Showmax Prioritises Africa in its Latest Relaunch

Vanessa Obioha

After joining forces with Comcast NBCUniversal and Sky to revamp its app and service, Showmax is now focusing on African markets. At a press parley to announce its upcoming launch, the streaming service said it will be present in 44 African countries, against seven countries it had operating units in when it initially launched.

The shift in the market comes as more global streaming giants eye the continent’s over one billion population, even though the streaming era is yet to catch up on the continent.  And with over 450 million smartphone users on the continent, Showmax is positioning itself as a dominant player with the relaunch.

“In tandem with Multichoice Nigeria’s focus on indigenous content creation, Showmax emerges as a hot driving resource of streaming video-on-demand in the region,” said the General Manager, Showmax Nigeria, Opeoluwa Filani.

The new Showmax app comes with a sleek design and a 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 continually enhanced by the combined expertise of thousands of engineers.

“Peacock’s best-in-class 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.”

Additionally, there are four new plans, out of which the standalone Premier League plan for mobile is at the heart of the business. Showmax hopes to bring the continent’s 250 million football lovers to its platform, offering all 380 games live on the new plan for N2,900.

Other plans include Showmax Entertainment Mobile offered for N1,200 a month, Showmax Entertainment at N2,500, and the Bundled plan is offered at N3,200.

Accessibility and affordability, according to the Head of Marketing at Showmax Nigeria, Arinola Shobande, is key to the service’s ambition to be a dominant streamer in Africa. She emphasized the app’s customisation for the African market, saying the new Showmax is effortless for subscribers to access and afford the stories they love while highlighting the low-data mode.

“A remarkable feature of the new app is that viewers can now stream on Showmax for 24 hours with just 1G of data. To put it in perspective, watching an hour of Showmax content on mobile requires as low as 40MB, offering an exceptionally cost-effective streaming experience.”

Showmax is betting heavily on content, rolling out about 21 new Showmax Originals in February alongside the relaunch, which include five Nigerian Originals, and offering more than 1, 300 hours of Showmax Originals produced in the year, representing a significant 150 per cent increase in production output compared to the year before.

With its new international partners, the streaming service now offers multiple international shows, including award-winning titles as recently seen at the Emmys where shows like ‘Succession,’ ‘The Last of Us,’ and ‘The White Lotus’ picked up 29 awards. This signified a big deal for Showmax as it looks to take the lead in Africa.

Showmax’s content offering is further boosted by its focus on the African market and strengthened by the vast creative and commercial presence already established by MultiChoice. “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 the CEO of West Africa, MultiChoice, John Ugbe.

But with its focus on African markets, Showmax is exiting international markets. What this means is that its content will only be available through third parties. It, however, believes that the future holds more promises.

Responding to questions about whether the relaunch is promoted by market competition, the Executive Head, Corporate Affairs of MultiChoice Nigeria, Caroline Oghuma said the company is more invested in innovation, and technological advancements to bring better streaming experience for the continent.

Showmax relaunch is coming just as Amazon  Prime is making plans to lay off staff and scale back its 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 January 23, 2024, and DStv subscribers can still link Showmax to their accounts.