Africa's Pay-TV Subscribers to Hit 30m in 2021

Africa's pay-TV subscribers will reach 30 million in 2021, up from 16 million in 2015.

This is according to the latest data published by global telecom-focused business firm Dataxis, which notes digital satellite pay-TV subscribers for 2021 are expected to arrive at 20 million compared to eight million for digital terrestrial pay-TV subscribers.

Dataxis estimates that TV households, which stood at 114 million in 2015, will reach 159 million in 2021 and the figure is still too low for the total population in Africa (1.2 billion). It explains the low TV penetration rate is attributed to various socio and economic factors that hinder the adoption of television.

"Despite advances, statistics show Africa still has a long way to go in terms of household TV penetration," said Priscilla Tirvengadum, research analyst at Dataxis Africa.

"This low rate is explained mainly by lack of basic economic infrastructure like electricity. Moreover, poverty in developing African countries makes it impossible for its citizens to afford television sets," she added.

According to Dataxis research, English-speaking African countries will continue to add more pay-TV subscribers compared to Francophone Africa. Total pay-TV subscribers in Anglophone countries, which stood at 10 million in 2015, will double in 2021. This is in comparison to 3.5 million subscribers in 2015 for French-speaking countries, and the figure is expected to reach six million in 2021.

MultiChoice remains the dominant pay-TV operator in Africa, followed by StarTimes and Zuku, said Dataxis.

"Satellite operator MultiChoice, owned by Naspers Limited, has been the key player in the Anglophone Africa pay-TV market since its launch in 1995. Despite facing competition from StarTimes and Zuku, MultiChoice continues to add new content and innovative services to maintain its appeal," Tirvengadum noted.

On the other hand, for French-speaking countries, satellite pay-TV subscription is also driving the figures, with Canal Plus Overseas being the dominant operator. Out of the estimated 3.5 million total analogue and digital pay-TV subscribers in 2015, 2.8 million were pay satellite and this figure is forecast to reach five million in 2021.

"The rollout of digital terrestrial TV (DTT) in Africa will increase competition in the digital pay-TV landscape. In this context, both subscriber numbers and pay-TV revenues will continue to grow at an impressive rate in the next five years. In addition, to cater for low income TV households, MultiChoice offers low-cost digital terrestrial services via its GOtv brand," adds Tirvengadum.

Total pay-TV revenue, which stood at $4 billion in 2015, is expected to climb to $6 billion in 2021, with pay DTH revenue contributing up to $5 billion. Digital migration, competition and cheaper DTT packages will bring ARPU [average revenue per user] down in most African countries, says Dataxis.