DStv And Showmax Subscribers Bid Farewell To Euphoria And Peacemaker As Canal+'s Doesn't Renew Content Deal For HBO And Warner Bros.

Last year, Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery created a media debacle when it was announced that Cartoon Network and 11 other channels would be removed from DStv. Paramount was already closing 4 other channels on the platform.

It was not until a last minute deal was reached where Canal+ thought of merging MultiChoice's contract with that of its operations in Europe. This deal included a possible rollout of HBO Max as Canal+ will be rolling it out in various markets.

Initially, it was reported by some outlets that this new agreement saved the licensing deals for M-Net and Showmax. But others were quick to spot it's sudden exclusion from this new agreement.

According to News24, this new agreement excluded premium TV series from HBO and Warner Bros. film and TV studios. This means DStv and Showmax consumers will be missing out on Game Of Thrones spinoff, A Knight Of Seven Kingdoms.

This is because Canal+ is busy slashing tires at MultiChoice with TLNovelas that is scheduled to close by 31 January 2026. 

MultiChoice had been losing subscribers with those numbers dropping from 17.3 million in 2023 to 14.5 million in 2025. This whole ordeal took a bigger plunge in some African markets particularly Kenya where cuts reached between 80% to 90%.

Canal+ is trying to put out a fire even if that means DStv and Showmax subscribers miss out on The White Lotus and House Of Dragons. As the French company deemed M-Net's agreement with Warner Bros. non viable.

As mentioned, MultiChoice has been losing DStv consumers and their premium market has been under siege post the pandemic.

M-Net has been the glue to the DStv Premium structure but with massive cord cutting seen in the United States and elsewhere. One channel alone isn't enough to entice viewers to subscribe especially if they're more affordable options.

That doesn't mean the loss of The White Lotus and The Glided Age won't impact M-Net's remaining viewers immensely as this will just lead to even more cord cutting for DStv.

Canal+ has been boasting about being a super aggregator and the plan is to have HBO Max funnel all this content. The problem is that for linear viewers that aren't streaming it only leads to even lesser content.

HBO Max's parent company is currently undergoing a takeover process by Netflix and should the deal succeed all this content will likely be made exclusive to the streamer.