After barely 2 years of operation Naspers' Showmax is abruptly cutting its losses and shutting down in Poland where it has been operating as well outside of South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, ending the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service's lofty international expansion plans as the MultiChoice Group refocuses its video streaming efforts closer to home.
Showmax will shutter in Poland at the end of January 2019, just over two years after it started in Poland in February 2017, promising original productions and a strong investment in local Polish shows and films.
Naspers plans to spin off the MultiChoice Group during the first half of 2019 that includes Showmax and that will continue with its South African and sub-Saharan Africa service.
Magdalena Marzec, Showmax Poland PR manager said the shut down of Showmax in Poland is part of the MultiChoice Group refocusing efforts on Africa.
"We are very grateful to all partners, clients and the Showmax team who have supported the company since its inception nearly two years ago and we are sorry that this story is coming to an end," a statement says.
Showmax Poland users don't have to cancel subscriptions or delete accounts - from 17 December Showmax in Poland will no longer charge a monthly fee for subsequent billing periods and by the end of January 2019, all subscriptions will expire.
In June this year, rival Netflix that launched in Poland in January 2016 a year before Showmax, was outpacing Showmax in terms of user growth according to data from Gemius/PBI.
Showmax has seen a constant top executive turn-over the past two years with first CEOJohn Kotsaftis who exited, followed by Chris Savides who was Showmax's head of Africa and left.
In August Naspers appointed Niclas Ekdahl as CEO of the newly-formed Connected Video unit in charge of Showmax and MultiChoice's DStv Now over-the-top service (OTT) for the MultiChoice Group.
The former boss of Naspers' Showmax and DStv Digital Media, John Kotsaftis is gone from ShowMax and MultiChoice two and a half years after launching ShowMax for Naspers.
He has been appointed as Fox Networks Group Asia's (FNG Asia) in the newly created role of executive vice president of the over-the-top (OTT) platform Fox+.
Now John Kotsaftis, formerly also CEO of DStv Digital Media, is gonefrom Naspers, MultiChoice and Showmax, with his new job at FNG Asia that is based in Singapore.
Neither Naspers nor Showmax announced John Kotsaftis' exit from the SVOD service; and neither Showmax nor Naspers said who is taking over his job of looking after Showmax outside of South Africa - which could possibly simly be folded in under the existing ambit of Chris Savides.
In his new job John Kotsaftis will report directly to Zubin Gandevia, president of FNG Asia where he will oversee the development and further growth of Fox+, the streaming version of FOX.
“My vision for Fox+ is to drive the next wave of growth for what is already one of the most loved consumer video-ondemand (VOD) products in Asia Pacific and the Middle East,” says John Kotsaftis in a press statement released by FNG Asia.
“The Fox+ team have created a true game-changer for entertainment lovers in the region, and I have no doubt that we will build on these fantastic successes to keep Fox+ at the leading edge of on-demand entertainment in Asia.”
ShowMax has partnered with Samsung, with all Samsung Smart TV's bought in 2016 that will come with a free 3-month subscription to the new subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service from Naspers.
Samsung Smart TV users will be able to connect to ShowMax through its app and the service, normally costing R99 per month, will be free for three months.
Buyers of a Samsung Smart TV before 30 April 2016 will be able to redeem a unique voucher code for the 3-month free subscription of R297 and will need to complete a once-off sign-up process at showmax.com.
Once signed up, ShowMax can be accessed through the Samsung Smart TV app, through an internet browser, or on smartphones and tablets using the ShowMax apps for Android and iOS.
The growing ShowMax video catalogue has more than 20 000 TV show episodes and movies including Hollywood favourites, the best of British and popular local programming from MultiChoice and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and kykNET (DStv 144) TV channels.
According to Samsung South Africa the new partnership between Samsung and ShowMax is expected to accelerate the adoption of video-on-demand in South Africa.
"Subscription video-on-demand services and Smart TVs are changing the way people experience video entertainment," says John Kotsaftis, ShowMax South Africa general manager.
