Canal+ Might Be Developing TV Channel In Place Of CineMagic On DStv

Following the cancellation of Magic Showcase and CineMagic in June 2026, MultiChoice had kept test cards for both channels active. It is believed that the company is looking to launch something in place of both these channels.

What remains unclear is whether one TV channel is probably going to need the test cards for both channels or rather MultiChoice is looking to possibly debut separate TV channels.

From what is understood, Mzansi Bioskop will be going dark on the platform and very much like CineMagic these channels catered for Southern Africa. With this test card currently running only seen in Southern African countries.

According to the company, the only reason these channels were going dark was part of their attempts at streamlining. Various content from Mzansi Bioskop and CineMagic could be found on other TV channels but what if there's more to the story.

For Magic Showcase and CineMagic cancellations same with KykNET this meant consumers would be losing content. So what if these two channels in the works was probably their way of reviving this content for affected consumers.

And the issue stemmed from the fact that MultiChoice rather than launching one TV channel to boast content from these individuals channels opted to rather separate them. Under Canal+, they felt this duplicate offering was just overcrowding.

Magic Showcase and CineMagic were channels tailored for the DStv Easyview package and from what is understood MultiChoice doesn't have that many consumers on the package.

Even though, these channels were made available on DStv Access, a lot of the content there was already viewable on the package. It must have derailed the viewership even further as brands like Moja 9.9. and BBC UKTV found its footing.

It was the same thing for KykNET Lekker, this was DStv Access first Afrikaans channel and with a lot of the existing content catering to predominantly black viewers. It's no shocker that KykNET Lekker would form part of these cuts.

Now under Canal+, I'd like to think that maybe they're not letting go of the CineMagic concept but are repositioning it to cater for other consumers. And maybe this is the reason Mzansi Bioskop is being given the sledgehammer.

M-Net had already utilised this concept with the Afrocinema pop-up channel and it was so popular that it was revived on a second occasion. Whatever comes out of this test channel might resonate with affected consumers.

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