This year, SuperSport will not broadcast any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, taking place in Milano Cortina from February 6 to 22, 2026. A spokesperson for MultiChoice, which French media group Groupe Canal+ now owns, confirmed that there will be no live coverage or highlights available on Catch Up.
Currently, there is no designated media rights holder for the Olympics, as indicated on the official Olympics website, which shows the status as “TBC.”
After not participating in the Winter Olympics since 2018, South Africa is set to send its largest winter sports delegation to the upcoming games. The country’s team includes five athletes: two in alpine skiing, one in cross-country skiing, one in freestyle skiing, and one in skeleton.
Notably, Lara Markthaler has garnered attention as one of the youngest competitors, turning 19 on the day she competes in the giant slalom on February 15, where she has also qualified for the slalom event. Nicole Burger is making history as the first South African woman to qualify for the skeleton event, while Matt Smith made a mark by qualifying for cross-country skiing in just two years. Additionally, Malica Malherbe will compete in freestyle skiing, and 17-year-old Thomas Weir is an emerging alpine skiing talent alongside Markthaler.
The absence of Winter Olympics coverage on DStv suggests that Canal+ is looking to cut costs by reducing its SuperSport offerings, potentially posing challenges for the pay-TV operator.
MultiChoice has lost 2.8 million subscribers over the past two years, resulting in significant declines in revenue and profits. After peaking at 17.3 million subscribers on March 31, 2023, the number of active linear pay-TV customers has dropped to 14.5 million.
DStv’s subscriber losses have been evident since 2016, coinciding with the launch of Netflix’s global services, which led to an exodus of high-value Premium subscribers. As fewer customers remain, there is less budget available to acquire rights to major sporting events, creating a vicious cycle in which high-end DStv users may choose to leave if their sporting preferences are not met.
With alternatives like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and sports-specific streaming services readily available, retaining DStv Premium subscribers is increasingly challenging. The dilution of SuperSport’s offerings could push the pay-TV service further into decline.
Charts detailing declining subscriber numbers and revenues over recent years underline these trends, even as MultiChoice returned to profit in 2025, primarily due to the sale of a stake in its insurance business to Sanlam.
