Will DStv subscribers face reduced live sport coverage as Canal+ cuts costs?

French media giant Canal+ is weighing options to reduce costs at its newly acquired subsidiary, MultiChoice Group. One of the options on the table is to reduce live coverage of some major sporting events on DStv’s SuperSport, starting with the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. This year is the first time since 2018 that South Africa has sent a team to the Winter Olympics.

The team is described as the country’s largest-ever winter sports delegation, with 18-year-old Lara Markthaler being the youngest woman in the field. The Citizenhas reached out to MultiChoice Group for comment. It will be added once received.

It is understood that SuperSport no longer handles its own content acquisition; this responsibility now falls to Canal+. The French media giant will decide what South Africans and the rest of Africa will watch from its headquarters in Paris. DStv needs to be granted the right to broadcast any sporting event.

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As this will now significantly eat into Canal+’s budget, the company is looking to cut rather than acquire rights to events it deems unnecessary. It is rumoured that the currentSuper Rugby Pacific broadcast deal, which concludes at the end of next season, will not be renewed.

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