No fewer than 243,000 subscribers of Digital Satellite Television (DStv) and General Entertainment on Television (GOtv) in Nigeria have refused to renew their subscriptions after an increment in chargeable prices.
This was disclosed by Multichoice Group, an African pay-TV operator.
It disclosed that its Nigerian subsidiary lost subscribers between April and September 2024.
These figures were revealed in Multichoice’s Interim Financial Results for the period ending 30 September 2024.
MultiChoice attributed this decline to Nigeria’s high inflation rate, which exceeds 30 percent, driven by the rising costs of food, electricity, and fuel, causing many customers to disconnect.
The company, in its financial report for March 2024, earlier reported an 18 percent subscriber loss in Nigeria.
Also, MultiChoice noted that about 566,000 subscribers disconnected from its services in the Rest of Africa (RoA) operations over the past six months.
It added that Zambia and Nigeria contributed the largest shares to the decline it is witnessing.
The company said about 298,000 subscribers were lost in Zambia, 243,000 in Nigeria while over 25,000 customers shunned its services in the remaining markets on the continent of Africa.
Recall that Multichoice Nigeria had in April 2024, announced a fresh increase in prices on the DStv and GOtv packages.
In a statement titled ‘Price Adjustment on DStv and GOtv Packages’, signed by its Chief Executive Officer, John Ugbe, sent to its customers, the company said the increase was necessitated by the rise in the cost of business operations.
The Premium package on DSTV which used to cost N29,500, rose to N37,000, while the Compact Plus that was N19,800, changed to N25,000.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have said MultiChoice would experience further loss as they threatened to continue to shun its services.
They decried the latest increment, accusing the company of insensitive to the hardship many of its subscribers are passing through.