"Our viewing statistics show that Smart TVs are one of the most popular ways people choose to watch ShowMax as the convenience and ease of use are compelling. It's one of the reasons why we're excited to be working with Samsung - we think that this partnership has the potential to drive a change in viewing habits in South Africa," says John Kotsaftis.
"The ShowMax app has become one of the most popular among our Smart TV viewers," says Matthew Thackrah, Samsung Electronics SA deputy managing director and head of consumer electronics.
ShowMax, the new subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service that launched last month in South Africa, has added a blog where general manager John Kotsaftis is now speaking directly to users, saying in his first posting that ShowMax is closing in on 20 000 episodes.
At blog.showmax.com, John Kotsaftis writes that one of the "biggest surprises" the past few weeks has been the popularity of the smart TV apps - specifically the Samsung app for ShowMax.
That means that a lot of people are watching ShowMax in the traditional "lean back" way from the couch, instead of the new age "lean forward" approach of viewing on phones and tablets.
"Clearly lean-back viewing is also popular. For the lean-back crowd we were already busy on Chromecast support in our Android app and an Apple TV app," writes John Kotsaftis, saying its envisioned to become available before the end of this year.
ShowMax is working on adding features like watched indicators (what you've watched), suggested next episodes, and continuous play which will be added to the apps and browsers within weeks.
"We already have a huge library - we're closing in on the 20,000 episode mark – and our strength is in content curation and making sure we've always got fresh new shows for people to discover as well as the classics that people may have missed".
"For example, I recently discovered a show called Life with Damien Lewis (from Homeland and Band of Brothers fame). Bit of a shameless plug but I genuinely would have missed it if I'd not been on ShowMax."
John Kotsaftis writes about the few problems ShowMax experienced after launch which included sounds being out of sync and some minor buffering and pixelation.
"We went with the nuclear fix for the sync problem and re-encoded all 11,000+ hours of content. It was a mammoth task" writes John Kotsaftis. "The buffering and pixelation issue was tackled by lighting up some new front-end server caches in South Africa".
ShowMax Premium that costs R99 per month unlimited access and with ShowMax Basic for free with a limited number of free content available, will be competition for Naspers' pay-TV division MIH's MultiChoice which runs the DStv satellite pay-TV service.
ShowMax - managed by John Kotsaftis as the general manager, and who was the CEO of DStv Digital Media until he left mid-2014 - is however aiming to create a foothold and commercial market presence in the South Africa's new but growing SVOD market before the arrival of the global over-the-top (OTT) streaming operator, Netflix which will be its real competition in the market segment.
ShowMax will now also be competing with other VOD services such as MTN's FrontRow costing R119 and Times Media Group's VIDI that announced on Wednesday - the same day as ShowMax' launch, that its teamed up with Samsung to bring a streaming Smart TV app to Samsung TV sets.
ShowMax now has the biggest selection of SVOD content in South Africa of all operators and subscribers who get a 7-day free trial, can access the service through internet browsers or on tablets and smartphones through the ShowMax app.
ShowMax raided - and Naspers allowed it - top MultiChoice and M-Net talent like Victor Eckard who was the director of general entertainment at M-Net and who is now the head of content at ShowMax, and industry heavy-weights like Richard Boorman, formerly at Vodacom.
ShowMax is launching with 750 TV series, 850 complete seasons, with more than 19 000 individual episodes and a total viewing time of more than 11 000 hours - content adding up to more than a year's continuous viewing of series, movies, documentaries, kids shows and classic programming from the vaults of the SABC.
"This is just the beginning," said John Kotsaftis. "We are going to grow this platform and adapt it based on what people want to watch", saying ShowMax is a "long-term investment for Naspers".
"This is where the world is going to and we want to be there and grow with it. ShowMax brings customers two unique benefits - a library many multiples larger than those currently available through local services and also African content not available through services originating outside the continent."
"We're unashamedly ambitious in what we're aiming to achieve with ShowMax," says John Kotsaftis.
