{"id":78107,"date":"2025-12-19T19:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T19:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/?p=78107"},"modified":"2025-12-19T19:50:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T19:50:20","slug":"multichoice-risk-loosing-lots-of-channels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/multichoice-risk-loosing-lots-of-channels\/","title":{"rendered":"MultiChoice risk loosing lots of channels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv, faces significant channel losses by early 2026 due to failed negotiations and supplier exits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Confirmed Removals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four channels from Paramount Africa will exit on 1<sup>st<\/sup> of January, 2026 following Paramount&#8217;s South African operations shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BET Africa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CBS AMC Networks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CBS Justice, and <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MTV Base, <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Potential Additional Losses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up to 12 Warner Bros. Discovery channels are at risk if no deal is reached by 31<sup>st<\/sup> December, 2025:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Discovery Channel<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CNN International<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TLC<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discovery Family<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Real Time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TNT Africa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Food Network<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HGTV<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investigation Discovery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cartoon Network<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cartoonito<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Travel Channel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Context and Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This continues a trend, with DStv losing 22+ channels over five years amid subscriber declines (8% in South Africa for 2025). MultiChoice maintains fees unchanged, citing alternative content, but channel count could drop to 108.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is causing the dispute between MultiChoice and Warner Bros Discovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute between MultiChoice (DStv&#8217;s parent) and Warner Bros. Discovery stems primarily from failed renewal negotiations for a distribution agreement expiring 31<sup>st<\/sup> December, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Core Issues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carriage Fees: Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly demanding higher payments for carrying its 12 channels (e.g., CNN International, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network), while MultiChoice, under Canal+ ownership, pushes aggressive cost-cutting amid subscriber losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contract Expiration: No agreement reached despite ongoing talks; MultiChoice notified subscribers of potential blackouts from 1<sup>st<\/sup> January, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Broader Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Netflix&#8217;s $72B bid for Warner Bros. Discovery has intensified pressure, complicating content access for DStv\/Showmax and favoring streaming over linear TV deals. MultiChoice emphasizes maintaining value without fee hikes, continuing a pattern of supplier disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its not all gloomy, because MultiChoice could step into the vacume and produce to fill the gap that may arrive. This however may be the challenge for CANAL+.<\/p>\n\n\n<style><\/style><style><\/style>\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More Information \u2139<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/i\/multichoice\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"2184\">MultiChoice<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/multichoice-unfair-pricing-in-ghana-receives-attention\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"75389\">MultiChoice unfair pricing in Ghana receives attention<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv, faces significant channel losses by early 2026 due to failed negotiations and supplier exits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":78108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2519],"tags":[2640,1962,2169,2639,2184,1131,1870,1981],"class_list":["post-78107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-streaming","tag-canal","tag-content-development","tag-dstv","tag-linear-tv","tag-multichoice","tag-netflix","tag-showmax","tag-warner-bros"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}