Illustrative Image: DSTV logo. (Image: wiki commons) | Hands holding remote | TV box. (Image: Freepik) 
A midday deal between Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery averted a looming New Year’s blackout that would have seen 12 major channels vanish from DStv screens at midnight.
The French hands now firmly on the MultiChoice steering wheel leveraged its international scale to secure a multi-year, multi-territory agreement. For South African subscribers this means uninterrupted CNN International, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, and HGTV watching.
Read more: Subscribers furious as DStv moves to slash 16 channels during festive season
In a press statement released on Wednesday, Canal+ confirmed the renewal of these 12 thematic channels across “MultiChoice Group territories”, ensuring that the kids won’t lose Teen Titans and news junkies will keep their access to CNN.
A long enough lever
This agreement is an example of why Canal+ pursued MultiChoice in the first place. By bundling the negotiations for African territories with its European footprint, the multinational conglomerate has managed to extract a deal that a standalone MultiChoice may have struggled to close.
The “strengthened strategic partnership” now involves significant renewals and expansions in Europe, including HBO Max distribution in Poland, Czech Republic, and expansion into Belgium and Austria.
Read more: Canal+ seals R55bn MultiChoice merger with intricate compliance gymnastics
But while the press release explicitly trumpets the “expansion of HBO Max distribution via Canal+” in Europe, the section dedicated to MultiChoice Group territories is strictly limited to the “distribution of 12 Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels”.
Streaming war still rages
There was zero mention of HBO Max, the HBO content library, or any streaming app integration for the African market. This omission suggests that while the linear broadcasting crisis has been averted, the premium content pipeline for Showmax remains vulnerable, especially with Netflix in prime position to close the content catalogue deal.
Historically, Showmax has relied on a separate output deal to bring us Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and The White Lotus. The fact that this new partnership conspicuously carves out streaming rights for Europe while leaving Africa with traditional satellite channels implies that the future of HBO content on Showmax is far from guaranteed – probably requiring a separate, and perhaps more contentious, negotiation. DM