1. The numbers and the story they tell
CANAL+ reported €1.723 billion in revenue and €269 million in adjusted operating earnings for its Africa and Asia division during the six months ended 30 June 2026. The figures show how commercially important the division has become to CANAL+, even though they don't break them down by region. Customers in South Africa generated €764 million in revenue during the first half of 2026, though it was largely from businesses added through MultiChoice. CANAL+ doesn't break down any of these figures by subscription fees, advertising, content sales, and other income. It also provides no figure for the amount reinvested in South African production or acquisitions, nor any corresponding total for spending on African entertainment programming broadly. Not that I was expecting anything at this point...
2. More noteworthy, perhaps... CANAL+ is actually growing in French-speaking markets
The company added more than one million pay-TV subscribers over the preceding 12 months in its established French-speaking African markets. CANAL+ credited the Africa Cup of Nations, retail-network expansion and stronger subscription sales for the increase. Part of the increase may be a temporary event-driven bump. Meanwhile, across the countries served by MultiChoice, the total subscriber base was broadly unchanged compared with the first half of 2025 despite CANAL+ saying that June 2026 was MultiChoice's strongest month for new subscribers in South Africa in a decade. The restructuring is underway...
3. Physical distribution remains central
CANAL+ reports more than 34,000 points of sale and over 750 distribution partners across its African operations. These networks sell reception equipment, activate television packages, and process subscription renewals in markets where online payments and reliable broadband access vary widely. Makes sense, right? In markets that lag much of the rest of the world in broadband internet penetration, particularly fixed broadband, local agents remain the easier route for signing up new customers and keeping them subscribed. Satellite will continue to carry more distribution and accessibility weight than any standalone African streaming deal.
4. Live sports are the content priority in Africa
CANAL+ credited the Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 FIFA World Cup with supporting subscription sales, so, yes. The company secured long-term rights to South Africa's Premier Soccer League, the country's principal domestic professional football competition. The group also acquired sub-Saharan African rights to the Men's Rugby World Cup 2027 and the Women's Rugby World Cup 2029. Additional rights mentioned in the report include the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, the World Rugby Junior World Championship and the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. The report provides more information about sports rights and subscriber acquisition than about African film and series commissioning. I wonder if there might be more interest in sports movies or TV series pitches...
5. Broadband could become another route to Anglophone households
Group Vivendi Africa, which operates fiber-to-the-home networks in 15 cities across 10 African countries, has been renamed CANAL+ Telecom Africa. CANAL+ began fiber deployment in Ibadan, the major commercial hub in southwestern Nigeria, with service expected to begin after 30 June 2026. Broadband ownership allows CANAL+ to sell connectivity and entertainment services to the same households.
6. MultiChoice is undergoing staff and cost reductions (no surprise)
CANAL+ began a voluntary severance programme as part of the MultiChoice restructuring. The report gives no number of affected employees and no country or department breakdown.
7. The overall industry reading
CANAL+ now owns subscription television businesses covering more than 48 African countries, combining its French-speaking African operations with MultiChoice's large presence elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Its first-half priorities were subscription growth, sports rights, retail distribution, linear television and broadband expansion, and lower operating costs at MultiChoice. As for information on commissions, licensing and acquisitions, and wider circulation for African work, the results published on 28 July 2026 provide no commitments or figures on those points.
In summary, there are no surprises in this CANAL+ H1 2026 earnings report.
That's it!