MultiChoice Namibia grows local content slate with further series, film and documentary commissions as Ombura-project enters second phase

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice Namibia is growing its local content slate under the project's "Ombura-named umbrella with further new series, film and documentary commissions.

So far, 19 films, a lifestyle series and a documentary have been produced for DStv, GOtv and MultiChoice's streamer Showmax. 

In September 2024, MultiChoice Namibia also started and held its first MultiChoice Film Festival in Namibia to showcase new local content and to provide local filmmakers a place to meet, interact and have conversations.

The Ombura-project which is entering its second phase, is part of MultiChoice Namibia's effort to expand its slate of local content and Namibian stories.

The lifestyle coming series Op Pad Met My Potjie which was seen recently on kykNET (DStv 144) with presenter Joalette de Villiers travelling throughout Namibia, has been renewed for a second season.

Bora Box which will premiere on Channel O, is a new music request show showcasing Namibian music and artists.

Crossover Hearts is a new romantic film directed by MultiChoice Talent Factory alum Lucia Kim Hamunghete which follows a young couple from different cultures battling prejudices and family expectations.

Desert Film's The Long Road details the life of a struggling factory worker who has been abandoned by his pregnant wife and attempts to redeem himself, while Oppiplaas is a romantic drama about a city girl launching a social media business and who then reluctantly takes on a struggling farmer as a client.

The Afrikaans environmental magazine show Groen Namibië has been renewed for another season on kykNET.

Then there is also the feature film My F*k, Marelize, also produced by kykNET Films and inspired by a viral video from Namibia, which will be shown on kykNET.

Another documentary will also be produced.

"This year, we continue our commitment to hyperlocal storytelling with productions that reflect the culture, language, and realities of our audiences," says Rogert Gertze, MultiChoice Namibia managing director.

"Beyond storytelling, we are actively investing in the future of African film and television by training, funding, and supporting the next generation of local talent because when Africa tells its own stories, the world listens."

Esther Beukes, Namibian Film Commission chairperson, says "On behalf of the Namibia Film Commission, a huge thank you to MultiChoice Namibia, and this phenomenal team. Your investment in our industry isn't just about making TV, it's about making history."

ALSO READ: Inside MultiChoice's push to expand Namibia's kykNET content

ALSO READ: MultiChoice Namibia to host inaugural MultiChoice Film Festival 2024 with panel sessions and content screenings

MultiChoice Namibia is losing 49 subscribers daily who cut the cord over high prices and Netflix as it hikes DStv fees up to 8% from April 2025 and blames inflation

by Thinus Ferreira

As MultiChoice Namibia gets ready to hike prices from April 2025 and blames inflation, Namibia's broadcasting authority has revealed that MultiChoice Nigeria is losing 49 subscribers daily in that country who are cutting the cord due to the high subscription fees and competition like Netflix.

Namibia's Communications Regulatory Authority (CRAN), in its latest sector report, indicates that MultiChoice Namibia has shed a combined 35 578 DStv and GOv subscribers between the start of 2023 and the end of 2024.

This means that MultiChoice Namibia over the past two years has lost 49 subscribers daily.

According to the regulator, MultiChoice Namibia has seen an 11% decline in the satellite pay-TV operator's total subscribers in the country in the 4th quarter of 2024.

"This may be attributed to the recent increase in subscription fees and growing competition from streaming platforms like Netflix," the regulator notes in its Q4 broadcasting sector report.

From April 2025, MultiChoice is hiking DStv fees in Namibia by between 6% and just over 8%.

This is MultiChoice Namibia's second price hike in less than a year, after it hiked prices in September 2024.

MultiChoice Namibia is hiking DStv Premium by 6% from April from N$985 to $1045 - crossing the psychological threshold of $1000 per month for its top-end package for the first time ever. 

MultiChoice Namibia is increasing DStv Compact Plus 5.9% from N$675 to N$715, while DStv Compact is increasing 6% from N$495 to N$525.

DStv Family is increased 6.7% from N$370 to N$395, while DStv Access will increase by 8.5% from N$175 to N$190.

DStv Lite - the cheapest package - is getting a price decrease from N$110 to N$60, making it 45% cheaper.

MultiChoice Nigeria blames inflation in the country for the increase of between 6% and 8%.

"Africa’s much loved storyteller has taken into account the current rate of inflation and economic pressures facing Namibians when considering our price adjustments," says MultiChoice Namibia.

MultiChoice Namibia hikes prices by up to 3%

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice Namibia is the latest country where DStv subscribers are getting another price hike, as confirmed by MultiChoice Namibia spokesperson Elzita Beukes.

MultiChoice Namibia is hiking DStv Premium by 2.6% from N$960 to N$985. 

DStv Compact Plus is increased 3% from N$655 to N$675, while DStv Compact is being increased 3.1% from N$480 to N$495.

