Brands/Products
Weak Naira Impacts Multichoice Subscription Revenue
By Adedapo Adesanya
MultiChoice Group, owner of DSTv and GOTv, saw its subscription revenue grow by 2 per cent on an organic basis but on a reported basis, subscription revenue declined by 7 per cent due to a weaker Nigerian Naira, which affected the disposable incomes of consumers.
In a statement shared on Wednesday, the South African firm delivered a 26 per cent trading profit margin in its home country, while increasing trading profit in the Rest of Africa by 4 per cent, despite very challenging macro-economic conditions.
The active subscriber base for the company declined to 8.1 million, but it claimed effective retention efforts contributed to an improved subscriber mix.
The firm said overall active subscribers declined by 9 per cent, mainly due to a 13 per cent decline in the Rest of Africa business, with Nigeria, Angola and Zambia most affected, while the South African business was more resilient, declining by only 5 per cent.
Given the challenging consumer environment, Multichoice Group’s revenue increased by 3 per cent on an organic basis. However, due to weaker local currencies and consumer pressure, reported group revenue declined by 5 per cent to 56.0 billion Rand (ZAR)
The group’s trading profit across its verticals increased 24 per cent on an organic basis, despite the additional 1.4 billion Rand investment in Showmax to drive future growth.
“After factoring in the ZAR4.5bn impact related to foreign exchange weakness, reported trading profit declined by 21% to ZAR7.9bn,” the company said.
The company said its business in the Rest of the African market faced the toughest macro-economic conditions in its core markets with high, double-digit inflation and extreme depreciation of local currencies, (especially in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and Zambia) which impacted Dollar revenues by 32 per cent.
In January this year, its fintech arm, Moment, began processing payments for DSTv, reaching a milestone of processing $85 million in payments in early March 2024.
So far, Moment has processed local and cross-border card payments in 44 Showmax markets and is already accounting for more than 20 per cent of Group’s payment volumes. It also joined real-time payment networks in 18 countries, including South Africa, and is currently piloting instant payment and account activation for DSTv.
The business raised an additional $22 million of funding, with MultiChoice contributing $8 million. As a result, Moment is now valued at $82 million and MultiChoice owns a 26 per cent stake.
The linear video entertainment business remains the mainstay of the group’s operations and provides a valuable base from which to expand its service offerings.
The group’s new streaming, interactive entertainment, fintech and connectivity services are having a positive impact on the business, and more importantly, on the lives of its customers.
“Going forward, the group will focus its efforts on scaling Showmax, Moment, and SuperSportBet, as well as on driving growth in insurance (NMSIS), DStv Internet and DStv Stream,” the statement added.
Speaking on the result, Mr Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO said, “Four years after setting out a clear strategy of building Africa’s entertainment platform of choice and investing in services to support a broader ecosystem, our three core segments are now fully operational: video entertainment, interactive entertainment and fintech.
“Our focus now shifts to building on these solid foundations to drive growth in these new areas, and on further enhancing business efficiency across our operations.”
“While we are not alone in feeling the challenges of a weak consumer environment, I am proud of the speed and effectiveness of the team in implementing strategic actions to retain customers, safeguard cash generation and drive cost savings which surpassed our targets,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Canal+, which now owns MultiChoice, a pay-TV firm, has announced its decision to discontinue the streaming service, Showmax.
The company said the Showmax board has made the decision to discontinue the service in the near future.
“This decision reflects our focus on strengthening our overall digital offering and ensuring long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive streaming environment.
“Importantly, at the moment, there will be no interruption to your current service. You can continue streaming as usual, and no action is required from you at this time,” it said.
It added that it will share further details in the future, including timelines and any future steps, should they be required.
MultiChoice launched Showmax across Africa 10 years ago in August 2015 to compete with the advent of streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others, which all became available on the continent and started biting into MultiChoice’s legacy pay-TV subscriber base on DStv and GOtv.
However, it soon faced some challenges and couldn’t hit its target.
In February 2024, MultiChoice, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, relaunched Showmax, utilising the technology behind the Peacock streaming service.
The investment, which was pegged at over $300 million, still did not bear the expected fruit, with other streaming giants seeing growth over the years.
With Canal+’s takeover and its aggressive cost-cutting moves, it was no doubt that Showmax got the axe.
Regardless, it said, “Streaming remains central to our strategy. We will continue to invest in premium content, technology innovation and partnerships to deliver the best possible entertainment experience to our customers.”
