During the month, NBCUniversal in partnership with MultiChoice are planning to rollout a revamped Showmax streaming service featuring content from the highly anticipated streamer, Peacock. Of course details about the pricing have yet to be revealed.
As some are probably unaware, NBCUniversal has done several partnerships with MultiChoice over the years aside from Universal, DreamWorks and E! and the digital component Universal+. Through their Sky service, MultiChoice was able to distribute a number of television sets.
This deal doesn't come as a shock, not that I was anticipating something like this but the reality is Peacock coming as a standalone put itself in a very risky position hence the reason SkyShowcase (a merger with Paramount+) exists in various European markets.
All of this had got me thinking about Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service.
As some consumers are aware these two are set to the last entry in Africa as we got most of the major streaming services Netflix, BritBox, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock (as mentioned) with Paramount+ gearing up for its rollout later in the year.
Last year, it was stated that HBO Max and Discovery+ would merge to form this giant streaming service which would have complicated things as the HBO side of the business was waiting till 2025 for contracts to go null therefore giving HBO Max the greenlight.
Compared to HBO Max, there was no problem in getting Discovery+ out to those regions which had a deal in place for the other streamer. If it wasn't for this restructure, we could have gotten Discovery+ or at least recieved an update about the platform in Africa.
After several months, it was revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery scrapped plans to merge these two but would rather keep Discovery+ intact as it's cheap while boost the lineup of HBO Max (soon Max) as the brand had seen a cutback of original content back in 2021.
In April, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to unveil more details about this new Max streaming service which I honestly think won't be made available to African consumers compared to Discovery+.
As mentioned, they will be the last entry to the streaming game and as above-mentioned streamers have been reeling in potential consumers. With that in mind is it possible that HBO Max will fold under Showmax?
Showmax is home to various locally produced content and they also supply a number of international content from NBC, Starz, CBS Studios, Sony Pictures Television. They also supply various titles exclusive to HBO Max alongside catalogue from Adult Swim.
MultiChoice even have various linear channels from HBO Max's parent company including TNT, Discovery Channel, TLC and Cartoon Network. Even supply various shows to M-Net such as The Flight Attendant and House Of Dragons which serves as a spinoff to Game Of Thrones.
Showmax becoming the official home to HBO Max wouldn't be far fetched as Warner Bros. Discovery in recent months had signed deals with local broadcasters in Australia and Japan which go over 2025 which boosts the possibility of the same outcome in Africa.
Showmax in general supplies content various content from BritBox and Paramount+. With those deals set to expire, it's possible these streamers would want to keep the content abroad their platforms and distribute them across linear stations.
HBO Max benefits Showmax in the long run as it would help build their international portfolio and help them serve as a strong contender to Netflix and Disney+ which too have a lot of international content in the pipeline. I'm just so lost with with plans for Discovery+.
I mean the platform has too much content that I feel not everything would fit under Showmax so maybe Discovery+ being the only standalone platform wouldn't be a bad idea and MultiChoice distributing a freemium version also wouldn't be a bad thing for DStv consumers.
Before the merger, Discovery Inc. wasn't expecting Discovery+ to be Disney+ big or to compete with other streaming services mentioned here so far. So all I'm saying is HBO Max being apart of Showmax isn't a bad thing as consumers can't pay for all these platforms.
Discovery+ could as well serve as both a freemium and pay-tv type service. Showmax could bundle selected content particularly premium or first run content perhaps.
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