Canal+ may roll out its streaming service in countries where MultiChoice operates as it reviews the future of the struggling Showmax platform.
The French group, which last September concluded its acquisition of MultiChoice, is in advanced discussions with Comcast, which owns about 30% of Showmax.
In addition to Showmax, MultiChoice also operates DStv Stream.
Canal+ group CEO Maxime Saada said the rollout of the Canal+ App — which was previously known as myCanal — in MultiChoice territory is a “possibility … like we have done in French-speaking Africa".
“Today, the Canal+ App is present in more than 30 countries, and we know it can withhold a lot of volume. But it’s not a decision we have taken because we have not yet concluded on Showmax.”
Saada said the competitive environment in over-the-top (OTT) or streaming services in Africa is “very limited”.
“We estimate that rate at less than 5%, so this is really a continent that is prime for growth on pay television.”
The scale that we have today, being a new group, is really helping us to have better conditions
— Amandine Ferre. Canal+ CFO
Canal+ recently signed a deal to bundle Netflix with its services in French-speaking African countries where it operates.
Saada said most of the competition will come from the same players “we have a strong relationship with in all mature markets”.
He said it is not easy for these players to succeed in Africa. “One of them, a very big platform, pulled out of South Africa in terms of producing content,” he said, referring to Amazon. “They were very aggressive a few years ago; not anymore.
“So I think that we don’t expect more intense competition than we do in other major markets, especially because David [Mignot, CEO of Canal+ Africa, which includes MultiChoice] has made sure, both in French-speaking Africa and now in English-speaking Africa, that our position is very, very strong.”
Mignot said the “vast majority today of the footprint is still not connected to the internet… more than 95% of the households are still not connected to fibre, and broadband access is limited. We do have an extensive portfolio of content, especially African content, and our strategy is to be in a position to partner with this gigantic platform, and this is what we’re doing.”
Saada said this week that Showmax is not a “commercial success”, and it has required a lot of investment from both owners.
“So we are discussing now with Comcast how we re-evaluate this opportunity. We are moving very fast, and the discussions are going very well with Comcast, which is, as you know, a strong partner that can help us in other geographies as well. We have made no decision yet on Showmax, except that we want to reduce the losses because it’s losing a lot of money.”
Canal+ is cutting costs across its operations by, among other things, refinancing debts and renegotiating prices for technology hardware, satellite, and sports and general entertainment content, among other things. This year is targeting annual savings of €150m (R2.8bn) and double that in the future in 2028. By 2030, it wants €400m in savings.
“The scale that we have today, being a new group, is really helping us to have better conditions,” said Canal+ CFO Amandine Ferre.
The group’s total cost base was about €8bn in 2025.
Last year Canal+ came under fire after it withheld payment to all MultiChoice suppliers and demanded a 20% discount. This move prompted the Competition Commission — which approved the merger of the two firms under strict conditions — to launch an investigation to “establish whether there has been a breach of the conditions of approval of the merger”.
Canal+ and MultiChoice have since reimbursed service providers. “Following the commission’s intervention, Canal+ has since corrected its conduct,” Competition Commission spokesperson Siya Makunga said this week.
Canal+ operates in 40 countries across Europe and Africa and has 40-million subscribers. Its ambition is to reach 50-million to 100-million subscribers.
Saada said there is a lot of work still to be done in integrating Canal+ and MultiChoice and “developing the company in the territories where we are today, including South Africa, including Nigeria, including other countries of the MultiChoice territories. We will get back to growth by restarting the commercial engine.”
Asked if Canal+ Africa plans to increase subscription fees this year, Mignot said, “We don’t have any price increase planned at this moment.”
Business Times
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