Subscribers to pay-television firm MultiChoice Kenya will retain access to 12 popular international channels in 2026 after Canal+, the French media group that recently acquired the owner of DStv and GOtv, signed a last-minute deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, easing fears of major content losses.
The multi-year agreement renews the distribution of Warner Bros. channels in Kenya and the 49 other African countries where MultiChoice operates, following the expiry of the previous deal in December 2025.
From January 2026, CNN International and Cartoon Network will remain exclusive to South Africa, while being offered on a non-exclusive basis in other territories, including Kenya, according to a statement from Canal+.
Canal+ did not disclose the length of the new agreement. MultiChoice did not immediately respond to Business Daily’s request for comment.
Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Real Time, ID, TLC, HGTV, Travel Channel, TNT Africa and Food Network will continue to air across MultiChoice markets, largely on a non-exclusive basis. Cartoon Network Porto will air exclusively in Angola and Mozambique, and non-exclusively in other countries.
“This expanded agreement covers both the distribution of HBO Max and the renewal of several Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels across numerous regions in Africa and Europe,” the French media firm said after completing its acquisition of MultiChoice in September 2025.
The agreement comes weeks after uncertainty emerged over the expiry of the previous contract at the end of December 2025. MultiChoice had warned subscribers that negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery had yet to yield a deal.
“The distribution agreement between MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery is scheduled to end on December 31, 2025. While discussions between the parties continue, no agreement has been reached at this stage,” the company said at the start of December. “If this remains unchanged, a number of Warner Bros. Discovery channels may no longer be available on DStv from 1 January 2026.”
The new deal preserves a core part of the Johannesburg-based firm’s family, news and documentary offering at a time when pay-TV operators are under pressure from streaming platforms and falling active subscriptions.
Losing the 12 channels would have weakened DStv and GOtv’s value proposition, as Warner Bros. Discovery channels form a key part of premium and mid-tier packages on both platforms, spanning news, children’s programming and lifestyle content.
MultiChoice is Africa’s leading entertainment platform and also distributes the subscription video-on-demand service Showmax and SuperSport channels.
The company has already lost four channels this year—BET Africa, MTV Base, CBS Reality and CBS Justice—following the shutdown of Paramount Africa at the end of December, further thinning its content slate.
Video-on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Showmax, alongside illegal online streaming sites, have eroded pay-TV revenues. Fragmented, on-demand video content on social media platforms has also reduced the relevance of traditional linear television, particularly among urban and younger audiences.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show that DStv had about 1.24 million registered subscribers by March 2025, but only 230,777—or 18.6 percent—were active and had paid for the service within the previous 90 days. GoTV had just 362,543 active subscribers, or 12.8 percent of its 2.8 million registered customers.
However, there was some recovery in the quarter to September 2025, when Kenya’s active pay-TV subscriptions rose by 13.7 percent to 1.68 million. DStv and GoTV posted notable rebounds of 43 percent and 41.2 percent, reaching 270,017 and 444,007 subscribers, respectively.
