The number of pay-TV subscribers grew by 16%, to 335.005 between the 2022rd and 1,70th quarter of 2,03, the period in which the Football World Cup was held in Qatar. Subscribers went from XNUMX million in the third quarter to XNUMX million in the last three months of the year, calculated the Expansion based on data from the National Institute of Communications (INACOM).
This is a “rescue” of customers, after the negative trend seen since the beginning of 2019, when the economic crisis and piracy robbed close to 300 thousand subscribers between 2020 and 2021 from the three operators, namely Zap, Dstv and TVCabo.
The numbers began to rise in November, when they reached 1,86 million subscribers, countering the negative trend that continued until September, which fell to 1,70 million subscribers. In December 2022 it reached 2,03 million, being the record for the number of pay-TV subscribers in the country, which had been set in 2018 at the time of the Russia World Cup, with more than 1,83 million.
In practical terms, it was exactly in November (beginning of the final phase of the World Cup, on the 18th) and December (end of the World Cup, on the 20th) that the numbers of television subscribers took a turn. It is also a period of the year with relative purchasing power.
“We believe that the fourth quarter of 2022 was positively impacted by the excellent performance of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as well as the festive period at the end of the year”, explains Estefânia Sousa, director of corporate affairs at Multichoice Angola to Expansão.
However, after 2018, the numbers took a downward path, also driven by the financial crisis and piracy began to gain ground against operators.
If the trend of “football strength” continues, we may once again see a drop in subscribers this year, not as sharply as in the previous cycle, not least because the economy returned to growth in 2021 after five recessions. However, piracy still persists and internet subscribers are thriving, providing other ways of watching television, as is the case with streaming platforms.
According to Francisco Ferreira, general director of TVCabo Angola, the appreciation of the Kwanza and the stabilization of the exchange rate that is being witnessed could be important to increase subscribers, because it allows operators to make more investments in equipment and, above all, will help in the purchase of services, being made in foreign currency abroad.
