Canal+ is overhauling MultiChoice with a back-to-basics strategy that prioritises sales growth, protects local content, restructures its workforce and navigates intensifying regulatory scrutiny.
At the heart of the reset is a push to revive MultiChoice’s declining sales engine, with plans to deploy more than 1,000 field staff across Africa — a shift away from head office-heavy operations towards on-the-ground distribution and customer acquisition.
The move comes as Canal+ shuts down Showmax, a lossmaking streaming venture that has been burning millions annually. Its content will be absorbed into DStv Stream, with Canal+ insisting that investment in local productions will continue.
David Mignot, the CEO of Canal+ Africa, which includes the MultiChoice Group, said that up until 2022/23 MultiChoice was a “fantastic” sales engine. “For years, it has been a source of ideas for Canal+ in Africa. You know, we were like a little brother copying with pride. So if you look at numbers, like sales, point of sale, investment in marketing … it was very powerful, and then it has been declining quite fast. This we have to re-accelerate.”
Mignot said Canal+ will “massively increase” the number of points of sale, the number of installers, investment in marketing and branding, and people in the field.
IN NUMBERS: R1.95bn: The amount Canal+ plans to invest to accelerate MultiChoice turnaround
“We need at least 1,000 people all over South Africa and all over Africa [where the group operates],” he said. “From an ecosystem perspective, we’re going to reinforce a lot into the field and less into the headquarters.”
The company has introduced voluntary severance packages (VSPs) to “rebalance” its workforce, trimming central roles as it expands field operations. There are fears the VSPs, along with talks of other drastic cost-cutting measures, such as those affecting service providers, could pave the way for deeper cuts and that cost pressures could ripple through the broader ecosystem.
Mignot said the workforce process is voluntary and aimed at repositioning the group, and is an “opportunity provided to our colleagues because we have too many resources today at the centre of the organisation and not enough in the field”.
The restructuring has triggered anxiety across the industry, from suppliers to production houses.
Business Times spoke to a number of service providers, and some said they had not been paid and were uncertain about their future.
In every market we are in, we’re the No 1 partner in local content production. It’s our DNA.
— David Mignot, Canal+ Africa CEO
Mignot, however, strongly denied that the company was cutting local suppliers and content. He said the plan to invest €100m (about R1.95bn) to accelerate the turnaround of MultiChoice would fuel the local content and distribution ecosystem.
He said the group’s savings programme had affected 90% of international vendors, allowing the company to make products more affordable. He added that like any corporation facing tough times, Canal+ was negotiating with most providers with the key focus of saving on international vendors and reinvesting in local supply.
“We’re making savings on international vendors,” he said. “I want to be super-clear; we have not saved zero out of local suppliers, especially in local content. Our global expense on local supply, both on distribution, marketing and local content, is not decreasing at all. It will be a strategic mistake to do that.”
Canal+ announced the closure of Showmax — a platform that had evolved into a major commissioner of South African content over more than a decade — last month. The service, a joint venture with Comcast, was described by Canal+ as “bleeding financially” and unsustainable.
While Canal+ insists the move was commercially necessary to stem losses and rebuild growth, industry bodies warn the decision could have deep and lasting consequences for jobs, local content and the broader creative economy.
The shutdown represents a “significant blow” to actors and the wider production ecosystem, said Adrian Galley, vice-chair of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA). “Showmax was not merely a streaming platform — it was a major commissioning entity for local content that provided sustained work opportunities for our constituency over its 11-year operation,” he said.
Galley said the key impact on actors is reduced work opportunities, as Showmax commissioned numerous local scripts, dramas and productions across South Africa, creating steady employment.
He added that there is also the loss of a critical distribution channel. “It is understood Showmax held 17% streaming market share in South Africa and was a strong supporter of local content; its removal diminishes a vital avenue for South African stories.”
The shutdown will also destabilise the ecosystem, Galley said. ”The creative sector was already struggling with the frozen film incentive scheme and government red tape. Following Amazon’s decision to move away from commissioning new local projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Showmax was one of the few bright spots commissioning content that Netflix would not consider.”
But Mignot said it “will be a strategically huge mistake” for Canal+ to cut investment in local content and that the company has made a commitment to continue investing in it. “In every market we are in, we’re the No 1 partner in local content production. It’s our DNA. We’re discovering how powerful the ecosystem of production is in South Africa.”
Regulators, meanwhile, are watching MultiChoice and Canal+ operations closely, with the Competition Commission saying recently that, given the rapid changes and developments post-merger, it has prioritised this matter for active monitoring.
The competition watchdog’s oversight comes amid concerns raised by MPs recently about the merger, including whether its conditions met the highest standard of competition law, and the implications of the merger for local ownership as well as local content.
The commission and the telecoms and broadcasting regulator Independent Communications Authority of SA went to parliament last month to explain their approval of the French company’s takeover of MultiChoice.
Galley calls on Canal+ and MultiChoice to engage directly with industry representatives including SAGA about their future content investment plans in South Africa. He also wants government and members of parliament “to continue their oversight to ensure support for the local creative sector, job retention, and adherence to transformation objectives in the digital economy.”
Moreover, SAGA wants “alternative funding and distribution models to emerge to fill the gap left by Showmax’s commissioning of local content.”
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