TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. The execution of M-Net, Nu Metro and Johnnie Walker's cinema screening of HBO's Game of Thrones season 8 premiere was tardy, messy, off-brand and lacking attention to detail for each of their brands in a big way. How disappointing.

While the part of seeing it on a big cinema screen this morning was excellent, the actual execution of M-Net (DStv 101), Nu Metro and Johnnie Walker's cinema screening of HBO's Game of Thrones season 8 premiere this morning was tardy, messy, quite off-brand for each of them and severely lacking in attention to detail for each of their 3 brands in a big way.

If I were a marketing manager or events organiser for M-Net, Nu Metro or Diageo's Johnnie Walker whiskey brands in South Africa I would be embarrassed and ashamed over the "less-than" mess clearly carelessly thrown together on Monday morning in Cape Town.

It showed a complete lack of any real regard for M-Net viewers, MultiChoice's DStv subscribers and the media, with a distinct attitude of "oh, we don't need to care, they don't deserve better and they won't even know better".

While I hugely, hugely appreciate the plan, the intent, the effort, all of the organising and everybody in whatever value chain who said "yes" to bring and make Monday morning's Game of Thrones cinema screening event and competition possible, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out on a very factual basis how badly M-Net, Nu Metro and Diageo's Johnnie Walker executed this.

This HBO Game of Thrones cinema screening was simply not good enough.

I doubt that people who attended really felt that it was special besides the "special" feeling of sitting and watching the episode.

They sure were not made to feel special through the treatment and atmosphere they received to make them feel as if they like M-Net, Nu Metro or Johnnie Walker more as brands (which presumably would be the point of this exercise).

And if I could be awake and work at 03:00 in the morning, surely executives, managers and real representatives from M-Net, MultiChoice, Nu Metro and Johnnie Walker could have been awake and have been there as well to directly oversee the execution of their event and be present.

I don't feel that it was the case and it's quite bad because MultiChoice, M-Net and even Showmax have done a lot of lip service about the importance of HBO's Game of Thrones. That however doesn't fit and align brand-wise with what I saw this morning.

I actually felt bad when I interviewed people and competition winners invited by M-Net and Johnnie Walker on Monday morning milling about inside Nu Metro's cinema area at Canal Walk.

I cringed on the inside when one literally said to me "I was so excited because you know M-Net always goes big with their events so I knew we would maybe get some expensive champagne and free food". I knew that this wasn't that event.

First up: An ugly, shabby-looking red carpet. Where is the M-Net blue carpet for a true M-Net VIP Experience, or a black one to fit with for HBO's Game of Thrones? Completely off-brand right from the first step arriving at Nu Metro.

Then the wrist band was blue, so clearly someone did think about colour - but just not enough.

Then it took very long, with a very long time standing in a long queue just for registration. A young woman and a man who looked clueless had only A4 pages to look through for names and took an awfully long time.

At first they also couldn't find my name. (This apparently happened to other guests as well). Then when I was asked if i needed a free parking ticket and said yes, I was told I first need to hand in my existing one (which was in my car).

Then a line formed (another long line) to play a quiz on a tablet for a possible prize. For that, you had to first show that you have both MultiChoice's DStv Now and Showmax apps downloaded on your mobile device.

There was only one tablet. Some people took very long. This was painfully badly organised and conceptualised. Also the people in "charge" here looked clueless and outof their depth. When it was my turn, suddenly you had to fill in your details and contact details.

I asked why it was necessary and what's happening to the information and what it will be used for? The man who was completely an idiot or needed sleep, couldn't give me any explanation.

Why does MultiChoice and Showmax again want your data if you have shown you have the apps? To harvest it for marketing? Am I going to get additional emails and calls from now on?

As with E!'s 15th anniversary celebration party last week, there were not enough seating to accommodate everyone. The Game of Thrones decor was very loosey-goosey, sparse, and scattershot.

Rather then do nothing because trying a little in cases like these are worse than not trying at all.

When was this Spartan (and I mean that literally) decor cobbled together?

Also, no Arabian swords feature in Game of Thrones - tell the Chinese prop or costume rental shop. People who are fans of a show notice things like this and it's condescending to the extreme to think that they don't/won't.

