DStv may soon let you pay for only the sports you watch
The idea is to unbundle SuperSports from the general entertainment, allowing curate your own viewing experience.
Over the past few years, pay-TV in Africa has been going through a slow but very visible shake-up. With streaming giants like Netflix, YouTube Premium, and Disney+ tightening their grip on audiences and pirated content just a few clicks away, traditional pay-TV operators like MultiChoice are feeling the pressure.
Add in a cost-of-living crisis that’s hitting households hard, and it’s no surprise that people are reevaluating what they’re willing to spend on entertainment.
Now, MultiChoice—the parent company of DStv—may be ready to make one of its boldest moves yet: unbundling its beloved sports content from its main subscription packages.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
In short, the company is accelerating plans to explore whether SuperSport, its dedicated sport channels, can be offered as a separate, add-on package rather than something tied exclusively to the top-tier DStv Premium plan. Think of it like a “build-your-own-bouquet” option, a modular approach that lets customers pay for general entertainment, and then bolt on specific sports packs like rugby, soccer, or tennis as needed.
To be clear, SuperSport isn’t going anywhere; it just might become more of a flexible add-on than a fixed feature and potentially a more affordable path to access only the content they care about. This could be a welcome change for subscribers who mainly tune in for live sports but cancel their subscriptions during off-seasons due to high costs.
This decision definitely didn't spring from nowhere. Over the past year alone, DStv lost 1.2 million subscribers across Africa, largely due to rising prices and strained household budgets. In other words, the company is under serious financial strain, reporting a headline loss of R800 million (about $45 million) in its latest results.
So, beyond offering value to users, this unbundling model could help MultiChoice stabilise revenue and reduce churn. CEO Calvo Mawela made it clear that the move would only go forward if it made commercial sense, boosting profits, not hurting them.
Interestingly, this wouldn’t be uncharted territory. UK broadcaster Sky has long offered a similar setup, and Canal+, the French company looking to acquire MultiChoice, already sells standalone sports packages. That makes this strategy feel less like a risky experiment and more like catching up to a global trend that’s been brewing for years.
So while DStv subscribers might soon get more say in what they pay for, MultiChoice is betting that this new flexibility could be a game-changer, not just for viewers, but for its bottom line too.
Kelechi Edeh
