Author: Phil Haggar

Showmax was supposed to prove that Africa could build its own Netflix. Instead, CANAL+ is closing it down.

The Market Is Not Enough

Showmax, MultiChoice’s OTT streaming service, was Africa’s big bet on homegrown streaming. It ran into a simple problem: it was just too expensive.

Too expensive for viewers once you add the data bill, and too expensive for its owners, who were paying around 385 to 390 million dollars over seven years to run Showmax on Comcast’s Peacock OTT platform while also funding a heavy slate of originals and sport for the wider MultiChoice group.

On paper, Showmax’s costs looked fine. In South Africa, the subscription sat at roughly 5 to 6 dollars a month, similar in Kenya and Uganda, and a bit higher in Zambia once local pricing and currency were factored in.

But the pool of people who can spare that every month is small once you step out of the leafier parts of Jo’burg, Nairobi, Kampala or Lusaka. Zambia’s true middle class is a thin urban slice. Uganda and Kenya have more salaried workers, but even there, “an extra five dollars every month” is a decision, not loose change. And that’s before the cost of data …

The Man with the Golden Bundle

While the Showmax adverts sell the subscription, the real cost lies in the data.

Imagine someone watching 15 hours of Showmax – think of it as roughly four hours each week for a few movies, matches, or episodes.

In South Africa, that can mean an extra $10 to $20 on mobile data, in addition to the $5 to $6 subscription, unless you’re lucky enough to have a generous fibre connection or a great bundle deal. In Kenya and Uganda, smart use of bundles can help save, but most people still find that their data costs more than the subscription for those 15 hours. Zambia, where data is among the most expensive compared to income, could see costs reach $20 to $30 each month for the same viewing time.

So, what looks like a $5 to $8 service often ends up costing two, three, or even four times that once you pay for enough data. That’s a significant expense in these economies. For many families, it pushes Showmax from a small treat to a question of whether it’s worth it at all.

Dr Non

When CANAL+ took over MultiChoice, it inherited a large multi‑year contract to run Showmax on Comcast’s Peacock OTT infrastructure. It also arrived with its own streaming app, myCANAL, and its own way of packaging channels and sports.

From its French headquarters, the question was straightforward: Is it worth funding two overlapping streaming services in Africa and continuing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in platform fees to Comcast for Showmax’s infrastructure when only a narrow urban slice can comfortably afford the subscription, let alone the data costs every month?

Streaming Never Dies

Showmax shutting down does not mean Africans are not streaming. South Africans binge on YouTube and TikTok. Kenyans and Ugandans watch football highlights and short clips on cheap Android phones. Zambians squeeze video into small, carefully managed data bundles. Streaming is happening; it just does not resemble the always-on, multi-subscription lifestyle that Showmax’s business model quietly assumed.

The lesson from Showmax is that you cannot run a high-cost, imported platform-and-content strategy in markets where a $5 to $8 subscription often becomes $15 to $30 once you factor in a month’s worth of data. Any future African streamer that ignores that gap is likely to end up in the same place.

That is why the real story now may be less The Market Is Not Enough for pay-TV companies and more For Your Data Only – telcos deciding which apps get cheap bundles, which platforms are zero‑rated, and which services, like Showmax, end up as occasional luxuries while YouTube and TikTok become the everyday habits.

Uganda’s TV Screens went black for a month. What went wrong?

In broadcasting, a few seconds of black screen and silence is a disaster. In October 2025, every free-to-air television station in Uganda went dark for nearly a month. The national signal distributor, Signet Uganda, could not get its hands on its own transmitters. The equipment sat in customs at Entebbe because the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Signet’s parent body, could not pay the import taxes. UBC owes roughly UGX 30 billion (around $8 million). The state broadcaster underpinning the entire free-to-air (FTA) system is functionally bankrupt.

That collapse came after a year in which the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) had been cracking down on piracy and unlicensed content. While the regulator chased copyright infringers, the infrastructure carrying every FTA signal in the country was quietly going broke.

