Dragon Striker, Brand New Series Coming Soon To Disney Channel Across Italy, Spain And Africa

Set in the world of Asteria, Dragon Striker centers on a high-stakes magical sport called Gorotama—a five-a-side, soccer-like game enhanced with fantastical powers. The story follows Key, a 12-year-old farm boy who dreams of playing Gorotama at the elite school Kal Asterock, despite lacking magical abilities. That changes when he discovers a hidden connection to his late mother, a legendary champion known as the Dragon Striker.

Key’s journey introduces him to Ssyelle, a gifted player who can slow time and becomes a core part of the newly reformed team known as the Knights. Other teammates include Milo (who controls jelly), Oddward (who can duplicate himself), and the mysterious Ameline (who drains tamas). Standing in their way are rival squads like the Bards, Roses, Shadows, and the fearsome Dragons, led by Key’s new rival, Ragno.

The series, created and produced by Sylvain Dos Santos, will be directed by Charles Lefebvre from screenplays by writer Paul McKeown. Cyber Group Studios and La Chouette Compagnie produce for Disney EMEA.

Charles Lefebvre, the show's co-creator who also co-founded Chouette after working at its parent La Chouette Co., had worked on anime such as “My Hero Academia” and “One Piece”.

Originally set for a release in 2024, a preview of the new series was made available at the 2025 Annecy Animation Festival in France. The 22 20-minute episodes, will now on Disney Channel feeds across Spain, Italy and Africa from June 10th, and will also be streaming on Disney+.

Canal+ Announces JSE Listing, Unveils More Details

French media conglomerate and the MultiChoice Group’s new owner, Groupe Canal+, announced that its shares will begin trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 3 June 2026.

“The JSE has granted approval to Canal+ for a secondary listing, by way of introduction using the fast-track listing process, of all its issued ordinary shares,” Canal+ stated.

Canal+ said it has 991,959,494 ordinary shares in issue with a nominal value of €0.25 (R4.84) each. They will launch on the JSE’s main board under the abbreviated name “CANALPLUS”, share code “CNP”.

“The Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank has approved the fast-track secondary inward listing of CANAL+ on the JSE, which will be classified as ‘domestic’.”

This comes five months after MultiChoice delisted from the stock exchange on 10 December 2025. It had been on the JSE for 6 years and 9 months, and was delisted following its acquisition by Canal+.

Canal+ stated that it will be the first French company to trade its shares on the South African stock exchange.

The French media giant confirmed that it would pursue a secondary listing on the JSE in October 2025. Groupe Canal+ is already listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The secondary listing was part of the undertakings Canal+ made to the Competition Commission when it sought approval to acquire MultiChoice.

The London Stock Exchange, where Canal+’s primary listing will remain, offers a “Secondary Listing” section that is self-regulated. It is designed for firms that wish to add a foreign listing.

Canal+ said a secondary listing on the JSE will preserve South African investor access and market liquidity.

The company had committed to a nine-month timeframe for its secondary listing, aiming to have its shares trading on the JSE before September 2026.

The DStv owner was originally owned by Naspers, but the MultiChoice Group was spun out into a separate listing in February 2019, with an opening share price of R95 per share.

Naspers said the unbundling aimed to unlock value for shareholders, while simultaneously creating an empowered, top-40 JSE-listed African entertainment company.

“Listing and unbundling MultiChoice Group is intended to create a leading entertainment business listed on the JSE that is profitable and cash generative,” former MultiChoice chairman Imtiaz Patel said.

“We offer an unmatched selection of local and original content, as well as a world-class sports offering.”

DStv And Openview Channel Changes From 01 January 2025 To 31 March 2026

Continuing onto 2024, MultiChoice hasn't been productive in new channel allocations we can only assume this had to do with the loss in DStv consumers. With Canal+ that takeover in 2025 is working on trying to reverse these losses.

We're going to divulge on the number of developments to have occured between 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2026.

As we've previously mentioned, MultiChoice hasn't done much in terms of additions with Star Khanya that made its 2025 slate followed by Base Pulse in 2026. There was also the rebrand of E! to Bravo and Trace Africa to Trace Ngoma.

With Canal+ taking the heels they do promise new content for 2026 so we'll see what happens. But to a lot of people that worked around this industry, 2025 for MultiChoice was kind of sloppy but an improved from the bloodbath of 2024.

MultiChoice lost about 12-14 within the 2024 period and only got 2 to 3 new channels added. Last year, these cuts only affected 7 channels including 1Max, Qwest TV, CBS Reality, CBS Justice, BET, MTV Base and TLNovelas.

These numbers could have skyrocketed to 19 channels if Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery couldn't come to an agreement to continue carriage of Discovery Channel, TLC and Cartoon Network.

Aside from this, consumers got to see the expansion on existing DStv services with Compact and Access that got 5 channels and Family that got 6 channels. These would include DreamWorks Channel, History, Comedy Central and Zee World.

eMedia Investments had also moved at a slow pace in terms of additions on Openview but in their case it's understandable considering there's no monthly fees. In 2024, consumers welcomed two channels to their offering, Sporty TV and Star Khanya.

It was also a disastrous and embarrassing year as it's failed pay-tv venture Ultraview was silently discontinued. To top it off, eMedia Investments opted to keep the closure details of this offering under wraps from the media.

