by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax is exiting from and shutting down in exiting overseas countries leaving expats elsewhere in the world using it distraught since the new Showmax, done with Comcast's NBCUniversal, will now focus on and only be available in Africa after its upcoming relaunch.
Laura Cooke, Showmax spokesperson, confirmed to TVwithThinus that Showmax is cutting back its service and availability and shutting down Showmax overseas. It follows after complaints from users in countries like New Zealand saying they were suddenly informed they're losing the subscription service.
From December 2023 Showmax will no longer be available outside of Africa, with MultiChoice saying it's a "strategic decision to allow the business to focus specifically on the African market".
MultiChoice is set to relaunch a 2.0 version of Showmax within months, retooled with the help of Comcast's NBCUniversal and Sky in the United Kingdom.
It's unclear whether an agreement to contract Showmax to just Africa formed part of the negotiations and new partnership agreement with Comcast, or whether MultiChoice decided for itself to decrease its streamer's international reach which has been scaled back several times since its ambitious launch.
Since October no new Showmax subscriptions are available for customers outside of Africa and comes after MultiChoice and Showmax also suspended and decided to end its sports-infused Showmax Pro subscriber tier.
Premium sports content like the English Premier League (EPL) will be folded into Showmax 2.0 at launch.
Showmax 2.0 will eventually be available in 44 markets across sub-Saharan Africa the retooled Showmax will initially only launch in South Africa and a few other African countries which have not yet been specified.
A Showmax subscriber and expat South African living in New Zealand said they're "devastated" after getting an email that Showmax is terminating its availability here.
"We are devastated and can't fathom why Showmax would do this. It couldn't be because it's not financially feasible."
"It's bad since there are a lot of South African programmes on it that we love to watch. There are so many South Africans in New Zealand and South Africa that it's definitely worthwhile for Showmax to keep its service running in these countries. People would have been willing to pay more for its continued existence."
ALSO READ: MultiChoice shutters Showmax Pro.
