South African pay-TV giant DStv has lost 3 per cent of its ‘Premium’ subscriber base in South Africa according to the latest half-year financial results from parent MultiChoice. Multichoice said that the impact of the football off-season was exacerbated by an extremely challenging consumer climate. Generating additional revenue streams continues to be a main focus […]

In years past there have been African and Middle East broadcasters who have happily stolen pay-TV’s exclusive coverage of key sporting events. DStv has now issued a clear warning to broadcasters in Africa saying, in essence, ‘hands off our signals’. The most blatant thefts of football signals occurred during the Saudi Arabian beoutQ transmissions of […]

MultiChoice’s DStv says it will add a pair of 4K channels in readiness for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The tournament kicks off on November 20th. Nyiko Shiburi, CEO of MultiChoice South Africa, speaking at the company’s annual media event in Johannesburg, said that a significant amount of technical work had been done […]

A Competition & Consumer Protection tribunal, sitting in Nigeria, has thrown out class action lawsuit challenging recent price increases by DStv. MultiChoice owns both DStv and Gotv, which are pay-TV operations in Nigeria. Delivering judgment on September 6th, a three-member panel of the tribunal, dismissed the suit for lacking in merit. Lawyer, Festus Onifade, had […]

South African pay-TV operator DStv is to add NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Universal+, to its portfolio from October 14th. The service will be free for DStv subscribers and available throughout sub-Saharan Africa. DStv subscribers will be able to stream thousands of hours of entertainment, including the Safta award-winning Celebrity Game Night, by visiting ‘Catch Up’ on […]

Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has threatened a Naira 5 million fine (€11,824) against DStv (and other broadcasters including StarTimes, TSTV and Trust TV) for screening a ‘banditry’ documentary made by BBC Africa. Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story was aired in Nigeria in March 2022. The programme (also named as The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara) […]

South Africa’s MultiChoice pay-TV operation is to launch 4K content this autumn ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament being held in Qatar. CEO Calvo Mawela stated that MultiChoice is ready for the World Cup in 4K and the service will be offered on its DStv and Showmax Pro platforms; Showmax Pro is […]

South Africa’s pay-TV operator DStv has dumped four e.TV channels. eMedia, owner of the channels, said the channels were dropped without warning. The decision comes after the country’s Competition Tribunal ruled against eMedia’s appeal to keep the channels on MultiChoice’s satellite TV platform. “Viewers were left in the dark with no programmes as they tried […]

Nigeria’s Federal Competition & Consumer Protection tribunal has confirmed a previous order to MultiChoice’s DStv and GOtv pay-TV services to stop its price increase levied on subscribers. The Tribunal, meeting in the nation’s Abuja capital, ruled on April 11 that MultiChoice cannot increase subscription prices pending a full hearing to determine the arguments for and […]

Nigeria’s parliamentary senate is pushing the nation’s pay-TV providers to reduce their monthly fees. Letters have gone to DStv, StarTimes and GoTV to cut their rates. A Senatorial 7-person committee has been formed to examine recent tariff hikes by pay-TV service providers in the country. The Senate has also directed all pay-TV service providers to […]