South African broadcasting giant Multichoice has again increased the prices of all its packages by 20 per cent, the third time this year.

The price surge comes after Multichoice, in its third-quarter financial statement, announced a staggering $72 million in losses. It also follows the company’s third consecutive semi-annual loss.

Multichoice had announced price increases in May when the DStv Premium package witnessed a 16.7 per cent increase. Similarly, it hiked the subscription rates on November 6, citing the rise in the cost of business operations in Nigeria as the basis.

While the DStv Premium package was increased by 20.4 per cent from N24,500 to N29,500, the DStv Compact+ and Compact packages rose by 19.2 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

A source in the company confirmed the price hike, attributing it to Nigeria’s challenging business environment caused by the continuous devaluation of the naira, taxation, and logistics, amongst others.

“We buy content in dollars but earn in naira. If we take off a channel or stop acquiring content that our customers are used to, we will be slammed. We buy diesel. We pay taxes. We operate several offices. We have to pay staff,” the source stated. 

He also attributed the development to the persistent power outages in South Africa.