Unlike OUTtv and FUSE whose offering formed part of eVOD, eMedia Investments didn't retain any of the content from Star Select and Zee Family. The only way anyone can view the lineup would be getting the DStv Indian package.

JioStar and Zee Entertainment Enterprises that serve as the distributors of Star Select and Zee Family also distribute Star Life and Zee One on Openview. So it's likely that some of the content will resurface dubbed on these channels.

Below is a summary of the changes 

DStv

New channels/rebrands

Star Khanya

Bravo (formerly E!)

Trace Ngoma (formerly Trace Africa)

Base Pulse 

Closure

1Max

Qwest TV

CBS Reality

CBS Justice

BET 

MTV Base

TLNovelas 

Expansion

SuperSport Action - from DStv Compact+ to Compact 

History - from DStv Compact+ to Compact 

Curiosity Channel - from DStv Compact+ to Compact 

CBS Justice - from DStv Compact+ to Compact 

Africa Magic Showcase - from DStv Compact+ to Compact 

Disney Channel - from DStv Compact to Family

HGTV - from DStv Compact to Family 

Comedy Central - from DStv Compact to Family 

Nickelodeon - from DStv Compact to Family 

Nick Jr. - from DStv Compact to Family 

DreamWorks Channel - from DStv Compact to Family 

Nicktoons - from DStv Family to Access 

Zee World - from DStv Family to Access 

SuperSport Schools - from DStv Access to Easyview 

WWE - from DStv Family to DStv Access

Trace Ngoma - from DStv Family to DStv Access

Trace Gospel - from DStv Family to DStv Access

Openview

New channel

Sporty TV

Star Khanya

Closure 

Star Select

Zee Family 

Op 'n Afgrond, Brand New Series Launches On eVOD

eVOD, a South African based streaming service operated by eMedia Investments will be rolling out a new Afrikaans dubbed Turkish drama called Op 'n Afgrond. Known in Turkey as Siyah Kalp, it will be streaming on eVOD from Wednesday 13 May.

It starred Ece Uslu as Sumru Devresli, Aras Aydın as Nuh Çakırca, Hafsanur Sancaktutan as Melek Çakırca, Burak Tozkoparan as Cihan Şansalan, Leyla Tanlar as Sevilay Günser and Burak Sergen as Samet Şansalan.

Synopsis for Op 'n Afgrond 

The story kicks off with the arrival of twins, Nuh and Melek, in Cappadocia. They are seeking the mother who abandoned them years ago—Sumru.

Sumru has built a new, wealthy life as the matriarch of the Şansalan family, keeping her first children a complete secret from her husband and her current life.

When Nuh and Melek find her, they aren't just looking for a reunion; they are fueled by the pain of abandonment. Their presence threatens to dismantle the "perfect" facade Sumru has carefully constructed.

As the twins infiltrate the Şansalan world, they become entangled with Sumru's other children and business associates. This creates a web of forbidden romances and high-stakes rivalries, particularly involving characters like Cihan and Sevilay.

SA Rugby and Canal+ Sign Rights Renewal Agreement

SA Rugby and the CANAL+ Group, MultiChoice Group’s parent company, have concluded the renewal of their multi-year domestic broadcast rights agreement.

The renewal of the agreement will see SuperSport, Africa’s leading sports broadcaster, continue to be the only official broadcast rights holder for all SARU’s domestic competitions and Springbok women’s and junior age-group matches in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This announcement is the first of its kind with a major local sports federation since CANAL+ joined forces with the MultiChoice Group in September last year, reaffirming CANAL+’s long-term commitment to local sport.

SuperSport has been a proud SA Rugby broadcast partner for more than 30 years.

SARU President Mark Alexander said: “We are very happy to have concluded our first agreement with the MultiChoice Group and CANAL+ Group after a thorough and extensive series of engagements. They have demonstrated a shared understanding of the importance of rugby to the South African public and we trust this is the first of many such agreements.”

CANAL+ Africa CEO David Mignot was delighted with the continuation of the domestic rights agreement, which will make all domestic rugby matches available exclusively on SuperSport.

'PROUD MOMENT'

In South Africa, the SuperSport channels are supplied by Canal + Africa to MultiChoice (Pty) Ltd, which provides the DStv offering to subscribers.

“As promised, we are doubling down on our investment in local content, including the sports content that matters the most to people on the continent. In the South African market, rugby has grown into becoming a part of the national psyche – as evidenced by the national euphoria that erupted each time the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup,” said Mignot.

SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer added: “Broadcasting rights are fundamental to the health and sustainability of sport in South Africa and rugby is no different. SuperSport has been a long-standing and trusted partner to South African rugby, and we are delighted to continue our partnership.

“The world of rugby and broadcasting has changed significantly since we signed our first agreement in the 1990s but it is a testimony to our mutual interests that the partnership continues to endure.”

Rendani Ramovha, CANAL+ Director for Sports Content in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa : “The renewal of the domestic broadcast agreement is not just the strengthening of our long-standing partnership with SA Rugby but a victory for DStv viewers and subscribers, who have come to trust us to bring the best sports content to them in our world-class broadcast quality.

“To be able to continue this promise is a proud moment for us, and it reaffirms our commitment to the sports fan. We’re grateful to our partners at SA Rugby for their collaborative spirit.”