Can DStv be saved? MultiChoice struggles to retain customers, but Canal+ happy with progress

Favourable currency movements are propping up MultiChoice Group’s revenue growth, masking continued pressure on its underlying business as declining subscription revenue in South Africa weighs on performance.

MultiChoice’s parent company, Canal+, released its trading update for the nine months ended 30 September 2026 on Thursday, revealing that MultiChoice is still struggling to gain subscribers.

French media giant Canal+ acquired MultiChoice in September 2025, at a time when the pay-television company was already struggling to retain subscribers. Canal+ also debuted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) with a secondary listing on 3 June 2026.

Africa delivers results for Canal+

Canal+ operates as a global media and entertainment company with roughly 40 million subscribers across nearly 70 countries, including France, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, and others.

The company said its Africa and Asia operations tripled to € 2,604 million (approximately R48.20 billion) after acquiring MultiChoice.

“Revenue including MultiChoice increased 3.1% on a restated basis and 0.7% on a like-for-like basis,” read the update.

“This reflects 10.2% like-for-like revenue growth of Africa and Asia excluding MultiChoice and a slight decline for MultiChoice. As expected, the subscriber base normalised in Q3 after the significant boost from the FIFA World Cup in the first half of 2026.”

Can Canal+ save MultiChoice?

Since taking over MultiChoice, Canal+ has implemented various measures to win back subscribers the pay-television company had already lost. However, these measures seem to be yielding little fruitful results.

According to the trading update, MultiChoice’s revenue rose 0.4% on a restated basis but fell 3% when currency effects were excluded. The decline eased to 2% in the third quarter, down from 3.4% in the first half of the 2026 financial year, partly because the comparison was more favourable against the previous year’s sporting events schedule.

Simply put, MultiChoice only recorded an increase in revenue because changes in exchange rates made revenue earned in other countries worth more when converted into the reporting currency. This helped the overall figures look better, even though the underlying business was under pressure.

“Revenue decline is driven by lower subscription revenue in South Africa, partially offset by higher revenue in most other English-speaking countries,” said Canal+.

Progress is being made

Despite these results, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said the group is making progress with MultiChoice.

“We are making good progress with the MultiChoice turnaround plan. In September, a new, simplified value proposition was launched in South Africa, providing subscribers with more content, greater choice, and better value for the same price.

“The rollout of the new offers will continue across English- and Portuguese- speaking Africa over the coming months.

“Building on this progress, we have further strengthened our sports offering in Africa. We secured exclusive rights to all UEFA men’s club competitions across more than 40 countries for 2027-2031, the Group’s first major sports rights acquisition covering all our markets on the continent, as well as rights across Africa for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and its qualifying campaign,” he said.

Group performance

According to the results, Canal+ group revenue increased 37.5% year on year to €6,412 million on a restated basis, “primarily reflecting the Group’s increased scale following the MultiChoice acquisition”.

Group revenue remained broadly flat (-0.3%) year on year on a like-for-like basis including nine months’ contribution from MultiChoice.

Group revenue excluding MultiChoice increased 1.3% on a restated basis to €4,646 million and by 0.8% on a like-for-like basis, supported by strong momentum in French-speaking Africa and in Content Production and Distribution.

The French giant’s operations in Europe also seem to be in trouble. Europe revenue decreased 1.4% to €3,363 million on a restated basis and by 1.5% on a like-for-like basis.

Canal+ attributed this decline to the termination of the C8 channel in the first quarter of 2025 and the end of the distribution of DAZN in France, as well as the divestment of the DTH subscriber base in Hungary in 2025.