Azam TV, Kenya’s third-largest DTH (direct-to-home) service provider, experienced a huge drop in its subscriber base during the first quarter of the financial year 2024/25. The latest figures from Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show a significant decrease in the company’s subscriptions. Numbers have fallen from 81,553 in the previous quarter to just 26,723, a staggering drop of 67.2%.
Azam TV, a satellite television service available in Kenya, is owned by the Bakhresa Group, headquartered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Since 2022, the broadcaster has held a subscription base greater than 60,000 in the country. In December of 2022, it had 68,599 subscribers. This number had grown to 73,758 in September of 2023 and was at a high of 81,553 in June of 2024.
The reason behind the sudden drop in numbers is hard to pinpoint. It comes in a period after the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) signed a seven-year broadcast deal making Azam the official broadcast partner of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL). The deal includes airing four matches in every round on Azam’s Pay TV and digital.
DStv Growth in Kenya
CA also notes that “The total number of subscriptions for broadcasting services dropped by 4.0 percent to 6.13 million by the end of the reference period due to subscriber churn.”
However, MultiChoice-owned DStv continues to grow its subscriber base in Kenya gradually. During the period Azam lost subscribers, DStv grew by 1.3% to reach 1,211,305 subscribers. Further, the service provider recorded year-over-year growth of 6.45%, with numbers rising from 1,137,898 in 2023 to 1,211,305 in 2024.
Among major players, GOtv and DStv, both of MultiChoice, registered some growth. It was a tough period for StarTimes, which lost 48.9% of subscribers, and Zuku, which lost 30.9%.
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In Kenya, broadcasting service subscriptions declined by 3.30% within 12 months. The main subscription-based broadcasting services are GOtv, StarTimes, Azam, MultiChoice (DStv), and Wananchi (Zuku). GOtv has the largest subscriber base in Kenya, at 2,806,516, representing a 45.75% market share.
