Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      10 red flags for Apple investors

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Broadcasting and Media » MultiChoice says no decision yet on ‘skinny bundling’

    MultiChoice says no decision yet on ‘skinny bundling’

    By Duncan McLeod11 November 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela

    MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela confirmed on Thursday that the broadcaster is considering offering smaller, cheaper channel bundles, known in the industry as “skinny bundles”, but said that no decision has been made about going down this route.

    He told TechCentral in an interview that MultiChoice is conducting research with a select group of customers into whether if it would make sense to introduce skinny bundling — essentially smaller bundles offering at lower prices — into its offerings.

    He said research like this is conducted often inside MultiChoice, particularly to test new ideas in broadcasting that are gaining currency internationally to see whether they have merit in the South Africa and broader African markets in which the group operates. The idea of the research, he said, is to understand customer preferences and how consumers would respond to such offerings being available to them.

    It’s continuous research in a number of areas, including skinny bundling, and no decisions have been made

    “It’s continuous research in a number of areas, including skinny bundling, and no decisions have been made,” Mawela said.

    Thinus Ferreira, a broadcasting industry journalist, wrote on his TV with Thinus blog in September that MultiChoice was “testing breaking up its combined entertainment and sports channels” and unbundling these by offering a “cheaper, yet still premium collection of entertainment TV channels in a so-called ‘skinny bundle’, now sitting alongside an optional add-on package of sports channels”.

    Such a change, if it were to happen, would be a significant change in strategy for MultiChoice, which has historically tightly integrated its SuperSport channels with its channel bouquets. For example, viewers who want the popular M-Net entertainment channel must subscribe to the full suite of sports channels, if even those viewers are not interested in sport.

    Churn

    The aim of the skinny bundles, Ferreira wrote, would be to try to limit the churn of high-value, premium-tier subscribers, who have in recent years been cancelling their subscriptions, either due affordability issues or the growing selection of alternative streaming offerings in the market, including Netflix.

    Asked on Thursday if he believes MultiChoice needs to rethink its offerings for the premium segment, Mawela admitted that this end of the market has been taking strain in South Africa specifically (the Compact+ bouquet, which is also grouped in the premium segment has been growing well elsewhere in Africa).

    Mawela said customers who are cancelling their premium-tier subscriptions are doing so mainly due to affordability, especially given the weak economic conditions in South Africa.

    Eventually, he said, the haemorrhaging of premier-tier customers (those on DStv Premium and Compact+) will come to an end.

    He said MultiChoice is not “sitting in its laurels” and is working hard to retain those customers — for example, by adding value-added services such as free access to Showmax, the streaming platform also owned by MultiChoice. The group is also working to add new content to the top-end tiers to “ensure we stay competitive in this segment”.

    In the most recent six-month period, the rate of decline of premium-tier customers has improved, he added. “This first half (of the financial year), the number (of premium-tier customers) declined by 5%. Previously it was 8, 9 or 10%.”

    The full-year results to March 2022 will provide a clearer picture as to whether MultiChoice has started to arrest the decline in premium subscribers, Mawela said. He added that some premium-tier subscribers who had left returned in the most recent reporting period due to a strong slate of sport, particularly rugby, whereas a year ago, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, very few live sports were being played.  – © 2021 NewsCentral Media



    Calvo Mawela DStv MultiChoice Netflix ShowMax SuperSport
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMultiChoice ekes out subscriber growth as South Africa underperforms
    Next Article Understanding the flow of money in crypto – part 5

    Related Posts

    MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

    12 June 2025

    MultiChoice’s TV empire shrinks – but its ‘side hustles’ are holding strong

    12 June 2025

    MultiChoice is bleeding subscribers

    11 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.