According to the most recent African pay-TV forecast from Digital TV Research, which aims to deliver cutting-edge business data for the television industry, Africa’s pay-TV subscriber base will rise by 18 million subscribers over the next five years, reaching 57 million by 2027.
While this represents a 46 per cent increase in pay-TV consumers over the next five years, pay-TV revenues in Africa will only increase by 35 per cent as it will compel pay-TV providers to slash prices to gain subscribers as the market becomes saturated.
According to the latest forecast from Digital TV Research, Africa’s pay-TV revenues will reach US$6.46 billion by 2027, up from US$4.78 billion in 2021, with MultiChoice, StarTimes, and France’s Canal Plus (which owns a growing stake in MultiChoice) battling it out as the top three pay-TV operators on the African continent.
MultiChoice (DStv and GOtv), StarTimes (also known as StarSat in South Africa and other select Southern African countries), and Canal Plus will continue to be the top three pay-TV operators.
By 2027, MultiChoice is anticipated to have 20.8 million pay-TV subscribers (14.6 million DStv subscribers and 6.2 million GOtv subscribers), with StarTimes at 18.4 million subscribers (12.6 million StarTimes subscribers and 5.8 million StarSat subscribers) and Canal Plus at 11.2 million.
“There aren’t many new players expected. Instead, the three protagonists will battle it out for supremacy, typically by lowering costs,” says Digital TV Research’s principal analyst, Simon Murray.
