South Africa: Netflix & Prime Video joining DStv
June 12, 2020
By Chris Forrester
South African pay-TV giant DStv has signed up Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video for its next-generation Explora set-top box.
MultiChoice Group, in a statement, said it had already launched streaming trials in South Africa to boost consumer choice and improve retention of subscribers.
MultiChoice has suffered churn over the past few years, not helped by the economic crisis within the country. There have also been moves away from DStv’s offerings towards Netflix and Prime Video both of which are available in the country to those with broadband connections. MultiChoice now says that it is “extending aggregation” to include OTT partnerships.
No launch date has yet been given but it is known that the new Explora box is ready for 4K channels on DStv for the first time.
Meanwhile, MultiChoice Group reported a 14 per cent improvement in its profits for the year to March 31st. CEO Calvo Mawela said that the improvement had come about through improved trading from outside South Africa and a focus on cost-reductions.
The 90-day active subscriber base stood at 19.5 million, up 5 per cent with 8.4 million coming from South Africa (up 6 per cent YoY) and 11.1 million sourced from the rest of Africa.