DStv in big trouble
MultiChoice is facing its biggest crisis in many years with the threat of losing hundreds of movies and series from its largest US third-party content provider, Warner Bros. Discovery.
A week ago, the broadcaster’s pay-TV business warned customers that 12 channels from the US film giant could be axed from its bouquets at the end of the year.
That came after an impasse in negotiations between MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery over the renewal of distribution rights for the content after 31 December 2025.
The channels that are in jeopardy are CNN, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Discovery, Discovery Family, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Real Time, TNT Africa, and the Travel Channel.
DStv alluded to the cost of renewing agreements being too high. Under its new owner, Groupe Canal+, it has embarked on significant cost-cutting efforts.
The precautionary notice came amid a weeks-long bidding war in the US between Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast for Warner Bros. Discovery.
MultiChoice reportedly continued negotiations with the company into the late hours of Thursday, 4 December 2025.
On Friday, Netflix announced it was buying Warner Bros. in a $72-billion (R1.22-trillion) deal. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
That will be after a previously announced separation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s linear TV business into a new publicly traded company called Discovery Global.
That separation could open the door for MultiChoice to retain the rights to some of the company’s live channels, if Netflix plans to redistribute channels and Canal+ is satisfied with the new pricing.
The real problem for DStv and MultiChoice’s Showmax is that their biggest streaming rival, Netflix, will now own much of their most popular international on-demand content.
Netflix plans to integrate Warner Bros. and Home Box Office’s (HBO’s) on-demand content into its own library.
“Beloved franchises, shows, and movies such as The Big Bang Theory, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, The Wizard of Oz and the DC Universe will join Netflix’s extensive portfolio,” the company said.
“By adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose.”
Major part of DStv and Showmax’s appeal
Recent popular HBO Originals include House of the Dragon, Task, The Penguin, Dune: Prophecy, Peacemaker, and The Last of Us.
The studio also boasts a large slate of critically-acclaimed legacy titles such as The Wire, True Detective, Chernobyl, The Newsroom, and Westworld.
All of these and dozens more HBO and Warner Bros titles are currently available on Showmax and have been broadcast and streamed on M-Net and M-Net Movies.
As of 7 December 2025, Showmax’s “Best of HBO” page had 191 series. The Warner Bros. movie and series slate will likely put the total title offering in jeopardy in the multiple hundreds.
Sources have told Rapport’s veteran broadcasting journalist Thinus Ferreira that both the linear channels and on-demand content from Warner Bros. Discovery were part of the gridlocked talks.
Even if only the on-demand content is no longer available come 1 January 2026, it will severely damage the perceived value of DStv and Showmax subscriptions.
MultiChoice has already confirmed that four channels — BET Africa, CBS AMC Networks, CBS Justice, and MTV Base — will be leaving DStv at the end of 2025. This is due to the shuttering of Paramount Africa.
The potential cumulative loss of 16 channels may be too tough a pill to swallow for many subscribers and result in more subscribers cancelling their DStv.
South African television veteran Tashi Tagg told Rapport that the impact would be significant enough that DStv would have to “immediately” discount its products.
There is potential for a package shake-up and pricing changes in January 2026. MultiChoice has historically revised its prices in South Africa in April each year, Canal+
Tagg hopes that Canal+ will simplify and streamline DStv and Showmax’s offering into one or two subscriptions.
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