MultiChoice unveils details of ‘new Showmax’

Source: MultiChoice

South African pay TV operator MultiChoice has unveiled new details of its revamped Showmax streamer, promising the “Premier League in your pocket” with a focus on affordable mobile streaming.

The joint initiative from MultiChoice, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky has as its focus what MultiChoice describes as the world’s first standalone Premier League plan for mobile, with all 380 games offered live on Showmax Premier League for ZAR69 (US$3.65) a month.

Showmax also features two other plans available in 44 African countries: Showmax Entertainment on mobile for ZAR39 (US$2) a month at launch, and the legacy Showmax Entertainment plan, with a reduced monthly price of ZAR89.

MultiChoice is also promising a big investment in originals, with at least 21 new Showmax Originals launching in February, and over 1,300 hours of Showmax Originals to be produced in the coming year, representing an overall 150% increase in production output compared to the year before.

Thanks to the partnership with NBCUniversal and Sky, Showmax will show content frojm Universal Pictures, Focus Features, NBC, Peacock, DreamWorks Animation and Telemundo. The lineup includes films like the latest instalment in the Fast franchise, Fast X, and Wes Anderson’s comedy-drama Asteroid City; procedural drama series such as NBC’s The Irrational  Peacock original comedy series Killing It.

A new payment ecosystem is facilitated by Moment, another MultiChoice joint venture partner, that is building its own pan-African payments network. Customers of MultiChoice’s pay TV service DStv will continue to have the option of adding Showmax to their bill each month and benefitting from discounts.

Staggered process

The new Showmax app will be available in app stores from January 23 onward, as part of a staggered migration process across African markets to be completed in February.

“There are currently just over 450 million smartphones in the hands of individuals across Africa and more than 250 million avid football lovers on the continent. Showmax Premier League is a game-changing product that gives individuals a ticket to the football they love, wherever they are, on the device they always have with them, at a price that’s impossible not to love,” said Marc Jury, CEO of Showmax.

“Africa is incredibly important to the Premier League and our clubs; 20% of TV audiences on any given matchday come from Africa. We are delighted with this Showmax initiative, which puts the Premier League in your pocket at a new price point so that millions more can enjoy our fantastic competition,” said Richard Masters, Premier League CEO.

The revamped streamer is built on the Peacock streaming platform from Comcast.

“Peacock’s best-in-class technology platform will deliver a world-class streaming experience to Showmax audiences. 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,” said Patrick Miceli, EVP and CTO, Direct-to-Consumer and International, NBCUniversal.

“Nobody understands Africa like we do. Showmax is putting the continent first with a powerful streaming service that will revolutionise streaming in Africa in 2024,” said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO.