Canal+ has signed a first-of-its-kind distribution deal with Netflix that will see the French pay-TV player carry Netflix content for countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Starting next month, Canal+ will offer its subscribers across 24 French-speaking African countries Netflix original content, from global hits such as Stranger Things, Money Heist, Squid Game, and Emily in Paris, to the streamer’s African production slate, which includes South Africa drama Blood & Water, Nigerian series Blood Sisters, and reality series Young Famous and African.
Canal+ is already a leading player in Africa, with operations in 25 countries through 16 subsidiaries and reported 8 million subscribers. The French group currently operates 28 pay-TV channels dedicated to African audiences. The French group is currently in the process of acquiring pan-African pay-TV group MultiChoice, the continent’s largest pay-TV player, which operates in 50 countries with 19.3 million subscribers.
Netflix does not break out its subscriber figures for Africa, combining them in the larger Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, but the streamer is estimated to have fewer than 5 million subscribers on the continent, with the vast majority of those in the English-speaking countries of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
“Our millions of African subscribers will benefit from a unique offer, bringing together the best of Canal+ and Netflix content in a joint package,” said Pascale Chabert, chief content acquisition officer of Canal+, in a statement. “This new agreement demonstrates Canal+’s ability to extend its unique super-aggregation model beyond the European continent.”
During the pandemic-era streaming boom, Netflix, along with other global streamers, invested heavily in original African content in a bid to boost subscriber numbers and touted the continent, with its low streaming penetration rates and large, young population, as a future growth market. However, as Wall Street has changed its metric of success from subscriber growth to revenue per user, Africa slipped out of focus for the global streamers. Unlike Amazon Prime, which cut its investment in original programming on the continent, Netflix continues to back African originals, with such South African series as Kings of Jo’Burg and Fatal Seduction.
Emma Lloyd, vp, partnerships EMEA at Netflix, said the Canal+ deal “will allow us to reach even more people across French-speaking African countries. It’s a big win for entertainment fans and part of our ongoing mission to make the member experience even better.”
The Canal+ deal follows similar distribution agreements between Canal+ and Netflix for Poland and France.
