Canal+ Axes MultiChoice Streamer Showmax
Canal+, in the midst of aggressive cost-cutting since recently acquiring African pay-TV group MultiChoice, is shutting down its loss-making and cash-guzzling video streaming service Showmax, which MultiChoice operated in partnership with NBCUniversal.
Variety has reliably learned that Showmax will definitely be shutting down “soon,” though a specific date isn’t available yet, given a few remaining legal implications that Canal+ and MultiChoice are sorting out.
Canal+ and MultiChoice confirmed the end of Showmax Varietystating that there will be “a shutdown of the Showmax service, following an extensive review of its streaming operations.”
MultiChoice launched Showmax across Africa 11 years ago in August 2015 to compete with the arrival of streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others, all of which became available on the continent and started to bite into MultiChoice’s old pay-TV subscriber base.
Two years ago, in February 2024, MultiChoice, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, relaunched Showmax, leveraging the technology behind the Peacock streaming service.
Millions of dollars were poured into redesigning Showmax’s IT platform and spending on content to boost the pan-African streamer’s battle against Netflix, but that ultimately proved fruitless.
MultiChoice and NBCUniversal put roughly a combined $309 million in equity financing into Showmax to boost content creation in particular, but none of the aggressive growth and subscriber adoption targets that MultiChoice executives had promised investors before it relaunched came to fruition.
Underperforming and cash-hungry Showmax aims to save a total of €400 million in cost savings by 2030, including cuts to content across the combined Canal+ group, and is the latest victim of Canal+’s reorganization at MultiChoice.
NBCUniversal has a 30% stake in Showmax as a joint venture. In its last annual results before the Canal+ takeover, MultiChoice revealed that Showmax’s trading losses had worsened by 88%, while revenue fell significantly.
According to the company: “The decision to terminate Showmax was made by the Showmax board and reflects MultiChoice, a Canal+ company,’s continued focus on financial discipline and investment optimization, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment.”
Because Canal+, as part of the agreement to acquire MultiChoice, is not allowed to lay off staff for a period of three years, MultiChoice will not let Showmax staff go, but will transfer them to other positions within the wider company.
“The decision to discontinue Showmax services will not entail any cuts. The group will engage and support employees through various transition options,” the company said. Variety.
MultiChoice has already quietly started to rebrand Showmax Originals to Africa Magic, M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic Originals, with original series set to transition to these various DStv linear TV channels on the MultiChoice pay-TV platform.
The closure of Showmax comes two years after Amazon MGM Studios shocked Nigeria and South Africa’s creative community in January 2024 when it abruptly announced it would immediately stop commissioning new local original content in Africa, as well as terminate pre-existing development deals with a dozen production companies.
In January, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said during an investor call that Showmax was “not a commercial success” and that its failure as a streaming service was “obvious.”
Saada also said that a decision on the future of Showmax would be made soon and that a reduction in the Showmax budget, which has put enormous financial pressure on MultiChoice, would contribute significantly to Canal+’s overall cost savings targets.
Canal+ says it will “continue to invest in premium content for MultiChoice subscribers, technological innovation and strategic partnerships to consolidate its leadership in the African entertainment market.”
“Further details about 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.”
In June, Canal+ and Netflix announced a strategic distribution agreement for French-speaking Africa with a new partnership that saw Canal+ become the first operator to bundle Netflix subscriptions into its traditional pay-TV offering in 24 sub-Saharan countries.
That’s what insiders said Variety that instead of wasting any more money trying to compete with Showmax as a struggling standalone streamer, Canal+ will likely expand its partnership and roll out this Netflix bundle to the rest of Africa.
An award-winning South African director-producer who has created several series and films for MultiChoice under the Showmax banner, said Variety The end of Showmax is a sad day for South African filmmakers as it closes yet another avenue to showcase work and make a living in an industry undergoing tumultuous change.
“Showmax was one of the few platforms available to us that was willing to support stories that were bold and authentic in a market that has traditionally always played it safe,” said the filmmaker.
“From ‘Koek’ to ‘Adulting’, ‘Spinners’ to ‘Catch Me a Killer’, ‘Khaki Fever’ to ‘Youngins’, ‘Wyfie’ to ‘Dam’, these are films and series that would never be made by competing platforms or broadcasters. Losing Showmax is a huge blow to the local industry and audiences, with Canal+ giving us very little hope that they will fill that void with anything of value.”
“If 2026 is the Year of the Horse, it feels like this horse is being sent to the factory to be turned into glue and cheap pies.”
Canal+ will release its next set of financial results on March 11. These will be the first combined full-year results since the group took effective control of MultiChoice in September 2025.
