Since last year, there has been questions surrounding the fate of Showmax as VIU's parent company Canal+ is looking to complete it's acquisition of MultiChoice. Both companies have recently concluded talks with local regulators and are currently awaiting further results.
From what we can understand, Canal+ who is holding 45% is trying to acquire the remaining 55% but local regulations won't allow that even if it were possible they're voting rights would be capped at 20%. They proposed spinning off MultiChoice SA and it's broadcasting license into a separate entity known as LicenceCo.
If you look at it, MultiChoice SA will be retaining most of their assets if Canal+ is able to make this deal get the greenlight from regulators. With Canal+ not having control over the SA board it's safe to say on top of retaining Showmax there won't be any merger of some sorts of VIU.
What might transpire in these regards is content sharing VIU has been commissioning content locally some of which might surface on DStv. Another scenario with it being independent from MultiChoice SA forms pacts with other broadcasters like the SABC they already have Uzalo and a bunch of other SABC shows on their platforms.
All I got through that PDF file between both parties was that they'd be more co-operations or partnerships when it comes to the use of M-Net and SuperSport. These are brands that have a cap on foreigners but MultiChoice has localised feeds for them so that won't matter same goes for SABC News whose offering caters for the whole of Africa.
In the end, this cap is not the end as Canal+ is looking to get a Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing following its debut on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Besides VIU, they had been filming a thriller titled Huntington in Cape Town with Glen Powell added to the cast.
So I'd like to think with this acquisition, VIU is getting more content out of this deal they already offer content from SABC and could as well expand this lineup to bundle Mzansi Magic and KykNet. I don't see why not cause Comcast was able to juggle Peacock and Hulu before selling one of the two to Disney.
Even after Canal+ acquired ROK Studios from the Nigeria's iROKO they do have some deal/partnership put in place to ensure the stability of iROKO TV streaming service imagine this is what we'll be seeing with VIU, Showmax and DStv.
VIU is more of a cheap/freemium tiered streaming service so they could opt for M-Net's older collection of shows like Isibaya and The Throne without interfering with its output on Showmax. To me, VIU doesn't seem like an entity that's worried about what it lacks from Netflix but rather following a route of others that seek stability.
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