Last-minute deal saves 12 DStv channels from cancellation

There is a last-minute deal between DStv owner Canal + and Warner Bros. Discovery saved 12 channels from cancellation on New Year's Day.

Channels including CNN International, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Real Time, ID, TLC, HGTV, TNT Africa, and Food Network were facing the chopping block after the two parties failed to reach a new agreement.

RELATED: DStv could lose up to 12 channels by 31 December

However, on Wednesday, 31 December, Canal+ announced that it has signed a new multi-year and multi-territory agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Independent TV critic and journalist Thinus Ferreira says Canal+ took over negotiations from MultiChoice in a bid to secure a broader deal that included its European territories.

He notes that the deal was “too big to fail”, as both Warner Bros. Discovery and Canal+ needed each other.

“This whole thing is really a harbinger of what is to come… this is coming from sports rights for South Africa, with SA Rugby and with football. Canal+ is really playing hardball and trying to drive the cost of content down.”

He notes that the current model is unsustainable, noting that Canal+ has confirmed it is undertaking significant cost-cutting measures.

To listen to Ferreira in conversation with John Maytham (in for CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit), click the audio player below: