<\/p>\n
Canal+ will pump nearly R2 billion (\u20ac100 million) during 2026 into a plan to restart subscriber growth at newly acquired MultiChoice, following more than three years of declines.<\/p>\n
CEO of the French pay-TV operator Maxime Saada admits that stemming subscriber losses in its English- and Portuguese-speaking markets will be a big ask, as the business has been losing an average of 1.6 million subscribers a year.<\/p>\n
The \u20ac100 million \u201cboost\u201d plan will be funded through an acceleration of its \u201csynergies\u201d plan where it expects \u20ac150 million (R2.8 billion) in cost reductions this year.<\/p>\n
Read:\u00a0Inside Canal+\u2019s plan to cut billions in costs at MultiChoice<\/p>\n
It now expects that number to increase to \u20ac250 million (R4.8 billion), despite it only taking control of the Randburg-based business \u201cless than six months ago\u201d.<\/p>\n
Much of these additional savings have come from its decision to shut the loss-making Showmax business \u2013 \u201ca severely loss-making activity\u201d says Saada, \u201con which we saw no recovery, no matter what was done\u201d.<\/p>\n
Read:
MultiChoice to end loss-making Showmax platform
Billions wasted, well over R10bn in trading losses \u2013 how Showmax failed<\/p>\n
Its early interventions, including slashing the price of decoders (via subsidies) towards the end of 2025, has already had \u201csome effect\u201d according to Saada.<\/p>\n
At the end of December, MultiChoice had 14.37 million subscribers, a marginal 0.9% decline from the 14.5 million at the end of April (the last time it reported results as a JSE-listed entity).<\/p>\n
Canal+ still expects a \u201cmodest decrease\u201d in the number of MultiChoice subscribers this year, but that revenue will decline at a slower rate before it gets \u201cback to growth\u201d.<\/p>\n
Central to its plan is to return MultiChoice to a level of \u201ccommercial power\u201d that it had just three years ago.<\/p>\n
As part of the investment, it will hire an additional 1 000 salespeople \u201con the ground\u201d across these markets which it acquired. These costs will be variable as the new hires will be commission-focused.<\/p>\n
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This is important as Saada says the group already believes \u201cthere is an issue of structural high costs at MultiChoice, so the idea is not to add a fixed cost. The idea is to lower fixed costs [in the business]\u201d.<\/p>\n
Saada says the team is \u201csuper confident\u201d of its ability to turn the business around as it has delivered a similar result in its home market, France.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how to do this. The dynamics are very strong. The market is very strong. And David [Mignot, CEO of the combined Canal+ Africa] needs to rebuild what he has built already in French speaking Africa with the retailers, and we know how to do this\u201d.<\/p>\n
Simple, focused<\/p>\n
Mignot says the turnaround plan, which is built on four pillars, is \u201cnothing revolutionary\u201d but that there is \u201ca lot of work to do\u201d.<\/p>\n
The first three are: a focus on content, simplifying its offer to customers, and building out a powerful subscriber acquisition engine.<\/p>\n
Content would be a natural focus for the group which, following the acquisition, now produces roughly 10 000 hours of content annually across the continent, in 20 to 25 languages.<\/p>\n
Mignot says its combined scale now makes negotiating broader agreements easier than either party would\u2019ve been able to achieve individually.<\/p>\n
It will also share content and rights, where this makes sense, to \u201cprovide the best content offer on the continent\u201d.<\/p>\n
Second, the packaging of its product in the various markets needs to be simplified and Canal+ will make these propositions \u201cas appealing as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means clear and simple commercial offers and branding, and of course improving and intensifying our marketing,\u201d says Mignot.<\/p>\n
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Read: Canal+ mulls rollout of streaming app for MultiChoice clients<\/p>\n
Closely related to this is the third pillar which is the increased focus on new subscribers. \u201cWith the best content and simple, appealing commercial offers, our acquisition engine can and will be far more effective,\u201d says Mignot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, we are going to shift the focus of our business much more towards sales.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of this, it will broaden its distribution network and lower the entry cost.<\/p>\n
Mignot says these three pillars are what the group \u201cwill do\u201d, based on its extensive experience in multiple markets. \u201cWe know from our experience how effective they will be together, but we also know this only works when it is underpinned by operational excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
This fourth pillar will see the implementation of its standard operating model and best practices across all markets and the synergies it\u2019ll attain from its scale.<\/p>\n
While it recruits the additional 1 000 sales-focused positions, Canal+ will also initiate a voluntary severance plan at \u201csupport functions\u201d within MultiChoice.<\/p>\n
It will also restructure Irdeto, MultiChoice\u2019s cybersecurity and digital rights management (DRM) subsidiary.<\/p>\n
It says these \u201cplanned changes are consistent with the commitments Canal+ made during the acquisition of MultiChoice and align with the ambition of Canal+ to streamline certain functions while investing more in activities that directly support the group\u2019s growth and business development\u201d.<\/p>\n
Read:<\/p>\n
New Canal+ data shows MultiChoice subscriber losses accelerated ahead of takeover
\nCracks start appearing in DStv\u2019s last stronghold \u2026 sport
\nCanal+ aims to be a top five entertainment firm with Africa bet<\/p>\n
As part of the Competition Tribunal\u2019s approval of the \u201cmerger\u201d, Canal+ faces a three-year moratorium \u201con any merger-specific retrenchments\u201d.<\/p>\n
The group, which already trades on the London Stock Exchange, will complete a secondary listing on the JSE before the end of June. This was a further condition placed on the transaction by competition authorities.<\/p>\n
#Canal #turn #battling #MultiChoice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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