Get Guardian on GoogleMultiChoice Group, has mulled a weekly subscription model across its markets, including Nigeria.The decision is aimed at stemming the falling tide in both revenue and subscriptions.
The development was revealed by MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela, in an interview with South Africa’s Sunday Times, noting that the trial in Uganda began seven weeks ago and could be expanded to other African markets within three to six months, depending on the outcome.
Mawela disclosed that the pilot was designed to align subscription payments with customers’ cash flow patterns, particularly in markets where users earn income on a daily or weekly basis.
“It’s a big change, and we think when people are struggling, as we have seen, offering them weekly passes will help, in the same way, prepaid mobile services changed the telecoms industry,” he said.
Mawela also addressed long-standing customer demands for customisable channel packages.
While he ruled out a full à la carte option, he said MultiChoice was exploring a model where users start with a base package and then add specific channels as needed.
Recall that earlier this month, in its financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2025, MultiChoice lost about 2.8 million subscribers in the region.
In Nigeria, some 1.4 million subscribers appeared to have dumped the platform, owing to incessant hikes in tariffs. The most recent was about 21 per cent hike on an already overburdened subscribers in the country.