This is the 8th and final season of Game of Thrones. Why did M-Net have better decor, more banners, actual people dressed up as Game of Thrones characters and people as types of installation art at previous season premiere cinema screening?

Why do less in this aspect for the big final season that surely deserves it more, than for previous seasons?

Nu Metro's supposed "VIP" area looked like the third class waiting room at a Metrorail station that has seen better days. Really Nu Metro? You want people who see this to come back in future and pay for a cinema experience?

When I walked into the cinema I was handed a box of popcorn but accidentally dropped it in the rushed handing out. I was given a new one.

After apologising, when I walked away I saw how the guy scooped it up and threw a lot of the scooped up popcorn that was on the floor back into several of the other popcorn boxes. "Look at what he's doing!" I said to my friend.

Inside the cinema, that was packed, people sat and waited for Game of Thrones to start. Nobody from Nu Metro, or even more importantly from M-Net, appeared or said a single word. Nobody.

Previously at exactly the same kind of Game of Thrones cinema screenings an M-Net representative would go and stand in the front, talk, welcome people, thank them for their support, say something about Game of Thrones and its fans, hand out some prizes to best-dressed people and other spot prizes, and ask people not to film or take photos.

Absolutely none of that happened this time. It felt blunt and like lost marketing, exposure and audience and consumer engagement opportunities.

There were no goodie bags or little gift when guests left the cinema. This isn't really needed but why did guests and people who attended previous Game of Thrones season screenings then receive stuff?

"No bread plank this time," said my friend as we walked back to the car. She attended the 6th season Game of Thrones cinema screening with me a few years ago and it literally took me a few seconds to realise what she meant. Then we laughed.

Previously M-Net gave guests a bread plank with "Game of Thrones" as a wood burn on it as a take-home gift afterwards.

On to Johnnie Walker's bizarre and badly executed cocktail counter and its "White Walker by Johnnie Walker" limited-edition whiskey that was displayed. As background, the bottles use special ink-technology to show the words "WINTER IS HERE" on the side when the bottle is frozen.

What a shambles. Three of the bottles were carelessly just dumped on the left-hand side bar counter. At room temperature. Nothing made any of it special. There was no animation or visual thing to specifically explain or show how or why this bottle and limited-edition is special and how it works.

There was nobody I could see from Johnnie Walker standing there or hovering to see who or if anybody is interested, to maybe explain and (up)sell the limited-edition.

No bottles were frozen, standing on ice or frozen trays to "display" and show the change. It was ordinary and ordinarily weird.

So what exactly was the aim of this exercise from Johnnie Walker? For people milling about and waiting to watch the episode to just think "Oh, Johnnie Walker is doing a White Walker whiskey" or "Oh, Johnnie Walker has a presence here"?

What a terrible marketing failure to not explain to a captive audience what a very specific brand extension is actually about.

Again, thank you M-Net, thank you Nu Metro, and thank you Diageo and Johnnie Walker but this is how you appease and patronise toddlers, not genre fans and competition winners.

The snack counter and hotel flapjack machine and barista corner were fine - no problems there and it looked nice.

The issue is around the individual and overall execution of the event - the venue not looking like, and not looking "right" enough for, a Game of Thrones event,  as well as long queues staffed by clearly disinterested and incompetent young people.

Why would brands clearly not bother about any of the important but finer details about their brands and how people are literally interacting and supposed to be interacting with them? Because it's 3 o'clock in the morning? I refuse to believe that, because M-Net did this previously and then also better.

I didn't have any expectations that this cinema screening of Game of Thrones would be bigger and better than the ones before but I expected at least the same level as before. This was however shoddy and felt like a discount-bad experience.

I have no idea what happened in Johannesburg and Durban and whether it was normal and better there, or the same underwhelming effort. If it was better, why such a lesser-than-Johannesburg event and discrimination for Cape Town?

What I do know, because I've attended hundreds of these types of things over many years, is that this was not a true "M-Net premium" experience.

This didn't make Johnnie Walker's White Walker stand out or in the slightest showed it off with any effort to explain and market why it's more special than a Fanta Grape can.

And it all happened inside a dull, dead, too full, bleak and boring supposed "Nu Metro VIP area".

