Netflix’s proposed $72 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets has landed at a delicate moment for South Africa’s MultiChoice and its incoming owner, Canal+.
MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay TV player, is already at risk of losing up to 12 WBD channels including CNN and TNT Africa from its DStv platform from January if a new carriage agreement isn’t reached. If Netflix ends up owning the studios and streaming division behind that content, the economics of renewing those rights become even tougher, argued Duncan McLeod in South Africa’s TechCentral publication. He said a Netflix-controlled Warner Bros. increases the likelihood that premium titles migrate to streaming-first distribution — potentially reducing or eliminating what MultiChoice’s DStv and Showmax can license. Canal+, which has embarked on aggressive cost-cutting amid subscriber declines, may be unwilling or unable to pay steeply increased fees.
One obvious reason for MultiChoice to hedge its bets is that Paramount, owner of US networks like CBS and MTV, has come in with a larger $108.4 billion offer to buy all of WBD’s assets, a move that would change this equation.