Showmax prices hiked, months after relaunch

Showmax, the MultiChoice Group-owned streaming platform that was revamped and relaunched in January, will increase the prices of two of its five subscription packages, beginning in August.

According to Showmax, the price increase is a “normalisation” following a discounted pricing offer as part of the launch of Showmax 2.0.

“Showmax Entertainment will revert to its original $5.6/month, which was the launch price in 2015, while Showmax Entertainment Mobile will be priced at $2.5, at the low end of mobile streaming prices globally,” MultiChoice said in a statement on Wednesday.

Under the new pricing regime, the Showmax Entertainment package will increase by $0.55 from $5/month to $5.5/month. The Showmax Entertainment Mobile package, which was $2.2/month, will increase by $0.33 to $2.5/month.

Pricing for the Showmax Premier League plan, a mobile-only soccer streaming package featuring live English Premier League games and additional content, remains unchanged at $4/month.

The two bundle package options, Showmax Entertainment with Premier League and Showmax Entertainment Mobile with Premier League, also have no price changes at $7.7 and $5.5/month, respectively.

In its annual results released earlier this month, MultiChoice said more than 80% of Showmax 1.0 subscribers had moved onto the revamped Showmax 2.0 platform. Trading losses related to Showmax were “better than expected” at $143 million.

The new Showmax was launched in February across 44 markets in sub-Saharan Africa, initially focusing marketing efforts on South Africa and Nigeria.

Unique to Showmax 2.0 is the English Premier League mobile-only package, which aims to capture the estimated 250 million Premier League fans in Africa. Pricing for the streaming platform is localised in nine core markets, including South Africa and Nigeria.