French media group Canal+ plans to cut the workforce at MultiChoice through voluntary severance offers targeted at support functions.
The group, which took over MultiChoice in September last year, will also launch a restructuring programme at Irdeto, MultiChoice’s technology and cyber-security company.
“These planned changes are consistent with the commitments Canal+ made during the acquisition of MultiChoice and align with the ambition of Canal+ to streamline certain functions while investing more in activities that directly support the group’s growth and business development. These changes will be enacted in compliance with the social procedures of relevant jurisdictions,” it said.
Canal+ is cutting costs across its operations by, among other things, refinancing debts and renegotiating prices for satellite, sports and general entertainment content and technology hardware. It recently announced the closure of loss-making streaming platform Showmax.
According to Canal+, after experiencing impressive growth from 2010 to 2023, MultiChoice has faced challenges since the combined effects of macroeconomic factors such as currency devaluation in Nigeria, a difficult transition to over-the-top with the expensive failure of Showmax, and strong inflation across most cost items, especially content, negatively impacted its profitability.
MultiChoice addressed the situation through short-term measures, in particular, reduction in subscriber acquisition subsidies and price increases, but these had a negative impact on the subscriber base, worsening the original profitability issues, said Canal+.
MultiChoice revenue for the 2025 financial year decreased by 6%, or €142m (R2.6bn), from €2.54bn (R48.24bn) in 2024 to €2.4bn (R45.55bn) in 2025, driven by a decline in the subscriber base from 14.9-million to 14.4-million.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (ebit) declined by 14% from €185m (R3.51bn) in 2024 to €159m (R3.01bn). Canal+ said the impact of the decrease in revenues was partially mitigated by cost-cutting initiatives.
To restart subscriber growth, Canal+ will launch what it calls a growth boost plan by investing about €100m (R1.89bn) to accelerate the turnaround and “support MultiChoice’s return to sustainable growth”. The turnaround plan includes lowering entry costs through equipment subsidies, expanding its distribution network and the recruitment of more than 1,000 salespeople on the ground across MultiChoice markets. This year, Canal+ expects “to see a modest decrease in subscribers, resulting in a slower rate of decrease in revenues”.
Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said: “We begin 2026 from a position of strength, clarity and confidence. We now move into the execution phase of our strategy. In Europe, we will continue to focus on improving profitability.
“In Africa, we will ensure we are well-positioned to benefit from the continent’s growth potential and turn around MultiChoice. We expect to list Canal+ on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange soon, in what will be a significant moment for our company.”
TimesLIVE
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