Canal+'s MultiChoice Has Also Begun Engaging With Local Regulators In Other African Countries

Canal+ had to delay the completion of its proposed transaction to acquire full ownership of MultiChoice in October 2025. As regulators need time to assess the transaction before taking further steps and both companies remain adamant that the processed transaction won't be delayed further.

MultiChoice had informed shareholders in other African countries of the transaction including ZBC (Zambia), KBC (Kenya) and NBC (Namibia). They are hoping to use this proposed merger to invest more toward local content and sports and derail outlets like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

They have also made fillings with regulators (to prevent legal disputes) in their respective markets with foreign ownership capped at 20% in South Africa for DStv. Canal+'s MultiChoice has proposed spinning off their licence into a separate entity known for now as LicenceCo in order to help them cross the finish line.

Is it possible more feeds could come into play for LicenceCo?

There is a reason why MultiChoice has these various shareholders under their belt and that is local jurisdiction. In Nigeria for example, you may find that they can only give their broadcast licence to a local entity even if MultiChoice owns DStv it's what's preventing Starlink's rollout in some parts of the world.

Of course, each country has a different jurisdiction while in South Africa it's merely 30% with the US it amounts to 50% last I've heard. It will be interesting to see what type of structure Canal+ will comply with in these countries and whether DStv could be broken up into LicenceCo as proposed in South Africa.

MultiChoice Africa, is a subsidiary for MultiChoice which refers to its operations in neighbouring countries like Malawi, Namibia, Kenya and Botswana. Unlike South Africa, it's not regarded as the problem child as Canal+'s former Vivendi had attempted to acquire it from Naspers before getting rejected. 

NEW CHANNEL ALERT!!! Sporty TV To Make It's South African Debut On eMedia Investments' Openview

eMedia Investments will be rolling out it's first new channel for Openview consumers in over 2 years. After promising to allocate more content since the previous financial year, the broadcaster will be allocating a football based channel Sporty TV to rival with the current SABC Sport.

Residing in West Africa, SportyTV is a free-to-air sports channel established as the home of premium football with English Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, UEFA EURO 2024. It also hosts major sporting events such as The Olympic Games, PFL/Bellator, EuroLeague, NFL Super Bowl, among others.

The channel will sit alongside SABC Sport when it goes live this weekend on channel 125 and weirdly enough eMedia Investments allocated it before SABC Sport on the Openview website.

As some are aware, StarSat got liquidated after going quite for the past 4 months and Sporty TV was distributed on the platform in other African countries. On Digital Media which served as the license holder didn't pick up the channel for consumers in South Africa so this will be the first time it broadcasts.

Questions I think viewers should keep in mind for eMedia Investments and Openview is if this Sporty TV will remain viable. There was Fight Sport, Kwesé Free Sport and News And Sport with the longest being SABC Sport if Sporty TV can outlive the three that can it be considered viable.

With MultiChoice looking to likely inflate DStv prices by the end of March, more consumers will definitely flee their platforms and likely get an Openview seeing as it is the only rival in South Africa. Another with a bolstered sports offering can convince Easyview consumers that rely on Blitz for sporting updates to migrate.

Could Canal+ Have Some Implication In MultiChoice's Settlement With eMedia Investments And The SABC?

In 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice entered a carriage dispute regarding eToonz, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eExtra on DStv. This case was dragged on for approximately two and a half years and by last year both companies managed to join hands although not closing any details.

Aside from channels, MultiChoice had been beefing with the company alongside the SABC regarding sporting rights. With the public broadcaster technically insolvent, SuperSport had made numerous attempts to get these matches on SABC's stations by even restricting the likes of Openview.

This too was dragged to court with eMedia Investments getting the last laugh as regulators sided with them on the notion that it's anti-competitive. To make a long story short, this too was settled with individual parties remaining hush on the matter.

Speculation going around is that Canal+ may have some involvement regarding the matter with these broadcasters. As some know, MultiChoice is undergoing a takeover and they're hoping to appease regulators even going as far as spinning off its crown jewel, DStv.

Competition Tribunal is one of those various parties they need to seek approval from regarding this transaction which is deemed a large merger. Often, they seek the opinions of various parties that have been around MultiChoice over the years it could be Cape Town TV, Telkom or even SABC for that matter even. 

