Showmax, the subscription video-on-demand platform in sub-Saharan Africa, has launched a new service which will incorporate sports content from its sister company, pay-television broadcaster SuperSport.
With both companies owned by MultiChoice Group, Showmax Pro will bundle the existing Showmax entertainment service with music channels, news, and live sport streaming from SuperSport.
Showmax Pro will feature all English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish LaLiga and South African PSL football games, as well as a wide range of other live sports events including World Athletics competitions and boxing. SuperSport will also broadcast Formula 1 motor racing until 2022 after agreeing a three-year renewal with the sport’s commercial arm, Formula One Management, as reported by SportBusiness.
Showmax Pro launched in Kenya and Nigeria on Tuesday. Additional countries will go live in the following weeks, with the entire process to cover sub-Saharan Africa expected to be completed within six to eight weeks.
In Kenya and Nigeria, Showmax Pro has been priced at KES2,100 (€17/$20) and NGN6,300 (€14/$16) per month, respectively. Showmax Pro Mobile, a subscription offering for smartphone and tablet devices only, is priced at KES1,050 and KES3,200 per month, respectively.
Showmax originally launched in August 2015 and is available across sub-Saharan Africa.
In June 2019, Showmax began testing sport live-streaming.
Niclas Ekdahl, chief executive of the Connected Video division of MultiChoice, said: “The live sport test we ran on Showmax in conjunction with SuperSport has been well received, so that’s forming an integral part of our new Showmax Pro service.”
Another key development for African markets has been adapting the service for the data connectivity constraints on the continent and focusing on the most-used viewing devices. In November last year, Showmax launched a mobile-only service for smartphones and tablets featuring all of the Showmax content, but at half the cost of the standard Showmax service and consuming less data.
Ekdahl added: “Mobile usage is mainstream, so having a one-size-fits-all big screen service may not be the best solution here. With the mobile-only version of Showmax Pro, anyone with a smartphone in sub-Saharan Africa will be able to get the best African content, the best of Hollywood, and all of the best sporting action. This is something no other service is doing and we think it’s a game changer.”