The Canal+ era at MultiChoice is already shaking the table, and DStv subscribers are about to feel the tremors. MultiChoice has warned that a dozen channels under Warner Bros Discovery — including Discovery Channel, TNT Africa, HGTV, and CNN International — will vanish from its platform on 31 December, following a deadlock in carriage-fee negotiations.
Subscribers were notified via a blunt push alert on Tuesday evening, delivering a message that left little room for nuance:
“Please be advised that Discovery Channel, TLC Africa, Discovery Family, Real Time, TNT Africa, Food Network, Travel Channel, Investigation Discovery (Discovery ID), Cartoon Network, Cartoonito and CNN International will not be available from 31 Dec.”
Curiously, the message omitted HGTV, one of the 12 channels affected.
The current Warner Bros Discovery carriage agreement expires at the end of this month, and negotiations appear to have stalled entirely.
A New MultiChoice Under Canal+
Canal+, which finalised its takeover in September, has been unapologetic about cutting costs and tightening operations. The French media giant is now repositioning MultiChoice with a sharper, more aggressive commercial strategy.
One of the easiest pressure points? Channel bundling.
In the TV world, securing one desirable channel often comes with strings attached — studios typically force operators to carry several less popular channels as part of a package. Over time, this balloons into a bloated slate of channels with modest viewership but hefty aggregate costs.
Industry insiders suggest that none of the Warner Bros Discovery channels rank in DStv’s top 20 most-viewed. Canal+ reportedly carries just 11 of these channels in France — and two of those are sports channels unavailable on DStv.
The math is simple: if the numbers don’t justify the cost, the channels go.
Warner vs Canal+: A Calculated Standoff
The timing is no coincidence. Carriage-fee renegotiations are often brutal, but this one comes with Canal+ sharpening the knife.
The new owners likely walked into talks with a fixed ceiling on what they’re prepared to pay for Warner’s portfolio — and Warner, also facing financial pressures after its troubled 2022 merger, appears unwilling to budge.
Warner Bros Discovery is currently exploring a sale of its entire business, with buyers like Paramount, Comcast, and even Netflix circling portions of its content empire. Traditional TV channels are its least attractive assets, making this dispute even more high-stakes.
Subscribers Are the Losers
If no agreement is reached, the following channels will disappear from DStv at the end of 2025:
• Discovery Channel (121)
• TLC (135)
• Discovery Family (136)
• TNT Africa (137)
• Real Time (155)
• Investigation Discovery (171)
• Food Network (175)
• HGTV (177)
• Travel Channel (179)
• Cartoon Network (301)
• Cartoonito (302)
• CNN International (401)
For Premium subscribers paying over R1,000 monthly, losing 12 channels — including international staples like CNN and Discovery — is a significant blow.
Could a Deal Still Happen?
It’s possible. Canal+ might be calling Warner’s bluff, hoping the studio blinks before 31 December. Warner may also realise it risks losing one of its last strong footholds in Africa.
But if the standoff continues, expect Canal+ to replace these channels with:
• Cheaper alternatives
• Locally produced content
• French and Canal+ in-house offerings
MultiChoice’s financial struggles, declining subscriber numbers, and recent headline losses make these cost-cutting measures unsurprising — but for subscribers, the timing couldn’t be worse.
The next few weeks will determine whether these channels survive or if DStv enters 2026 with a drastically reshaped lineup.
