Explosion of pay television in Africa: 12 million subscribers in five years

The ‘Africa Pay TV Forecasts’ report by Digital TV Research indicates notable growth in pay TV in Africa with 12 million more subscribers by 2029.

According to Digital TV Research, the number of pay TV subscribers in Africa will increase by 12 million between 2023 and 2029, which are broken down into 7 million more satellite pay television subscribers and 5 million more homes with pay DTT. With these new users, the total number of pay television subscribers will reach 55 million in 2029: 33 million to satellite television and 21 million to DTT. Of the 43 million pay television subscribers at the end of 2023, 26 million were satellite television subscribers and 16 million were DTT subscribers.

Four countries will contribute almost half of the total pay television subscribers in 2029 (Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), while eight countries (The previous four plus Kenya, Uganda, Angola and Ivory Coast) will represent two thirds of the total. Nigeria will contribute 10 million subscribers, having surpassed South Africa in 2022.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, interprets the main findings of this study focused on Africa: "Despite the recent slowdown in new subscriptions, Africa still has great potential for pay television. Between 2023 and 2029, 27 million television households will be added, for a total of 130 million."