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Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE SOUTH AFRICA EDITION 2026

South Africa’s
media & entertainment industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping media & entertainment in South Africa. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for Media & Entertainment Industry Landscape of South Africa
ZA
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

Media & Entertainment illustration
Companies tracked 655Media & Entertainment ecosystem in South Africa Disclosed funding $17.92M10 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 14With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 210 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore South Africa’s media & entertainment leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

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Explore the full landscape
Media & Entertainment company highlights in South Africa, snapshot 1 September 2026
Company
Quicketquicket.co.za$6.4M———
Music In Africamusicinafrica.net$4.6M———
Billionaire Plusbillionaireplus.io$2.1M—5—
Zindizindi.africa$1.95M—1—
Personerapersonera.com$1.4M—9—
Custos Media Technologycustostech.com$683K—3—
Ionoiono.fm$488.75K—12—
Howlerhowler.co.za$270K—140—
Playbetplaybet.co.za—4 roles115—
Project Performerprojectperformer.co.za—3 roles——
Triggerfish Animation Studiostriggerfish.com—2 roles158—
WildEarthwildearth.tv—2 roles4—
Ai Impactai-impact.co.za—1 roles——
IOLiol.co.za—1 roles——
Interbetinterbet.co.za—1 roles——
media24media24.com—1 roles2,971—
Betwaybetway.co.za————
DStvdstv.com————
Goldrush Gaming Groupgoldrush.co.za——132—
Jacaranda FMjacarandafm.com————
Kiron Interactivekironinteractive.com——86—
LottoStarlottostar.co.za————
News24news24.com————
ShowMaxshowmax.com——211—
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only

Explore the live startup set in Radar

No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.

Explore classified startups in Radar ↗
THE KEY SIGNALS

Media & Entertainment industry KPIs in South Africa

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

1 September 2026
Hiring participation2.1%

14 of 655 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation2.7%

18 of 655 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share73.1%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$420K

Midpoint of 12 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 73.1% of disclosed capital, while 97.3% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How South Africa media & entertainment has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

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2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

South Africa media & entertainment
$0$1.95M$3.9M$5.84M$7.79M2016: $858.17K20162017: $6.83M20172018: $3.6K20182019: $020192020: $4.75M20202021: $4.05M20212022: $020222023: $020232024: $020242025: $02025
View the numbers
Annual media & entertainment funding and company formation in South Africa
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$858.17K392
2017$6.83M353
2018$3.6K391
2019$0310
2020$4.75M552
2021$4.05M432
2022$0220
2023$0240
2024$0150
2025$020
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • Quicket35.7%
  • Music In Africa25.7%
  • Billionaire Plus11.7%
  • Other companies26.9%

Funding by stage

16 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel9 56.2%
Series A–B3 18.8%
Series C+ / PE0 0.0%
Grants, debt & other4 25.0%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
0 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

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Annual accounts availability

No reviewed exact national-ID connector has yet been qualified for South Africa; this is a checked implementation boundary, not evidence that filings are absent.; No reviewed exact national-ID connector has yet been qualified for South Africa; this is a checked implementation boundary, not evidence that filings are absent.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the South Africa companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

37 of the 655 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (5.6%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 382,941 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
Betwaybetway.co.za35,792,1718983.9%
News24news24.com8,199,3357479.2%
SuperSportsupersport.com4,681,7777680%
IOLiol.co.za4,454,1597174.6%
DStvdstv.com3,377,5716471.8%
World Sports Bettingworldsportsbetting.co.za2,660,6696278.9%
SubmitHubsubmithub.com2,560,1074471%
Daily Maverickdailymaverick.co.za2,229,1505871.6%
Linda Lkeji Bloglindaikejisblog.com1,930,0084888.6%
National Lotterynationallottery.co.za1,613,6435380.4%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

57 of these companies (8.7%) publish at least one Android app — 106 apps in all, carrying 92M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
DStvDStv41.3M4.3Entertainment
SuperSportSuperSport28M4.5Sports
News24: Trusted News. FirstNews245.5M3.6News & Magazines
MyDStvDStv5.3M4Entertainment
MP3 Quran القرآن الكريمQuran Audio Library4.6M4.6Music & Audio
GOtv StreamDStv1.7M3.8Entertainment
Peegle Live - Live StreamPeegle Live1.3M2.5Social
Telawa Hafs Quran مصحف التلاوةQuran Audio Library1M4.7Education
Telawa Warsh Quran تلاوة ورشQuran Audio Library391.8K4.7Education
Oromo QuranQuran Audio Library359.8K4.6Books & Reference

