Development Alert: Showmax Pro To Go Dark Across Africa Ahead Of Peacock's Rollout Under The Streamer

MultiChoice Group has announced that it will phase out Showmax Pro ahead of the planned relaunch of the Showmax platform by the end of the year.

In a notice to subscribers posted on the Showmax website, MultiChoice explained that with the upcoming relaunch of Showmax, its sports offering will focus exclusively on Premier League football, which it described as the most-watched football league in Africa.

“Showmax Pro in its current form will be phased out by 30 November. More details around the refreshed pricing and the product will be shared soon,” MultiChoice said.

Showmax Pro offers the basic Showmax entertainment tier coupled with various sports matches provided by sister company SuperSport. Until now, Showmax Pro has carried not only Premier League football but also the UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, Serie A, the FA Cup and more. It has also shown athletics, running and boxing events.

“We want to make sure that our Showmax Pro customers are still able to access the sport they love. As part of this product change, existing Showmax Pro customers in South Africa will be offered a DStv Compact Plus Stream package at the same price as Showmax Pro.”

DStv Stream Compact Plus is currently priced at R549/month, while Showmax Pro costs R349/month, meaning Showmax Pro customers will save R200/month and get access to more sports, including selected Rugby World Cup 2023 games.

Showmax Pro

“Customers will be able to stream 115 live channels, access the full catalogue of the DStv video-on-demand library and continue to have full access to Showmax’s entertainment catalogue,” the group said. The deal is exclusively available to existing Showmax Pro customers, who will receive communication from MultiChoice about how to sign up. The offer is not available to Showmax Pro mobile-only subscribers.

From 1 October, Showmax Pro will no longer be available for subscription.

The changes come as MultiChoice prepares for a significant overhaul of Showmax, expected by year-end.

Speaking to the media in June, MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela said “version 2” of Showmax will include strategic and technical input from new partner and co-investor NBCUniversal.

MultiChoice announced in March that NBCUniversal would acquire a 30% stake in Showmax as part of a plan to build the leading internet video streaming platform in Africa.

The agreement, which includes NBCUniversal sister company Sky – both firms are owned by Nasdaq-listed media giant Comcast — includes the supply of technology as well as new content to Showmax subscribers. MultiChoice has retained a 70% stake in the business.

“Powered by Peacock’s leading, globally scaled technology, Showmax subscribers will have access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programming,” MultiChoice said in March. Peacock is NBCUniversal’s streaming platform.

“The service will combine MultiChoice’s accelerating investment in local content with a pipeline of award-winning and critically acclaimed international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third-party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League football,” it said.

Said Mawela: “Showmax version 2 will launch in the fourth quarter with a broader line-up of content, a better product offering, better user interface and more streams on live sport, and will be underpinned by the English Premier League.”

Showmax will remain a separate offering, distinct from DStv and “appealing to a streaming population that continues to grow” and who “might want sport as part of that offering”. 

How SABC Could Save 7de Laan From Complete Extinction

During the year, it was reported that the public broadcaster had axed 7de Laan after 24 years with the last episode set to be broadcast on Day Of Goodwill (26 December). Since news of its cancellation surfaced the SABC has faced severe backlash from fans.

As a petition is being drawn up for SABC at change.org to reconsider, several fans are looking to strike at Campus Square Auckland Park in Johannesburg this coming Thursday which is where the show had been filmed.

The public broadcaster view their current financial state as one of the reasons 7de Laan is being booted and another having to deal with the fact that the viewership of the Afrikaans soap has dropped in the past years with etv's Afrikaans offering at 5pm able to double it's audience.

It's unlikely that 7de Laan's viewership will get better overnight with Sentech cancelling several analogue feeds for their channels and also Eskom's blackouts. Striking is probably the only way consumers will ever get across to the public broadcaster and if possible find an outcome.

Despite having more viewers than M-Net and Mzansi Magic, SABC has seen their ratings drop in recent years with SABC 3 taking the most punches following the cancellation/removals of Days Of Our Lives and Isidingo SABC 2 likely to suffer the same fate with 7de Laan.

7de Laan ranks as the most watched Afrikaans soap and second watched soap on SABC 2 behind Muvhango. Overall, most of the public broadcaster's local productions can't surpass the viewership of Uzalo, Generations: The Legacy, Skeem Saam and Muvhango.

The only way SABC 2's viewership would probably remain intact would be if the public broadcaster was looking to replace 7de Laan with a follow-up show similar to Generations: The Legacy or if some if not majority of the cast were to be seen on the replacement soap.