Too many stations, too few viewers

As of December 2024, UCC listed 65 licensed television stations. That is extraordinary for a country where only a third of households have a working television. The advertising market cannot sustain them all. Television captured 51% of above-the-line ad spend in the first half of 2025, but that money flows to a handful of established stations. Uganda has no reliable audience measurement, so advertisers are largely guessing. For smaller FTA stations, the struggle is existential.

Piracy was the business model

For years, local FTA stations filled schedules with pirated Hollywood, Nollywood and Latin American content, with no licensing agreements. One commentator for The Independent Uganda described finding a Hollywood blockbuster on a local channel, fresh from its box office release. Piracy in broad daylight.

In February 2025, UCC banned pirated movies, soaps and dramas from local stations. But what would replace them? UCC mandates 70% Ugandan content in prime time, yet the local film industry produces roughly 200 films a year with minimal funding. You cannot mandate content into existence. The Uganda Federation of Movie Industry estimates the government lost UGX 12 billion in pay TV taxes by end 2023. The Uganda Registration Services Bureau puts the annual cost of piracy at $110 million.

A story from the field

One of Jukwa’s team encountered a similar situation in a neighbouring country. A local cable operator was downloading films from The Pirate Bay and airing them on its paid network. We met the national regulator. After discussing enforcement, the staff asked us for a lift to the town where the cable station operated. They did not have money for diesel. It is hard to enforce piracy laws when you cannot afford to drive to the offender.

Local politicians reportedly enjoyed the blockbusters too, making a shutdown politically awkward. Everyone knew about the piracy. No resources and no political will meant nothing happened. Piracy enforcement existed on paper but not in practice. That is not unique to one country. The same dynamic plays out across the continent, and Uganda is no exception.

The pay TV battleground

Three foreign-backed operators dominate. StarTimes (Chinese-owned) offers packages from UGX 14,000/month (roughly $4) and holds 39% of the East African pay TV market. France’s Canal+ acquired MultiChoice (DStv/GOtv) in 2025 for $3 billion. Azam TV (Tanzanian Bakhresa Group) competes via satellite, with packages starting at UGX 10,000/month (around $3).

All three are fighting over a market where 80% of viewers still rely on FTA. Content rights are the differentiator, with sport the battleground. Pirate Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) boxes unlock exactly that premium content, posing an existential threat to the pay TV model.

Then the infrastructure collapsed

The Signet blackout did not come from nowhere. The PML Daily reported that UBC’s debts stretch back to 2016: UGX 7 billion to the Uganda Revenue Authority, UGX 15 billion to the National Social Security Fund, UGX 3 billion in unpaid electricity, plus smaller amounts elsewhere.

The Monitor added that FTA stations owe UBC roughly UGX 6 billion in unpaid carriage fees. The signal distributor cannot collect from its clients, cannot pay its own bills, and cannot release equipment from customs. The government never implemented the television tax envisaged in the 2005 UBC Act. The state broadcaster has no functioning revenue model.

Jukwa’s view

Uganda’s television market is a cautionary tale. Digital migration happened. The regulator handed out licences freely. Foreign operators moved in. But nobody built a sustainable model for local content, funded the public broadcaster, or enforced copyright until the damage was done.

If Signet enforced payment of carriage fees, many weaker stations would fold. That sounds harsh, but 65 stations splitting a thin ad market means most produce low-quality content because they cannot afford anything else. Fewer, viable stations would command larger audiences, attract more revenue, and actually pay Signet. The market needs consolidation, not more licences.

The UCC’s crackdowns addressed symptoms, not causes. Banning pirated content without an alternative leaves empty schedules. We have not even touched on pirate IPTV boxes cannibalising pay TV subscription revenue. Meanwhile, the three foreign-backed operators continue extracting value, and the infrastructure nearly collapsed under its own debts.

One year on, Uganda has more licensed stations than ever and less money to fund them. That is not a functioning television market. It is a market waiting for someone to build one.

