MultiChoice's relaunched Showmax does first price increase from August, pricing of bundled packages remains unchanged.

by Thinus Ferreira

After six months the relaunched Showmax is doing its first price increase since the unveiling of the new version of MultiChoice's video streaming service - although the prices of its two bundled packages will remain unchanged.

From August, Showmax Entertainment will increase 11.2% from R89 to R99, while Showmax Entertainment Mobile is going from R39 to R45 - an increase of 15.4%. Both these increases are above the current inflation rate.

The pricing of the Showmax Premier League package will remain unchanged at R69 a month. 

The pricing of the bundled Showmax Entertainment (all devices) + Premier League (mobile) package remains unchanged at R140 and the pricing of the Showmax Entertainment (mobile) + Premier League (mobile) package also remains unchanged at R99. 

Showmax says its Showmax Entertainment Mobile price of R45 is "at the low end of mobile streaming prices globally". It's the first price hike for Showmax since MultiChoice retooled the streamer in partnership with Comcast's NBCUniversal.

Marc Jury, Showmax CEO, says "Pricing is something that all businesses have to review regularly, and we launched with attractive pricing on the new Showmax platform".

"We are thrilled that we've been able to keep Showmax Premier League and bundled Showmax plans unchanged, bringing all 380 Premier League matches to millions of football fans in Africa and continuing to focus on making streaming affordable and effortless."

He says "No other streamer has this range of the best international and local content at an incredible price."

Since its relaunch in February, MultiChoice added 40 Showmax Originals to the streamer, including localised shows produced in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.   

Showmax Entertainment's R99 price from August is its original launch price in 2015.

MultiChoice that is coming off a disastrous financial year for the year ending end of March 2024, is under immense pressure to grow its Showmax subscriber numbers and to also move the streamer towards a position of profitability. MultiChoice told investors last year that it aims to achieve profitability for Showmax in 2027.

Last month when it released its financial results, MultiChoice noted that Showmax's paying subscriber base grew 16% since the relaunch in February to the end of March but continues to decline to provide any subscriber numbers.

 

		Showmax Entertainment  All devices	Showmax Entertainment Mobile	Showmax Premier League    Mobile	Showmax Entertainment Mobile + Premier League Mobile bundle	Showmax Entertainment All devices + Premier League Mobile bundle
All Premier League    live matches + extra Premier League content		-	-	✓	✓	✓
Series, movies, kids’ shows, documentaries incl. Showmax Originals, MultiChoice Originals, Universal Pictures, NBC, Peacock, Sky, DreamWorks Animation, HBO, Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery, BBC, ITV, Telemundo, Banijay, eOne, Fremantle and more.		✓	✓	-	✓	✓
Number of concurrent streams		2	1	1	1 stream Entertainment  1 stream Premier League	2 streams Entertainment  1 stream Premier League
Mobile apps		✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Smart TV, laptop, Android TV, Apple TV apps		✓	-	-	-	✓  (only for Entertainment content, no access to Sport section)
Maximum video resolution		HD (1080p)	HD (1080p)	HD (1080p)	HD (1080p)	HD (1080p)
Downloads available for offline viewing		✓	✓	✓ (only for VOD content, not live streaming)	✓ (only for VOD content, not live streaming)	✓ (only for VOD content, not live streaming)
Data saving settings		✓	✓	✓	✓	✓