Recap To The Decade: eToonz Remains As The Only Source To Kids Entertainment On Openview

eToonz is currently South Africa's only children entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments which feature a mixture of animation like Peppa Pig, SpongeBob SquarePants and Voltron alongside live-action like Victorious and Power Rangers.

Since it's inception, the channel has remained the only source to kids entertainment on Openview and also the least mentioned brand amongst eMedia Investments' stable with a lineup bombarded with repeats as other brands continue to boost their offering.

While others such as eExtra and eMovies got additional channels based on their content. eToonz on the other hand was left as a singular brand with content sharing happening across eMedia's linear platforms.

As mentioned in a previous article, adults dominate cable TV and unlike DStv there's not a lot of households on Openview with children or in particular ones that would view the content especially if a selected portion can be viewed on the main channel.

So the idea of an eToonz Extra wouldn't really have been the best implementation strategy for eMedia Investments. As seen already, eToonz doesn't have enough content to carry onto a second channel and should eMedia opt for one it would probably need to be a random channel.

In this case, something like Da Vinci or SABC Education would help fill that gap at this point. As it doesn't clash with the existing offering seen on eToonz but gives consumers more content to browse that is if eMedia Investments chooses to revisit this section.

Could NBCU's Universal Kids Or Sky UK's Sky Kids Expand To Africa??? Perhaps As A Future Replacement To Disney Channel On DStv

Sky Kids is a children's channel operated by Sky Group a subsidiary of Comcast which features live-action shows like My Friend Misty, The Brilliant World Of Tom Gates and Dino Club alongside animation like Where's Wally?, Clifford and Trollstopia.

Internationally, it is known as DreamWorks Channel and a local variation known as Universal Kids residing in the United States both of which are operated by NBCUniversal also a subsidiary of Comcast.

Disney is looking to consolidate their content to streaming as linear TV is no longer viewed as the core of their business as mentioned earlier. This has led to the cancellation of several Disney Channels in the United Kingdom, Asia, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

In Africa, these channels had extended through 2024 on DStv and are expected to go dark at some point. Thereafter, MultiChoice would need to sought replacement channels in order to keep viewers onboard their platforms and fill the void left by Disney.

With the lack of children channels across the world, MultiChoice would most likely need to curate a customary channel similar to AMC International and Paramount Global's CBS Justice and JimJam or Ngwato Nkosi Group Movie Room and Play Room channels.

Sky Kids wouldn't seem like a far fetched brand to incorporate within the DStv platform despite the pay-tv platform already packaging DreamWorks. Some content is very much viewed on Showmax prior to the announcement that NBCUniversal had acquired a 30% stake to streamer.

NBCUniversal also supply Universal, E! Entertainment, Studio Universal and Telemundo to DStv.

This kids channel likely titled Universal Kids would see MultiChoice and NBCUniversal join forces supplying content that is not only viewable on Sky Kids in the UK but also shows streaming on Showmax or in other words a follow-up to the defunct K-TV kids brand.

What To Expect On The Nickelodeon Channels Across Africa In October 2023?

* This is applicable to selected African countries

Nickelodeon

Transformers: Earthspark

Episodes: 116-126

Timeline: 19/09/2023-14/10/2023

Slot: Weekends

Time: 11:00

Squeeze That Sponge! Stunt

New Episodes: SpongeBob 280-287 Patrick Star 121-126

Timeline: 16/10/2023-01/12/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 14:30

Monster High

New Episodes: 114-118

Timeline: 25/10/2023-01/11/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 16:30

Halloween Stunt

Timeline: 29/10/2023

Slot: Sunday

Time: 11:00

Nicktoons

Transformers: Earthspark

Episodes: 111-115

Timeline: 10/09/2023-09/10/2023

Slot: Sunday

Time: 14:00

The Casagrandes

Episodes: 316-320

Timeline: 09/10/2023-19/10/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 14:25

Sunday Scary Halloween Stunt

Timeline: 29/10/2023

Slot: Sunday

Time: 11:30

Monster High

Episodes: 114-118

Timeline: 23/10/2023-01/11/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 15:00

Nick Jr.

Adventures Of Paddington

Episodes: 301-306

Timeline: 25/09/2023-06/10/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 07:15

Blue's Clues & You

Episodes: 407-410

Timeline: 09/10/2023-13/10/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 05:30

Santiago Of The Seas

Episodes: 221,223-226

Timeline: 16/10/2023-27/10/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 09:35

Deer Squad

Episodes: 301-310

Timeline: 23/10/2023-01/11/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 06:50

Halloween Stunt

Timeline: 28/10/2023-29/10/2023

Slot: Weekends

Time: 07:15

Bossy Bear

Episodes: 111-115

Timeline: 30/10/2023-10/11/2023

Slot: Monday-Friday

Time: 08:30