The Rise & Fall Of Showmax | Why Africa's Biggest Streaming Service Is Closing Down

Описание: Showmax is shutting down. After eleven years, more than R3 billion spent, and losses that ballooned to R4.9 billion in a single financial year, MultiChoice has confirmed that South Africa's biggest homegrown streaming platform is closing. The decision was announced on Thursday the 5th of March 2026 by the Showmax board of directors. But this story did not start on Thursday. It started in 2015 when MultiChoice launched Showmax as its answer to Netflix's arrival in Africa.

In 2023, MultiChoice went all in. They partnered with American giant NBCUniversal, rebuilt the entire platform using Peacock technology, and launched Showmax 2.0 in February 2024 across 44 African markets. Executives promised one billion US dollars in revenue and tens of millions of subscribers. What they got instead was R2.6 billion in losses for 2024, followed by R4.9 billion in losses for 2025 — an 88% increase in a single year. Revenue actually declined even as subscriber numbers grew. Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said it plainly: "Showmax is not a commercial success. It's quite obvious."

But why did it fail? The answer goes deeper than money. Africa has hundreds of millions of smartphones but very few people can afford to stream hours of video on expensive mobile data. Fibre internet reaches only a tiny fraction of households. Without affordable and reliable connectivity, the streaming model simply cannot scale on the continent. That is the lesson that swallowed billions of rand and that the entire African streaming industry is now being forced to learn.

Canal+ took over MultiChoice in September 2025 and immediately identified Showmax's losses as unsustainable. The French broadcaster is now planning a replacement super app that could include partnerships with Apple TV and HBO Max. Current Showmax subscribers will not be cut off immediately and no jobs will be lost. But the platform that backed bold South African stories like Catch Me A Killer, Adulting, Spinners and Youngins is gone.

Today on C-News we break down the full story. How Showmax started. Why it went all in on a billion dollar rebuild. What the numbers actually show. Why Africa's infrastructure made it almost impossible to win. And what comes next for South African viewers and the local creative industry.
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DISCLAIMER
This video is produced for educational and public interest purposes. All financial figures cited are sourced from MultiChoice financial reports, Business Day and BusinessTech reporting published on the 5th of March 2026. C-News does not represent MultiChoice, Canal+, NBCUniversal or any affiliated company.

SOURCES

Business Day — "MultiChoice To Close Showmax Streaming Service" — 5 March 2026 — www.businessday.co.za
BusinessTech — "Showmax Shutting Down In South Africa" — 5 March 2026 — www.businesstech.co.za
MultiChoice Official Statement — 5 March 2026
Variety — South African filmmaker reaction — March 2026


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