State control in the age of digital disruption – Radio remains the dominant medium in Zimbabwe, reaching over 60% of the population. But decades of state control have left the sector struggling with a credibility deficit. New legislation now threatens to extend that grip into the digital age. Jukwa looks at what is shaping, and constraining, Zimbabwe’s radio market.

The state still dominates the airwaves

Zimbabwe operates a three-tier radio system of public, commercial and community stations. In practice, the state’s hand is never far from the dial. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) runs six stations, four national and two provincial. Its flagship Radio Zimbabwe claims over five million listeners. It broadcasts in Shona and isiNdebele.

According to the 2024 Freedom House country report, commercial radio licences have typically gone to state-controlled companies or individuals connected to ZANU-PF. The two national commercial stations, Star FM and ZiFM Stereo, are nominally private. State-linked media group Zimpapers owns Star FM. AB Communications owns ZiFM. Neither qualifies as independent by any reasonable measure.

As prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has noted, the government controls all radio stations in Zimbabwe, “both directly and indirectly”. There are no genuinely independent voices on the Zimbabwean dial.

Independent commercial radio: locked out by law

This is not an accident. The architects of the Broadcasting Services Act of 2001 drafted it to make independent commercial radio virtually impossible. The barriers are structural, layered, and deliberate.

Section 8 of the Act requires that the authorities issue broadcasting licences only to Zimbabwean citizens or to companies wholly controlled by Zimbabwean citizens. Until 2025, the law prohibited foreign ownership of any kind. The 2025 Amendment relaxes this to 40%, but that change is recent and untested. Section 8(6)(a) still bans foreign donations or contributions towards any broadcasting service. In a capital-intensive industry, that alone shuts the door.

Section 9 originally restricted national free-to-air commercial radio to just one additional licence beyond ZBC. Section 22 requires all directors of any licensee to hold Zimbabwean citizenship. And the Minister retains absolute discretionary power over the granting of licences. BAZ does not decide who gets a licence. It merely advises the Minister, who can overrule it.

The regulator that regulates nothing

As legal analyst Tawanda Hondora concluded, the cumulative effect of these powers does not discourage investment in broadcasting. It prevents it. Licence conditions make the economics unworkable unless the investor has government connections. The ZBC monopoly survives, in his words, “subtly, albeit ridiculously so”.

When asked directly whether the 2025 Amendment Bill would transform BAZ into a genuinely independent regulator, Deputy Minister Paradza was remarkably candid. He stated that BAZ was “wholly owned by the government” and that “the security arm of the government had vested interest in its operations”. So much for independent regulation.

The result is a commercial radio sector where every licence holder is either state-owned or politically connected. That is not a market failure. It is the intended outcome of a law designed to keep the airwaves under government control.

Community radio: licensed, but trapped by design

The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) began licensing community radio stations in 2020. Fourteen are now licensed across the country. Avuxeni FM in Chiredzi was among the first to go on air in 2022. These stations broadcast in local languages and serve communities in areas like Chimanimani, Chipinge and Matobo. Three of Zimbabwe’s ten provinces still have no licensed station.

The real story, though, is how these stations survive. Until recently, the law prohibited community broadcasters from running paid advertising. It also banned them from receiving foreign donations or grants. That left them with almost no viable revenue model. MISA Zimbabwe warned that without a sustainable funding framework, stations faced serious viability challenges before they even switched on their transmitters.

Into that gap stepped the government itself. The state offered to fund community stations directly, and the state-owned Herald confirmed that stations would benefit from the Broadcasting Licence Fee and Broadcasting Fund. Critics were quick to point out the conflict of interest. The government already competes through ZBC. Funding community stations with one hand while controlling the regulator with the other does not foster editorial independence.

A small concession, but not enough

In July 2025, IMS reported that ZACRAS had successfully lobbied the government, the Zimbabwe Media Commission and BAZ to allow community stations to run paid advertisements. They now have permission for four minutes of advertising per hour. It is a step forward. But in marginalised rural areas with thin local economies, four minutes of ad time will not keep the lights on.

