Carte Blanche vacates its offices
M-Net’s iconic and long-running weekly investigative journalism programme, Carte Blanche, is vacating its offices in Ferndale, Johannesburg.
The show’s executive producer, John Webb, told veteran broadcasting journalist Thinus Ferreira that it will be exiting the rented offices at the end of March 2026, as the building’s owner has sold it.
“We considered finding alternative office space, but given the experience gained during the pandemic and to improve operational efficiencies, we’ve decided to return to a work-from-home model,” he said.
“As our internal team is small and we rely on freelance producers and other technical contractors for the bulk of our content, a fixed office space is no longer a necessity.”
The popular programme will continue to air from its set at Stark Studios.
Carte Blanche premiered in August 1988 and was initially anchored by Derek Watts and Ruda Landman. Landman left the show in 2007, after which Bongani Bingwa became a presenter.
The programme airs on Sundays at 19:00 on M-Net, DStv channel 101, and, according to M-Net, consistently ranks among the channel’s top 10 shows, with substantial local viewership each week.
It is unclear whether the decision to vacate Carte Blanche’s rented offices forms part of cost-cutting interventions at M-Net’s owner, MultiChoice, which was recently taken over by the French firm Canal+.
Canal+ promptly began a cost-cutting exercise at MultiChoice after taking control of the company in September 2025.
The effort includes rationalising MultiChoice’s internal content and negotiating with sports and general entertainment rights holders for better content licensing costs.
It is also renegotiating hardware prices, optimising broadcast infrastructure, and converging the two broadcasters’ tech infrastructure.
Other savings have been realised through the scaling of procurement best practices, rationalising brand and marketing, optimising financing costs, and reducing structural support costs.
Canal+ said the cost-cutting actions coming from its immediate interventions had already secured over €80 million (R1.58 billion) in free cash flow synergies.
Canal+ under investigation in South Africa
Canal+ announced further cost-cutting interventions this past month, including shutting down MultiChoice’s streaming platform, Showmax, which has been described as an “expensive failure.”
The Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies announced plans to investigate the broadcaster’s actions.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) and the Competition Commission briefed the subcommittee appointed to look into the cost cuts on 17 March 2026.
Committee chair Khusela Diko also said the committee will schedule special oversight visits to the broadcast sector on 31 March and 1 April 2026.
She said the oversight visits would cover broadcasters such as MultiChoice and E-tv, as well as other commercial operations.
EFF MP Sixolise Gcilishe said the decision to shut down Showmax raises serious concerns about support for the local creative industry, job retention, and adherence to South Africa’s transformation goals.
“Showmax has been crucial in contributing to our national identity and pushing the South African narrative by providing a platform for local producers, actors, writers, and technical teams,” she said.
“Its discontinuation poses a serious risk of diminishing a critical distribution avenue for local content, particularly resulting in a cultural landscape overly influenced by international programmes.”
She wants MultiChoice to explain the impact on future local production and answer questions about the status of existing contracts.
“Any significant corporate changes by a major entity like MultiChoice will likely result in job losses, affecting not just the company but also the wider creative sector,” Gcilishe said.
She also wants MultiChoice executives to provide a specific timeline, along with reasons for shutting down Showmax, including an assessment of potential job losses within its ranks and across the wider industry.
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