by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice plans to have a big launch for what it calls "Showmax 2.0" - the new version of its video streaming service - with the pay-TV operator saying that the Comcast-NBCUniversal-Peacock partnership will not just increase Showmax's international content offering but also boost its projected subscriber numbers by up to three times it would have been by 2032.
MultiChoice plans to unveil its relaunched and retooled second version of Showmax by the end of March 2024 in its big quest to take on Netflix.
MultiChoice and Comcast plan to jointly battle Netflix as the leading video streamer in South Africa and across the African continent by adding premium English Premier League (EPL) content, more international shows, foreign movies and more global content - while making use of Comcast's army of thousands of engineers who will work to improve the capabilities and user experience of the video streaming service that will have a Peacock underbuilt.
Throwing down the gauntlet, for the first time for a streaming service in Africa will carry English Premier League (EPL) content when the wrapping is taken off the improved and shinier "Showmax 2.0" streamer in a year's time.
During the pay-TV operator's first Capital Markets Day which was held virtually, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said that "linear TV still represents an attractive growth opportunity - especially in the rest of Africa".
He said that MultiChoice will continue to grow its traditional DStv linear pay-TV business by bringing subscribers localised and sports content but that the company is stepping up its "ambitions in streaming".
In March MultiChoice announced that it's joining with Comcast - its NBCUniversal division running its Peacock streamer, as well as Sky in the United Kingdom - to redevelop and relaunch its Showmax streamer.
While Peacock is much smaller than global video streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+; MultiChoice - together with Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky - wants to frontload and reload Showmax to take on the global streaming players who have encroached on its turf.
With MultiChoice's turbo-boosted Showmax, the plan is for Showmax 2.0 to gobble up whatever subscribers are available in South Africa and across Africa before the Netflixes of the world are "fully deployed" on the continent - in MultiChoice and Comcast's words.
"We needed a technology solution that matched our ambitions and could help us to scale as fast as the market grows," Calvo Mawela said.
Netflix, Showmax and Disney+
There is a huge opportunity for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) in Africa," Yolisa Phahle, Showmax and connected video CEO at MultiChoice, said during Wednesday's event.
Showmax wants to use regionalised local productions across various African countries to drive subscriber growth and increase scale, as it fights to increase its growth curve which has ebbed somewhat and is lower than Netflix which is in first place in sub-Saharan Africa.
Yolisa Phahle shared a chart showing subscriber growth of the major over-the-top (OTT) streaming services in sub-Saharan Africa between December 2020 and December 2022 - but without any numbers or scale.
According to the chart, Netflix is number one in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with Showmax in second place and with a slower growth curve - with Disney+ that suddenly jumped into third place with a sharp growth spike since its launch in South Africa.
At the bottom of the pile are other players like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, VIU and iRoko.
It should be noted that MultiChoice declines to make specific Showmax subscriber numbers available and only provides percentages not attached to scale. Although they're Showmax's biggest two rivals, MultiChoice now also carries both Netflix and Disney+ on its DStv Explora Ultra decoder as OTT services.
Speaking about what MultiChoice is observing in the fast-changing operational setup of American streaming services, Yolisa Phahle said Hollywood studios are having a rethink and scaling back their massive financial investments after a few years of huge content investment to try and fuel subscriber growth and to scale up streaming services.
"What we're seeing is that several streaming providers, Disney for example and more recently Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO seem to be recalibrating their strategy to speed up profitability. Some of the other issues impacting the industry are the need to continually improve the tech and the platform experience," she said.
"Demanding live sport on SVOD is actually becoming the norm. This is something we've been focusing our Showmax Pro offering on. Also, ad-supported offerings are gaining traction, especially under younger viewers."
"The good news in all of this is that Africa is seen as the final frontier of SVOD growth globally," Yolisa Phahle said.
Boost: Three times more Showmax subscribers
MultiChoice says NBCUniversal's scaleable Peacock streaming platform will "deliver significant benefits to Showmax".
"We'll have access to their best-in-class tech," said Yolisa Phahle.
Because of the combined Comcast-MultiChoice partnership, MultiChoice has revised its Showmax subscriber projections and now expects the subscriber numbers of Showmax 2.0 to be three times more by 2032 than if it continued Showmax alone.
Andrea Zappia who is exiting this month as Sky's executive vice president and CEO for new markets and business, said that Showmax 2.0 will be "launching at the right time" since "the global players are not fully deployed yet into the continent".
Yolisa Phahle said "streaming will take off. There's no going back. It's is the future and we will ride into the future with the right partner".
"In Comcast we found an incredible platform," she said, noting that "they have an engineering team of thousands who will continually be working to improve the capability of the platform to make it a wonderful place for the consumer to find our great content."
Boost in international content, EPL on Showmax
About Showmax's limited international content library, MultiChoice said the partnership with Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky will boost the library of Showmax 2.0's global shows.
"Up until this point we were spending most of our time and effort really promoting the incredible local content because that is what brings us subscribers," Yolisa Phahle said.
"The research we've been doing over the last 12 months with Comcast has also shown that audiences want fantastic international programming. Now, with this guarantee of this content, we will be relaunching Showmax and marketing movies, marketing international series. We've also got great kids programming coming through."
"All of the questions about why are we not talking more about international content will be addressed and not only will we have NBCUniversal programming but HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony ... In fact, if you think about it, we will have international content first and exclusively on Showmax from 80% of the world's biggest international producers. It's going to be an incredible line-up: local, sports, and international content," Yolisa Phahle said.
English Premier League (EPL) content will be placed for the first time on Showmax 2.0 as well, she revealed.
"There will be a big launch," Yolisa Phahle said. "We're aiming that Showmax 2.0 is out there before the end of March 2024. But right now we are producing content, we are acquiring content, we are thinking about the packaging and the pricing."
"Sub-Saharan Africa is at the beginning of its streaming journey. It's a vast market and we are here with a strategy which is well differentiated from our competitors."
