Multichoice grew its installed base by another 0.9 million in the last 90 days to reach a total of 21.8 million households.
9 million subscribers are in South Africa with an additional 12.8 million in the rest of Africa. The company said growth of 5% had been subdued because of the current economic environment and an elevated subscriber growth brought about by the Covid-19 lockdowns of the previous year.
Chief Executive Officer Calvo Mawela said there had been a normalisation in content costs with the return of live sports and the resumption of local content production. Local content accounts for 47% of total general entertainment content spend.
Revenues increased by 3% at ZAR 55.1 billion with profit stable at R10.3 billion.
Seven major new channels launched, including two Portuguese-focused channels in Angola and Mozambique. In South Africa, the group’s co-productions such as Reyka and Recipes for Love and Murder were broadcast to critical acclaim and international interest.
User numbers for both the DStv app and Showmax continue to grow. Paying Showmax subscribers were up 68% year-on-year, while monthly usage of the group’s connected video services increased 28% on the year, helped by the expansion of local payment channels.
Irdeto, was impacted by global silicon shortages affecting supply chains, as well as Covid-19 related disruptions in large markets such as India. Revenues of ZAR 1.5 billion were down 17% year-on-year, with some compensation through the addition of four new Tier 1 customers.