"The ongoing change in viewing habits has given us the opportunity to build a video-on-demand powerhouse to feed the marathon viewing trend."
"We've got the best content from Hollywood and beyond, but at the same time we also have the local content that consumers here expect. Importantly, we're bringing this in at an attractive price, and doing this across more devices than ever before," says John Kotsaftis.
"We're aiming to change the game. ShowMax won't just be the best subscription video-on-demand service available in South Africa - we're competing with the best in the world."
John Kotsaftis is out and quietly gone as CEO of DStv Digital Media; replaced by Mike Raath in the position at the digital division of MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV operation.
MultiChoice made no announcement of the moves and John Kotsaftis' departure but in response to a media enquiry fromTV with Thinuslast week confirmed that the respected and well-liked executive "has moved into a new business development role for the MultiChoice group across the continent".
John Kotsaftis joined DStv Digital Media, formerly known as DStv Mobile and then DStv Online, in May 2009.
Mike Raath has now taken over and was appointed as the new CEO of DStv Digital Media from April.
Mike Raath has been with the Naspers group for the past 10 years and with DStv Digital Media for the past 6 years.
MultiChoice is adding 3 TV channels to its DStv Now app for DStv Premium subscribers for 3 months: Eurochannel, ShortsTV and Ginx TV.
While the DStv Now app is free to download for all DStv customers, the video content can only be watched by DStv Premium subscribers.
The DStv Now app allows users to watch content on Android and iOS phones and tablets.
Eurochannel, Ginx TV and ShortsTV will be watchable through DStv Now from mid-March 2015 to mid-June 2015.
ShortsTV carries short films, including African short films.
Ginx TV based in the United Kingdom is a video gaming TV channel, offering video reviews and news from the world of video gaming and video gaming culture.
Eurochannel is an English language TV channel featuring European programming, including movies and TV series.
"We are pleased to acquire the new channels for DStv Now and hope they will resonate with short film junkies, video gamers and European culture lovers," says John Kotsaftis, CEO of DStv Digital Media.
MultiChoice could be considering cutting certain TV channels from its DStv service due to the weakeness of the South African rand.
The South African satellite pay-TV provider could possibly start cutting certain DStv channels from its offering to subscribers according to reports, since the South African rand makes it increasingly expensive to pay for the television content which MultiChoice has to do in dollars.
John Kotsaftis, the CEO of DStv Digital Media said that the South African rand is "a big problem" for the pay-TV provider due to the weakness of the South African currency.
MultiChoice could therefore start to possibly consider scaling back by dropping existing TV channels which are not performing and which attract only a small number of viewers. "It's not looking good," said John Kotsaftis, noting that the pay-TV provider is "far more cautious than we used to be".
DStv Mobile is adding kykNET and Mzansi Magic as TV channels to its mobile offering and removing Africa Magic Movies.
"With the addition of Mzansi Magic and kykNET we hope to reach a broader audience," says John Kotsaftis, the CEO of DStv Mobile.
kykNET on DStv Mobile devices will only be available to DStv Premium subscribers; Mzansi Magic won't be a 100% duplicate but will be largely the same as the DStv satellite channel - where licences have not been granted for certain movies, substitute filler movies will be broadcast on DStv Mobile.
DStv Mobile provides 15 DStv channels at no subscription cost to DStv Premium subscribers. All other subscribers pay R49 per month.
DStv Mobile coverage is currently available in 10 South African cities: Johannesburg (including Soweto), Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane, East London, Mbombela, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and Durban.
Collins Khumalo has quit as MultiChoice South Africa CEO, as the South African satellite pay TV platform is merging its DStv Online and DStv Mobile business units.
MultiChoice in a statement issued Friday morning says "Collins Khumalo has decided to take "time out" after 17 years with the group".
MultiChoice South Africa will now report directly to Imtiaz Patel, the group CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.
"We thank Collins Khumalo for his sterling service to the group and wish him well into the future," says Imtiaz Patel in the statement.
