In September 2025, CANAL+ Group, a French media giant, took over Multichoice, inheriting Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator at a time when the business was under pressure. Years of subscriber losses, weak consumer spending and stiff competition from streaming platforms had raised doubts about whether the owner of DStv, Africa’s largest pay-TV service, could return to growth.

Ten months later, CANAL+ says the first signs of a turnaround are showing.

In its half-year results released on Tuesday, the company reported that South Africa recorded its strongest month for new subscriber acquisitions in a decade in June 2026. Subscriber acquisition across MultiChoice markets rose 40% year-on-year, and MultiChoice’s adjusted operating profit surged 160% to €143 million ($162.6 million), helped by lower decoder prices, a broader sales network and early merger synergies.

The results provide the clearest evidence yet that CANAL+’s turnaround strategy is gaining traction. The company must now prove that traditional pay television can remain relevant as consumers weigh the cost of premium TV against streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.

“Our strong first-half results reflect our strategic progress,” said Maxime Saada, CANAL+ Group chief executive officer (CEO). “In Africa, we have grown our combined subscriber base by 7%, and as part of the MultiChoice turnaround plan we reduced entry costs for new subscribers and expanded our sales network. In South Africa, we delivered a standout month in June, with the highest new subscriber uptake in a decade.”

The acquisition followed CANAL+’s steady accumulation of MultiChoice shares. The French broadcaster had argued that combining the businesses would give MultiChoice access to greater financial resources, a broader content library and the scale needed to compete in a rapidly changing television market.

The first phase of that strategy appears to be centred on making DStv more affordable.

CANAL+ has reduced decoder prices for new subscribers by up to 40%, lowering one of the biggest barriers to joining the platform. In many African markets, consumers must still buy a decoder and installation equipment before paying a monthly subscription, a hurdle streaming services largely avoid because they require only an internet connection and a compatible device.

The company said it has also expanded its distribution network, increasing its number of points of sale by more than 15% since March. The move reflects CANAL+’s belief that physical retail remains a key customer acquisition channel across many African markets.

According to Saada, content is the second pillar of the turnaround. “We secured long-term rights to the most watched sports competition, the (English) Premier Soccer League,” he said.

Rather than trying to outspend streaming rivals on entertainment libraries, CANAL+ said it is doubling down on live sport, one of the few categories that consistently attracts paying audiences. During the first half, the company secured long-term rights to South Africa’s Premier Soccer League as well as the 2027 Men’s and 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cups across sub-Saharan Africa.

The strategy reinforces DStv’s biggest competitive advantage over global streaming services, whose catalogues are dominated by films and television series rather than live sporting events.

The results also revealed a major shift in MultiChoice’s streaming ambitions. CANAL+ confirmed that Showmax was discontinued as a standalone business in April 2026, with its financial contribution now treated as a discontinued operation. 

Although the company provided little detail about its future streaming plans, the decision points to a greater focus on profitability after years of investment in the platform. It also highlights the difficulty regional streaming services face in competing against global players with deeper pockets and larger subscriber bases.

The integration is also beginning to deliver the financial benefits CANAL+ promised investors. The company said it has already achieved roughly half of its €250 million ($284.3 million) annual synergy target, with MultiChoice contributing €120 million ($136.5 million) in profit improvements during the first half. 

“Following the acquisition of MultiChoice, our increased scale is starting to deliver the benefits we expected,” Saada said.

CANAL+, however, cautioned that some of the first-half improvement reflected seasonal factors, including the timing of content costs and deferred payments. The real test will come over the next few quarters, when the company will need to show that subscriber growth and profitability can be sustained without one-off benefits.

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