French media giant Canal+ has launched an ambitious €100 million boost plan to revitalize MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv, following a year of significant financial and operational decline.
According to the latest financial results for 2025, MultiChoice’s subscriber base dropped from 14.9 million to 14.4 million—a loss of 500,000 households. This decline was accompanied by a 6% dip in revenue to €2.4 billion and a 14% fall in adjusted earnings (EBIT) to €159 million.
According to Business Insider Africa, Canal+ (which gained effective control of the group in late 2025) is pivoting the business toward a more aggressive, sales-driven model. Key pillars of the turnaround plan include:
-
Aggressive Sales Push: The company plans to recruit over 1,000 new sales representatives across its African markets to drive customer acquisition.
-
Lowering Barriers to Entry: In an effort to make DStv more accessible, Canal+ will subsidize hardware, such as decoders and satellite dishes, to lower the initial cost for new subscribers.
-
Content Overhaul: The group aims to merge its international premium programming with a robust catalog of locally produced African films, series, and sports to better compete with global streamers.
-
Streamlined Operations: To save costs, Canal+ is shutting down the underperforming Showmax service and implementing a voluntary severance scheme for support staff.
Canal+ executives attributed the difficult 2025 fiscal year to severe macroeconomic pressures. In Nigeria, a key market, the devaluation of the Naira has gutted consumer purchasing power. Furthermore, persistent electricity shortages across several African nations have reduced viewing hours, making a pay-TV subscription less of a priority for struggling households.
While Canal+ expects another slight decline in subscribers through 2026 as the plan takes root, they are projecting a modest recovery in earnings to €170 million by the end of next year. The group also expects to realize more than €250 million in “synergies” by 2026 through operational restructuring and the rationalization of real estate assets.
