{"id":648605,"date":"2026-05-19T13:02:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=648605"},"modified":"2026-05-19T13:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:10:09","slug":"multichoice-jobs-bloodbath-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/648605-multichoice-jobs-bloodbath-expected.html","title":{"rendered":"MultiChoice jobs bloodbath expected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MultiChoice is heading for a major staff shake-up after Groupe Canal+\u2019s takeover, with a three-year retrenchment moratorium likely delaying deeper job cuts rather than preventing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French media giant has already begun reducing head-office staff through voluntary severance packages, with the full impact of Showmax\u2019s shutdown yet to be felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Canal+ took over MultiChoice, one of its promises to shareholders was that there would be efficiency benefits. Showmax\u2019s shuttering has left it with many more employees than it needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its most recent financial results, Canal+ promised to unlock over \u20ac400 million (R7.7 billion) in annual cost savings by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is two years after the moratorium on retrenchments imposed by South African competition authorities is lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission and Tribunal blocked Canal+ and MultiChoice from retrenching local employees for 3 years from the merger implementation date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Tribunal said the parties \u201cwill not retrench any employees in South Africa as a result of the merger\u201d for the duration of the moratorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also undertook that there would be \u201cno adverse effects on the terms and conditions of employment\u201d for affected employees in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission has since clarified that voluntary severance packages are not subject to the moratorium, giving the group room to reduce staff within the three-year prohibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groupe Canal+ took control of MultiChoice in September 2025 following an extensive mandatory buyout process. Therefore, the moratorium on retrenchments is set to expire in 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During its most recent financial results presentation, Canal+ confirmed that its turnaround plan for MultiChoice included restructuring both MultiChoice and its wholly owned subsidiary, Irdeto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restructuring plan included voluntary severance packages and a push for improved efficiency through best practices and a standardised operating model across its markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canal+ Africa CEO David Mignot previously said the company would introduce voluntary severance packages while reducing staff at headquarters and reinforcing its field workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canal+ has also said it will hire 1,000 more sales staff in South Africa and other territories as part of MultiChoice\u2019s turnaround plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group plans to increase points of sale, grow its installer base, and invest more money in marketing and branding across its African operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intervention needed to stop the bleeding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
David Mignot, Canal+ Africa CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Canal+\u2019s 2025 results showed that MultiChoice revenue dropped by \u20ac142 million, or R2.69 billion, while the broadcaster lost roughly half a million subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from restructuring MultiChoice, Canal+ said its turnaround plan included three other strategic pillars: content, simplified commercial propositions, and distribution growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the plan would require an additional \u20ac100 million (R1.9 billion) investment to accelerate MultiChoice\u2019s turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice\u2019s situation was not helped by Showmax, which Canal+ labelled an \u201cexpensive failure\u201d. It shut the South African streaming platform down on 30 April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice attributed roughly R8.7 billion in trading losses over its last three financial years to the relaunch of Showmax, content acquisition, and platform licensing fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe decision to phase out Showmax reflects our focus on building a sustainable, competitive business for the long term in an increasingly demanding global streaming environment,\u201d MultiChoice said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe decision to discontinue Showmax services will not involve any retrenchments. MultiChoice Group will be engaging and supporting employees through various transition options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canal+ drew the attention of Parliament following the announcement that it would shutter Showmax, with film industry stakeholders warning that it would cost jobs in the local supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News that new local content production and procurement decisions had stalled following Canal+\u2019s takeover raised further concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conditions of MultiChoice and Canal+\u2019s merger included commitments to supplier development, local audiovisual content spending, and the promotion of South African content in new markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission and Icasa briefed Parliament\u2019s communications portfolio committee<\/a> in March after MPs questioned their approvals of the Canal+ transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They explained that the transaction was approved with conditions. The Competition Commission said it would investigate whether Canal+ was in breach of the takeover conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MultiChoice is heading for a major staff shake-up after the Canal+ takeover, with a three-year retrenchment moratorium likely delaying deeper job cuts rather than preventing them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":640143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[101558,85,66933,475,32140],"class_list":["post-648605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-david-mignot","tag-dstv","tag-groupe-canal","tag-multichoice","tag-showmax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":648608,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648605\/revisions\/648608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}