by Thinus Ferreira
Canal+'s Showmax will end subscriptions for its doomed video streaming service from 1 April 2026 as Showmax content will temporarily be moved to DStv Stream, and later Canal+'s app, also known as Canal+.
Showmax will stop on 30 April 2026.
Earlier this month, Canal+ announced that it's ending the loss-making Showmax that it said could have destroyed MultiChoice.
Banks like Absa, Capitec, FNB and Discovery Bank have all stopped selling Showmax
vouchers.
Capitec has stopped all Showmax vouchers, while the others
have stopped all three and six months vouchers but still offer one-month
vouchers.
MultiChoice launched Showmax in August 2015.
Showmax was relaunched in
February 2024 in partnership with Comcast's NBCUniversal and Sky in the
United Kingdom but immediately turned into a bottomless money pit as it
failed to reach the lofty targets of aggressive subscriber growth that
MultiChoice executives promised investors before the relaunch.
After its takeover of MultiChoice, Maxime Saada, Canal+ CEO, said the
new owner realised that Showmax is a massive MultiChoice financial loss
and failure that Canal+ had to get rid of.
NBCUniversal has a 30% stake
in Showmax and Canal+ has refused to say what it is paying NBCUniversal
to end the disastrous partnership in the streaming service venture.
Some Showmax Originals have quietly been rebranded and will transition
to some of M-Net's linear TV channels like M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi
Magic, for instance the second season of the Canal+ and MultiChoice
co-production Spinners that was filmed in Cape Town and specifically
created for a Showmax audience.
Wura, The Nigerian adaptation of Mzansi
Magic's The River telenovela has for instance been rebranded as an
Africa Magic Original from its fourth season that will debut on DStv's
Africa Magic Showcase and Africa Magic Family TV channels on 30 March
and no longer on Showmax.
"Showmax is starting a new chapter and your favourite shows are getting a shiny new home on DStv Stream. Even better, they'll be joining a bigger world of entertainment, all in one place," MultiChoice said on Wednesday evening in a message to Showmax subscribers.
This is, however, not the real new "one place".
After the move of Showmax content to DStv DStream, the content will be moved again, once Canal+ rolls out its own Canal+ video streaming service in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa within a few months.
31 March 2026 will be the very last day for subscribers to renew a Showmax subscription or to redeem any outstanding vouchers. From 1 April 2026, absolutely no new Showmax subscriptions and renewals will be available or work.
Existing Showmax subscribers will be able to continue watching content "as usual, until your subscription ends, or until the end of April 2026 - whichever comes first".
MultiChoice said in response to a media query that the "Showmax services closes on 30 April".
According to MultiChoice "Showmax Originals
and more will be available to DStv Compact
and DStv Premium satellite and streaming-only customers via
the DStv Stream app", and noted that "more movies and series will be
added over the coming weeks".
MultiChoice noted that "The stories that defined Showmax are not
disappearing. Instead, they are finding a new home on DStv
Stream, where a dedicated Showmax section inside the app
brings together many of Showmax’s most acclaimed originals and
fan favourites alongside the full live streaming experience
available on DStv’s standalone streaming service".
"Showmax
Originals and more will be available on DStv Compact and DStv
Premium packages exclusively on DStv Stream."
"This
move ensures that the award-winning African
series remain widely available after the current Showmax
service closes on 30 April, now within the broader DStv
streaming experience."
In a prepared statement,
Nomsa Philiso, director of content for general
entertainment English and Portuguese-speaking territories at
MultiChoice, said "Series like The Wife, Youngins, Devilsdorp, and Adulting, along with productions from Nigeria, Kenya and across the continent, were
created through collaboration between MultiChoice’s content
teams and local producers. That commitment to African
storytelling does not change".
Besides the transition of Showmax content to the Canal+ app, Canal+ Africa is also working to extend the existing partnership with Netflix in Francophone Africa and to roll out the bundling of Netflix with DStv in South Africa and the rest of English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
In Francophone Africa, Canal+ and Netflix have a partnership since July 2025, whereby Netflix and access to it is bundled into certain premium Canal+ subscriptions at no extra cost, which is what Canal+'s plan is to do for MultiChoice's English-speaking territories as well.
