DStv’s struggles in the Kenyan market have deepened, with fresh regulatory data showing the pay TV provider lost more than 22,000 customers in the first three months of 2026 alone.
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), DStv had 248,053 customers at the end of March 2026, marking an 8.3 percent drop from the 270,017 subscribers it had in December 2025. The regulator attributed the losses to a combination of economic hardships and changing viewer habits affecting pay-television providers across the board.
DStv was not alone in shedding subscribers. Rival Zuku, owned by Wananchi Group, lost 17,161 customers over the same three months, with its base falling to 173,396 from 190,557 in December. The CA noted that the decline spanned Digital Terrestrial Television, Direct to Home, and cable TV services more broadly, pointing to a sector-wide squeeze rather than a problem unique to any single operator.
This latest setback is part of the recent decline in its subscriber base. DStv’s Kenyan subscriber base had already dropped earlier in 2025, with active accounts dropping by more than 84 percent year on year, from 1.19 million in June 2024 to roughly 188,824 by June 2025. That slide has been closely tied to a series of price increases by parent company MultiChoice, including hikes in April 2024, November 2024, and August 2025, which pushed the Premium package to KES 11,700 a month.
Beyond pricing, the broader shift in how Kenyans consume entertainment is reshaping the market. Improved internet connectivity, growing smartphone penetration, and the rise of both legal streaming platforms and pirated content have made it easier for cost conscious households to abandon traditional pay TV subscriptions altogether.
MultiChoice’s parent company Canal+ closed its latest financial year with 14.4 million subscribers across Africa, down from 14.9 million previously, while revenue slipped from €2.54 billion to €2.4 billion. Canal+ has acknowledged that inflation and slower economic growth have made higher tier DStv packages increasingly unaffordable in markets including Kenya, Ghana, and Tanzania.
In response, the company has begun adjusting its strategy, including a turnaround plan announced in March 2026 focused on cheaper entry points, simpler packages, and bundled streaming, alongside a freeze on the usual annual price hike for 2026. Whether these measures can stem further losses remains to be seen as competition for Kenyan viewers’ attention and wallets continues to intensify.
