Inside Canal+’s plan to cut billions in costs at MultiChoice

France’s Canal+ Group wants to remove over R7.5 billion (€400 million) in costs annually from the newly acquired MultiChoice unit by FY30 (early 2030). While this may seem a tall order, it really isn’t for a business that had expenses of R46.7 billion in its 2025 financial year and that has been known by industry insiders to have become somewhat bloated and inefficient in recent years, despite various rounds of restructuring. Last year, MultiChoice spent R20.4 billion on content (directly) on subscription revenue of R40.2 billion.

In a presentation to debt investors in late 2025, Canal+ was already clear that this is where a large amount of the so-called ‘synergies’ lay. It identified nine areas of “high synergy potential”, with content – entertainment, sport and own content production – among the top four. Canal+ already got its way with the renewal of the Warner Bros Discovery carriage agreement at the 11th hour in late December.

In calling the US cable operator and studio’s bluff, it secured a new multi-year and multi-territory agreement. This was the whole point of the group’s calculated gamble. Importantly, it said the new “expanded agreement covers both the distribution of HBO Max and the renewal of several Warner Bros Discovery thematic channels across Africa and Europe”.

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In the most recent presentation to investors, Canal+ says one of the four major cost synergies “delivered since day one” is the euphemistically categorised “new content partnerships”. With the additional scale, Canal+ was able to secure a far better deal for its European and African operations as well as MultiChoice. This is the playbook. It is going to follow this in every renegotiation of carriage rights and sports rights going forward.

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