Don't wake whoever at M-Net, MultiChoice, Showmax, Nu Metro and Diageo's Johnnie Walker who should all have been more hands-on with this Game of Thrones cinema experience event. They're probably (still) sleeping.


ALSO READ: MultiChoice and M-Net dropped DStv subscribers in South Africa and across Africa in the cold when its untrustworthy DStv Now app again crashed with technical issues, as its pay-TV customers tried to watch the start of the 8th season of HBO's Game of Thrones.
ALSO READ: 'I took Game of Thrones leave': South Africans stay awake to watch the 8th season premiere of Game of Thrones on M-Net at 3am at Nu Metro cinemas as show's conclusion is set to shatter rating records. 
ALSO READ: TV REVIEW. The Game of Thrones season 8 premiere signals that this Neverending Story will have an end. 

'I took Game of Thrones leave': South Africans stay awake to watch the 8th season premiere of Game of Thrones on M-Net at 3am at Nu Metro cinemas as show's conclusion is set to shatter rating records.

Winter is here and they all arrived ready as large crowds turned out in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg on Monday morning at Nu Metro cinemas across South Africa to watch the 8th season premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones drama series on M-Net (Dstv 101) together on the big screen shown at the same time as in America.

By 4am, #GameOfThrones trended in South Africa on social media as the top hashtag, followed by simply a string of names rounding out the entire top trending list that would be familiar to fans of the show: Bran, Jamie, Sansa, Cersei, Jamie, Dany, Arya and Jon Snow.

To celebrate the start of the final season of 6 episodes of the hugely popular medieval-like fantasy series, M-Net teamed up with Nu Metro and the Diageo's Johnnie Walker whiskey brand to hold cosplay cinema screenings across the country at 03:00 at the same time as the episode was shown in the United States, before the broadcast again at 22:00.

Before gathering in packed cinema theatres, guests had the chance to snack on flapjacks, croissants with a choice of fillings, order a range of speciality coffees including teas and hot chocolate types, pick sweet confectionary snacks from a smorgasbord of mini-dougnuts, chocolate truffles, cupcakes, chocolate brownies and fresh fruit skewers, or try the new limited-edition White Walker by Johnnie Walker whiskey.

Leonie Molentze from Hout Bay who dressed up as the feared Night King, leader of the White Walker army, said "I'm an absolute Game of Thrones fanatic. A bunch of friends and I follow it every single week. We have watched all the seasons up to this one so we just love it".

"My costume and make-up took about 8 hours, which I have been doing throughout the day so I haven't slept. And I'm going straight to work from here," she said.

"The one thing I'm looking forward to seeing are the reunions that are supposed to be happening, which I hope will happen. I'm looking forward to the battles, especially Sandor Clegane, I want to see my Hound beat his brother and I want to see the Night King kill a few people".

Mavo Sitongone from Rondebosch said he didn't sleep and woke up but stayed awake "because I've been waiting for this moment for weeks".

"With Game of Thrones I feel like every scene of the show just captures me. There is never a dull moment with this show and everything that happens - you just keep question yourself - and every scene is just so emotional and interesting".

He said he entered the competition to watch it at the cinema "because I knew I was going to wait up to watch Game of Thrones anyway because I was going to watch it live on the DStv Now app, so I thought why not just come to the cinema? And I thought let me just enter."

When he heard he won to attend he said "I was so excited because you know M-Net always goes big with their events so I knew we would maybe get some expensive champagne and free food and I thought definitely I'm coming to this even if at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Fazielah Williams who dressed up as cult-favourite Daenerys Targaryen, also known as Khaleesi and Mother of Dragons, said "I'm one of the biggest Game of Thrones fans in Cape Town and I decided to dress up because this is the final season and the last chance to go all out".

Asked if she would stay awake or go to work, Fazielah said "I took Game of Thrones leave. So I took the next two days off to recover and to keep up to date with all of the Game of Thrones media coverage in the press".

She said she loves the series and the character. "I think it's mostly about strong women; they really bring those storylines to the fore, and whether its Cersei, or whether its Daenerys or even Yara, there are three proud,  powerful women who come to the fore in the show."

She said she's looking forward to seeing "what are Jon and Daenerys are going to do now that they find out that they're related and he's got the stronger crown".

Episodes of the entire final season - especially its premiere episode and epic finale - are expected to shatter TV rating records globally.