The Al Jazeera Media Institute has noted that roughly half the licensed community stations are under quasi-governmental or ruling party structures. The pattern is clear. Deny independent revenue, offer state funding with strings attached, then ensure friendly operators hold the licences. Community radio in Zimbabwe risks becoming community radio in name only.

New legislation extends regulation to the digital space

The Broadcasting Services Amendment Act, gazetted in May 2025, is the most significant overhaul of Zimbabwe’s broadcasting law since 2001. It formally brings internet-based broadcasting within BAZ’s regulatory scope. That includes podcasts, streaming platforms and social media live streams.

While proponents argue this modernises the framework for a digital age, critics point to serious concerns. The Act’s definition of “internet-based broadcasting” is broad enough to catch citizen journalists, bloggers and individual content creators.

Power cuts threaten the basics

None of this plays out in isolation from Zimbabwe’s crippling electricity crisis. An Afrobarometer survey published in early 2025 found that only 14% of Zimbabweans enjoy a reliable electricity supply from the national grid. In rural areas, the figure falls to just 4%.

Load shedding of 16 hours a day has become routine in some parts of the country. National demand stands at roughly 4,000 MW against production of just 1,400 MW. For radio stations, particularly fledgling community broadcasters without backup generators or solar installations, this is an existential challenge.

Among the few areas reported to enjoy uninterrupted power are those sharing a grid with VIP residences and broadcasters. That tells you everything about the political economy of who gets to stay on air.

Starlink and the connectivity wildcard

Just as in neighbouring Zambia, Starlink’s arrival in Zimbabwe in September 2024 has shaken up the connectivity picture. Terminals sold out almost immediately. The competitive pressure forced existing ISPs to cut their prices. One report recorded a 500% growth in VSAT subscriptions since launch.

Satellite internet remains too expensive for mass-market radio listening. But it is already transforming how diaspora and urban audiences access Zimbabwean stations online. It is also opening the door for digital-first news outlets and podcasters. They can now reach audiences that state radio cannot, or will not, serve.

The road ahead

Zimbabwe’s radio sector sits at an uncomfortable crossroads. The licensing of community stations and the formal recognition of digital broadcasting represent genuine steps towards a more plural media landscape. But the new legislation hands sweeping powers to a regulator whose independence is widely questioned.

This comes at a time when journalists like Blessed Mhlanga face detention and prosecution for their work. Press freedom groups have criticised the 2025 Media Policy, launched by President Mnangagwa, as a framework for control rather than freedom.

For international organisations and regulators looking at media monitoring in the region, Zimbabwe offers both a cautionary tale and a genuine opportunity. But only if the political will exists to let community voices be heard.

Jukwa’s view

Radio remains Zimbabwe’s most important mass medium. It is resilient, trusted by listeners, and uniquely capable of reaching rural communities in local languages. But its potential is being held back by the same forces that have constrained Zimbabwean media for decades. State control of licensing. Political capture of nominally independent institutions. An infrastructure crisis that makes simply keeping the lights on a daily struggle.

The digital disruption now arriving via satellite and smartphone offers a route around these bottlenecks. But only if the regulatory environment allows it. Zimbabwe’s airwaves deserve better.

Zambia’s streaming market takes tentative steps – While South Africa enjoys a content boom (see Mar 2026 update) fuelled by readily available internet and affordable data, Zambia’s streaming market is still finding its feet. Jukwa explores the factors shaping the Zambian streaming landscape, a market with immense potential but significant hurdles to overcome.

Data costs still hinder growth

Internet penetration in Zambia remains a significant obstacle. According to DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report, just 33% of Zambia’s 22 million population were online by late 2025. That leaves roughly 14.8 million people offline.

This limited access is compounded by data costs that remain high relative to local incomes. A 2GB mobile data plan costs around $2.15 (ITU figures). That sounds modest until you consider that nearly 60% of the population lives below the poverty line. For context, 2GB is roughly enough to stream a single HD film, making regular video consumption impractical for many Zambians.

