MultiChoice’s DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers keep declining due to MultiChoice’s shift in focus to offer a bigger value proposition to mass-market customers on lower-tiered DStv bouquets, this shift will sooner or later have a knock-on effect and start to impact premium content budgets.
It will likely become increasingly more difficult for MultiChoice content cost centres –M-Net, kykNET and Showmax, as well as the division working on acquiring and retaining premium third-party linear TV channels carriage agreements on DStv – to justify spending on big-budget items, shows, projects and expensive TV channels if this premium audience is dwindling.
MultiChoice already ran into trouble with Blood Psalms from Yellowbone Entertainment that was supposed to have started last month on Showmax. The October debut of the most expensive TV series yet filmed in South Africa is now delayed by several months to possibly February 2022.
Blood Psalms is due millions of rand in unpaid money it requires to complete post-production work. The due payouts, as part of South Africa’s stalled film rebate scheme ran by the department of trade, industry and competition (DTIC), were abruptly cancelled. MultiChoice isn’t able to take over Blood Psalms enormous production costs financed through the film rebate scheme.
While MultiChoice’s overall content cost and spending on general entertainment and sports content continue to grow, it also means that MultiChoice is facing increasing internal pressure on the type of content the pay-TV operator will and can spend money on.
The likely outcome, if DStv Premium subscribers continue to decline, is that less money will be allocated for the production of expensive local shows like Survivor SA on M-Net (DStv 101) only accessible for DStv Premium subscribers; coupled with the loss of more premium third-party TV channels like BBC First, and more money allocated for mass-market shows like Uyajola 9/9 on Moja Love (DStv 157).
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