With DStv undergoing a potential restructure in South Africa this notion does bares a lot of fruit when you look at it. When someone decides to put a house up for sale, they usually sprouse things up in order to attract potential buyers and more money enters the equation when you do those necessary renovations.

If eMedia Investments and SABC are being dragged into this exchange between Canal+ and MultiChoice one has to wonder what opinions they'll formulate. Back when MultiChoice was led by Naspers, they had threatened to drop eNCA and various other local broadcasters from DStv if they went ahead with the encryption of the STB.

Could this be what prompted for eToonz and eMedia's other Openview channels to be reinstated and SuperSport Schools inclusion on SABC+? We'll have to wait and see how this case unfolds.

April 2025 On Universal TV And E! Entertainment Across Africa | Returning Shows: Wild Cards Season 2 | Continuing Shows Including Watch What Happens Live | More

Universal TV 

WILD CARDS

Season 2 – Territory Premiere

Premieres Monday 21st April, 8pm

Ellis must set aside his sense of hurt at Max’s betrayal to work with her on a new case involving the dangerous, adrenaline-fuelled world of high speed street racing.

NCIS

Season 20 – Channel Premiere

Continues Mondays at 8pm, double billed; season finale 14th April

Season 20 comes to its exciting climax, as the team’s cases include the murder of a senator’s daughter, a killing in the National Archive and a domestic terror attack.

Continuing shows include HUDSON & REX Season 7 on Tuesdays at 8pm, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Season 26 on Wednesdays at 8pm and MAGNUM P.I. on Season 5 on Fridays at 8pm.

E! Entertainment 

Below Deck Sailing Yacht

Season 5 Launches Sunday 6th April at 18:10 – Single Bills

Every Sunday

The hit franchise charts a new course with its latest iteration, Below Deck Sailing Yacht. Join the crew as they tackle all that life at sea has to throw at them – on E!

Continuing shows include E! News on Tuesdays to Fridays at 22:00 and Watch What Happens Live on Mondays to Fridays at 22:30.

Canal+ Delays The MultiChoice Acquisition For Another 6 Months

DStv owner Multichoice Group and French media giant Canal+ have jointly announced an extension to the ‘long stop date’ tied to their R55 billion merger deal.

The long stop date—initially set at 8 April 2025—is when all the conditions for implementing Canal+’s takeover offer must be fulfilled or waived.

However, the groups said the necessary merger control clearance from South African competition authorities and the relevant regulatory processes will not be complete by this date.

As these processes are ongoing, the groups have agreed to extend the date to 8 October 2025.

“MultiChoice and Canal+ are of the view that this provides ample time for the fulfilment of the conditions,” the company said.

“Save for the extension of the long stop date, the terms of the offer remain unchanged,” it added.

Maxime Saada, CEO of Canal+ said the extension reflects the group’s commitment to the deal.

“The timing of this transaction is critical, and we will continue working tirelessly to ensure the finalisation of the transaction within this timeframe to ensure it retains its intended value and impact for all stakeholders,” he said.

Canal+ has offered to buy the remaining shares in Multichoice that it does not already own for R125 per share, valuing the group at R55 billion. The group currently has a 45% shareholding of Multichoice.

To get the deal done, the transaction must navigate a minefield of government regulations, including risks of violating South Africa’s Electronic Communications Act (ECA) and competition regulators.

Multichoice and Canal+ previously laid out a complex post-merger structure that attempts to circumvent these pitfalls, including the conditions on licences that restrict foreign ownership to 20% of voting rights.

To get around this, the post-merger group intends to split off the broadcast licence and subscriber base to a new company called “LicenceCo” which will be majority owned by BEE shareholders.

The Multichoice/Canal+ group would own 49% of this company, with 20% voting rights.

While the groups have a solid plan to get past the ECA restrictions, the deal still has to pass the Competition Commission/Tribunal, the Financial Surveillance Department, the JSE, the Takeover Regulation Panel, and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

Each step poses its own challenges and potential pitfalls, but Multichoice has assured that customers and subscribers will not be disrupted by the machinations happening in the background.

The article was originally published by Business Tech