Canal+ is considering deploying its own streaming app to MultiChoice customers in South Africa following its takeover of the pay-TV group.
Executives are touting an all in-one experience that could bring multiple services and local content into a single interface.
The French operator has told investors it wants the Canal+ app to act as an aggregator, with partnerships already in place that can bring third-party services into the platform, including Apple TV and Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO Max.
However, the plans raise immediate questions over MultiChoice’s streaming business Showmax. Canal+ CFO Amandine Ferré has described Showmax’s losses as a “big issue”, and CEO Maxime Saada said the group is in “advanced discussions” with Comcast about its 30% stake in the Showmax joint venture.
Showmax was relaunched in 2024 using NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology platform, as part of a partnership between MultiChoice, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky that also brought a pipeline of content to the service.
The streaming strategy sits alongside a broader push to stabilise MultiChoice’s subscriber base. Canal has flagged subscriber growth as a priority and said it is already pursuing cost actions such as set-top box and supplier changes, while it targets more than €400m a year in run-rate cost synergies from 2030.
