Bold claim: Canal+ is calling Warner’s bluff as Discovery and CNN prepare to vanish from DStv. The move signals a sharper, more aggressive reshaping of MultiChoice under Canal+ ownership, with price and lineup decisions likely to follow.
MultiChoice has announced to subscribers that 12 Warner Bros Discovery channels, including the Discovery Channel and CNN International, will be terminated from 31 December. The notice arrived via a push notification on the company’s app after confirming an impasse in discussions with Warner Bros Discovery about future channel carriage. The message listed channels that will no longer be available after year-end: Discovery Channel, TLC Africa, Discovery Family, Real Time, TNT Africa, Food Network, Travel Channel, Investigation Discovery (Discovery ID), Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, and CNN International. Notably, HGTV was omitted from the list of channels affected, even though it is part of the same bundle.
The impending expiry of the current agreement between MultiChoice and Warner expires at the end of December. Canal+ has framed the situation around cost-cutting at MultiChoice, a stance that could influence how distribution agreements are renegotiated as they come up for renewal.
Channel bundling dynamics are central here. Carriage negotiations are often a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, where a studio gradually expands its offer. A provider may secure one channel, then be pressed to add another for a fee, and eventually end up with a dozen channels that may not sit in the top tier of viewer preferences. It’s possible that none of Warner Bros Discovery’s channels rank in the top 20 most-watched on DStv.
Over time, such bundling risks entangling a platform with 12 Warner channels while Canal+ carries a different, perhaps leaner lineup—sometimes including regional or sports channels not available locally. This outcome is unlikely to have appeared overnight; the new owners likely did their homework, projecting costs and benefits under a fresh agreement long before the formal date arrived. Since the takeover closed in September, preparatory work for the post-deal period would have progressed, and once a critical deadline was met, the path forward would become clearer.
There has been a noticeable uptick in activity from Randburg as Canal+ continues to steer a more aggressive course for MultiChoice. The coming weeks are expected to intensify sports-rights negotiations, with the spotlight on what substitutes or replacements will accompany any missing Discovery and CNN content.
What if the Discovery Channel and CNN disappear? Canal+ will be weighing two key factors:
- a) the audience size for these channels, and
- b) what would replace them beyond a tranche of French programming.
There remains the possibility that a deal could still be reached and the channels stay on air, avoiding a blackout.
For subscribers, the outcome is unlikely to be favorable, particularly for Premium customers who typically pay over R1,000 per month and will lose access to 12 channels if no resolution is found.
Upcoming removals (subject to resolution) include:
- Discovery Channel (channel 121)
- TLC (135)
- Discovery Family (136)
- TNT Africa (137)
- Real Time (155)
- Discovery ID (171)
- Food Network (175)
- HGTV (177)
- Travel Channel (179)
- Cartoon Network (301)
- Cartoonito (302)
- CNN International (401)
The future of Warner Bros Discovery remains uncertain after the 2022 merger, with reports suggesting the company placed itself up for sale in early 2025. Offers from competitors have been under consideration, with Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix reported to be in the mix. Bloomberg indicated that Comcast and Netflix are primarily targeting the studio’s content and streaming assets, while Paramount contemplates a bid for the entire business, including channels.
If you’d like more context or a deeper dive into how these carriage negotiations typically unfold and what this could mean for viewers and pricing, I can expand with industry examples and potential scenarios. Do you think this approach will lead to better deals for subscribers, or will it push households toward alternative services? Share your thoughts in the comments.
