Over the past five years, Africa’s cable TV industry has faced a significant downturn, with traditional pay-TV subscriptions steadily eroding. While this ‘cable-cutting’ shift is a global phenomenon, Africa’s unique socio-economic landscape, combined with rapid digital adoption, has accelerated the shift; most visible in places like Nigeria.
Africa’s largest pay-TV, Multichoice, owners of DStv and GOtv, recorded a whopping loss of 1.8 million subscribers in 2025, of which Nigeria accounted for 77% of that figure.
Meanwhile, the media giant gives various reasons to account for the constant reduction of subscribers year in year out, including high inflation across key markets (20% on a weighted average and above 30% in Nigeria and Angola), power shortages across Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, ongoing power and fuel shortages in Nigeria, and civil unrest in Mozambique.
The question, however, is why?
The answer is not far-fetched. With the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock, and even YouTube, the cable TV market seems to have lost an entire generation to these major competitors on the playing field.
With the ability to choose content on demand, anywhere and at any time, as opposed to scheduled programming only available on a television connected to a decoder, Gen-Z and millennials have fully embraced the new wave of the technology era.
Given the nation’s current inflation rate, Cable TV, once a household requirement, has now become a luxury that many are cutting out of their monthly finances. With the presence of free YouTube content and mobile plans on streaming services, streaming is not just widespread; it is also financially accessible.
This sharp decline in pay-TV subscriptions, particularly in Nigeria, signals more than just a shift in consumer preference, it reflects a fundamental reordering of how African audiences consume content. For brands and advertisers, this means recalibrating strategies away from traditional platforms and investing more in digital channels where younger, more mobile-first audiences are spending their time. With DStv and GOtv’s reach shrinking, relying solely on these platforms for market penetration is no longer sufficient.
For content providers and telcos, the opportunity lies in leveraging the surge in demand for on-demand, low-cost streaming alternatives. The African content market is ripe for localized platforms that offer affordability, accessibility, and culturally relevant programming. Bundling partnerships between streaming platforms and mobile operators, for instance, can create new revenue models while driving subscriber growth in underserved regions. We’re already seeing MTN, Airtel, and Glo explore such collaborations, those who act fast may shape the next frontier of media access in Africa.
Notably, in a bid to stem the decline, MultiChoice Nigeria has responded with aggressive pricing strategies. In June 2025, the company slashed the price of its DStv decoder by 50%, dropping it from ₦20,000 to ₦10,000 as part of its “We Got You” campaign. The initiative also includes free upgrades for subscribers who pay for their current package in full. According to CEO John Ugbe, these steps aim to reward customer loyalty, improve access to premium content, and reposition DStv as a daily value platform beyond sports. While these moves reflect an effort to retain and attract users amid tough economic conditions, they also highlight how pay-TV providers are being forced to rethink their pricing and engagement models across Africa.
For investors, the shift highlights broader themes in African consumer behaviour: value sensitivity, mobile-first engagement, and digital readiness. The winners in the next media wave will be those who understand how to deliver flexible, mobile, and cost-effective content to fragmented and evolving audiences. Venture capital and private equity players looking at the continent’s media-tech ecosystem will find strong signals here to guide funding priorities and partnership decisions.
Ultimately, the cable TV decline is not the death of televised entertainment, but a pivot point, one that demands innovation, agility, and a hyper-local approach. As the dust settles, those who can build trust with African viewers and align with their lifestyles, not just their wallets, will define the new face of content in Africa’s digital economy.