Mobile first, and mobile only

Despite these connectivity challenges, mobile adoption is strong. GSMA Intelligence data shows 19.9 million cellular connections in Zambia at the start of 2025. Over 90% are now on broadband-capable networks (3G, 4G or 5G).

The country’s median age is just 17.9. The next generation of consumers is growing up with smartphones as their primary screen. This mobile-first reality is shaping how streaming services approach the market. Showmax, for instance, offers mobile-only plans at lower price points, recognising that for most African viewers the phone is the television (again, see Mar 2026 update).

The streaming landscape takes shape

The competitive picture in Zambia has shifted considerably. Netflix has been available since 2016 and continues to invest in African content. It recently announced a partnership with CAF to stream AFCON highlights across sub-Saharan Africa.

But the bigger story is Showmax, which has overtaken Netflix as the most popular streaming platform in Africa. Showmax is the streaming arm of MultiChoice, South Africa’s dominant pay-TV company (DStv, GOtv, SuperSport). MultiChoice was acquired by French media giant Canal+ in a $3 billion deal completed in October 2025. The combined Canal+/MultiChoice group now serves over 40 million subscribers across nearly 70 countries.

Showmax is bolstered by partnerships with Comcast, NBC and HBO. Canal+ also brings 4,000 hours of African content in up to 15 languages. Together, they offer a depth of local understanding that global rivals struggle to match. Local platforms like Zamtel Play serve Zambian audiences directly. YouTube remains the default free video platform for millions. Amazon Prime Video, by contrast, has scaled back its African ambitions and halted original content commissioning for the region.

The Starlink factor

One development that could reshape the equation is Starlink. SpaceX’s satellite internet service launched in Zambia in late 2023. It offers speeds of 40 to 220 Mbps at around $32 to $46 per month.

That price point puts it well beyond mass-market reach. However, it is already transforming connectivity for businesses, NGOs and wealthier households in areas where terrestrial infrastructure simply does not exist. The broader significance is competitive pressure. As satellite services drive down the cost of connectivity in rural areas, traditional mobile operators may be forced to respond. More competitive data pricing could follow.

The road ahead

The future of Zambia’s streaming market hinges on three things: cheaper data, better infrastructure and compelling local content.

On the infrastructure front, the World Bank’s $100 million Digital Zambia Acceleration Project (DZAP) aims to expand broadband and last-mile connectivity. Government policy through ZICTA has already helped double mobile internet adoption from 18% to 35% between 2015 and 2021. This progress earned Zambia a GSMA Government Leadership Award nomination.

The content question is equally important. As Netflix and Showmax compete for African audiences, investment in original African storytelling is growing. Netflix’s 2026 African slate includes productions from Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana, but Zambian voices remain underrepresented.

Stay tuned

Zambia’s streaming market is still in its early stages, but the ingredients for growth are falling into place. A young, mobile-first population. Improving infrastructure. Satellite competition putting pressure on data prices. Growing investment in African content. All point in the right direction.

The question is not whether Zambia will stream. It is when the economics will make it accessible to the majority.

Broadcast vendor PlayBox Technology recently interviewed Phil about 30 years in broadcasting. From early roles in news and outside broadcasting, he travelled to Africa to establish Zambia’s first national radio station. Returning to the UK and 15 years in the industry, including one of the first streaming companies, for the last 10 years Phil has run Jukwa, a consultancy that specialises in unusual broadcast and Over The Top projects.

In the podcast you can learn about some of our favourite projects and future predictions, as always, with a focus on Africa.

You can also learn why Jukwa is launching a new Over The Top product – VideoSite. But as a clue, existing OTT platforms really only cater for the top 20, richest broadcasters. VideoSite is aimed at the other 80%, the smaller channels, live event producers and those with compelling stories and educational videos.

Listen here:

🎧 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3G3B97J

🎧 Apple: https://apple.co/3vsFHQf

See the whole series of PlayBox podcasts here.