The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has reported that its video streaming service, SABC+, has achieved a remarkable 1.5 million registered users milestone. This achievement comes just over a year after the platform was relaunched in July 2024 and follows a rapid ascent to one million users just four months earlier.
In preparation for its relaunch, SABC+ underwent significant renovations, with upgrades implemented across its website, mobile, and TV apps. These improvements introduced support for various new platforms and features, enhancing the user experience.
SABC+ provides live streaming of the broadcaster’s free-to-air TV channels, including a 24-hour news channel, SABC Sport, and 19 radio stations. In its annual financial results for 2025, SABC highlighted SABC+ as the fastest-growing streaming service in South Africa.
A key takeaway for the SABC following the July 2024 revamp was the swift growth of the app. On-demand viewership continued to climb throughout the financial year, with news content views increasing from 1.8 million in Q3 to 2.2 million in Q4. The platform also noted growth in SABC Lehae content views, from 141,111 to 147,227, reflecting a rising audience comfort with streaming news and the SABC’s responsiveness to public demand for accessible content.
The expansion of SABC Sport on the SABC+ platform has increased audience reach, further reinforcing its commitment to providing free access to sports content. From July 2024 to March 2025, the SABC Sport channel garnered nine million total screen views and 4.5 million unique views. Monthly viewership peaked at around 1.9 million in August and September 2024, largely due to events like the Rugby Championship and the MTN 8 final.
The SABC underscored that the sports channel’s offerings significantly contributed to the growth of SABC+ subscriptions, establishing the platform as an essential destination for South African sports enthusiasts by offering free access to sought-after events, including PSL matches and national team fixtures.
Regarding revenue, SABC+ registered substantial growth during the 2025 financial year compared to the previous year. Despite reporting a net operating loss of US$14 million, worse than the US$197.8 million loss from the prior year, these figures are an improvement over a staggering US$64 million loss recorded in 2023. The SABC is optimistic that the enhanced SABC+ platform will play a crucial role in its strategy to return to profitability in the coming years.
Originally launched as a rebranding of the TelkomOne streaming service in November 2022, the initial version of SABC+ attracted around one million monthly users by May 2024, showcasing modest growth over 18 months. However, the service’s relaunch in July 2024 featured significant enhancements, including stability improvements, new features, higher-resolution streaming, catch-up content, and support for various smart TV operating systems.
With the platform now operating under a new URL, sabc-plus.com, users must register to access the service. Despite building its user base anew, SABC+ has impressively reached one million users in under a year, with an additional 500,000 users added by October 2025.
