, south africa