Despite almost two years since the last episode, ratings for every season in an extreme rarity for a TV series in a trend that usually sees declining viewership, kept growing and improving on each previous season, together with shattering viewership for illegal downloads as well.

Since 2011 when Game of Thrones started it kept adding millions more viewers as a TV series on linear broadcast who discovered the George R.R. Martin created story through watching it on DVD box sets and video streaming services.

Then there's also the "end"-effect: Audiences flock in massive numbers to the conclusion of well-told visual stories as seen with things like the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises and again with the record box office pre-sales for Disney and Marvel's concluding Avengers: Endgame film that will be released later this month.

Besides its linear timeslot of 22:00 on Mondays on M-Net episodes of Game of Thrones will become available on MultiChoice's DStv Now Catch Up service as well as on its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax that also carried the library carousel of the previous 7 seasons.

The 6-episode season will be followed by a 2-part "making of" documentary feature film that chronicled the production behind-the-scenes of the end of Game of Thrones.

ALSO READ: TV REVIEW. The Game of Thrones season 8 premiere signals that this Neverending Story will have an end.

ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. The execution of M-Net, Nu Metro and Johnnie Walker's cinema screening of HBO's Game of Thrones season 8 premiere was tardy, messy, off-brand and lacking attention to detail for each of their brands in a big way. How disappointing.  

ALSO READ: MultiChoice and M-Net dropped DStv subscribers in South Africa and across Africa in the cold when its untrustworthy DStv Now app again crashed with technical issues, as its pay-TV customers tried to watch the start of the 8th season of HBO's Game of Thrones.

M-Net animates and 'ice-over' its cool on-screen channel ident as it launches a daily countdown to the start of HBO's 8th and final season of Game of Thrones.

On Wednesday evening at 18:00, M-Net (DStv 101) introduced a very clever "iced-over" on-screen channel ident as it launched a daily countdown to the start of HBO's 8th and final season of Game of Thrones starting on Monday 15 April at 03:00.

Perfect for the South African autumn, M-Net decided to introduce a limited-period animated channel logo that will count down from "5 DAYS" until Monday.

M-Net will simulcast the first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones at 03:00 on Monday morning and again at 22:00 on the same day.

The "cool" channel logo animation lasts for 11 seconds and plays at the beginning of episodes and directly after programming resumes coming out of commercial breaks.

The blue M-Net ribbon-logo gets iced-over with white icicles, and the "Game of Thrones" title card then slides out first.

It is then replaced by a card showing the number of days left until the Game of Thrones premiere on Monday.

The upcoming 8th season's 6 episodes of Game of Thrones will also be available on MultiChoice's DStv Now Catch Up service as well as on its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax.

This will be followed by a 2-part "making of" documentary film that went behind-the-scenes of the production of the last season.

ICED OVER. This is how @MNet (@DStv 101) switched its top left hand corner channel logo since Wednesday 6pm coming out of commercial breaks. M-Net is doing an animated countdown of the days to the start of @HBO's 8th and final season of #GameOfThrones on Monday 15 April 03:00. pic.twitter.com/4yKnEb4OAC

— TVwithThinus (@TVwithThinus) April 10, 2019

On Monday morning M-Net will hold special cosplay celebration screenings at Nu Metro cinemas in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg as part of a M-Net VIP Experience where competition winners and the media will watch the first episode together on the big screen at the same as it's shown in the United States.

Johnnie Walker's limited-edition White Walker by Johnnie Walker" whiskey from Diageo - a special brand tie-in to the show - will be poured at the cinema screenings.

M-Net said on Wednesday that "die-hard fans who won the competition will be notified this week and are in for a one-of-a-kind Thrones experience: These lucky viewers will be dressing in their Westeros best as outstanding Game of Thrones outfits and costumes will be rewarded with cool prizes at the screenings".

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. More about that fascinating Johnnie Walker White Walker limited-edition whiskey bottle that is a brand tie-in with HBO's 8th and final Game of Thrones season.

Diageo is making its new, limited-edition Game of Thrones inspired Johnnie Walker White Walker whiskey available in Africa - but just in South Africa, Nigeria, and in duty-free shops inside the international departures section of airports.