DStv Online and DStv Mobile are merging with John Kotsaftis, currently the CE of DStv Online as the new head but MultiChoice has not announced what this new unit will be called.
Mark Rayner, currently the head of DStv Mobile is moved to the position of chief operating officer (COO) of MultiChoice South Africa, reporting to Imtiaz Patel.
Calvo Mawela has been appointed to head up the stakeholder and regulatory affairs division for the MultiChoice South Africa group and will also report directly to Imtiaz Patel.
''It's a dream come true for us,'' John Kotsaftis, CEO of DStv Online tells TV with Thinus just over one month after MultiChoice launched its new video-on-demand (VOD) service DStv BoxOffice commercially on 22 July.
''One thing that surprised us was exactly how popular this service has been,'' he says about BoxOffice which now allows DStv Premium subscribers to choose out of a constantly updated selection of 15 movies. ''We expected that subscribers who try DStv BoxOffice might have a standard kind of usage of renting one or two movies per user per week but its much higher than that. It surprised us that it has become so popular so fast.''
Despite the initial challenges when DStv BoxOffice suffered a core failure on launch day, John Kotsaftis says that ''despite challenges we've resolves all issues. It actually didn't have any impact on demand. We're getting massive demand. People are discovering that DStv BoxOffice is very much convenient. It's a dream come true for us.''
He didn't want to say what movie title has been the most watched, and most popular and most rented the past month but says ''we can tell you we've seen the trends we expected to see. Over weekends thrillers do particularly well. And what you'll see on public holidays is that the kids movies do particularly well. Weekends and public holidays have an impact and generate good traffic. Peaks happen on public holidays when demand shoots up,'' he says.
'We see funny things happening'
''We see funny things happening,'' says John Kotsaftis. ''What happens is that demand starts to pick up from the evening and sales start to increase towards that time and towards Saturday sales in the morning. Clearly parents are renting movies for the kids to watch. It again shoots up on Saturdays just before lunch time. The standard peak happens towards the evening generally. When a new movie is put up and becomes available it does better than the others. It clear that people go back and check constantly to see what is available.''
''We've had very good feedback on DStv BoxOffice - particularly through social media,'' says John Kotsaftis. ''The big thing that people want to know is why only 15 movies. That's a constraint of course of hard drive space on the decoder hard drive. ''We can have more movies, but not on the hard drive. Also, were not using the space that's used for DStv On Demand. That's the only complaint really and we will be launching our online product before the end of the year,'' he says. ''For the rest there is a lot of people who have now said they want to buy a PVR decoder to try DStv BoxOffice. It's clear that people love the product.''
'Everybody wants to watch movies'
''You would think that it would be the more tech savvy people and the early adopters who would try DStv BoxOffice. The interesting thing is that the awareness of DStv BoxOffice is across the entire spectrum,'' says John Kotsaftis. ''That first weekend I was at a braai and over 50 people were already talking about it and I thought that was interesting. Everyone wanted to be able to use it.''
''There is no specific demographic here. There is no demographic anymore. You can afford it, or not. You have money and want to watch a movie or not. Everybody wants to watch movies - irrespective of your age or colour or where you live. And if you have some money, you want to watch a movie.''
''In my anecdotal discussions with people from all different walks of life - they all know about DStv BoxOffice and the product or have asked someone about it. Word of mouth about it has been exceptionally well,'' he says.
The sound of rock band U2's Cape Town concert this Friday 18 February will be streamed live on MultiChoice's DStv.com website for free in South Africa and throughout Africa.
''We are excited to be making the future happen right now on dstv.com with the first ever live streaming of a U2 concert in Africa,'' says John Kotsaftis, DStv Online CEO. ''We are very proud and excited to be working with Universal Music and U2 on this initiative and this is just one of many innovations we have lined up for our online audience in 2011.''
The audio stream on dstv.com will be streamed in South Africa as well as several African countries as well as places like Madagascar and Mauritius. DStv says the webcast is flash-based and therefore will not work on devices not supporting that technology. The stream will be available www.dstv.com/U2.
