Sub-Saharan African region: Dominant firms in the Pay TV markets by Tokunbo Ojo

Structurally, African Pay TV markets are oligopoly in nature. This paper looks at the corporate strategies and history of the three transnational media companies – French Canal Plus (a spin-off company of the French multinational company, Vivendi, as of 2023), South African MultiChoice (a spin-off company of the South African multi-media conglomerate company, Naspers, as of 2019) and Chinese StarTimes. Combined, the three companies have over 70 percent of the market share of the continent's subscription Pay TV markets in terms of the numbers of the Pay TV subscribers. The paper concludes by highlighting the broader regulatory concerns and inherent limitations of ad-hoc broadcasting policy regime in relations to the subscription Pay TV market structure.