by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax is officially relaunching on 12 February as it aggressively takes on global challenger Netflix on the African continent, dropping the price of its main entertainment package to R89.
The Showmax Entertainment package (all devices) will cost R89 per month.
The launch price of R89 is R10 cheaper than the R99 pricing of the basic Showmax package the streamer launched with and stuck with since it launched nine years ago in August 2015.
The new Showmax Premier League mobile plan (mobile-only) will cost R69 at launch.
Showmax Entertainment Mobile will cost R39 a month, while the bundled offer of Entertainment Mobile and Premier League mobile will cost R99. An Entertainment package (all devices) and Premier League mobile plan will cost R140.
The new Showmax won't be offering live linear channels like the TV news channels which were available on Showmax Pro.
MultiChoice and Showmax are not offering any package that allows English Premier League (EPL) content to be watched on a flatscreen TV, or launching with any ad-supported package tiers, at launch.
The revamped streamer is unveiled two years after MultiChoice and Sky started discussions about a streaming partnership. The new Showmax runs on the Peacock streaming platform of Comcast's NBCUniversal.
With the "data saving" option enabled, the relaunched Showmax, running at a maximum resolution of 144p will use up to 40MB per hour.
At best resolution screen quality of 1080p - the relaunched Showmax won't offer 4K resolution - the streamer will gobble up to 1.2GB of data per hour. MultiChoice and Showmax will announce a data partnership soon. The new Showmax offers Dolby 5.1 surround sound.
The new Showmax app will become available in app stores from 23 January 2024 onward for new Showmax subscribers. Existing Showmax subscribers will be ported over as part of an ongoing process that will start next week and which will be completed in February.
MultiChoice says that existing Showmax customers will start to get notification messages on how to access the new Showmax app this week and that by 12 February the new Showmax will be live in all 44 markets across Africa.
As part of the relaunch boost the streamer will unveil 21 Showmax Original productions during February. MultiChoice and Showmax have placed mobile access to the EPL across Africa at the heart of the revamped streamer, offering 380 football games live on the Showmax Premier League plan.
"There are currently just over 450 million smartphones in the hands of individuals across Africa and more than 250 million avid football lovers on the continent," says Marc Jury, interim Showmax CEO.
"Showmax Premier League is a game-changing product that gives individuals a ticket to the football they love, wherever they are, on the device they always have with them, at a price that's impossible not to love."
Patrick Miceli, NBCUniversal's executive vice president and chief technology officer for direct-to-consumer and international, says "Peacock's best-in-class technology platform will deliver a world-class streaming experience to Showmax audiences".
"The Peacock platform was designed from day one to support both live and on-demand content, including the biggest live sporting events, so we look forward to extending that capability and reliability to the new Showmax."
Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, says Showmax's content offering is boosted "by its focus on the African market and strengthened by the vast creative and commercial presence already established by MultiChoice. Nobody understands Africa like we do. Showmax is putting the continent first with a powerful streaming service that will revolutionise streaming in Africa in 2024".
