MultiChoice, the company behind DStv and recently acquired by France’s Canal+, has alerted customers that as many as twelve Warner Bros. Discovery channels may vanish from the platform starting 1 January 2026.The existing contract between MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery expires at the end of 2025.
Although negotiations are still taking place, no renewed agreement has been finalised, putting the future of these channels in doubt.The channels potentially affected include CNN International, Discovery Channel, TLC, Discovery Family, Real Time, TNT Africa, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, and Travel Channel.
These stations are mostly found on DStv’s higher-tier packages, meaning the biggest impact would fall on the platform’s top-spending customers.
The announcement arrives during a difficult period for MultiChoice, which has seen its traditional pay-TV subscriber numbers drop sharply. Over the last two financial years the company has lost 2.8 million active subscribers, with 1.2 million of those departures occurring in 2025 alone, an overall decline of around 8 % across South Africa and the rest of the continent. In Nigeria, the subscriber loss has reached 1.4 million, driven mainly by successive price hikes.
Additional channel closures are already confirmed: Paramount Africa is closing BET Africa and MTV Base from 1 January 2026, while CBS Reality and CBS Justice will stop broadcasting on 31 December 2025.
MultiChoice says it is working on fresh content and new offerings for 2026, but unless a last-minute deal is struck with Warner Bros. Discovery, DStv viewers will start the new year with a noticeably thinner selection of channels.