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q3–2026Q1).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Tv Broadcasting Services348.3MDStv 41.3M
Radio Tech527.1MMP3 Quran القرآن الكريم 4.6M
Internet First Media146.1MNews24: Trusted News. First 5.5M
Social Platforms61.7MPeegle Live - Live Stream 1.3M
Music Tech21364.1KCircle of Fifths 222.6K
Ott Video3269.5KWildEarth for Android TV 141.6K
Online Event Ticketing10199.1KSter-Kinekor 120.8K
Events Tech253.6KHowler Check In 31.7K

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2022Q4: 32022Q4: 12022Q42023Q1: 12023Q1: 02023Q12023Q3: 12023Q3: 22023Q32023Q4: 62023Q4: 32023Q42024Q1: 22024Q1: 12024Q12024Q2: 22024Q2: 22024Q22024Q3: 22024Q3: 62024Q32024Q4: 32024Q4: 52024Q42025Q1: 42025Q1: 32025Q12025Q2: 32025Q2: 42025Q22025Q3: 22025Q3: 232025Q32026Q1: 32026Q1: 172026Q1

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 100 of 106 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2026Q1, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The South Africa media & entertainment market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Consumer digital408
B2c e-commerce109
Enterprise tech83
Internet first news publishers59
Real money gaming35
Marketplaces30
Enterprise software29
Internet first sports media21
Saas17
Video on demand15
Loneliness economy11
Music streaming11

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Consumer digital

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

408companies
1.7%have hiring activity

7 companies hiring · $17.24M disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

Advertising406
Subscription234
Commission on transaction211
Sponsorship184
E-commerce - service135
Fee-for-service110
Affiliate marketing63
E-commerce - product53
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

Expand panel +
Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Mergers & acquisitionsshowmax.com ↗

Currently, the company is working with advisers on the potential purchase of Comcast’s 30 per cent stake in Showmax, which is the largest streaming platform in Africa.

Funding roundssarugby.co.za ↗

Business Day reported on Friday that a group of four local companies – AltVest Capital, EasyEquities, 27four Investment Managers and RainFin – are interested in investing $372-million for up to 40% of SARU’s commercial rights

Mergers & acquisitionsmg.co.za ↗

The New York-based not-for-profit investment fund sold its majority shareholding in M&G to minority shareholder and former CEO Hoosain Karjieker and director Thembisa Fakude.

Layoffsmedia24.com ↗

The group confirmed on Friday it had initiated a formal consultation process with City Press staff “with the intention of closing this newsroom”.

Leadership moveskironinteractive.com ↗

Kiron Interactive has added industry veteran Ramiro Atucha to its board advisory ranks to support its commercial expansion across regulated Latin American jurisdictions.

Fundraisingdisrupt-africa.com ↗

Disrupt Africa reported earlier this month the firm had announced the US$64 million first close of its second fund, VP Pan-African Fund II.

New productssimplybiz.co.za ↗

Adviser support services firm SimplyBiz has launched an ongoing review service option to broaden its business consultancy service.

Regulatorydstv.com ↗

I wrote back to the NCA on Monday and directed them to suspend DStv’s broadcasting licence effective August 7, 2025, if the company fails to reduce its bundle prices.

Leadership movesjacarandafm.com ↗

Vuyani Dombo has been announced as Jacaranda FM's new managing director, effective 1 April 2025.

Contractstripleplay.tv ↗

Durham University trusts in Tripleplay's digital signage and IPTV network as a communication element

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 29 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Leadership moves
10
Funding rounds
6
Earnings
3
Layoffs
2
Mergers & acquisitions
2
Contracts
2
Fundraising
1
Incorporation
1
Regulatory
1
New products
1
4 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Leadership moves

1 tracked people moves

Ramiro Atucha

Appointment Senior Advisor

Contract wins

1 recorded customer wins

Tripleplay ↗

Customer: durham university

Workforce actions

1 companies with reported reductions

media24 ↗

Scale not stated rolesbusiness downturn

Regulatory events

1 recorded events

DStv ↗

Suspension of broadcasting licence effective August 7, 2025 if fails to reduce bundle pricesNCA

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
mxit→Motribe ↗Announced2026-02-10Not stated in snapshot
canal+→ShowMax ↗Pending2025-10-24Not stated in snapshot
Hoosain Karjieker and Thembisa Fakude→mail & guardian ↗Completed2024-10-31Not stated in snapshot
Ackerley Sports Group→SA Rugby ↗Pending2024-02-14$75.0M
Sky and Comcast→ShowMax ↗Announced2024-02-01Not stated in snapshot
softswiss→Turfsport ↗Announced2024-01-18Not stated in snapshot

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

Recorded hiring and workforce signals from the available source snapshot.

