French media giant Canal+ plans to shut down the streaming platform Showmax as part of cost-reduction efforts after acquiring MultiChoice, according to an exclusive report by Variety on Thursday.
The companies confirmed that the decision was reached after a review of their streaming operations, although no specific date has yet been announced for the service’s closure.
According to the report, the move was approved by the Showmax board as part of MultiChoice’s renewed focus on financial discipline and efficient investment in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming market.
Showmax was launched by MultiChoice in August 2015 as an African streaming platform designed to compete with international services such as Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
In February 2024, MultiChoice relaunched the platform through a partnership with NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, adopting the technology that powers the Peacock streaming service.
Despite the relaunch and heavy investment in content and technology, the platform reportedly failed to achieve its subscriber growth targets.
Variety reported that MultiChoice and NBCUniversal jointly invested about $309m in equity funding to support Showmax’s content production and platform development, but the anticipated growth did not materialise.
Financial results released before the takeover also showed Showmax’s trading losses increased by 88 per cent, while revenue declined.
Canal+ completed its acquisition of MultiChoice in September 2025 and has since begun implementing cost-cutting measures aimed at saving about €400m by 2030.
Advertisement
