DStv Slashes Decoder Price, Offers Free Upgrades to Win Back Customers

By Ross Moyo

Amid a significant drop in subscribers, MultiChoice Nigeria has announced major incentives to attract both returning and new customers. The PayTV operator has halved the price of its DStv decoder from ₦20,000 to ₦10,000 and is offering a free subscription upgrade as part of its new “We’ve Got You” campaign.

From June 16 to July 31, 2025, active and returning subscribers who pay their current DStv package in full will automatically be upgraded to the next higher package tier at no extra cost.

The move comes as MultiChoice Nigeria revealed it lost 1.4 million subscribers between March 2023 and March 2025, largely due to rising subscription costs and tough economic conditions. According to its June 12, 2025 financial report, Nigeria alone accounted for 77% of the total 1.8 million subscriber losses across the company’s Rest of Africa (RoA) markets over the two-year period. The total RoA subscriber base fell from 9.3 million in 2023 to 7.5 million in 2025.

In countries like Zimbabwe, many customers have switched from DStv to free-to-air alternatives like OpenView HD (OVHD) due to affordability issues.

Despite this, DStv says it’s committed to providing value and improving access to premium content. The company stated:

“By repositioning itself as a platform for daily value, DStv aims to encourage content discovery across a wider array of genres, including movies, drama, kids’ programming, and news.”

MultiChoice Nigeria CEO, John Ugbe, emphasized that the initiative is part of efforts to reward loyal customers and re-establish DStv as a go-to source of entertainment beyond just sports.

“We want to ensure our customers feel appreciated and have access to the best entertainment every day. The ‘We’ve Got You’ campaign is about making premium content more accessible and showing that DStv offers something for everyone—not just football fans,” he said.

MultiChoice has attributed its recent subscriber losses to external pressures such as high inflation, fuel scarcity, and power supply challenges. The company had raised DStv and GOtv prices three times between April 2023 and May 2024, which contributed to the exodus of subscribers.

With this latest offer, MultiChoice hopes to reverse the downward trend by making its services more appealing and affordable to Nigerians once again.