Canal+ Discontinues MultiChoice Streamer Showmax: What Now for Kenya?

On Thursday morning, MultiChoice confirmed that its new owner, Canal+, is shutting down the streaming service Showmax.

While it did not give a specific date, in an email sent to subscribers, MultiChoice confirmed that “the Showmax Board has taken the decision to discontinue the Showmax service in the near future” following a comprehensive review.

“Importantly, at the moment there will be no interruption to your current service. You can continue streaming as usual, and no action is required from you at this time,” the email read.

MultiChoice also promised “clear communication” and “a smooth transition when the time comes,” while stressing that streaming remains central to their strategy. “We will continue to invest in premium content, technology innovation and partnerships to deliver the best possible entertainment experience to our customers,” the email concluded.

Canal+ has been pursuing cost reductions at MultiChoice since acquiring the African pay-TV operator in an estimated $2 billion deal in September 2025, with expectations of over €150million (~$174 million) in annual savings in 2026, and up to €400million (~$464 million) from 2030.

In a press release published by Reuters in January 2026, Canal+’s Chief Financial Officer Amandine ‌Ferré described Showmax losses as a “big issue.” “We won’t stay in this situation because the level of losses is not acceptable for us,” she said.

Therefore, it was inevitable that one of the casualties of these cost saving measures would be Showmax. In the 2024–2025 financial year ending March 2025, the streamer’s losses widened by 88% to R4.95 billion (~US$285 million) despite a 44% increase in paying subscribers.

Showmax launched in South Africa in 2015 before expanding across 44 markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. In February 2024, the platform relaunched under a new partnership between MultiChoice Group (MCG) and Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky with the aim of “revolutionising streaming” in Africa. The deal, which gave NBCUniversal a 30% stake in Showmax, saw both MCG and NBCUniversal investing a combined $309 million in the platform. As it stands now, legal matters between Canal+ and NBCUniversal are still being resolved, according to Variety.

Where Does This Shutdown Leave Kenya?

Showmax launched in Kenya in October 2016 with a catalogue of existing local, African and international titles. In 2020, the streamer began investing in local original programming, starting with the police procedural and legal drama Crime & Justice (2021). Other titles include Single Kiasi (2022), Pepeta (2022), The Real Housewives of Nairobi (2023) and Subterranea (2024), among others.

Since then, the streamer has released 30 Showmax Originals in Kenya (not counting licensed titles), one of the biggest investments in local content by any platform in the last five years. Spanning genres from thrillers and crime dramas to comedy, reality and sci-fi, the Showmax slate promised a new level of ambition for hyper-local storytelling in the industry, breaking away from the dominance of telenovelas.

Without Showmax, MultiChoice’s main platforms in Kenya are now DStv and GOtv, which carry two local M-Net channels — Maisha Magic Plus and Maisha Magic East. Both channels have a heavy focus on telenovelas and comedies, raising questions about whether they can fill the content vacuum left by Showmax and offer a more ambitious, premium slate.

Canal+ has spoken of its ambitions to ramp up investment in premium, high-end African productions like Shaka iLembe and Spinners, while also exporting African content to global markets via its production and distribution arm StudioCanal. Already, Spinners season two, first released as a co-production between Showmax and Canal+, is set to premiere in 2026, alongside a third and final season of Shaka iLembe. In November 2025, Canal+ also revealed that the first M-Net-StudioCanal co-production was in production in Cape Town.

But will Kenya get its Shaka iLembe or Spinners moment? And what happens to successful Kenyan Showmax titles should they be renewed for future seasons? Shows such as Single Kiasi and The Real Housewives of Nairobi have been among the platform’s most-watched titles in Kenya, with the former now four seasons in, making it the longest-running Showmax Original in the country. If Canal+ were to renew these shows in the future, they will likely be rebranded for another MultiChoice platform, say Maisha Magic Plus. For instance, The Real Housewives of Lagos was rebranded from a Showmax Original to an Africa Magic Original when season 3 launched in August 2025. Recently, the release window for Showmax Originals was also reduced, with newer titles now launching on linear channels only a few days after the streamer. Kenya’s Mizani, the latest Kenyan Showmax Original, for instance, is also available on Maisha Magic Plus. The same is happening South Africa with titles such as Law, Love and Betrayal and The People vs. VBS.

Another question is whether DStv Stream, MultiChoice’s other streaming platform, can replace Showmax. In Kenya, Stream’s premium tier starts at KSh 11,700 per month, with the lowest tier at KSh 1,450, compared with Showmax’s KSh 720 package (Entertainment and Premier League), KSh 550 (Entertainment) and KSh 450 (Premier League). Even Netflix’s premium plan in Kenya, priced at KSh 1,100, costs less than DStv Stream’s lowest tier. From a price standpoint, DStv Stream is unlikely to serve as a direct replacement for Showmax, at least not in its current form.

So where will the Showmax library and subscribers go? While nothing has been confirmed yet, Canal+ is reportedly considering launching a single streaming platform that could house MultiChoice’s content catalogue alongside myCANAL – Canal+’s streaming platform already available in Francophone Africa. This “super app” would likely also include the Showmax library.

Beyond speculation, Canal+ is expected to share a detailed strategy in Q1 2026 that will offer more clarity on what comes next.

For now, the Kenyan film and television industry — like much of the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa — holds its breath, waiting to see what happens when Canal+ finally pulls the plug on Showmax, and whether the French media giant will offer a meaningful alternative to actors, filmmakers and viewers who have had to depend on the platform for the 11 years it’s been operational.

The news of the shutdown has sparked reactions from industry players. Actor Sybil Colette, known for her roles on Showmax productions such as Jiji, Igiza and Crime & Justice, wrote on Instagram: “What is going on at Showmax? We as filmmakers deserve to know why there are plans to discontinue the service and what it means for the industry. An email is not enough.”

Producer Kevin Njue (MTV Shuga Mashariki) tweeted: “And so yet again, Africa is on the receiving end of multinational restructuring. Amazon = Left, Netflix = Unknown, Showmax = Left, Paramount Africa = Left. Tough times ahead.”

Others see the moment as an awakening and an opportunity for the industry to rethink its dependence on external platforms. One producer told me in a call: “It’s going to be a tough season but this needed to happen so that we can finally build a self-sustaining ecosystem.” His solution: “Let’s invest in our own homegrown platforms.”

His sentiments were echoed by Nigerian filmmaker Mo Abudu who launched EbonyLife ON Plus in November 2025, described as “a Nigerian-first streaming platform, dedicated to showcasing the best of Nigerian content, alongside compelling stories from across Africa and the global Black community.”

Abudu wrote on Instagram: “Let me say this with complete sincerity. No one is coming to save us. It is up to us to build sustainable business models that truly work for our market.”

In 2025 alone, Nigeria saw an influx of streaming platforms such as EbonyLife ON Plus, Circuits, Kava and the latest entrant, FaithStream. While not on the same scale as their Nigerian counterparts, Kenya has also seen the emergence of TVOD platforms such as Philittv, Madfun Streams, Rafu TV and Movie Zetu, with more likely to emerge as filmmakers search for alternative pathways to distribution.

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