by Thinus Ferreira
On Wednesday evening HBO released the first official teaser for its upcoming new Harry Potter series, entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that will debut over Christmas this year on its HBO Max video streaming service.
Canal+'s MultiChoice and M-Net (DStv 101) have so far failed to secure this series, set to run for a decade, for DStv subscribers in South Africa.
It means that currently, no DStv subscribers anywhere in Africa would be able to see the Harry Potter TV series when it starts in December 2026.
Canal+ and M-Net have failed to extend the output deal that expired at the end of December 2025 with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) that existed for decades for Warner Bros TV and film studios content like TV series and films, as well as HBO content for M-Net.
It means that no HBO series or Warner films are currently available on the M-Net channel or the M-Net Movies channels on DStv for subscribers, with Canal+ that is busy with aggressive cost-cutting at MultiChoice.
Sky in the United Kingdom as well as other pay-TV operators worldwide, secured the upcoming Harry Potter series over a year ago, but in March 2026 MultiChoice and M-Net have nothing.
J.B. Perrette, the CEO and president of global streaming and games at WBD, has repeatedly referred to the upcoming Harry Potter TV series as "the streaming event of the decade".
During a 2026 press event in London, Perrette further amplified this, saying that when the first season of the Harry Potter series starts in December, it would be "the biggest streaming event in history and arguably in streaming, period".
So far, Canal+'s MultiChoice and M-Net will not make South African pay-TV subscribers part of this global viewing event who will be excluded.
Ironically, Canal+'s MultiChoice and M-Net will very likely be directly pushing many people who are not going to wait to see it, to pirate episodes of Harry Potter in order to watch it immediately in the way M-Net used to promote HBO's "Express from the US" content.
The official teaser of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone series was released on Wednesday evening, as part of a press event that HBO held in London for media.
Starting with the first of seven books of JK Rowling, it introduces the three central characters of Harry (Dominic McLaughlin), Hermione Granger (Arabella Stanton) and Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout) as 11-year-olds on the train to their first year at the Hogwarts wizarding school.
Scenes also include Harry meeting the half-giant Hagrid (Nick Frost), the introduction of Hogwarts' Sorting Hat and Harry's his first Quidditch game as Gryffindor seeker.
John Lithgow was cast as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, with Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall and Paapa Essiedu as Professor Severus Snape.
Filming takes place at Warner Bros.'s Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England, since July 2025 on the sets that were used for the Harry Potter movies.
