The MultiChoice Group is set to launch a significantly overhauled and upgraded version of its streaming platform, Showmax, before the end of the year.
The CEO, Calvo Mawela revealed that the “version 2” of Showmax will include strategic and technical input from new partner and co-investor NBCUniversal. The company had made an announcement 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 new version is set to launch in the fourth quarter with a larger and broader line-up of content. The agreement includes NBCUniversal sister company Sky and it includes the supply of technology as well as new content to Showmax subscribers. MultiChoice has retained a 70% stake in the business.
In March, Multichoice said: “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.” Peacock is a streaming platform by NBCUniversal.
They added by saying that 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.
Mawela revealed that the deal with NBCUniversal means Showmax has a secure pipeline of international content over a long period. “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,” he added.
The company will remain a separate offering, apart from DStv and “appealing to a streaming population that continues to grow” and who “might want sport as part of that offering”. In the meantime, a television hardware solution being developed in partnership with Sky called DStv Glass will launch within the next 18 months in South Africa, Mawela said.
DStv Glass will be offering a flat-screen TV and integrated soundbar, along with a slick new user interface. It had already been expected to be available for sale this year, but there were delays to tweak the offering further for local audience needs.
