When we said that DStv had its work cut out for it under the Canal+ leadership, we meant it. Since the French multimedia company took over MultiChoice in 2025, it has worked tirelessly to set the course straight. Part of that plan involved axing Showmax for good and skipping the annual DStv price hike in 2026.
In terms of future growth, however, the company recently revealed its roughly €100 million (∼R1.9 billion) “boost plan” to kickstart subscriber growth at the South African broadcaster. The investment plan was shown off alongside Canal+’s first full-year results since it took MultiChoice under its wing.
Canal+ reported on MultiChoice’s “challenging performance” throughout 2025, despite “experiencing impressive growth from 2010 to 2023.” It notes massive revenue losses, driven by DStv’s subscriber drain — 14.9 million subs to 14.4 million. It reckons that MultiChoice attempted to fix the issue with short-term measures, pointing to the numerous price hikes and lack of acquisition subsidies, leading to a negative impact on the subscriber base.
“MultiChoice has faced challenges since the combined effects of macro-economic factors (e.g., currency devaluation in Nigeria, power cuts), a difficult transition to OTT with the expensive failure of Showmax, and strong inflation across most cost items, especially content, negatively impacted its profitability,” it said.
What’s the plan, Canal+?
The new owner’s “boost plan” will focus on a few key areas to right the DStv ship. First, it hopes to reach potential customers by providing the “best content on the African continent.” That means holding onto DStv’s saving grace — sports rights — as well as “combining joint productions, in-house channels and global partnerships” with the thousands of hours of African content produced on home soil.
Arguably more important than the content on offer are the high and often confusing pricepoints across DStv, serving as a barrier to entry for many Saffas. Canal+ hopes to simplify its offerings thoroughly, opting for “clearer pricing, streamlined branding and more effective marketing”.
The group will also set about recruiting more than 1,000 salespeople across Africa to help the company scale up in the right way. This will help the broadcaster transition to a “sales-focused model”.
Finally, the group will “accelerate subscriber growth by lowering entry costs through equipment subsidies, expanding its distribution network and reinforcing its commercial organisation with the recruitment of more than 1,000 salespeople on the ground across MultiChoice markets.”
Can Showmax Canal+ come out to play?
With MultiChoice already digging Showmax’s grave, we’re left to ponder what will take its place — and its content. In Canal+’s initial post announcing Showmax’s retirement, it hinted that something better would follow.
“Further details regarding our expanded content offering and platform upgrades will be shared in due course. We want to reassure our Showmax subscribers that they are our priority as we evolve our services to deliver a superior streaming experience,” it said.
In our minds, that could only mean one thing: Canal+. The company currently operates its own streamer in several regions, though notably not in South Africa. It may view this as the “superior streaming experience”, likely containing all the local content users have come to expect from Showmax. Die Kantoor, anyone?
Canal+ is home to some of the biggest entertainment brands. Were it to ever come South Africa’s way, it’d likely bring with it a larger price tag, settling closer to something like Netflix rather than Showmax’s R50-R150 prices. Of course, without official confirmation from MultiChoice or Canal+, we’re just dreamin’ out loud.
