MultiChoice, Africa’s major pay-TV operator, is now controlled by Canal+. The new management will need to act swiftly to cut subscriber losses. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has reported that MultiChoice’s DStv arm had just 188,824 active accounts as at June 30th. This is dramatically down on the 1.19 million a year earlier. DStv […]

Canal+ and MultiChoice have announced that all conditions to Canal+’s 35 billion rand (€1.72bn) takeover offer for the South African TV broadcaster have been fulfilled following the completion of all necessary regulatory conditions, thus making the deal unconditional. Canal+ owned 46 per cent of MultiChoice as of September 19th, with another 2.2 per cent of […]

Ghana seems to have won its battle with MultiChoice over the fees charged for its DStv and GOtv pay-TV services. Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Sam George, has confirmed that MultiChoice Ghana has agreed to reduce its subscription prices, following intense regulatory pressure. The decision comes after MultiChoice finally provided the data requested by Ghana’s ministry […]

MultiChoice, the South African pay-TV provider, is contemplating streaming 4K content on its DStv Stream and Showmax services. However, it will only do so if there’s sufficient consumer demand. This contradiction is understandable when you remember that broadband capacity is frequently limited in South Africa and other African countries where MultiChoice operates. “Regular reviews are […]

Ghana is hitting MultiChoice and its DStv pay-TV system with daily fines of Ghanaian Cedis 10,000 (€788) for failure to reduce its subscription rates for viewers. Ghana says that DStv has failed to provide Ghana’s Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation with pricing data as required under the country’s Electronic Communications Act. The sanctions commenced on […]

The Ghanaian government last week instructed Africa pay-TV giant MultiChoice to cut its subscription rates in the country, which the Ghana Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Samual George, said were far too high. In a statement, MultiChoice has expressed regrettable disappointment over the Minister’s stance while reaffirming its commitment to constructive dialogue. “We […]

Ghana’s state-owned newspaper, the Daily Graphic, has quoted the country’s minister of communication, digital technology innovation Samuel Nartey George, and saying that MultiChoice must immediately cut its DStv fees by 30 per cent. Failure will mean MultiChoice could lose its transmission licence. The Ministry will start proceedings against MultiChoice arguing that consumers “have been cheated […]

French pay-TV operator Canal+ Group has reported H1 revenue of €3.086 billion. H1 25 EBITDA was lower than H1 24 EBITA as expected, as a result of a one-off positive item related to the OCS acquisition in H1 24 and the end of the UEFA Champions League sublicensing partnership. Maxime Saada, Chief Executive Officer of […]

South Africa’s Competition Tribunal has approved Canal+’s takeover offer of African pay-TV provider MultiChoice. But there are conditions. The takeover, valued at 35 billion Rand (€1.7bn) can go ahead provided the Tribunal’s conditions are met. The conditions require Canal+ to guarantee public commitment proposals already agreed by both parties. The package also supports the participation […]

MultiChoice and its French suitor, Canal+, have told South Africa’s competition regulators that they cannot compete effectively without building its business. MultiChoice Group told the country’s Competition Tribunal that its takeover by French broadcasting giant Groupe Canal+ would give it the scale it needs to compete effectively against Netflix and other international streamers. The Competition […]