by Thinus Ferreira
On Tuesday, MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax once again made an unsubstantiated claim about viewership figures in a press release without providing any actual viewership numbers or viewer data, this time about its well-received documentary series Devilsdorp - but the devil's in the details and in this case, a streamer conspiracy that Showmax is part of.
MultiChoice's Showmax made a similar unproven viewership claim in February this year with The Real Housewives of Durban, providing no actual first-day viewing numbers.
Showmax also fake-release ratings about top titles' performance at the end of a year with vague and nebulous claims like "30% increase" and "21% up compared to normal activity" in press statements, without supporting it with any actual numbers.
Some media republish these press releases without any substance or numbers as is, with no critical approach as to what the meaning - and value - of nothing to South Africa's film and TV industry is when hollow press releases don't actually contain any empirical viewership statistics.
This time, in a hyped press release, Showmax is touting how Devilsdorp, commissioned under Showmax head of content Candice Fangueiro and produced by IdeaCandy, has "set a Showmax record for most hours watched in its first four days of launch".
It's more of the same vague viewership nonsense hyped up to sound like a monumental achievement.
Showmax claims that Devilsdorp is "setting a new record for the most hours watched in its first four days of launch of any film or series ever on Showmax, outperforming the likes of Game of Thrones, The Real Housewives of Durban and The River".
The press release contains absolutely no numbers to substantiate anything - nothing about the viewership or views that represent this claimed record, and nothing about the numbers of hours to substantiate the claim of "most hours".
TVwithThinus asked Showmax in response to, and prompted by, the press release, the simple question: What is the record, and the hours watched?"
A Showmax spokesperson replied and said: "Unfortunately we're not able to share stats at this stage".
Yolisa Phahle is the boss of Showmax as the MultiChoice Group CEO for general entertainment and connected video, which is where the decision had been made not to release any actual real viewership statistics about any Showmax content or titles to the press or the media industry.
The reality is that MultiChoice and Showmax are cultivating a cult of video streaming views secrecy.
Make no mistake: It's very deliberately not being transparent about how many customers are watching Showmax because it doesn't want to be.
But why this "devilish conspiracy"?
Last week The Observer published a must-read article explaining why some companies and streaming services, like your MultiChoice and Showmax, don't want to release any actual, real viewership information publicly.
The article quotes Dietrich von Behren, chief business officer at Reelgood that tracks TV shows and films available online, who says that some streamers don't want the public and industry to know its viewership numbers because "It allows the service to control the narrative, and outsiders don't really know the actual wins versus losses around programming".
"With the proliferation of more services in an increasingly competitive space, streamers may believe that's the way to stay ahead."
Media exec Andrew Rosen says "For every streaming service not named Netflix, streaming is neither the only line item nor a significant line item contributing to operating income or EBITDA."
The Observer article notes that "the benefits of accurate viewership statistics would be to inform the industry and drive more informed decision making overall".
"In establishing credibility, audiences and consumers are more likely to trust the brand and any subsequent reveals the company makes public. This is particularly true as the SVOD industry moves out of its infancy and into maturity."
Dietrich von Behren says "Viewership itself is not a secret formula or silver bullet, it's just a measure of success".
"Strong viewership is simply an indicator of popular content and the opposite holds true, so let the market learn from it and not hide from it. Streaming services will benefit and so will consumers."
