Canal+ on Wednesday unveiled its focus on improving profits in its European business and a “turnaround” at recently acquired African pay-TV giant MultiChoice, including a focus on profitable growth and “reigniting subscriber growth” after recent news that it was shuttering its streamer Showmax. Reporting its full-year 2025 results, the parent company of StudioCanal also revealed two big AI partnerships and an “ambitious new partnership with Sky to develop English-speaking drama,” saying: “Sky and Canal+ share the same storytelling DNA and drive to develop globally successful IP.”
On the AI side, starting in June, Canal+ said it will “roll out a major evolution of the Canal+ App using the technology from OpenAI to power content search and discovery,” Canal+ said. “This new feature represents a major breakthrough in delivering a more intuitive, intelligent, and personalized user experience.”
In addition, Google Cloud and Canal+ struck a multi-year partnership focused on artificial intelligence. Starting in June, Canal+ will deploy Google Cloud’s “latest generative AI technologies across European and African markets where the Canal+ App is available, unlocking a new era of creative possibilities for the group,” the company said, promising “tailor‑made entertainment experience fueled by Google Cloud content video indexing.” Using Google Cloud’s technologies will help the company “accelerate the content video indexing of its extensive content library,” it explained. “
Said Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada: “We begin 2026 from a position of strength, clarity and confidence. We now move into the execution phase of our strategy.”
He continued: “In Europe, we will continue to focus on improving profitability. In Africa, we will ensure we are well-positioned to benefit from the continent’s growth potential and turn around MultiChoice . We expect to list Canal+ on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange soon, in what will be a significant moment for our company.”
In content, the firm will continue “enhancing our entertainment platform and content mix , as we have done with the acquisition of a majority stake in [Italian producer and distributor] Lucky Red. And, at the group level, Canal+ “will capture synergies generated from our new scale, maintain our focus on cost discipline, and deploy AI tools to improve our operational efficiency and entertainment platform, through our newly announced partnerships with Google Cloud and OpenAI,” the CEO concluded.
Full-year 2025 financials met or exceeded management’s expectations when excluding the acquisition of MultiChoice, Canal+ also said on Wednesday. For 2026, it forecast €735 million in adjusted EBIT and more than €250 million in free cash flow, “before the payment of a VAT settlement and other restructuring costs.”
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