MultiChoice

MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service.

MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net terrestrial pay television company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the DStv service. MultiChoice is owned by the media conglomerate of the same name. One of the subsidiaries of MultiChoice is DStv Stream, formally DStv Now then DStv App, a service that delivers television transmission to mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and notebooks.

Formerly, MultiChoice had operations in the Scandinavian, Benelux, Italy, Eastern Europe, Greek & Cypriot regions under the Filmnet TV service, Egypt under CNE (Cable Network of Egypt), Middle East under Gulf TV and Arab Radio and Television Network & Thailand under UBC (United Broadcasting Corporation).

In 2020, MultiChoice had a total subscriber base of 20.1 million viewers throughout Africa, and Naspers asserted that MultiChoice was one of the fastest growing pay-TV operators globally.

History

Early years (1983–1991)

In 1983, Koos Bekker wrote a paper at Columbia University describing the idea that led to M-Net, and along with two others pitched the idea to Naspers, which acquired a 26% share, leading to Naspers executive Ton Vosloo serving as chair of the board. M-Net lost money in its first few years.

Expansion (1992–2017)

In 1993, M-Net was divided into two divisions, one focused on transmission of the entertainment channels and the other on cellphone operations, signal distribution and subscriber management. This second division became MultiChoice. The company had been granted a licence to broadcast into Namibia in 1991 and, as a result, in 1996 MultiChoice Africa was established.

In 1992, analogue services were launched in 20 African countries and lasted until 1996 when digital services replaced them. This division, called DStv (Digital Satellite Television), had first been launched in South Africa on October 6, 1995, making it the first direct-to-home digital pay-TV service outside the US.

In 2002, a "Dual-view" decoder was launched by DStv which allowed the simultaneous viewing of two different channels from a single satellite feed. In 2006, a service to mobile devices was trialed and officially launched in 2011 as DStv Mobile (now called DStv App, renamed from DStv Now).

In October 2011, MultiChoice Nigeria launched GOtv, an affordable terrestrial platform & a compatriot to DStv, which broadcasts all channels from DStv Access and some from DStv Compact packages in 11 Sub-Saharan African countries.

MultiChoice broadcasts in 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cape Verde and Madagascar. Local language programme content is available in French and Portuguese in certain African territories, as well as the 11 official languages within South Africa.

IPO and consolidation (2018–2023)

In September 2018, Multichoice's then parent company Naspers announced that it would separate its video entertainment business from the bulk of Naspers and list it separately on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The new company would be called MultiChoice Group and would include MultiChoice South Africa, MultiChoice Africa, Showmax Africa, and Irdeto. The listing took place on 27 February 2019, with share code MCG. The share was immediately eligible for inclusion in the JSE Top40, the list of the largest 40 shares by market capitalisation.

In October 2020, French media company Groupe Canal+ acquired 12% stake in MultiChoice.

In November 2020, MultiChoice acquired 20% stake in Nigeria's sports betting company, BetKing with plans to launch it in South Africa. In June 2021, they increased their stake to 49%.

In February 2023, French media company Groupe Canal+ acquired a 30.27% stake in the company, which eventually increased to 31.7%.

Acquisition by Canal+ S.A. (2024-)

Nearly a year later, on February 1, 2024, Canal+ made an offer to MultiChoice's investors to acquire remaining shares, subject to regulatory approval, offering a price of R105 per share, 40% higher than the price of R75 offered the previous day. MultiChoice rejected the offer believing it undervalued the company and following a reprimand by the Takeover Regulation Panel, Canal+ revised it's offer and upped it's bid to R125 per share, the share price was 67% higher than the MultiChoice share price.

In June 2024, Canal+ Group and MultiChoice released a joint circular with the French broadcaster that has obtained 45,2% of company shares with an interim board approving on the revised offer. Both companies made a filing to local regulators in September 2024 with the terms of the agreement remaining unchanged.

Under the deal, Canal+ will spin out MultiChoice SA's broadcasting licence which includes DStv as an independent entity to comply with the Electronic Communications Act, which prohibits foreign entities from owning more than 20%. New shareholders set to enter the transaction include Former Telkom's CEO Sipho Maseko's Afrifund Investment and businesswoman Sonja De Bruyn's Identity Partners that will form the entity known as LicenceCo to handle the operations in South Africa and give it 51% economic interest with the remaining 49% for Canal+.

The transaction was initially set to close in April 2025 but was delayed to October 2025.

In May 2025, the South African Competition Commission recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the proposed takeover of Multichoice by Canal+, with conditions. According to the Commission, the proposed takeover is unlikely to reduce or prevent competition in any market.

The conditions applicable to the approval include addressing employment concerns, and increasing the shareholding of historically disadvantaged persons (HDPs) and workers in Orbicom and LicenceCo. The Commission also wants the groups to commit to further supplier development and the merged entity’s continued operation from South Africa, enabling plurality of television news and export promotion. Multichoice and Canal+ have agreed to a moratorium on retrenchments for a period of three years following the merger implementation date.

Finally, the parties also agreed to continue certain corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as skills development in the audiovisual industry, and sports development.

Composition

*M-Net
M-Net is a satellite television subscription service which was established in 1986 and has since spawned into 9 affiliated channels – 3 for series and 5 for films/movies – including its flagship channel.

*Showmax
Showmax is an online video-on-demand subscription service which was established in 2015. It was relaunched in 2023 in partnership with Comcast who own 30% of Showmax.

* SuperSport
SuperSport is a collection of sports channels broadcast on satellite (DStv and CANAL+) and terrestrial (GOtv) services. It was established as a sports segment on the M-Net in 1988 and became an individual channel in 1995. It is affiliated with ESPN, Sky Sports and Fox Sports Australia and since 2003 has expanded to over 20 sports-and-leagues-specific TV channels. It also owns a football club called SuperSport United F.C.

* DStv
DStv is a direct broadcast satellite service that was launched on 6 October 1995. It is currently available in 54 countries over Sub-Saharan Africa.

*GOtv
GOtv is a digital terrestrial television platform that broadcasts in 11 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique among others. In Kenya, the M-PESA paybill number 423655 is used to pay for GOtv subscription via mobile money

*Irdeto
Irdeto is a digital platform security company owned by MultiChoice to combat pay-TV piracy. Irdeto owns Denuvo.

*BetKing
BetKing, a sports, gaming technology and entertainment company is a product of SV Gaming Limited.

Current projects and partnerships

MultiChoice launched a streaming service called ''Showmax'' in 2015, which was subsequently enhanced for OTT services. On 19 September 2018, they announced that they would be launching a streaming version of DStv in 2019.

On 29 May 2018, MultiChoice South Africa and the University of Pretoria jointly announced that MultiChoice would sponsor a Research Chair in Machine Learning at the University of Pretoria. The intention is to foster the development of skills in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technology in South Africa. The sponsorship included bursaries for students in their final year and Honours projects through to Masters and PhD degrees in the fields of Engineering, Data Science or Computer Science.

On 15 January 2024, MultiChoice Group announced a partnership with Comcast to offer a standalone Premier League streaming plan on its Showmax platform, aiming to expand its offerings in Africa amidst competition from global streaming services.

Controversies

Ownership after JSE listing

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is the regulatory body for both telecommunications and broadcasting sectors. In February 2019, ICASA was dealing with a complaint, brought by non-profit organisation Khulisa Social Solutions (KSS), that the act of listing th
MultiChoice Group
is a breach of its broadcasting licence.

KSS claimed that the listing of MultiChoice Group on the JSE constituted a transfer of its individual broadcasting service licence from Naspers to the management and board of Multichoice, which required written permission from ICASA under the Electronic Communications Act. MultiChoice Group's answering affidavit stated that Multichoice had always been the licence holder, not Naspers and after the listing that situation would continue. The complaint had not been resolved prior to the listing of MultiChoice Group on the JSE.

Dominance of pay-TV market

ICASA released a preliminary report on 15 April 2019 regarding the dominance of Multichoice within the pay-TV market. The report suggested that a potential remedy would be the splitting up of rights to long-term contracts that are currently exclusive. This would make such content readily available for new entrants into the market. Multichoice is opposed to this in principle as it would threaten the viability of their income model.

Regulation of Netflix

Having lost 100,000 premium subscribers in the 2017/18 financial year, Multichoice called on ICASA to regulate Netflix and other OTT providers in the South African Pay-TV sector. Multichoice claimed that Netflix had an unfair advantage over Multichoice as they did not pay tax in South Africa, did not employ anyone in South Africa and were not subject to the Black Economic Empowerment legislation of South Africa. Netflix responded that they intended to abide by local laws and taxes and would be happy to collaborate with regulators. ICASA stated that it needed to regulate Netflix and any Pay-TV monopolies.

Nigeria price increase

Multichoice Nigeria has faced significant challenges. The company lost 243,000 subscribers across its DStv and GOtv platforms between April and September 2024, primarily due to Nigeria's severe economic conditions, including inflation exceeding 30%. This decline is part of a larger trend, with an 18% drop in subscribers in Nigeria reported earlier in March 2024.

The economic pressures have forced many Nigerian households to disconnect from the pay-TV service. Additionally, the company faces growing competition from streaming services and changing consumer viewing habits, which continue to pressure its traditional pay-TV model. However, MultiChoice is taking steps to address these challenges. The company has invested ZAR1.6 billion in its streaming service, Showmax, which has shown impressive growth of 50% year-over-year.

Nigeria's House of Representatives instructed Multichoice to suspend its planned subscription rate increase for DStv and GOtv, citing concerns over the financial strain on Nigerians amid ongoing economic challenges. The price hike, which would have taken effect on March 1, 2025 included increases of up to 20% for some packages. Lawmakers argued that Multichoice's dominance in the market means any price increase has a widespread impact, putting consumers under undue financial pressure. The House mandated the Committee on Commerce to investigate the recurring increases in subscription fees and ensure cost-effective policies for Nigerian consumers.

See also

* DStv
*GOtv
*Showmax
* SuperSport

References

External links

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{{Witwatersrand companies

Mass media companies established in 1994
South African companies established in 1994
Television in South Africa
Mass media companies of South Africa
Satellite television
Direct broadcast satellite services
Mass media in Johannesburg
Companies based in Johannesburg
Companies in the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index
Canal+ S.A.