South Africa Gets Connected

A common pattern observed in most nations is the progressive growth of the already all-encompassing presence of fixed internet connections in households and the slow decline of Pay TV penetration. South Africa is no exception to this rule, but it is an immense outlier when you look at the numbers as a snapshot.  

Fixed Internet Penetration Lags Behind in South Africa 

While all other countries in the EMEA region surveyed by Fabric Data are above 90% fixed internet penetration, only 14% of households in South Africa have an internet connection as of Q1 2025; more than half of these being provided by market leaders Vodacom and Telkom, each holding 27% of the market share, followed by MTN with 18%, Rain with 10% and the remaining 18% distributed among smaller companies. 

Mobile-First: Smartphone Usage Dominates 

One of the reasons for this anomaly is most likely a preference for mobile internet connections. In fact, South Africa displays the largest percentage of smartphone possession in the region with 95%, which is 4% more than the average of all other countries. On the other hand, Cable Boxes or Receivers only hold 7% possession in comparison to Smart TVs with 42%. 

Device Preferences for Content Viewership 

Looking at device usage for watching content, there is a similar landscape: only 2% of the population use their Cable Box while 27% choose their Smart TV, the same percentage choose their PC or Notebook. Smartphones remain the main source of content with 75%, growing half a percentage point from the previous quarter and 4% in comparison to the same quarter last year. 

This is reflective of the low penetration of the Pay TV model (39%) as compared to the penetration of online content (69%). This trend is also stronger in younger generations, as the 16 to 24 years old age group has the lowest possession of Cable box with 1% while 45 to 54 and the 55+ age groups hold the highest with 9% each. 

Older Generations Also Turning Away from Pay TV 

While the older generations of South Africans are the ones who still hold on to TV, they they’re also contributing to its decline with 24% of the 55+ age group being Cord-Cutters, meaning they have cancelled their Pay TV subscription in the past (as of Q1 2025). Cord cutters in general have consistently increased, from 12% in Q3 of 2024, to 13% in Q4 and finally 14% in the first quarter of 2025. 

Price Gaps Between Streaming and Pay TV Services 

When a South African household looks at their options, they see that the streaming platform Showmax costs $99 ZAR per month ($5.65 USD) while a Pay TV alternative like Openview charges $799 ZAR ($45.59 USD) for a single Cable Box. DStv, the most popular TV service, has a basic plan that is only $33 ZAR ($1.88 USD) but only includes one Cable Box with 33 channels while all other plans they offer include access to their streaming service and a discount or free access to Showmax and even more plans that are stream only without Pay TV. 

Considering all this, the market for streaming platforms and online content in South Africa is ripe for expansion as traditional media seems to only be shrinking and internet connections expanding. Even older generations show indications of being ready to make the switch provided a better offer is shown to them. As South Africa becomes more connected, the thirst for content will only grow.