Canal+ doubles down on sport to defend DStv

Newly listed on the JSE, Canal+ has made it clear where it intends to spend to keep DStv subscribers paying: live sport.

The French group, which took control of MultiChoice last year, on Wednesday confirmed a clutch of premium rights deals timed to coincide with its inward listing on the Johannesburg bourse.

SuperSport will broadcast the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027 and the women’s edition in 2029 – both in Australia – live across sub-Saharan Africa on DStv and GOtv, under an agreement with World Rugby that also covers the Junior World Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup.

Canal+ separately confirmed a multi-year renewal keeping SuperSport the exclusive home of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, and an extension of its deal with the National Soccer League for the Premier Soccer League – the Betway Premiership along with the MTN8, Carling Knockout, Nedbank Cup and Motsepe Foundation Championship.

Premium sport – South African football and rugby in particular – is the content that holds the DStv business together, the single biggest reason subscribers keep paying for a premium bouquet rather than defecting to cheaper streaming.

The question hanging over the MultiChoice takeover was whether a cost-focused new owner would keep funding those expensive rights or let them lapse. Confirming them – on listing day – provides a clear answer.

Stakes are real

It is a markedly different approach from the one Canal+ has taken in other parts of the MultiChoice business. The group recently shut down Showmax, MultiChoice’s loss-making streaming service – a decision now being examined by the Competition Commission alongside its broader post-takeover conduct.

Canal+ is betting that live sport, not general entertainment, is what will retain African pay-TV subscribers.

Read: The case for unbundling SuperSport

The stakes are real. DStv’s subscriber base has been shrinking for years as households trade down or cut the cord, squeezing the linear pay-TV model that still generates most of MultiChoice’s revenue. Sports rights are among MultiChoice’s largest costs, but they are also its most effective defence against churn. Lose them and the case for a premium DStv subscription weakens considerably.