Canal+ Looking To Launch It's Own Streaming Service In Place Of Showmax

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Canal+ SA is considering deploying its streaming app, which includes deals with Apple TV and Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO Max, to clients of South African pay-TV operator MultiChoice Group, which the French firm bought last year.

“All of the content is embedded on the Canal+ app, and as a user, you do not have to go on another app,” chief financial officer Amandine Ferre said in an interview on Thursday.

Canal+ gained control of MultiChoice — part owner of streaming service Showmax with Comcast — late last year in a deal that valued the African platform at about $3 billion.

The Johannesburg-based firm’s operations are mainly in the south and east of the continent, as well as Nigeria and Ghana, while the French company already has a presence throughout francophone western Africa.

It hasn’t taken a final decision on what to do with Showmax — MultiChoice’s streaming offering — or on the roll-out of the Canal+ app to countries where MultiChoice operates, Ferre said.

Canal+ shares surged as much as 15% in London on Thursday and are at a record.

The combined entertainment platform will likely deliver more than €400 million in earnings before interest, tax and amortisation, and about €300 million in free cash flow cost savings by 2030, it said in a statement Thursday.

Canal+ is working to start growing MultiChoice’s subscriber numbers after the company lost almost 3 million customers over the past two financial years.

It has already renegotiated a contract for set-top boxes and has provided cheaper units since November, she said.

“We are really working on the entry ticket and the best packages, and making sure we have the best price,” said Ferre.

The combined entity has returned National Basketball Association content to the SuperSport offering after an eight-year break, and also added French Ligue 1 football matches to its platform.

MultiChoice was created by Cape Town-based Naspers.

In 2019, the company was spun off from Naspers and in 2024, Canal+ made a takeover approach. Its premium service is priced at about $60 a month.