Canal+’s MultiChoice is shutting down Zee TV, Zee Cinema, WION, SET Max and SET Asia as part of an ongoing review of the DStv channel portfolio. This follows the earlier removal of M-Net Movies 1, kykNET Lekker, Mzansi Music and Mzansi Bioskop, with Sun TV having gone dark more recently.
In a statement, MultiChoice said it is refining its channel line-up and that these channels will cease broadcasting on DStv from 31 October 2026. Rather than spreading similar content across many channels, the company wants to focus on fewer, stronger ones. As a result, StarPlus, Star Vijay and Colors TV will remain.
SET Max and SET Asia were among the longest-running channels on the DStv Indian package, having been available for well over a decade. They offered a mix of reality, lifestyle, drama series and movies — content that will now disappear from the platform.
Zee TV was another long-standing and popular option for Bollywood programming. MultiChoice has indicated that further content from Zee TV and Zee Cinema can be carried over to Zee World and Zee Zonke. This would effectively leave Zee Entertainment Enterprises as the only major Indian broadcaster in Africa not offering Bollywood programming in its original language on DStv (in most other markets outside France, Zee continues to provide these channels in the original language).
What remains unclear is why MultiChoice is retaining StarPlus and Star Vijay instead of SET Asia and SET Max, especially since content could theoretically be moved to Star Life and Star Khanya. Colors TV’s retention makes more sense, as there is limited overlap with other existing channels.
One possible explanation is that StarPlus, Star Vijay and Colors TV simply perform better commercially. Another is that MultiChoice is removing the lower-performing channels to reduce carriage costs.
The DStv Indian package risks becoming one of the hardest-hit bouquets this year. Similar to DStv EasyView, which never received a streaming component and saw little marketing support, the Indian package will lose six channels by the end of October. After the earlier closure of CineMagic and Magic Showcase, EasyView viewers were left largely with SABC, e.tv and provincial channels for comparable content.
Possible Zee Dunia Launch on DStv?
Before the announced cancellation of Zee TV, Zee Cinema and WION, MultiChoice was reportedly in discussions with Zee Entertainment Enterprises about adding a Swahili-dubbed entertainment channel called Zee Dunia. Test cards for the channel had been spotted in East Africa.
With no further updates from either company, those plans may have fallen through — or they could still be under consideration as part of a broader deal. Speculation has also included the possible addition of channels such as Zee Bollymovies or Zee One, both of which are already available on other pay-TV platforms in the region.
Given that MultiChoice is removing the remaining original-language Bollywood movie channels (and has previously scaled back AddMovies), the idea of introducing Zee One would not be entirely surprising. While the company has been reducing pure repeats channels, services such as BBC UKTV, Discovery Family, Nicktoons and Wethu+ still exist, so another Zee channel remains a possibility.
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