First off, let me state that I'm not reporting on this or sharing this or covering this as part of any "influencer" deal or "sponsored post" or "partner content" - that secret cushion language meaning that you're actually reading native advertising that's a disguised advert - or anything like that.

I'm not getting any money, payment or anything in return. In fact, some of the questions I asked about this product were not answered.

This is genuine journalism simply because I'm personally fascinated by it, because I am a big Game of Thrones fan myself besides being a TV critic and a journalist, and because I am likewise fascinated by this smart brand tie-in idea.

I took the initiative and decided to reach out to find and make contact to get some answers to things I liked to know about this tie-in and think readers who are like-minded might therefore be interested in it too.

This past week TVwithThinus reported about Johnnie Walker getting ready to release its limited-edition White Walker whiskey in South Africa as well and in Africa just before the start of the 8th and final season of HBO's Game of Thrones fantasy drama series.

Game of Thrones will start on 15 April on M-Net (DStv 101) at 03:00 and again at 22:00, and episodes afterwards will be made available on MultiChoice's Showmax and DStv Now Catch Up too.

Well, even before I reported that this past week, I already sought out the South African PR agency repping Johnnie Walker on my own initiative and asked some questions about this fascinating brand-tie in. 

Yes, I do love and drink whiskey, but truth be told I'm just as fascinated by the actual bottle and how it looks, the creativity behind it, the ingenuity and technology, and the packaging to make a hidden message appear when the bottle is frozen.

So I thought, let me ask and find out whether Johnnie Walker White Walker - or "White Walker by Johnnie Walker" as it says on the bottle, will just be for international consumers or also be available for South Africans, and more around what this interesting collaboration entails (because also, HBO is notoriously protective over the Game of Thrones brand).

Diageo and Johnnie Walker obviously worked with HBO's HBO Licensing & Retail division to make this product possible, and it's a really clever officially licensed consumer product.

The Johnnie Walker White Walker limited-edition whiskey, created by whiskey specialist George Harper is inspired by the iconic characters and the creative world of Westeros and beyond. Of course the timing is just perfect for South Africa where it's autumn and where winter is really coming and will soon be here.

The White Walkers are those zombie-like, feared, icy blue-eyed white characters - an ancient magical army led by the Night King from beyond the now-demolished Wall, and set to invade Westeros.

I asked about what "limited-edition" means and this limited-edition Johnny Walker White Walker whiskey is so limited that ... it will only be on sale until the 15th of April. I kid you not. "Limited quantity available thereafter, " the PR agency tells me.

I asked how many actual bottles will be released into the market in South Africa and was told "we can't give out the actual number as that is forecast information which is confidential".

Johnnie Walker says that inside the stark white bottles "of this new blend are single malts from Cardhu and Clynelish, one of Scotland's most northern distilleries".

"Featuring notes of carmelised sugar and vanilla, fresh red berries with a touch of orchard fruit, this whiskey develops in complexity as it warms to room temperature".

Something completely hilarious hidden in small print in the product fact sheet that nobody will probably spot is at the "ABV" - the abbreviation meaning "alcohol by volume". 

Johnnie Walker White Walker lists next to the ABV: 41.7%  - "1 Throne and 7 Kingdoms".

And also look closely at the Johnnie Walker Striding Man - he's now fashioned in armour to fit in among the ranks of the Night King's forces.

Johnnie Walker also makes use of "temperature-sensitive ink technology" for a hidden message on the bottle that only appears on the side of the bottle when the bottle is frozen.

Zumi Njongwe, Diageo South Africa's marketing and innovation director, says that being able to partner with HBO and Game of Thrones "is an innovative and groundbreaking shift adding cultural relevance and a unique way in how South Africans consume whiskey".

"We are confident from a brand's perspective that our fans will love the delicious whiskey served frozen whilst watching their favourite show."

Jeff Peters, the vice-president of HBO licensing and retail, says "We knew there was fan appetite for a Game of Thrones whisky and, once we saw the vision from Johnnie Walker for a way to collaborate, we knew the idea was perfect and the time was now".

"From the beginning, they understood that we wanted to create something special, and they've accomplished that with White Walker by Johnnie Walker. We're confident fans will enjoy sipping this delicious whisky as they wait for season eight and beyond."

