Johannesburg – MultiChoice has announced that its streaming platform Showmax will be discontinued as part of a major restructuring of its digital entertainment strategy following the company’s takeover by French media giant Canal+.
The announcement was made on 5 March 2026, confirming that the platform — which has been a major player in Africa’s streaming industry — will gradually be phased out. The decision comes after a strategic review of the service’s long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive global streaming market.
Mounting competition and losses
MultiChoice said the move follows several years of heavy investment and financial pressure as the company attempted to compete with international streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
Streaming services require massive ongoing spending on technology, licensing and original productions, and industry analysts say this has made it difficult for regional platforms to compete with global players that have significantly larger budgets.
Showmax was launched in 2015 by MultiChoice as Africa’s home-grown video-on-demand service, offering movies, international television series, live sports and a growing catalogue of locally produced content.
Over the years, the platform gained recognition for investing heavily in African storytelling and producing popular local series, documentaries and reality shows that attracted audiences across the continent.
In...
