Canal+ has unveiled a plan to turn MultiChoice around at a cost of almost R2 billion – which it calls a “boost plan” – aimed at restarting subscriber growth at the South African pay-TV operator after several difficult years.
The cash is a reinvestment of the synergies Canal+ expects to reap from combining the businesses, which together now serve 28 million subscribers.
Speaking during a conference call on the back of the company’s first set of results as a listed entity – with MultiChoice included for three months – CEO Maxime Saada says the combined group would see savings of €250 million. That translates to R4.79 billion at this morning’s rate of R19.17 and is €100 million – or R1.9 billion – more than its initial estimate.
MultiChoice, which joined the Canal+ group in September 2025, contributed €683 million (R13 billion) to group revenue and €103 million (R2 billion) to adjusted earnings before interest and tax in the three months it was included for the year to December.
Overall group revenue came in at €6.949 billion (R131.58 billion), up 0.9% on an organic basis, driven by sustained growth in Europe, Africa and Asia. Canal+ currently operates in 40 African countries and claims to be the market leader in 34 of them.
Next steps
Canal+ acquired MultiChoice after a difficult period for the South African pay-TV operator. In June last year, the company said it had lost almost three million subscribers within two years and absorbed a R10.2 billion negative impact on revenue due to local currency depreciation against the dollar.
Canal+ plans to list a stripped out South African entity on the JSE to comply with local broadcasting rules that limit foreign ownership of licence-holders to 20%. The French broadcaster listed on the London Stock Exchange last year.
CFO Amandine Ferré confirmed the company is “aiming at completing a secondary listing on the JSE, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, by the end of 2026”. This would make Canal+ the first French company to be listed in South Africa.
MultiChoice delisted from the JSE on 10 December 2025 after Canal+ completed its acquisition of all shares, ending the company’s roughly six-year run as a publicly traded company following its 2019 listing.
Storm damage
David Mignot, CEO of Canal+ Africa, says MultiChoice had to deal with a perfect storm over the past few years, hit by currency devaluation, inflation and load-shedding, especially in South Africa and Zambia.
Mignot says price increases and reduced investment in the commercial engine compounded the decline over the past three years, though he notes “that is all history”.
Canal+ has plans to return MultiChoice Group to growth by strengthening content, simplifying its product offering and expanding distribution across African markets, Mignot says.
“We will leverage our experience, both from Canal+ and MultiChoice, to reverse recent trends at MultiChoice. That work is well on the way and already had an impact, but it will take time before we see the full impact.”
The big picture
Mignot says the long-term growth potential for pay-TV across the continent remains significant. “Thanks to its improving macro-economic demographic and connectivity trends, Sub-Saharan Africa has huge growth potential.”
Population growth alone is expected to drive much of that expansion, reaching two billion citizens by 2050, with GDP growth expected at 4.5% over the next five years. Another key factor is electrification, which often leads directly to television ownership.
Mignot says these dynamics are already helping expand pay-TV penetration in many markets, particularly as competition from streaming platforms remains relatively limited in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Priority areas
The turnaround plan is built around four main pillars: stronger content, simplified commercial offers, a stronger focus on acquiring new subscribers and improved operational performance, Mignot says.
Local programming will remain a major focus, with Canal+ producing 10 000 hours of content for its African audiences each year. “We developed this local content with creatives who have a deep understanding of their audience being strongly rooted in many African cultures and languages,” [sic] he says.
Sport is central to the content strategy. “Sport is a critical part of our offer in Africa. Football especially, is huge, and this is one area where we are very strong, and the clear market leader.”
Between Canal+ and MultiChoice, the group already carries major international competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, the English Premier League and LaLiga, alongside regional competitions, such as the Premier Soccer League and T20 cricket in South Africa.
The company also plans to strengthen partnerships with global content providers and streaming platforms. Canal+ has already expanded its partnership with Netflix across the continent, bringing the streaming giant to 20 countries in Africa – a first on the continent.
Streamlined pricing
Beyond content, Canal+ intends to simplify pricing structures that have become increasingly complex. Currently, MultiChoice has a “huge variety of different offers” and “there’s actually 17 different price points”.
At the same time, Mignot says the company intends to apply operational best practices developed across the wider Canal+ group, including anti-piracy initiatives and improvements to its digital platform.
“We are not only going to break the negative cycle Maxime [Saada] talked about earlier; we are going to turn it around completely.”
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