According to the latest data from Digital TV Research, China’s StarTimes and South Africa’s Multichoice are the two largest Pay TV operators in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While Multichoice owns and operates DStv and GOtv in Africa, StarTimes owns and operates a digital terrestrial TV service called StarTimes and a 20% stake in direct broadcast satellite TV service, StarSat, owned by a South African satellite television provider.

DStv and GOtv, with a combined subscriber base of 14.5 million as of 2019, make Multichoice the leading Pay TV operator in the region, while StarTimes/StarSat is currently the second biggest with a combined total of 9.1 million Pay TV subscribers, according to the data.

Although StarTimes/StarSat is projected to see significant growth in its subscriber base to 14.5 million by 2025, DStv/GOtv is expected to still be the largest Pay TV channel with a combined total of 18.05 million by 2025, the research revealed.