THE playing field for the pay-TV business is about to change, not in the way we expected or are canvassing at the moment, but in a much more significant way. Competition will be more intense and competitors over-awed. Operators will square up for what is about to come, and the regulator of the broadcast industry will be more agile now than ever before. It is a new season. It is a new dawn, and the die is about to be cast for a business episode that may grow into a behemoth.
The announcement, last week, by Canal+ that it has crossed the final regulatory hurdle of the South Africa Competition Tribunal to acquire Multichoice, signalled the end of a sustained period of negotiations, the end of Multichoice as pioneer operator on the continent, and perhaps the entrance of a disruptor of the broadcast business into new markets where it didn’t have any footprints. Yet, Multichoice lives, and may only go through an apotheosis.
An excited Maxime Saada, Chief Executive, Canal+, said in a statement that the approval clears the way for us to conclude the transaction in line with our previously communicated timeline by October 8, 2025.
“I am excited about the potential this transaction unlocks for stakeholders… the combined group will benefit from enhanced scale, greater exposure to high-growth markets and the ability to deliver meaningful synergies,” he enthused.
There is nobody in Saada’s position who will not enjoy a splash of gloat after closing such an octopal deal. His mood is illustrated in the following details.
Canal+ is present in 25 African countries through 16 subsidiaries and has eight million subscribers, according to the French group.
While MultiChoice operates in 50 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and has 14.5 million subscribers, it says. It includes Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, and the DStv satellite television service.
From all indications, Canal+ is beyond excitement about the deal, which cost a whopping $3bn. “It is a hugely positive step forward in our journey to bring together two iconic media and entertainment companies and create a true champion for Africa,” Saada gushed.
Canal+ belongs to the Vivendi group, a hugely successful multi-sector organisation based in France. Founded 40 years ago as a subscription-TV company, according to its information profile, the global media and entertainment company, has 26.9 million subscribers worldwide, and over 400 million active subscribers users on its video streaming platform. With studio facilities for content creation and distribution channels across continents, Canal+ is also a strong over-the-top (OTT) player.
Earnings last financial year stood at €6.4bn ($6.8bn) which it generated in 195 countries although it had operations only in 52 countries, which is now about to change with the acquisition of Multichoice.
It is safe to assume here that Nigeria is part of the high-growth markets Saada spoke about and needs to be treated with some level of respect in this transaction. The country has never been shy in stating its strategic importance to the operations of Multichoice. Proof. Economic headwinds and forex volatility and disenchantment by subscribers recently impacted the earnings of the operator.
For instance, in two years, from March 2023 to April 2025, when the pay-TV operator lost 1.8m subscribers, 1.4m of them, approximately 77 percent, were from Nigeria. Between April and September 2024 alone, Multichoice lost 243,000 subscribers. For any subscription business, this is a prelude to disaster. The operator promised to remedy the situation, but has it?
It wasn’t always like that. Its precursor M-Net came into Nigeria in 1994, and two years later, brought into our homes the breathtaking images of the Nigerian Soccer Team winning a miracle gold at the Olympics in Atlanta. Since then, the industry has grown even more. M-Net has become Multichoice. The creative industry which began to create home videos in the early 90s, has grown into Nollywood, making Nigeria one of the biggest film producing countries in the world.
The broadcast regulator has mandated broadcasters to take a certain percentage of programming from local content. Both Nollywood and Multichoice have benefited mutually, to the extent that when the latter lost its flagship sports programme, exclusive hold on the Premiership to a Nigerian broadcast promise, HiTV, it simply created more Nigerian channels to survive the times. The writer was told then that the operator’s revenue never dipped for once.
Nigeria has a rich culture, great writers, great and vibrant youths creating programming and content that have arrested the interest of the world. The entertainment sector – Nollywood, Music and broadcasting – is creating a slew of global superstars, making Nigeria an unmissable rendezvous at the moment.
But what will Canal+ pitch in Nigeria? Saada says, “in 40 years, the CANAL+ group has become a global media and entertainment powerhouse. The next chapters of our story will be written with all of you.”
This is good for the story books, to keep investors happy and hook subscribers with some romanticisation and anticipated fantasies. The truth that cannot be overlooked here, however, is that in 40 years, Canal+ has grown into a huge organisation with premium pay-TV channels, streaming services and content production and distribution facilities across Europe and Africa. It also calls itself a content aggregator, meaning it is able to mobilise a lot of content from owners and be able to use the same to the benefit of stakeholders. It also has financial muscle and coverage that can intimidate any broadcast ecosystem.
However, the market is not always about cash, power and even reach or coverage. There is always a place for relationships, which is needed to create peace and harmony in an operating environment. In the preceding years, Multichoice has lost its place in the hearts of the people and even its relationship with the regulator. At the moment, the organisation is in court with the regulator and also with some operators. It’s not about who is right and who is wrong, but the ability to manage relationships. Some think that success has bred so much arrogance in Multichoice that it can conveniently be compared with Nza, the bird, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, who became so arrogant that it challenged its personal god to a wrestling match. Business doesn’t have to be done with that level of irredeemable haughtiness.
This writer can assume that there will be some regulatory challenges for Canal+ as it enters the Nigerian market. Such challenges have been addressed or are being addressed in the South African market. I expect the same to be done in the Nigerian market, which has so much to return in cash and creativity. But above all, I expect Canal+ to make peace with the regulator and other industry stakeholders, like the fowl that gets into a new environment with only a foot until it is fully welcomed before dropping the other foot. There is always a place for peace for business and creativity to thrive.
*Aihe writes from Abuja