MULTICHOICE ANNOUNCES NEW PRICE FOR ITS SUBSCRIPTION PLANS

Africa’s pay-TV provider MultiChoice has announced a new round of price adjustments for its DStv, GOtv, and Showmax subscription plans in Kenya, effective August 1,2025. The changes include price hikes for most DStv and GOtv packages ranging from 4% to 7% while Showmax subscription costs have been significantly reduced across various plans. MultiChoice cited rising operational expenses and continued investment in both local and international content as the main reason for the price changes. The company also emphasized that the adjustment aligns with its annual review cycle. The moves comes amid growing dissatisfaction among consumers, many of whom already view the services as costly.

MultiChoice has recently experienced a drop of 1.2 million active subscribers, bringing its total down to 14.5 million. Additionally, the company reported an 8% year-over-year decline in earnings, signaling growing discontent among its customer base. In the latest price adjustment for various DStv packages, the Access plan increased from KES1,350 to KES1,450. The family plan rose from KES2,100 to KES2,250, the Compact plan from KES3,900 to KES4,200, the Compact plus plan from KES6,800 to KES7,300, and Premium plan from KES11,000 to KES11,700. The Lite plan saw no increment at KES750, and the newly introduced XtraView plan at KES1,700 per month.

 For the GOtv price adjustments, GOtv Value decreased from KES699 to KES599 while GOtv plus remain unchanged at KES999. Conversely, GOtv Max increased from KES1,599 to KES1,699, Supa from KES2,099 to KES2,199, and Supa Plus from KES3,000 to KES3,199. The Showmax plan witnessed an overall slash in its subscription plan, attributing to a growing competition from YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. As such, the General Entertainment (GE) plan decreased to KES550 from KES650, GE Mobile to KES200 from KES300, and Premier League (mobile only) decreased to KES450 from KES500, among others. MultiChoice has lost 2.8 million subscribers and saw a $576.5 million negative impact as a result of the depreciation of African currencies against the US dollar since 2023.