Canal+ is looking to cut a combined €400 million by 2030, which will affect content.
NBCUniversal has a 30 per cent stake in Showmax as a joint venture. In its last annual results before the Canal+ takeover, MultiChoice revealed that Showmax’s trading losses had worsened by 88 per cent while revenue significantly declined.
According to the company, “The decision to axe Showmax was made by the Showmax board and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice, a Canal+ company, on financial discipline and investment optimisation, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment.”
Since Canal+, as part of its agreement to take over MultiChoice, isn’t allowed to get rid of any staff for a period of three years, MultiChoice won’t let any Showmax staff go but will reassign them to other positions within the broader company.
MultiChoice has already started to quietly rebrand Showmax Originals as Africa Magic, M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic Originals, with original series that will transition to these various DStv linear TV channels on the MultiChoice pay-TV platform.
Showmax’s closure comes two years after Amazon MGM Studios shocked Nigeria and South Africa’s creative community in January 2024 when it announced that it would stop commissioning any new local original content in Africa, and also ended already-existing development deals with a dozen production companies.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Marketing Manager of a leading bleach brand in Nigeria, Hypo Bleach, Mr Adebayo Adeyemo, has condemned the presentation of the brand as a beverage for trends, jokes, or views by influencers and bloggers.
In a statement, Mr Adeyemo said Hypo Bleach was formulated to “remove stains, whiten your white fabric, deodorise and kill 99.9 per cent of germs” and not produced as a “drink.”
“We have observed people seeming to have fun creating and sharing videos and AI-generated images designed to make Hypo look like a beverage.
“Your health and safety are serious business. We want to be unambiguous: those images are fabricated, that framing is false, and anyone encouraging others to consume Hypo, even as a joke, even for views, is putting lives at risk. It is not something to consume for the sake of trends,” the Marketing Manager stated.
He further said, “To every influencer, blogger, and content creator. Your reach is real; so is your responsibility. A trend that ends in ill-health is not a trend worth starting.”
“To every young Nigerian seeing this content, you do not have to prove anything to anyone. Not online. Not offline. Not ever. If someone is pressuring you to try this, that is not a dare. That is harm.
|If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or feeling pressure they cannot handle, please reach out to someone you trust.
A guardian. A counsellor. A healthcare professional. Asking for help is not a weakness; it is a strength.
“Also, we urge people to prioritise their mental health. Evaluate the quality of your conversations with people. Should you notice inconsistencies in their thinking, encourage them to seek professional help. Depression is real and should be treated with utmost concern. Let’s keep social media fun, but safe,” Mr Adeyemo added.
By Dipo Olowookere
A conference designed to examine how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping crisis communication, institutional response systems, governance frameworks, and reputational risk management is slated to take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Lagos, at 10 am.
The event, planned by a renowned Public Relations (PR) firm, CMC Connect LLP, is themed Crisis Management in the AI Milieu: New Threats, Smarter Responses.
It is an offshoot of the company’s flagship industry initiative, Crisis Management Advocacy Month, scheduled to be held throughout March 2026.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, is expected to deliver the keynote address, while the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris Malagi, is the Special Guest of Honour.
Earlier in the month, the Vice President for Corporate Communications and CSR at Airtel Africa, Mr Emeka Oparah, will headline a closed-door media workshop convened exclusively for senior media executives in Lagos.
The 2026 edition will also feature strategic collaborations with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) through its Monthly PR Clinics in both the Lagos and Abuja Chapters, where the Senior Corporate Communications Analyst at CMC Connect LLP, Ms Affiong Edet, will deliver a thematic presentation aligned with this year’s focus.
The initiative will also partner with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice through its weekly webinar series to interrogate the intersection of AI, Crisis Management, and the Law.
“Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally altered the crisis landscape. Crisis Management Advocacy Month 2026 is intentionally designed to convene cross-sector leaders to interrogate emerging risks, strengthen institutional preparedness, and promote smarter, ethical response architectures in an AI-driven environment,” the Project Coordinator, Ms Bright Emmanuel Okon, commented.
Also, the Lead Partner of CMC Connect LLP, Mr Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, said, “In today’s digital ecosystem, crises evolve at unprecedented speed. Institutions must move beyond reactive communication toward intelligent crisis architecture. Crisis Management Advocacy Month represents our commitment to advancing national and institutional resilience in the age of AI.”
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