STREAMING : Canal+ Ends Showmax After MultiChoice Acquisition
La voix des entreprises 
(LVDE) — Just months after completing its takeover of the South African media group MultiChoice, the French audiovisual giant Canal+ has decided to shut down Showmax, the streaming platform launched in 2015 and available in more than 40 African countries. The decision, driven by persistent financial losses and increasingly fierce competition in the streaming market, marks a strategic shift for the French group as it moves to refocus its digital operations on services considered more profitable.
The African streaming landscape is set for a significant transformation. Canal+ has announced the gradual shutdown of Showmax, the video-on-demand platform created by MultiChoice a decade ago. The move comes shortly after Canal+ secured control of the South African broadcaster, a strategic acquisition aimed at strengthening the French company’s footprint in Africa’s audiovisual industry.
Launched in 2015, Showmax was designed to become one of the continent’s leading digital entertainment services. Available in more than 40 African markets and internationally, the platform offered a catalogue combining African productions, international series and major sports events. MultiChoice had sought to position Showmax as a competitor to global streaming players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, notably by investing in original African content.
Despite these ambitions, Showmax struggled to reach the expected level of profitability. Industry analyses indicate that the platform has recorded significant financial losses in recent years, largely due to the high costs associated with producing original content and acquiring sports broadcasting rights. Major investments made to upgrade the service and enhance user experience were not enough to reverse the negative financial trajectory.
The decision to discontinue Showmax forms part of a broader rationalization strategy implemented by Canal+ following its push to acquire MultiChoice. Already firmly established in Africa with more than eight million subscribers to its pay-TV services, the French group aims to consolidate its leadership in a rapidly evolving audiovisual market. Integrating MultiChoice is expected to allow the company to streamline infrastructure, strengthen content libraries and optimize existing digital platforms.
Meanwhile, the African streaming market continues to grow. According to projections by the research firm Digital TV Research, the continent could reach more than 15 million video-on-demand subscribers by 2028, compared with an estimated six to seven million today. This growth is being driven by rising mobile internet penetration, the rapid adoption of smartphones and the increasing popularity of African audiovisual productions.
Within this context, Canal+ may prioritize a strategy centered on its own platforms and on technological partnerships deemed more competitive. For industry observers, the shutdown of Showmax highlights the structural challenges facing streaming services operating in Africa: high content production costs, limited consumer purchasing power and mounting competition from global platforms.
While the closure of Showmax signals the end of a significant experiment in African streaming, it also opens a new phase of restructuring for Canal+ and MultiChoice, whose ambition remains to build a powerful audiovisual group capable of competing with international leaders while promoting content from the African continent.
Esther Grace
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