Capital doesn’t disappear when a platform dies. It reorganizes around cheaper formats and structures that spread risk.
That pattern played out twice recently, once in South Africa and once in London, with the same underlying logic: big-budget models built for scale are losing ground to production frameworks designed for efficiency and IP control.
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Canal+ acquired MultiChoice and almost immediately shut down Showmax, the streaming platform intended to compete with Netflix across Africa. Separately, Both Worlds and Freeli Films launched a U.S.-South Africa co-production partnership focused on microdramas, the bite-sized format that thrives on mobile screens and modest budgets. And ITV reported that its studios and digital operations now generate more revenue than its traditional broadcasting business.
Three stories. One direction.
Showmax Is Dead. Microdramas Might Be What Comes Next.
Canal+ pulled the plug on Showmax after finding the platform burning cash with no path to profitability.
Variety reported that the French broadcaster is shuttering the service it acquired through its recent purchase of MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay-TV operator. Showmax had built a catalog of high-end original series including Spinners, Catch Me a Killer, and Khaki Fever. Subscriber growth never justified the content spend.
Deadline confirmed that the originals are being cancelled and the platform will wind down. This is aggressive cost-cutting from a company that clearly decided subscription streaming doesn’t work at African price points and broadband penetration levels.
MultiChoice’s pay-TV infrastructure remains intact. The bet on subscription streaming does not.
The same stretch Showmax died, Both Worlds and Freeli Films announced a co-production partnership to develop microdramas and features for U.S. and African audiences. Both Worlds is an International Emmy-nominated South African production company. Freeli Films is based in Atlanta. The first project will star Taye Diggs.
This isn’t a replacement for Showmax. It’s a signal about where production capital goes when platform economics fail.
The Diggs casting gives the project profile in U.S. trade coverage and distribution conversations. The real story is the financial architecture: two companies in different markets sharing development costs on content designed for lean budgets and mobile-first distribution.
Showmax tried to compete with Netflix by building a broad catalog and investing in high-end originals. Canal+ looked at the subscriber numbers and the cash burn and said no. The microdrama partnership is what happens next: lower cost per minute, risk-sharing for co-production, a format built for the infrastructure realities of African mobile networks.
ITV Hit Its Own Target. Now Comes the Hard Part.
ITV reported £3.8 billion in revenue for 2025 (roughly $4.6 billion). The numbers came in slightly above market expectations, with growth in ITV Studios and streaming platform ITVX offsetting continued declines in linear advertising.
The topline looks stable because the company has been managing a strategic rebalance for years: grow production and digital fast enough to compensate for the slow erosion of broadcast revenue.
The milestone that matters came from CEO Carolyn McCall. ITV Studios, combined with its digital Media & Entertainment division, now accounts for more than half of total revenue. McCall called this a “key strategic goal,” a clean way of saying the 70-year-old broadcaster is no longer primarily a broadcaster.
ITV Studios produces formats like Love Island, which generates revenue through international format sales, brand partnerships, and licensing deals that extend well beyond U.K. television. Own the IP, produce for multiple markets, extract value through distribution deals and ancillary revenue. That’s the model ITV is scaling, the opposite of broadcast advertising, which depends on audience delivery for third-party brands.
These results dropped as ITV continues negotiations with Sky over a potential sale of its Media & Entertainment networks business. If the sale goes through, ITV becomes a studios and streaming company that used to be a broadcaster. If it doesn’t, the company continues managing the transition internally.
McCall’s framing acknowledges an inflection point. The next phase is sustaining growth in studios and streaming while linear keeps declining. The Sky sale talks are part of that calculus: does ITV manage both sides indefinitely, or separate them and focus entirely on production?
What This Means for Media Careers
Showmax couldn’t make subscription streaming work at African price points, so Canal+ killed it. Production in South Africa didn’t stop. It reorganized around a co-production structure, with lower-cost formats and cross-border risk sharing.
ITV’s linear advertising business is shrinking, but the company is growing because it built a studios operation that generates IP value beyond broadcast revenue.
The money doesn’t leave the industry. It moves into production structures with better margin profiles and distribution models that don’t depend on legacy infrastructure. Broadcasting people should understand studios and streaming. Production people should understand co-production finance and format economics. The skills that matter are shifting with the dollars.
If you’re looking for roles in production, IP development, or streaming operations, browse open production roles on Mediabistro. If you’re building out studios or digital teams, post a job on Mediabistro to reach experienced media professionals tracking these shifts.
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