When Showmax went live on 19 August 2015, it carried more than just a catalogue of TV series and films. It carried Naspers’s conviction that South Africa could build a globally competitive streaming service from Johannesburg, beat Netflix to its own market and use local content as the wedge to keep it there. Today that…
MultiChoice has unveiled a significant retention strategy as it prepares to shutter the Showmax platform on April 30, 2026. In an attempt to migrate its standalone streaming audience, the broadcaster is offering Showmax subscribers DStv Stream Compact for R99/month—a 67% discount on the standard R299/month rate. Read: ShopriteX debuts Pixie, an AI assistant for Sixty60…
MultiChoice is offering Showmax subscribers access to DStv Stream Compact at R99/month for 12 months — a discount of 67% on standard pricing — in what amounts to an aggressive retention play as it prepares to shut the Showmax platform down on 30 April. The deal, revealed on Wednesday, gives eligible Showmax subscribers free trial…
Showmax has begun communicating specific shutdown dates to subscribers across Africa, telling them that the streaming service will stop accepting new subscriptions and renewals from the end of March and will shut down entirely a month later, on 30 April 2026. The communications have so far been sent to subscribers outside South Africa, according to…
MultiChoice has confirmed that Showmax Originals and select titles will migrate to DStv Stream, where they will sit in a dedicated Showmax section within the app — answering the question that has hung over subscribers since the streaming platform’s shutdown was announced earlier this month. The content will be available to DStv Compact and DStv…
French-based media giant Canal+ announced earlier this month that Showmax would shut down. The Competition Commission (CompCom) is actively monitoring compliance conditions related to Canal+’s acquisition of MultiChoice, including the imminent shut down of streaming platform Showmax, legislators were told yesterday. This, after having already received concerns from some service providers, said deputy commissioner Hardin…
The Competition Commission will investigate whether merger conditions between Canal+ and MultiChoice are being adhered to. The Competition Commission will probe decisions taken by Canal+ following its takeover of MultiChoice Group, including the shutting down of streaming service Showmax and Canal+’s adherence to the merger conditions the commission set out prior to approving the deal….
Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada has confirmed that the company will launch its flagship over-the-top (OTT) platform, the Canal+ app, in South Africa to replace Showmax. The decision follows a formal announcement by MultiChoice on March 5, 2026, to shut down the homegrown streamer after years of accelerating financial losses. Read: Oppo teases ‘zero-feel crease’ for…
The decision by MultiChoice Group parent company Canal+ to pull the plug on failed streaming service Showmax is expected to help boost cost savings to €250-million in 2026, up from the €150-million Canal+ had guided in January. This is according to Canal+’s results for the year ended 31 December 2025, released on Wednesday. In the…
MultiChoice Group has officially announced the discontinuation of Showmax, signalling the end of one of Africa’s most ambitious and expensive digital experiments. The decision brings a definitive close to a platform that launched in 2015 and underwent a massive, high-stakes relaunch in 2024. Ultimately, Showmax failed to achieve commercial viability in a landscape defined by…
