Showmax has lived many lives. It launched as MultiChoice’s answer to Netflix, stumbled, and then dramatically relaunched in 2024. It feels like just yesterday we were covering the massive Showmax 2.0 relaunch backed by Comcast’s NBCUniversal and positioned as a more global, more technical platform. But two years later, the service’s future is looking murky.
The relaunch brought a new app, new pricing tiers, more sports, and deeper telco integrations. However, in the same interview where she touted the Canal+ app, CFO Amandine Ferre dropped a bombshell regarding MultiChoice’s dedicated streaming service: It hasn’t taken a final decision on what to do with Showmax.
The problem for Showmax is simple: Canal+ already has a streaming app, and that app already bundles premium global content. According to Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada:
“Showmax is not a commercial success. It’s quite obvious. There were a lot of dedicated investments on the marketing side, on the content side, on the technology side. We are in a position to reduce those investments. They are included in the synergies. I won’t say how much, but it is significant.”
If Canal+ rolls out its own platform to DStv customers complete with Apple TV+ and HBO Max, Showmax risks becoming redundant overnight. Why maintain two streaming brands, two tech stacks, and two content strategies across the same markets?
That tension is impossible to ignore, especially given Canal+’s stated goal of extracting €300 million in cost savings by 2030. Rationalisation is coming. The only question is where Showmax lands when the dust settles.
This uncertainty is striking given the effort poured into the platform recently. Showmax has been a significant part of the local conversation, from Kenya’s first original series back in 2021 to the ambitious Sci-Fi series Subterranea launched just over a year ago.
If Canal+ decides to sunset Showmax in favour of its own app, it would be a frustrating end to a turbulent chapter. When Showmax 2.0 went live in early 2024, it promised a revolution. However, users were quickly met with technical frustrations and limitations that plagued the initial rollout.
Despite the rocky start, the platform seemed to be finding its footing lately. They’ve been aggressively striking partnerships, including deals with Safaricom, and recently integrated Airtel Money payments in December to boost accessibility.
Ferre’s comment that they haven’t decided on the “roll-out of the Canal+ app to countries where MultiChoice operates” suggests an either/or scenario. If the Canal+ app comes, Showmax as a standalone brand might go.
For now, the football season continues on Showmax, but subscribers should probably keep an eye on their inboxes. The app you’re using today might not be the one you’re using next year.
Africa makes the decision harder
Unlike Europe, Showmax isn’t just another streamer in Africa. It’s deeply embedded in local production and distribution. Kenyan originals, mobile-friendly pricing, and partnerships with Safaricom and Airtel gave it a relevance that global platforms struggled to match.
At the same time, subscriber behaviour has shifted. Sports content increasingly lives behind DStv subscriptions. Streaming fatigue is real. And many viewers still default to piracy when platforms feel fragmented or overpriced, something MultiChoice has been aggressively pushing back against.
From Canal+’s perspective, folding Showmax into a broader Canal+ app might make financial sense. From a regional standpoint, it risks wiping out one of the few platforms that consistently invested in African originals at scale.
Sure, this wouldn’t be Showmax’s first existential crisis. But what’s different now is ownership. Decisions about Showmax are no longer being made defensively by MultiChoice, but strategically by a global media conglomerate with its own roadmap.
And when a CFO publicly says they don’t yet know what to do with a platform, that platform is officially on notice.