Nope, I haven't tasted it but would like to. Johnnie Walker is having a media launch event for Johnnie Walker White Walker on Wednesday evening 10 April but only in Johannesburg, so I won't be there.

Who knows, perhaps M-Net surprises and manages to have it at, and serve it at its 03:00 screening at Nu Metro cinemas in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town on 15 April when competition winners and the media will attend its simulcast screening on the big screen of the first Game of Thrones episode as part of M-Net's VIP experience and big cosplay celebration viewing party for old times' sake. 

Johnnie Walker White Walker really would just be the most hilariously perfect thing to drink in the middle of the night/morning as part of the "Night's Watch" to toast the final start of Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones seen on M-Net becomes most sought-after show under viewers as HBO drops two more trailers and Johnnie Walker gets ready to unleash its limited-edition White Walker whiskey in South Africa and across Africa.

HBO's Game of Thrones has become one of the most in-demand and sought-after shows by viewers in the modern TV-era according to latest market research, as Johnnie Walker is ready to launch its limited edition "White Walker" whiskey inspired by the show in South Africa and across Africa, and the show dropping not just one but another two new trailers.

The demand under audiences for the upcoming 8th and final season of Game of Thrones set to debut on 15 April on M-Net (DStv 101) at 22:00 is at a record-high according to the American data science company, Parrot Analytics, that measures and predicts the global demand for content.

"Demand" is calculated as the desire and want for content and is a calculation of actual viewership including downloads and streaming, engagement and mentions on social media, as well as people actively seeking out information about, reading about TV shows and writing about it.

According to Parrot Analytics, Game of Thrones has risen to be 159 times more in demand by viewers in the United States than the average TV show.

That has propelled Game of Thrones into what Parrot calls the "exceptional" demand category - something that only a minuscule 0.01% of TV series are able to reach.

Even within this category, Game of Thrones totally dwarves other high-in-demand shows like The Walking Dead seen on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine seen on 1Magic (DStv 103) neither of which come close to viewers' thirst for the fantasy drama series.

White Walker
Meanwhile, Diageo is cashing in on the thirst for Game of Thrones with the Johnnie Walker whiskey brand that is bringing its recently-launched, limited edition "White Walker"-themed bottles to Africa and South Africa, inspired by the enigmatic, feared and zombie-like antagonist that will be attacking Westeros this season.

Launched recently it wasn't certain whether the bottle in tribute to the seven kingdoms with an "icy message from beyond the wall when frozen" would come to South Africa and Africa, but on Friday last week Johnnie Walker had a launch event in Lagos, Nigeria to make it available in West Africa.

In conjunction with MultiChoice Africa at a winter-themed icy event, a live orchestra played the theme song of the HBO fantasy series as guests sipped on White Walker created by whisky specialist George Harper.

TVwithThinus has learnt that Diageo will also be launching the White Walker edition of its Scotch whiskey in South Africa on 10 April, making it available in Southern Africa as well.

No word yet on whether White Walker will be served at 03:00 in the morning when M-Net does a special cosplay celebration cinema screening at Nu Metro in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town on the morning of 15 April where fans and the media will watch the 8th season premiere episode together at the same time as it's shown in America.


Two new trailers
HBO released a further two new trailers for Game of Thrones on Tuesday with the one entitled "Together" and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) saying about the invading, supernatural army from beyond the wall: "We must fight now together - or die". The trailer is filled with flying dragon action.



In the second trailer entitled "Survival", a reflective Jon Snow solemnly says "Think back to where we started. Now it's just us". Then Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), the King Slayer of Casterly Rock, says "This goes beyond loyalty. This is about survival."



Besides the 03:00 simulcast broadcast of Game of Thrones that M-Net (DStv 101) will do at the same time as episodes are shown in the United States, M-Net will reshow Game of Thrones on Mondays at 22:00.

After its linear broadcast on M-Net episodes of the 8th season will become available on MultiChoice's subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) Showmax, as well as on its DStv Now Catch Up service for DStv subscribers. Showmax also carries a library carousel of the previous 7 seasons' episodes.

The last episode of Game of Thrones' final 8th season will be broadcast on 20 May with the first part of a 2-part documentary "making of" film, Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, that will start on M-Net on 27 May in the same timeslot, going behind-the-scenes of how the final season was produced.