The recent acquisition of MultiChoice by France’s Groupe Canal+ and its subsequent delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is more than a corporate transaction. It represents the closing of a foundational chapter in South Africa’s media history. For the first time in nearly four decades, the company that brought pay-TV to the nation—and shaped its viewing habits with DStv and SuperSport—is no longer South African-owned. This shift occurs as the company faces its most severe existential threats: the relentless rise of global streaming and the potential loss of a cornerstone content partner, HBO.
Birth of MultiChoice and DStv
### From an MBA Thesis to a Media Empire: The M-Net Genesis
The story of MultiChoice is intrinsically linked to the vision of Koos Bekker. In the early 1980s, witnessing the success of HBO in the United States, Bekker conceptualized a similar pay-TV model for South Africa. His MBA thesis on the idea, developed with Cobus Stofberg and Jac van der Merwe, was presented to Naspers CEO Ton Vosloo. This was a strategic masterstroke. Naspers, then a print media giant seeing its advertising revenue eroded by the SABC’s free-to-air television, seized the opportunity to diversify. Its initial 26% investment in M-Net provided the capital to launch a service that would ultimately redefine the group’s future.
M-Net’s launch in October 1986 was a calculated gamble. Offering 12 hours of daily, high-quality programming and securing key rights like the Currie Cup rugby tournament, it provided a premium product unavailable on SABC. Growth was explosive: from 500 initial households to 100,000 subscribers within 18 months. This rapid adoption demonstrated a clear market appetite for curated, ad-light entertainment and live sport—a formula that remains central to the pay-TV model today.
### The Digital Leap: The Birth of DStv and Continental Dominance
The analogue success of M-Net paved the way for its digital future. Bekker’s strategic restructuring led to the creation of MultiChoice, which launched Digital Satellite Television (DStv) in 1995. While initial uptake was slower than M-Net’s, DStv’s value proposition—16 channels including CNN, Cartoon Network, and its own SuperSport—soon made it a status symbol and essential service for middle- and upper-class South African homes. Its expansion across 20 African countries established MultiChoice as a continental powerhouse, a rare African-born multinational media success story.
By spinning off and listing MultiChoice in 2019, Naspers unlocked value but also set the stage for its eventual sale. The company’s peak of 14.5 million subscribers (split evenly between South Africa and the rest of Africa) masks a troubling trajectory of annual declines in subscribers, revenue, and profit. The very model it perfected—bundled channels delivered via satellite—is being dismantled by on-demand, contract-free streaming services.
### The Perfect Storm: Canal+ Acquisition and the Content Crisis
Canal+’s creeping acquisition, from a 6.5% stake in 2020 to full control in 2025, was a response to this disruption. The French giant, itself adapting to a streaming world, sees value in MultiChoice’s extensive subscriber base, robust billing systems, and deep sports rights portfolio, particularly SuperSport. However, the takeover coincides with an immediate and severe content crisis.
The potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) by Netflix or Paramount poses a direct threat. DStv’s carriage agreement for twelve WBD channels—including CNN, Cartoon Network, TLC, and the entire HBO content library—expires on 31 December. HBO is not just another channel; it is the original inspiration for M-Net and home to prestige, water-cooler franchises like *Game of Thrones*, *The Last of Us*, and *The Sopranos*. Losing this would critically wound DStv’s premium appeal.
Creeping takeover and Warner Bros. Discovery uncertainty
### What This Means for the Future: Beyond the ‘End of an Era’
The ‘end of an era’ is not merely about ownership. It signifies three fundamental shifts:
1. **From National Champion to Global Subsidiary:** Strategic decisions for DStv and Showmax will now be made in Paris, with a focus on global, not purely South African, competitive dynamics.
2. **The Battle for Content Intensifies:** The WBD negotiation is a proxy war. If global streamers own the studios, they can withhold content from traditional distributors like DStv to drive subscribers to their own platforms.
3. **The Hybrid Model Imperative:** Canal+’s promise is likely a accelerated push towards a integrated “hybrid” service—merging DStv’s live sports and news with an enhanced, globally competitive Showmax streaming platform, perhaps bundled with Canal+’s own international content.
MultiChoice’s statement that negotiations are “ongoing” underscores the high-stakes poker game now being played. The outcome will determine whether the new, French-owned MultiChoice can navigate the transition from a satellite TV monopoly to a viable player in the global streaming arena, or if it will continue to be eroded by the very forces of disruption it once embodied.
