Showmax

Showmax
Type of site
 Video on demand
Available in English, Polish
Headquarters South Africa
Area served Andorra, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Industry Entertainment
Parent Naspers
Website showmax.com
Advertising No
Registration Required
Launched 19 August 2015 (2015-08-19)
Current status Active

Showmax is an online subscription video on demand (SVOD) service which launched[1] in South Africa on 19 August 2015.[2]

Showmax is employing a localisation strategy[3] to take on established video on demand competitors with a focus on local content[4] and partnerships with mobile telcos.[5]

In South Africa, Showmax competes with Netflix and Amazon Video.[6]

Showmax is a subsidiary of Naspers. Showmax's engineering team is based in the Czech Republic.[7] Showmax publishes engineering and research articles on a technical blog.[8]

Showmax offers consumers a free 14-day trial.

History

In December 2015, Showmax expanded its reach to audiences in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America and Canada.[9]

In May 2016, Showmax expanded to 36 countries in Africa, taking the total number of countries in which Showmax is available to 65.[10]

In July 2016, Showmax passed the 10 million views milestone.[11]

In August 2016, the Showmax logo was changed from framed black and white logotype using camel case to an all lower-case logotype with added dark magenta and teal stripes.[12]

In October 2016, Showmax launched Showmax Select and Showmax Premium in Kenya.[13] The Showmax Select tier is a cheaper offering with a smaller content catalogue and optimised for mobile devices. The subscription is payable using M-Pesa.

In January 2017, Showmax partnered with SEACOM to put caching servers in Nairobi, Kenya.[14]

In February 2017, Showmax launched in Poland.[15]

In December 2017, Saturday Night Live Polska launched.[16]

Features

Downloads

Showmax’s download feature allows users to download up to 25 shows or movies at a time and watch them offline on Android[17] and iOS[18] tablets and smartphones. There are four different quality settings to reduce the amount of data required to download.

Bandwidth capping

In August 2016, Showmax launched a bandwidth-capping tool that allows users to choose different quality levels. Subscribers can select either a low bandwidth cap of 0.3 GB/hr, a medium cap of 0.7 GB/hr, or leave usage uncapped.[19]

Multiple profiles

In August 2016, Showmax added a multiple profile feature including the ability to set up child-friendly profiles[20] with four age settings.

Device support[21]

This is a list of supported devices:

  • Personal Computers (using web browsers)
  • Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS 9.3 or higher
  • Apple TV (4th Generation)
  • Android phones and tablets running Android 4.1 or higher
  • Android media and TV devices running Android 4.1 or higher
  • Samsung Smart TVs (2012 and later)
  • Samsung Tizen Smart TVs (2015 and later)
  • LG NetCast Smart TVs (2012 to 2014)
  • LG WebOS Smart TVs (2014 and later)
  • Hisense Vidaalite 2.0, Vidaa U2 Smart TVs (2016 and later, Africa only)
  • DStv Explora (South Africa only)
  • Apple AirPlay
  • Google Cast (casting from the Showmax app for Android or iOS)
  • Xbox One
  • PlayStation 4 (Poland and South Africa only)

Showmax is available in the following countries:[22]

In Africa: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Outside of Africa: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.

Content

In Africa the Showmax catalogue consists of Hollywood, British, Kenyan and South African content. Outside of Africa the Showmax catalogue consists of kykNET International, M-Net and Via content targeted primarily at an Afrikaans-speaking audience.

In Poland, Showmax offers local shows and movies including political satire and titles by Polish directors.

Showmax has content in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sepedi, SeTswana, Sesotho, isiXhosa and Polish.

Showmax Originals

Tali's Wedding Diary

On 13 June 2017, Showmax announces that filming of its first Original Series “Tali's Wedding Diary”, a mockumenatery featuring Julia Anastasopoulos, has begun.[23][24][25]

On 16 November 2017, Showmax released a trailer for Tali's Wedding Diary.[26] It is announced that it will be available on Showmax on December 14, 2017.[27][28][29]

References

  1. ↑ https://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadcasting/135750-showmax-were-better-than-netflix.html
  2. ↑ Lautenbach, Kyle (21 August 2015). "Showmax officially launched in South Africa, here are the details". IGN Africa.
  3. ↑ Wexler, Alexandra (2016-12-24). "In Africa, a Homegrown Rival Takes On Netflix". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  4. ↑ Vourlias, Christopher (2016-12-14). "Africa Offers Big Potential for Streaming Video". Variety. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  5. ↑ "Showmax seeking new telco partnerships | TechCentral". www.techcentral.co.za. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  6. ↑ Henderson, Roxanne. "Amazon Prime Video now available in South Africa". Times LIVE. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  7. ↑ Shapshak, Toby. "How Soviet-Era Improvisation Helped Make Video Streaming Better In Africa". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  8. ↑ https://tech.showmax.com/blog/
  9. ↑ "kykNET goes global on-demand on Showmax". Channel. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  10. ↑ Shapshak, Toby. "Netflix Competitor Showmax Launches Into 36 African Countries". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  11. ↑ Hlongwane, Sefiso. "Impressive! ShowMax garners over 10 million views in less than a year". Times LIVE. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  12. ↑ "ShowMax changes logo, hits 10 millions views". Channel. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  13. ↑ Shapshak, Toby. "ShowMax Goes Mobile In Kenya". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  14. ↑ "ShowMax servers now in Kenya | TechCentral". www.techcentral.co.za. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  15. ↑ Shapshak, Toby. "African Internet Giant Naspers Launches Streaming Service In Poland". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  16. ↑ ""Saturday Night Live". Aktorzy zapowiadają polską edycję amerykańskiego show! [WIDEO+ZDJĘCIA] - Telemagazyn.pl". www.telemagazyn.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  17. ↑ "ShowMax offers offline viewing on Android". Fin24. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  18. ↑ "ShowMax "download now, watch later" feature on iPhone and iPad". Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  19. ↑ "New Showmax tool promises 75% data savings". Fin24. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  20. ↑ Fripp, Charlie (2016-08-04). "ShowMax now has profiles to protect kids from adult content". htxt.africa. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  21. ↑ "ShowMax". ShowMax. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  22. ↑ https://www.showmax.com/eng/help/introduction/7
  23. ↑ https://blog.showmax.com/filming-starts-first-showmax-original/
  24. ↑ https://www.sketchbookstudios.co.za/single-post/2017/08/20/Suzelle-DIY-actress-builds-a-Showmax-first
  25. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7637592/
  26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVwMXLkFxlo
  27. ↑ https://www.showmax.com/eng/tali
  28. ↑ https://www.damiangfrost.xyz/talis-wedding-diary/
  29. ↑ https://www.sketchbookstudios.co.za/talisweddingdiary
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