MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv and Showmax, is facing mounting pressure as its core businesses continue to lose subscribers and revenue. The company is now pinning its hopes on a proposed acquisition by French media giant Canal+, which could provide the strategic and financial support needed to reverse its fortunes.
In its latest financial results for the year ending 31 March 2025, MultiChoice reported a profit of R1.8 billion, a significant turnaround from a R4 billion loss in 2024. However, this improvement was largely driven by the sale of a stake in its non-core insurance business to Sanlam, rather than operational performance.
The group’s revenue declined by 10% to R50 billion, reflecting the ongoing erosion of its subscriber base. DStv, MultiChoice’s flagship pay-TV service, continues to suffer from intense competition from global streaming platforms and changing consumer habits.
Across its operations, MultiChoice reported 14.5 million subscribers, split between 7 million in South Africa and 7.5 million in the Rest of Africa. However, the company lost 589,000 subscribers in South Africa and 591,000 in the Rest of Africa during the reporting period.
The picture worsens when considering 90-day active subscribers, a more accurate measure of user engagement. This metric dropped by 11%, from 20.9 million in 2024 to 18.6 million in 2025. The decline also impacted the group’s average revenue per user (ARPU), which fell by 3% to R222.
Subscriber losses were widespread:
- The premium and mid-market segments lost approximately 100,000 customers
- The mass market segment saw a drop of 400,000 subscribers
This decline mirrors global trends in the pay-TV industry and has prompted MultiChoice to shift focus toward its streaming platform, Showmax.
In 2023, former CEO Yolisa Phahle projected that Showmax could generate R18 billion in net revenue within five years, with an EBITDA margin of 25%. To support this vision, Showmax 2.0 was launched in February 2025 as a joint venture between MultiChoice and NBCUniversal, with a 70/30 ownership split.
The company set an ambitious target of $1 billion (R17.8 billion) in revenue by 2028. While Showmax saw a 44% increase in active paying subscribers, revenue fell from R2 billion in 2024 to R1.5 billion in 2025. More concerning, trading losses widened dramatically, from R4.3 billion to R9.1 billion, falling far short of expectations.
The charts below highlight the challenges facing Multichoice and Showmax.
A Last Hope: Canal+ Takeover Gains Momentum
Amid these challenges, MultiChoice is looking to Canal+ to help stabilize and scale its operations. The French media group began acquiring shares in MultiChoice in 2020 and crossed the 35% ownership threshold in 2024, triggering a mandatory offer to remaining shareholders valued at over R50 billion. Canal+ has since increased its stake to around 45%.
MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela believes the partnership could create a pan-African media powerhouse, combining Canal+’s French-speaking market strength with MultiChoice’s English-speaking footprint to serve nearly 50 million subscribers across the continent.
“This scale would allow us to better compete with global streaming giants and strengthen our bargaining power for content acquisition,” said Mawela.
The deal recently received a major boost after the Competition Tribunal approved the transaction. The companies are now working through a restructuring process to comply with South African laws, including foreign ownership restrictions.
As part of this process, MultiChoice (Pty) Ltd, which holds the group’s broadcasting licenses and contracts with South African subscribers, will be carved out as an independent, locally owned entity.
“This announcement marks a significant milestone and a major step forward for both companies,” Mawela added.
“We look forward to completing the remaining steps and building something extraordinary—a global media and entertainment company with Africa at its heart.”
However, the deal still requires approvals from several key regulatory bodies, including:
- The Financial Surveillance Department
- The JSE
- The Takeover Regulation Panel
- The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)