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Most advertised job titles

No repeated job title is supported by this snapshot.

0 internship postings

0 tracked postings mention remote work.

THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

97 founders and chief executives across 93 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

2 profiles with education records.

Prior employers

1 profiles with prior-work records.

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

177,997 articles in the measured 12-month window.

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177,997articles in the measured year
54,207articles in 2026Q1
65.2%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

Media & Entertainment coverage across South Africa · articles per complete quarter

015,58531,16946,75462,3382021Q2: 33,5962021Q22021Q3: 32,5922021Q4: 45,6152022Q1: 34,2632022Q2: 32,4132022Q22022Q3: 33,8312022Q4: 43,6492023Q1: 41,7762023Q2: 35,7042023Q22023Q3: 51,5292023Q4: 44,4092024Q1: 44,2512024Q2: 41,5232024Q22024Q3: 38,3762024Q4: 44,8142025Q1: 49,6822025Q2: 35,3452025Q22025Q3: 44,9932025Q4: 48,9752026Q1: 54,2072026Q1
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q233,596
2021Q332,592
2021Q445,615
2022Q134,263
2022Q232,413
2022Q333,831
2022Q443,649
2023Q141,776
2023Q235,704
2023Q351,529
2023Q444,409
2024Q144,251
2024Q241,523
2024Q338,376
2024Q444,814
2025Q149,682
2025Q235,345
2025Q344,993
2025Q448,975
2026Q154,207

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
65,574 positive · 3,865 neutral · 49,237 negative
2022
93,773 positive · 5,227 neutral · 44,825 negative
2023
119,387 positive · 5,506 neutral · 48,105 negative
2024
109,983 positive · 4,985 neutral · 53,651 negative
2025
116,490 positive · 5,372 neutral · 56,687 negative

Leading coverage topics

Media & Entertainment coverage across South Africa · ranked by full-period article count.

International Sports Competitions47,944 articles in the full recorded period
12,476 recent · 10,657 prior
Cricket Test Matches16,406 articles in the full recorded period
3,787 recent · 2,717 prior
Championship Event Highlights15,481 articles in the full recorded period
4,494 recent · 3,369 prior
Sports History And Legacy Stories10,684 articles in the full recorded period
2,512 recent · 2,051 prior
Sports Injury Reports10,575 articles in the full recorded period
2,398 recent · 1,458 prior
International Political Relations10,319 articles in the full recorded period
1,994 recent · 2,657 prior
Olympic Games Coverage10,235 articles in the full recorded period
2,128 recent · 2,110 prior
Government International Agreements Coordination8,481 articles in the full recorded period
1,703 recent · 1,906 prior
Sports Governance And Policy Changes8,017 articles in the full recorded period
1,448 recent · 1,153 prior
Covid 19 Vaccine Development And Efficacy Trials7,454 articles in the full recorded period
197 recent · 88 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

Media & Entertainment coverage across South Africa

KeywordRecentPriorChange
angel investors1,013352188%
famous deaths819165019%
celebrity mourning771223405%
protest punk rock639125225%
free trade deals46130253%
trade dispute mechanisms45827467%
international cups44927066%
asset acquisition423138207%
bilateral trade42126559%
early-stage investment419139201%
odi cricket2,1523,303-35%
odi tactics1,9873,156-37%
odi world cup1,5833,140-50%
limited overs cricket2,0343,133-35%
odi series1,9602,994-35%

Event and signal lenses

Media & Entertainment coverage across South Africa

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

226,140 classified articles

test cricket, odi world cup, test innings

44.0% critical · 31.4% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

45,283 classified articles

angel investors, odi world cup, icc world cup

38.9% critical · 42.0% positive
Rising

Growth

75,664 classified articles

gdp growth rate, gdp acceleration, economic output growth

34.7% critical · 47.5% positive

Media & Entertainment coverage across South Africa. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT

Where companies are based

Company counts, hiring and disclosed funding across the recorded hubs.

Expand panel +
8 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

Media & Entertainment in South Africa: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put South Africa in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 1 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon