New data from Communications Authority of Kenya shows pay-TV subscriptions in the Kenyan market grew at a slower rate of 2.4 percent to end March 2024 with 6.4 million subscribers. The slow growth, linked to an increase in cost of living and higher preference for streaming services bolstered by improved internet connectivity.
Consecutive Slowdowns in Subscription Growth
This is the second consecutive year in which growth in pay-TV subscriptions has become slow. In the previous year—March 2023—subscription numbers increased by 3.1 percent to reach 6.2 million. This was a significant decline from the 8.5 percent growth recorded in March 2022, wherein subscriptions jumped to 6.01 million from 5.5 million the previous year. This marks a growing challenge for traditional pay-TV providers as competition increases from online streaming platforms.
Economic Pressures Adding to Decline
Growth of pay-TV declined for the year leading to March 2024 amidst straining by wallets of many households due to an increase in prices of food and commodities in the country. Furthermore, pay-TV operators have been forced to hike subscription prices to fight higher operational costs, hiking the already expensively priced services that were out of reach for many.
Pay-TV Price Increases Strain Consumers
MultiChoice Kenya Limited, one of the major pay-TV operators, raised subscription prices for DStv three times in the year under review to March 2024, further squeezing household budgets for entertainment. It implemented the latest price hike in late March, where the DStv Premium package edged up from Ksh 9,900 to Ksh 10,500. The Compact Plus Package also surged to Ksh 6,500 from Ksh 6,200. Even subscribers of the cheaper Lite package saw an increase, where the price moved from Ksh 600 to Ksh 700. Charges to Family package users increased from Ksh 1,850 to Ksh 2,000. Subscribers to Compact package had a Ksh 200 hike from Ksh 3,500 to Ksh 3,700.
Growth in Broadcasting Licenses
Despite all these challenges, Communications Authority of Kenya still issues licenses to new TV and radio broadcasters. This number reached 69 as of the end of March 2024, up from 616 as of March 2023, increasing the number of licensed broadcasters in Kenya to 685. In addition, the number of operational TV broadcasters has also grown from 195 in the previous comparative period to 219 as of March 2024.
Changes in Subscription Platforms
During the first quarter of 2024, subscriptions for DTH and cable broadcasting services decreased, with DTH decreasing by 1.6 percent and cable services by 0.4 percent. In return, subscriptions to DTT increased by 0.8 percent.
DTT is currently the most popular subscription broadcasting method consumers use, having 4.5 million subscribers as of March 31st, 2024. This contributes to 70.06 percent of all subscriptions for pay-TV, followed by services offered by DTH, with 1.8 million subscriptions taking up 28.71 percent in the market.