MultiChoice CEO Byron du Plessis has pledged significant changes to boost the company’s subscriber base, stating the broadcaster is “willing to reverse decisions when they are not the right ones.” In an interview, Du Plessis elaborated on plans to potentially unbundle SuperSport from higher-tier DStv packages.
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“We made this decision towards the end of last year, saying we had to reinvest ourselves a little bit as a business,” Du Plessis explained. He noted that the rise of streaming for general entertainment and the shift of sports content to direct-to-consumer models globally have pushed MultiChoice to rethink its packaging strategy for South Africa. The company has extensive work underway, currently in the customer research phase, to determine the ideal content offering.
Du Plessis acknowledged that MultiChoice has lost many subscribers recently but sees a “massive opportunity” to win customers back. The broadcaster aims to fundamentally change its content packaging to offer more choice and meet customers at desired price points. “The opportunity is exciting as the company hasn’t launched a new content offering in a long time,” he said.
This comes after MultiChoice confirmed in June 2025 that it was investigating unbundling the SuperSport line-up from other DStv channels. The company is accelerating efforts to explore potential changes to DStv packages to address evolving consumer preferences, including offering SuperSport and General Entertainment differently in the future. MultiChoice stated it was still assessing the commercial impact and customer value of such changes.
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Piracy remains a significant concern for MultiChoice. Du Plessis highlighted recent research showing the “stark” reality of the problem, with much of the illegal content originating offshore. “We are investing in trying to shut piracy down, but it is really hard to mitigate,” he admitted.
MultiChoice has shifted its anti-piracy approach from targeting small resellers to focusing on upstream providers in foreign countries. This new strategy involves blocking accounts linked to these foreign operators during high-profile events like live sports to disrupt their services. While anti-piracy court cases declined in the latter half of MultiChoice’s 2024/25 financial year, this reflects a strategic shift towards fewer, higher-impact interventions targeting upstream sources, rather than a slowdown in efforts. The company’s monitoring and anti-piracy tools have evolved to more easily identify and block illegal streaming operations.
