Sub-Saharan Africa: lower rates for pay-TV, but strong growth into 2022

Most pay-TV operators in sub-Saharan Africa have lowered their prices in 2016, causing a rise in the number of subscribers (19.5 million), a trend that should continue into 2022 (36.7 million), according to estimates from Digital TV Research in a study on pay-TV in sub-Saharan Africa, and published on 16/01/2017.

The three main operators (StarTimes, Multichoice, and Vivendi) constituted 90% of the pay-TV subscribers in this region in 2016. "With a limited number of DTT licenses on offer, StarTimes is focusing more on its satellite TV operations, which is disrupting the sector. StarSat (StarTimes satellite service in Africa) is much cheaper than DStv (MultiChoice satellite seervices) and Canal Plus and not that much more expensive than pay DTT," said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research.

Revenues from pay television amounted to $1.6bn (€1.2bn on 31/12/2010) in 2010, $4.2bn (€3.93bn) in 2016, and they will attain $6.6bn (€6.18bn) in 2022. South Africa (24.9%) and Nigeria (23%) together account for almost half of revenues of pay TV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022…