After weeks of uncertainty for pay-TV subscribers across Africa, MultiChoice has locked in continued access to key Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) content, following a new multi-year, multi-territory agreement between its parent company, CANAL+ Group, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The deal ensures that 12 popular WBD thematic channels will remain available across MultiChoice platforms, while also extending the distribution of HBO Max in selected markets.
The agreement marks a notable deepening of the strategic relationship between CANAL+ and Warner Bros. Discovery, with implications that stretch beyond Africa into parts of Europe. This removes MultiChoice’s immediate risk of losing marquee channels such as CNN International, Discovery Channel, and Cartoon Network at a time when competition from streaming platforms and consumer price sensitivity remain intense.
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In a statement on Friday, MultiChoice said the new arrangement builds on a series of earlier agreements reached by CANAL+ with Warner Bros. Discovery in Europe, underlining a coordinated, group-wide approach to content partnerships. According to the company, the deal reinforces collaboration across multiple markets and strengthens its entertainment offering for subscribers.
MultiChoice pointed specifically to landmark agreements concluded in France in 2024, including the renewal of the exclusive pay-TV window for Warner Bros. Pictures films, which allows CANAL+ to air new releases just six months after their theatrical debut. That deal also paved the way for the integration of HBO Max into selected CANAL+ packages, a move that has become increasingly important as traditional broadcasters adapt to streaming-driven viewing habits.
The African and European expansion also builds on a 2025 agreement in Poland, where CANAL+ renewed its distribution rights for 22 thematic channels, including TVN24 and Eurosport, as well as four free-to-air channels such as TVN. Taken together, these deals underline Warner Bros. Discovery’s strategy of leaning on established pay-TV partners in key markets, even as it pushes direct-to-consumer streaming through HBO Max.
Under the renewed arrangement, MultiChoice will continue to distribute 12 Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels across its territories, with a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive rights depending on the market. CNN International and Cartoon Network will remain exclusive to South Africa, while being carried on a non-exclusive basis elsewhere. Cartoon Network Porto will be exclusive in Angola and Mozambique, but available non-exclusively in other regions. Channels such as Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Africa, Travel, Investigation Discovery, and Cartoonito will be offered on a non-exclusive basis across MultiChoice markets.
The announcement brings relief to subscribers who had been warned late last year that access to major WBD channels could be cut off from January 1, 2026. In December, MultiChoice had alerted customers that its existing carriage agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery was due to expire on December 31, 2025, and that negotiations were ongoing without a deal in place.
At the time, the company said that if talks failed, several WBD channels might no longer be available on DStv from the start of 2026, raising concerns among viewers in Nigeria, South Africa, and other markets where channels like CNN and Discovery are central to the pay-TV offering.
The successful renewal removes that immediate risk and stabilizes MultiChoice’s content lineup as it navigates a challenging operating environment marked by subscriber churn, currency pressures in key African markets, and rising competition from global streaming services. It also strengthens CANAL+’s hand as it continues its push to consolidate its footprint across Africa through its growing stake in MultiChoice.
So far, the deal preserves distribution scale and advertising reach for Warner Bros. Discovery in regions where pay-TV remains a dominant mode of content consumption, even as streaming adoption grows.