There’s lots to celebrate as Showmax turns eight on Saturday, with the latest Digital TV Research report saying this week, “The SVOD sector in Anglophone Africa is evolving into a battle between Netflix and local player Showmax.” To celebrate Showmax turning 8 on Saturday, 19 August 2023, here are 8 things the African streaming service is celebrating:
1. 26% GROWTH FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS
As noted in MultiChoice’s May 2023 Capital Markets Day, paying Showmax subscribers increased by an average growth rate of 26% year-on-year for the last four years*.
2. SA’S HIGHEST RATED STREAMING APP ON BOTH GOOGLE PLAY & APPLE APP STORE
Showmax is currently the highest rated streaming app in both the South African Google Play and Apple app stores. Showmax has a 4.6 rating in the Google Play store and a 4.8 rating in the Apple app store, where it’s tied with Apple TV, which has roughly 1/10th as many votes.
3. A RELAUNCH ON THE WAY
In March 2023, Showmax announced a partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniveral and Sky. When relaunched, Showmax will combine MultiChoice’s accelerating investment in local content with a unique pipeline of award-winning and critically acclaimed international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) football, all powered by Peacock’s globally-scaled technology. The relaunch is expected before the end of this financial year, ending March 2024.
4. BEST LOCAL CONTENT, ACCORDING TO THE SAFTAS, AMVCAs, KALASHAS & iEMMYS
Series on Showmax were the biggest winner at the most recent AMVCAs in Nigeria, SAFTAs in South Africa, and Kalasha Awards in Kenya, while Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story won the Audience Award at Tribeca, Reyka was nominated for two International Emmys, Showmax Original Spinners became the first African series selected at CanneSeries, and Recipes for Love and Murder and Donkerbos were both selected for Berlinale Series Market Selects, among other recent accolades.
Having the best local content, in over 20 African languages, is a key selling point: in 2022, seven of the 10 most streamed titles in South Africa, eight of the top 10 titles in Kenya and Nigeria, and nine of the top 10 in Ghana on Showmax were African. Overall, local content viewership on Showmax hit 57% in FY2023, while Showmax audiences have now watched over 50 million hours of The Wife, Showmax’s most popular series so far, ahead of any international content.
5. THE BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA SERIES, ACCORDING TO THE EMMYS
Showmax is the only place in Africa to stream the three most-nominated shows overall at the upcoming 75th Emmy Awards: the family business drama Succession S4 (27 nominations), the post-apocalyptic The Last Of Us S1 (24) and the Sicily-set, sex-themed The White Lotus S2 (23). Showmax is also home to HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon (8 nominations), and Showtime’s survival horror Yellowjackets (3 nominations), giving it five of the eight nominees for Best Drama. Overall, at the 2023 Emmys, Showmax is home to 18 nominated titles from six networks and platforms, up for a combined 121 awards.
Showmax is also streaming five of the 10 biggest box office hits of last year globally: Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, The Batman, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Of the Top 20, Showmax has 12.
6. FIRSTS IN AFRICA FROM AN AFRICA-FIRST APP
Built with African realities in mind, Showmax was the first streaming service in Africa to make mobile downloads possible for offline viewing and the first to launch a mobile-only plan. Showmax also introduced the lowest data streaming option on the continent and accepts payments in the most local currencies and payment platforms.
7. FOOTBALL TO YOUR PHONE
Showmax Pro streams SuperSport content in Africa, including the most watched football league in the world, England’s Premier League. This is a key selling point in a football-mad continent and helped Showmax Pro more than double its subscriber base in the last financial year, according to the June 2023 MultiChoice results. Leading tech magazine Stuff named Showmax Pro Streaming Service of the Year for 2022, in part for successfully streaming the FIFA World Cup in 4K.
8. A GROWING POPULATION, WITH GROWING CONNECTIVITY
“Showmax is clearly differentiated from the international streamers by our local content and football, a strategy which has seen Showmax consistently deliver subscriber growth ahead of target,” says Yolisa Phahle, CEO of Showmax. “Africa’s population is growing at three times the global average – an unrivaled growth opportunity – and is expected to double in size by 2050 to around 2.5bn – likely to be a quarter of the world’s population. Combined with growing internet connectivity off the lowest base in the world, this gives us an incredible opportunity.”