by Thinus Ferreira
There's little that's new or even noteworthy to watch on the Paramount+ tile that Paramount Global and MultiChoice added to its Showmax video streaming service, with a list of titles that MultiChoice provided that also differs significantly from what's actually available.
Paramount Global stalled for several years with launching Paramount+ as a video streaming app in South Africa and was slow out of the blocks to get its streamer up and running to compete on the African continent with the likes of Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, as well as smaller players like SABC+, VIU, eMedia's eVOD and BritBox.
Comcast and NBCUniversal's Peacock that also didn't launch in South Africa, went into partnership with MultiChoice to redevelop and relaunch its Showmax as essentially a new streaming service unveiled last month, which is powered by Peacock technology, with NBC and Peacock content now funnelled through Showmax.
That has now left both Paramount+ and Warner Bros. Discovery's Max as the two remaining streamers not available as stand-alones in South Africa, left out in the cold in the country's overheated video streaming race.
As studios and streamers are aggressively reigning in content spending in their attempts to become profitable with Paramount also looking for a buyer and retrenching staff globally, it no longer looks like either Paramount+ or Max will launch as stand-alone streamers in South Africa.
Last month MultiChoice and Paramount suddenly announced that Paramount+ will now be a "destination hub" on Showmax, instead of a stand-alone streaming service.
It means that Paramount+ appears as a tile on the studios carousel right at the bottom of the relaunched Showmax where subscribers can choose content according to studio.
In November 2022 Paramount Global and Paramount Global Africa launched a website where it told South African viewers that Paramount+ would be "coming soon" and asked people to register their interest with an email address and a promise that they would be kept up to date and informed when Paramount+ will launch. It never happened and Paramount never sent out any updates or notifications.
Also in November 2022 Paramount Global Africa told media it would keep them informed about news regarding Paramount+ launching in South Africa. That also never happened.
Last week TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice for a list of what the content under the Paramount+ tile on Showmax would be, similar to the list that Disney+ issued when it launched in South Africa.
MultiChoice provided a list that it said it received from Paramount.
The majority of the list was so-called "library titles" - meaning old shows, like NCIS: Hawaii, FBI, Moesha and Survivor.
Besides Halo that is included, no Star Trek or other sought-after Paramount+ content are included under the Paramount+ tile for South Africa. The list also included the new Elsbeth drama series as a spinoff from The Good Fight.
TVwithThinus then looked at the Paramount+ tile and saw that very few of the titles on the supplied list from Paramount that MultiChoice provided, actually appears on Showmax - with no NCIS, no FBI and no Elsbeth.
Here is the list of content at launch on the Paramount+ tile on Showmax when a subscriber clicks on the tile:
1883
1923
80 for Brady
A.P. Bio
Alieu the Dreamer
Anchorman The Legend Continues
Avatar the Last Airbender (animation)
Baby Sharks' Big Show
Babylon
Baywatch (film)
Big Nate
Billions
Black Tax
Blaze
Bubble Guppies
BumbleBee
Butterbeans Cafe
Chocolate City
Daddy's Home
Daddy's Home 2
Downsizing
Dreamland
Fifi and the Flowertots
Fire County
The First Noelle
Forrest Gump
G.I. Joe
Halo
Henry Danger
The Infernal Machine
Jack Reacher (film)
Jerry & Marge Go Large
Knight Squad
Lawmen Bass Reeves
Locked In
Margaux
Mean Girls
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning
Mission: Impossible Fallout
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
Mission: Impossible 2
Mission: Impossible 3
Paw Patrol
Paws of Fury
Perfectly Single
Pulse
A Quiet Place
Redeemed
Roary
Rocketman
Rumble
Secret Headquarters
Shutter Island
Significant Other
Smile
Sonic 2
Spongebob Squarepants
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Casagrandes
The Christmas Doctor
The Equalizer
The Lost City
The Loud House (animation)
The Patrick Star Show
The Spongebob Movie
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
The Tiny Chef Show
The War with Grandpa
Top Gun
Top Gun: Maverick
Transformers
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Transformers: The Last Knight
Tulsa King
Young Dylan
Umakoti Wethu
Victorious
XXX: The Return of Xander Cage
Yellowjackets
Yellowstone
Zoolander 2
