Showmax 2.0 to launch in February

South Africa's MultiChoice Group has announced that its revamped streaming platform, Showmax, will go live in February 2024, with the promise of a variety of local and international shows.

"This comes after the announcement of the partnership between MultiChoice and international media heavyweight Comcast's NBCUniversal and Sky last year," Showmax said in a statement.

Additionally, in October 2023, the platform discontinued its live streaming sports platform Showmax Pro, leaving the original Showmax entertainment services to continue.

When the new platform goes live, it will be releasing 21 Showmax Originals from four African countries, a revamped international content slate, and a Premier League mobile streaming plan.

"More than 1,300 hours of new Showmax Originals will be released in 2024 across Africa, so viewers will be able to watch an average of more than 3.5 hours of fresh local content on Showmax every day of the year," the statement continued.

The new Showmax will offer three plans, Showmax Entertainment, Showmax Entertainment Mobile and Showmax Premier League Mobile, however, pricing details have yet to be revealed.

Powered by SuperSport, Showmax Premier League will offer live streams of all 380 football matches for viewers who primarily watch on their mobile devices, as well as in-depth analyses and highlights.

The new Showmax will be releasing 21 Showmax Originals from four African countries, a revamped international content slate, as well as a Premier League mobile streaming plan. (Source: Image by Freepik)

"We will be kicking 2024 off with a content slate packed with world-class entertainment from the world's biggest brands plus more African Originals than ever before and the first ever mobile Premier League plan for Africa," said Showmax CEO Marc Jury.

MultiChoice said details on pricing and launch dates will be revealed soon.

African streaming grows

The new revamped Showmax comes at a time when Africa is approaching a pivotal point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability.

In June 2023, MultiChoice said it planned to invest heavily in growing its streaming platform with aspirations to make it the leading streaming service in Africa.

Showmax is becoming a competitive platform, taking on streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime that are expanding their reach across the continent.

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Netflix and Amazon Prime have been in Africa since 2016 and have been followed into the market by several other streaming services.

Disney+ joined the market in mid-2022 launching in six African countries, the majority of which are in North Africa.

*Top image source: Image by Freepik

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa