Stories by Vanessa Obioha
After joining forces with Comcast NBCUniversal and Sky to revamp its app and service, Showmax is now focusing on African markets. In a press conference to announce its upcoming launch, the streaming service said it will be present in 44 African countries, up from seven countries it had operations in when it first launched.
The shift in the market comes as more global streaming giants target the continent’s population of over one billion, even though the streaming era has yet to reach the continent. And with over 450 million smartphone users on the continent, Showmax is positioning itself as a dominant player with the relaunch.
“Coupled with Multichoice Nigeria’s focus on creating indigenous content, Showmax is emerging as a hot driver of video-on-demand streaming in the region,” said Showmax Nigeria General Manager Opeoluwa Filani.
The new Showmax app features a sleek design and new technical platform powered by Comcast NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service. The Peacock streaming platform will be active in more than 70 countries and is continuously enhanced by the combined expertise of thousands of engineers.
“Peacock’s leading technology platform will deliver a world-class streaming experience to Showmax audiences,” said Patrick Miceli, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Direct-to-Consumer and International, NBCUniversal. “The Peacock platform was designed from day one to support both live and on-demand content, including the biggest live sporting events, so we look forward to extending that capability and reliability to the new Showmax.”
In addition, there are four new plans, of which the standalone Premier League mobile plan is at the heart of the business. Showmax hopes to bring the continent’s 250 million football fans to its platform by offering all 380 matches live on the new plan for N2,900.
Other plans include Showmax Entertainment Mobile offered at N1,200 per month, Showmax Entertainment at N2,500 and the Bundled package offered at N3,200.
Accessibility and affordability, according to Showmax Nigeria’s Head of Marketing, Arinola Shobande, is key to the service’s ambition to be a dominant streamer in Africa. He highlighted the adaptation of the app for the African market, saying the new Showmax makes it easy for subscribers to access and afford the stories they love, while highlighting the low data feature.
βA notable feature of the new app is that viewers can now stream Showmax for 24 hours with just 1G of data. To put that into perspective, watching an hour of Showmax content on mobile takes up to 40MB, making for an extremely affordable streaming experience.β
Showmax is betting big on content, launching around 21 new Showmax Originals in February alongside the reboot, which includes five originals from Nigeria and offering more than 1,300 hours of Showmax Originals produced in the year, representing a significant 150 percent increase in production compared to the previous year.
With its new international partners, the streaming service now offers many international shows, including award-winning titles as seen recently at the Emmys, where shows like “Succession,” “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus” won 29 awards. This meant a big deal for Showmax as it looks to take the lead in Africa.
Showmax’s content offering is further enhanced by its focus on the African market and enhanced by the huge creative and commercial presence that MultiChoice has already established. βNo one understands Africa like we do. Showmax is putting the continent first with a powerful streaming service that will revolutionize streaming in Africa in 2024,β said MultiChoice West Africa CEO John Ugbe.
But with its focus on African markets, Showmax is exiting international markets. This means that its content will only be available through third parties. However, he believes the future holds more promise.
Responding to questions on whether the relaunch is driven by market competition, MultiChoice Nigeria’s Executive Head, Corporate Affairs, Caroline Oghuma said the company is investing more in innovation and technological advancements to deliver a better streaming experience for the continent.
The Showmax reboot comes as Amazon Prime plans to lay off staff and scale back local content production in Africa and the Middle East as part of a restructuring plan, according to a report by Variety.
The new app will be available to existing and new users on 23 January 2024 and DStv subscribers can still link Showmax to their accounts.