MultiChoice Group is entering uncharted territory. With Groupe Canal+’s takeover now final, the South African pay-TV giant has fallen under foreign control for the first time in its history.

Calvo Mawela has been replaced as chief executive by Frenchman David Mignot, the Canal+ Africa boss, while Maxime Saada, Canal+’s CEO, now chairs the MultiChoice board.

The new management team has promised a full strategic update in early 2026. But already the scale of the challenge is clear: the company is bleeding subscribers, Showmax is deep in the red, and the core DStv product strategy is outdated and in need of an overhaul.

The latest results underscore the urgency facing the group’s new owners. MultiChoice shed 1.2 million broadcast subscribers in the 2025 financial year, about half of them in South Africa. Every segment is under pressure, but the bleeding at the high end has been the worst – and those are its most profitable customers.

A cost-of-living crisis in South Africa and some of its other operating markets in Africa, like Nigeria, has hit consumer affordability. For many households, DStv is no longer essential – and many have turned to cheaper streaming offers from Netflix and other international competitors.

The revenue picture reflects this pressure. Subscription revenue fell by more than 11% year on year, dragging group revenue down to just over R50-billion. Trading profit almost halved. MultiChoice has already pushed through repeated price increases, but the tactic risks driving even more customers away. The traditional channel bouquet model – unchanged for over a decade – looks increasingly unfit for purpose.

Showmax

Showmax, the streaming service launched to counter the rise of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, should be the growth engine. The service is in what management calls a “peak investment” phase, and cumulative losses now run into the billions.

The joint venture with Comcast, through NBCUniversal, has given Showmax access to improved technology, yet scaling a streaming platform profitably in Africa is a big challenge. Bandwidth is costly and consumer behaviour still tilts towards either linear television or free online content. Unless losses narrow soon, Showmax could become a millstone rather than a lifeline. (The new management team told TechCentral on a media call on Monday that a decision will be made regarding the strategy for Showmax “within weeks” or “months”.)

Read: MultiChoice: We can’t afford to compete without help

The company itself has acknowledged that the product strategy must change. In a detailed interview with TechCentral earlier this year, MultiChoice South Africa CEO Byron du Plessis admitted that DStv’s packaging and channel bundling had not been fundamentally overhauled in more than 12 years. That stagnation has left the business out of step with younger audiences, who consume short-form and mobile-first video rather than curated linear channels.

Du Plessis also conceded that the bouquet structure might no longer align with the realities of how people want to buy content. That assessment is blunt but accurate. Unless DStv can reinvent its offering – possibly with more flexible pricing – the erosion of its base will continue.

The French connection … Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada

For the new French-led management team, these problems must be top of the agenda. First, they must arrest the decline in subscribers. At the premium end, that means offering content in 4K resolution and other cutting-edge video and audio technologies. Sports broadcasting remains a differentiator, but even that advantage may be threatened in future as global streamers snap up rights.

At the same time, Canal+ needs to accelerate the migration of customers to digital platforms without allowing Showmax’s losses to spiral. That means ruthless cost discipline and a sharper focus on content that resonates with African audiences. African originals have long been MultiChoice’s strength; leveraging that asset will be essential in differentiating against competitors like Netflix and Disney+.

The macro environment complicates everything. Across Africa, currency depreciation has hammered reported revenues, while licensing and technology costs are largely dollar denominated.

Still, there are levers available. If done right, a reset in packaging could stem subscriber losses and even win back churned customers – if the value proposition is clearer. A youth-focused, mobile-first Showmax, tightly integrated with data bundles, could gain traction in the mass market.

Also, aggressive localisation of content and partnerships with mobile telecommunications operators might drive down customer acquisition costs. And if the French owners can align MultiChoice’s African operations with Canal+’s broader international portfolio, they may unlock economies of scale in content acquisition and technology investment.

But the risks are real:

If Showmax continues to burn cash without approaching breakeven, investor patience will wear thin;
If global competitors secure more sports rights, DStv’s strongest moat will be breached; and
If consumer affordability continues to deteriorate, even the best product strategy may not prevent further subscriber losses.

Inflection point

MultiChoice is at an inflection point, and the new board will be judged quickly on whether it can deliver a credible turnaround.

The strategic update promised for the first quarter of 2026 will therefore be critical. Canal+ has the resources and global experience to help, but the African pay-TV market is difficult.

MultiChoice’s decline has been many years in the making; reversing it will require more than cosmetic changes. It will require a fundamental rethink of how people want to consume content, and how much they are willing to pay for it.