Multichoice, which is owned by South African-based media group Naspers and runs the Supersport premium channels, added 683,000 subscribers across Africa in the year to March 2009, a 26-per-cent increase over the year to bring its total base to 3.3 million. Pay-television revenues rose 29 per cent to Rand14.9 billion (€1.3 billion/$1.9 billion) with operating profit up 20 per cent to Rand4.7 billion.
But programming costs rose 36 per cent to Rand5.02 billion, driven largely by the spectacular rise in sports rights fees and reflecting the fact that Multichoice’s historical pan-regional dominance is increasingly facing local challenges, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria.