Showmax commissions a second original series, The Girl from St. Agnes, as an 8-episode murder mystery drama.

Naspers' subscription video-on demand (SVOD) service Showmax run by MultiChoice has commissioned a second original series, this time a drama series entitled The Girl from St. Agnes, produced for Showmax by Quizzical Pictures.

Showmax didn't make any announcement to South Africa's media and didn't issue any press release about its second original pick-up steered by Candice Fangueiro, head of content for MultiChoice's Connected Video unit.

However, according to foreign press reports the drama series that follow the mockumentary Tali's Wedding Diary, will revolve around a murder mystery set an an elite all-girls boarding school.

The Girl from St. Agnes will have 8 hour-long episodes, overseen by producer Harriet Gavshon.

Showmax hasn't announced any release date.

The Girl from St. Agnes will kick off with the body of a girl found at the bottom of an old mill in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, with a drama teacher who starts investigating the "accident", thinking that it might be murder.

Showmax has adjusted it spending and is ramping up production of original content as it tries to counter the presence of competitors like Netflix South Africa and Amazon Prime Video.

Showmax recently took over Trevor Noah's South African filmed stand-up comedy series that was originally announced by and intended to be for M-Net (DStv 101) and that was quietly redirected to the streaming service.

Niclas Ekdahl to head up Naspers' new Connected Video business unit that will now encapsulate its OTT services, Showmax and DStv Now.

Nicklas Ekdahl (48) has been appointed as CEO of Naspers' new Connected Video business unit that now encapsulates its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax, as well as its pay-TV arm, MultiChoice's DStv Now streaming and catch-up service.

Neither Naspers nor MultiChoice made any announcement when the Connected Video unit was created as a new hub to house its internet TV and over-the-top (OTT) services in Africa, but Nicklas Ekdahl will now head up this unit from 10 September.

MultiChoice plans to launch a dishless, streaming-only commercial version of DStv, similar to DStv Now, sometime in 2019.

According to MultiChoice Niclas Ekdahl has 19 years of executive leadership in the audio-visual services industry and previously headed up Viasat Broadcasting's pay-TV channel division in London in the United Kingdom.

Niclas Ekdahl joins Naspers and the Connected Video unit from Nuvu where he was the managing director of the video-on-demand (VOD) service that Ericsson launched in 2015.

"OTT video services are growing rapidly across Africa," says Imtiaz Patel, CEO of Naspers' video entertainment division.

"We've made a healthy start preparing for this future with our Showmax and DStv Now services and it's now time to consolidate those learnings in a single unit to build the best possible services for our customers. Niclas has the right experience to make this happen and we're thrilled to have him on board."

Niclas Ekdahl was also formerly a project manager at IKEA that sells ready-to-assemble furniture, and says he enjoys DIY projects.