MultiChoice Nigeria is increasing DStv Family by 2.7% from N$360 to N$370. DStv Lite remains unchanged at N$110 per month.

MultiChoice in Namibia the 3rd Southern African country to hike DStv subscription fees from April after South Africa and Zambia.

MultiChoice in Namibia is the third country in Southern Africa to announce that it will hike DStv subscription fees from April for DStv subscribers, following MultiChoice Zambia where DStv subscribers will see a price increase of up to 10%, and in South Africa where MultiChoice South Africa is also increasing DStv fees from the end of the month.

Interestingly, MultiChoice Namibia will also leave the subscription fee of DStv Premium unchanged, just as in South Africa, as MultiChoice South Africa and MultiChoice Africa - as part of a new strategy - are trying to stem the drastic decline in the percentage of DStv Premium subscribers.

Customers are no longer seeing DStv Premium as providing adequate value for the price as MultiChoice's top-tier and most expensive service, with much of what used to be offered exclusively like access to Showmax, DStv Now, and TV channels that have been diluted to lower-tiered DStv packages, and with a growing number of customers abandoning DStv and turning to subscription video streaming service rivals like Netflix.

While DStv Premium subscribers won't pay more from April 2019, MultiChoice is, for instance, taking away their DStv print magazine that helped them with content discovery and knowing what programming is shown where as well as providing channel listings.

The price of DStv Premium in Namibia will remain unchanged at N$809 (R802.09) per month, while the other DStv packages in Namibia will increase from April.

"Over the past two years, we have made efforts to freeze and or decrease DStv prices and committed to holding our prices at the same level, barring any extreme factors such as the devaluation of currency or other macro-economic headwinds," says Roger Gertze, MultiChoice Namibia managing director, in a statement announcing the DStv price hike.

"Unfortunately, because of inflation – which stands at 5,40% in Namibia – and rising programming and operational costs, we have had to review our pricing so we can remain sustainable as a business and continue bringing you the quality video entertainment content you love."

DStv Compact Plus subscribers in Namibia will see an increase from N$509 to N$519 per month, while the Compact package will increase from N$399 from N$385.

DStv The Family will increase to N$265 in Namibia while DStv Access is increasing from N$120 to N$125. The cost of DStv Access in Namibia will increase from N$75 to N$90.

MultiChoice Namibia alleged fraud case of R2 million against former marketing manager postponed again after the accused's legal team drops her.

The ongoing drawn-out alleged fraud case between MultiChoice Namibia and its former executive Manga Nawa-Mukena (37) has been delayed again after her legal team dropped her.

Manga Nawa-Mukena, MultiChoice Namibia's former marketing manager, stands accused of allegedl defrauding MultiChoice running the DStv service in Nambia of N$2 million (R2 million).

Manga Nawa-Mukena allegedly defrauded MultiChoice Namibia between 1 April 2013 and 17 March 2017.

She allegedly abused her marketing manager position to pay Kundan (Pty) Ltd for advertising services that were never rendered, allegedly falsifying 80 invoices for various advertising agencies and submitting them together with banking details that were not that of Kundan (Pty) Ltd but her own banking details.

The Magistrate's Court referred the case to the Windhoek High Court.

Judge Shafimana Ueitele has been forced to postpone the case yet again after Manga Nawa-Mukena's legal counsel, De Klerk, Horn & Coetzee Inc. has withdrawn from the case.

Manga Nawa-Mukena's, her husband Joseph Mukena (43), and a friend Celestino Gabriel Antonio (37) stand accused by Namibia's prosecutor-general on charges of fraud, alternatively theft, money laundering, forgery and uttering of a forged document, contravening Namibia's Organised Crime Act, obstructing or attempting to defeat the course of justice and contravening the Value Added Tax Act in Namibia.

Former MultiChoice Namibia marketing manager, Manga Nawa-Mukena, back in court over alleged fraud of R2 million.

The former MultiChoice Namibia marketing manager Manga Nawa-Mukena has made her second appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court this past Friday for allegedly defrauding MultiChoice, running the DStv service, of N$2 million (R2 million).

Manga Nawa-Mukena is on trial on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering a forged instrument Namibia's New Era reports.

Manga Nawa-Mukena allegedly defrauded MultiChoice Namibia between 1 April 2013 and 17 March 2017.

Manga Nawa-Mukena allegedly abused her MultiChoice Nigeria marketing manager position to pay Kundan (Pty) Ltd for advertising services that were never rendered.

Manga Nawa-Mukena who again appear in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court this week, allegedly falsified 80 invoices for various advertising services, and submitting them together with banking details that were not that of Kundan (Pty) Ltd but her own banking details.

Over a period of 3 years, Manga Nawa-Mukena allegedly was paid over R2 million by MultiChoice Nigeria and Roger Gertze.