Canal+ Shuts Showmax Service in Africa

Canal+ (via its recent full acquisition of MultiChoice, completed in late 2025) announced today (5 March 2026) the discontinuation of the Showmax streaming platform as part of a broader restructure and cost-cutting drive. The company described the losses as “substantial” and “unsustainable” in an increasingly competitive streaming market. No retrenchments are planned — staff will be offered transition options within the group, and Canal+ intends to roll out a unified streaming service (likely centred on the Canal+ app) across its African markets, including South Africa.

No exact shutdown date has been announced for Showmax. The official statement from MultiChoice (via Canal+) describes it as the “forthcoming discontinuation” with the likelyhood it will happen “soon.”

Key details from the announcement and customer emails:

• Services are to continue as normal right now and subscribers can keep streaming without interruption, and no action is required from subscribers at this time.
• The company has promised to share “further details well in advance.”

Subscriber Growth Without Profits

MultiChoice does not publicly disclose absolute Showmax subscriber numbers (a policy it has followed for several years for competitive reasons). However what is confirmed is the following:

• Active paying subscribers grew 44% year-on-year in FY2025 (year ended 31 March 2025), following the February 2025 relaunch of “Showmax 2.0” as a joint venture with Comcast/NBCUniversal (MultiChoice 70%, NBCU 30%).
• This was after a reported 50% YoY increase in the six months to September 2024 (pre-relaunch base).
• Earlier public estimates placed Showmax subscribers at around 2.1 million subscribers across Africa at the end of 2023. With the 44% growth in FY2025 and continued (but slower-than-targeted) momentum into early 2026, the current paying base is widely estimated in the 2.5–3 million range continent-wide, still far below the original 16-million long-term target set before the relaunch.

Showmax has gained regional market share but has consistently lagged internal growth projections.

Financial Performance (Annual Loss/Profit)

Showmax has never been profitable and has been a significant drag on MultiChoice’s results.

FY2025 (latest full-year figures):

• Trading loss: R4.95 billion (≈ USD 275–308 million, depending on average exchange rates used).
• This was an 88% decline from the R2.64 billion loss in FY2024.
• The increase in losses was cited as one of the main reasons MultiChoice’s group trading profit almost halved.
• Revenue: R1.05 billion (down from R1.32 billion in FY2024).
• On an organic basis (excluding discontinued products like Showmax Pro and Diaspora), revenue actually grew 5%, but overall top-line declined due to product rationalisation and macro pressures.

The platform required heavy investment in content, technology (new Peacock-based platform), and marketing post-relaunch, but subscriber monetisation and scale did not materialise fast enough to offset the costs.

Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada has repeatedly called Showmax “not a commercial success” and confirmed the business was losing “a lot of money,” prompting the immediate review and now full closure decision.

Bottom line:

Showmax grew subscribers respectably but never came close to the profitability or scale needed in Africa’s tough streaming economics (high content costs, low ARPU, data prices, competition from Netflix, etc.).

The closure affects the entire Showmax service (not just South Africa), though Canal+ is expected to migrate valuable content and users to its own platforms in the coming months.