by Thinus Ferreira
Showmax and DStv subscribers can definitely get ready for more Big Brother Nigeria seasons after the latest 5th season broadcast during the Covid-19 lockdown that has become a video streaming hit in especially Nigeria and surprisingly in South Africa and Kenya as well.
MultiChoice and M-Net West Africa that uses the pan-African camera-filled reality show to specifically drive subscriber uptake have been surprised by large number of subscribers who have opted to watch the new season of Big Brother Naija Lockdown through Showmax rather than on DStv or GOtv since making the series also available through its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service.
The latest season of Big Brother Naija that started on 19 July on DStv and GOtv as a pop-up channel and that will end with its 5th season finale on 27 September 2020 has broken a Showmax video streaming record to become the most-watched entertainment live stream on Showmax in Nigeria.
Especially the Big Brother Naija live evictions done from the studio in Lagos, Nigeria are very popular video streaming viewing material and not just in Nigeria, but in South Africa and across several other African countries as well.
"A significant portion of the viewing is happening outside of Nigeria," says Showmax that is live-streaming the full show 24-hours per day.
"The evictions are the most popular part of the show, with viewing peaking at 19:00 on Sundays," says Showmax.
Showmax that didn't carry it in the previous season, has now also added the Diary Room voting sessions which are not seen in the course of the live stream show and that is now available on Monday evenings to watch on Showmax.
Showmax’s Extra View weekly wrap-up show provides behind-the-scenes footage that viewers may have missed from the live broadcast. This is available to viewers on Monday night
"Interestingly, while Nigeria accounts for almost 50% of the viewing hours, South Africans are also big fans, with 30% of the viewing happening in South Africa, and another 15% happening in Kenya. Ghana, Botswana, Namibia and Uganda also see notable viewing traffic for Big Brother Naija."
Similar to what Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are doing regarding viewer ratings for shows, Showmax doesn't want to release specific viewing statistics or numbers for Big Brother Naija, but says that "Big Brother Naija Lockdown which started 19 July has already broken a Showmax live-streaming record and become the most-watched live entertainment content ever on the streaming service".
"If watched back to back, the collective number of hours of the show streamed this season already add up to almost 30 years' worth of viewing."
Showmax says that "more viewing records are expected to fall" in the run-up to the season finale.
While the show hasn't yet been renewed for a 6th season, the record-viewership on Showmax, coupled with strong ratings on the traditional DStv channel virtually guarantees that M-Net West Africa will recommission the show in 2021 to support MultiChoice subscriber growth for its streaming service and traditional pay-TV channels business.
