Africa’s Netflix, as it has been often termed, Showmax, is reportedly dipping its toes in the Live-Streaming scene. Showmax officially launched its sports offering to all South African clients. The streaming company unveiled the sports offering earlier this week as a trial and has stated it has now officially launched.
Showmax added that the price of its subscription service will remain the same with the new streaming service being added onto the existing packages.
“We’re going to trial a bunch of different sport content while keeping Showmax at the R99 price point, and see how our customers interact with the service,” said Connected Video CEO Niclas Ekdahl.
Connected Video is the company which oversees MultiChoice’s online streaming platforms, such as DStv Now and Showmax.
“We’ll be ramping up our live game offerings with everything from selected matches from the best football leagues in Europe to streaming a wide variety of varsity and school sports.”
“Showmax is branching out and adding both pre-recorded and live sport content to its current line-up. The move into live streaming is a first for Showmax in Africa,” added the company.
The sport content currently includes:
- Live streaming of South Africa’s games in the ICC Cricket World Cup;
- Live streaming of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches;
- Extended highlights from major sports events;
- Multiple magazine shows, including What a Weekend, Showcase, and Home.
“We’re preparing for a future when uncapped data is affordable to all in Africa and video on demand becomes the norm. Sport is the obvious next target and the only way to do that properly is to be able to stream it live,” said Ekdahl.
The new sport section is available on Showmax apps and platforms – except for Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and certain smart TVs.
Source: Business Insider