After Billions Spent: What It Takes to Succeed in African Streaming

I realize I've sent a few reports back-to-back on the Showmax shutdown and Canal+'s acquisition of MultiChoice, but it's an evolving situation with plenty still to unpack as I learn more. My intent is not to overwhelm your inboxes on this topic — only to share the most interesting insights in real time. I've been closely following the South African press for obvious reasons, especially the financial media and their number-crunching of the Showmax debacle. Among them, on Moneyweb, written by Hilton Tarrant, "Billions wasted, well over R10bn in trading losses – how Showmax failed."

This time, I'm stripping the emotion out of the story and looking strictly at the financials and available data to understand why Canal+ pulled the plug, what MultiChoice was thinking with the Showmax relaunch, and what lessons can be drawn for any other platforms planning to enter the African streaming space with pan-African ambitions.