MultiChoice, owners of DStv, Showmax, M-Net and Mzansi Magic has announced its plans to produce 52 local films in the next financial year.
MultiChoice is a South-African company that operates the DStv Satellite Television service, a major satellite TV service in Sub-Saharan Africa. MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net Terrestrial Pay TV company. It was founded in November 1993 and has gathered a revenue of R50.1bn in 2019.
In its financial report published this week, the company has revealed its plans to increase its general entertainment expenses on local content from 40% to 45% in the coming years.
Asides from the local films set to be produced, the company also has plans to produce 29 local dramas in the next 12 months.
The company also revealed that its Showmax and DStv Now subscribers have doubled from the past financial year. The services combined are now substantially bigger than Netflix in South-Africa.
Calvo Mawela, CEO of MultiChoice said: “Our growth is exceptionally pleasing, especially in the current economic climate, and a clear indication that our strategy is working.”
In February this year, the company posted a profit of R7 billion on revenue of R50.1 billion with a subscriber growth of 8% (500,000 to 7.4 million).
It also recorded a considerable growth in the number of subscribers outside South Africa. In the rest of Africa, subscribers grew by 17% (1.1 million to 7.7 million), the first time subscribers outside South Africa will outnumber those in South Africa.