Advanced Television

Showmax

Forecast: Africa SVoD to add 9m subs by 2029

Sub-Saharan Africa will have 16 million paying SV0D subscriptions by 2029, up from 7 million at end-2023, according to a froecast from Digital TV Research. South Africa and Nigeria will supply 59 per cent (9.4 million) of the region’s total. However, SVoD penetration will still be low by 2029, with only 7.1 per cent of […]

February 12, 2024

Showmax readies for relaunch

Showmax, the African streaming service is relaunching in February 2024 with a new look, new app and entirely new product suite. This comes following the announcement of the partnership between Showmax and Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky earlier this year. The new Showmax will have three plans: Showmax Entertainment, Showmax Entertainment Mobile and the exciting Showmax […]

November 16, 2023

MultiChoice closing Showmax Pro

African pay-TV broadcaster MultiChoice says it will phase out its Showmax Pro transmissions ahead of the planned relaunch of Showmax towards the end of the year. MultiChoice has written to subscribers saying: “With the upcoming relaunch of Showmax, our sport offering will focus exclusively on the Premier League, the most popular football league on the […]

September 29, 2023By Chris Forrester

Forecast: Africa at 18m SVoD subs by 2029

Bucking the US trend, African SVoD is forecast to see plenty of growth in the coming years. According to Digital TV Research, Africa will have 18 million paying SVOD subscriptions by 2029, up from 8 million at end-2023. Despite this fast growth, SVoD penetration will remain low, with only 7.7 per cent of TV households […]

August 14, 2023

Canal+ ups stake in MultiChoice again

France’s Canal+ Group has again upped its stake in South Africa’s MultiChoice pay-TV operation. Canal+ now owns 31.7 per cent of MultiChoice which is itself listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. MultiChoice operates the DStv, SuperSport and Showmax pay-TV options for African viewers. Canal+ is itself controlled by Vivendi. The new stake is up from […]

July 3, 2023By Chris Forrester

MultiChoice withholds dividend

South African broadcasting giant MultiChoice Group has reported its annual profit rose 2 per cent in its financial year to March 31st. It said it had enjoyed strong overall subscriber growth and profit elsewhere in Africa which helped offset poor market conditions in South Africa itself. For the year to March 31st, core headline earnings […]

June 15, 2023By Chris Forrester

MultiChoice warns on future margins

South African pay-TV giant MultiChoice has warned that its future trading, and in particular its DStv bouquet of pay-channels, are under financial threat from South Africa’s dire business and trading environment. The warning sent MultiChoice’s shares into free-fall on the Johannesburg stock exchange. They fell almost 14 percent on March 14, for example, although having […]

March 16, 2023By Chris Forrester

MultiChoice, NBCU, Sky partner for African SVoD

MultiChoice Group and Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky have agreed a new partnership that will bring their content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in sub-Saharan Africa, at a time when Africa is approaching an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability. The new Showmax group will be 70 per cent […]

March 2, 2023By Colin Mann

Forecast: Africa to add 9m SVoD subs by 2028

Africa will have 15.57 million paying SVoD subscriptions by 2028, up from 6.15 million at end-2022, according to the Africa OTT TV and Video Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Despite this fast growth, SVoD penetration rates will remain low, with only 7 per cent of TV households paying for at least one […]

February 13, 2023

WWE Network on Showmax in Africa

WWE and MultiChoice have announced a major broadcast partnership that will see streaming platform Showmax become the new home of WWE Network in Africa. The partnership incorporates all WWE Premium Live Events, including premium live event WrestleMania, as well as WWE Network’s library of original and archived programming available to stream on-demand. Additionally, SuperSport, the […]

November 2, 2022By Nik Roseveare