Showmax Pro with live sport launched
MultiChoice has launched a new streaming product named Showmax Pro, which bundles the existing Showmax entertainment service with music channels, news, and live sport streaming from SuperSport.
Showmax Pro includes all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, and PSL games as well as a wide range of live sport events including IAAF Athletics, professional boxing, and the world’s biggest marathons.
While the service will initially only be available in Kenya and Nigeria, it is understood that it will roll out to South Africa in the next six to eight weeks.
There is no specific date for the South African launch of Showmax Pro, and the company said that sport content and pricing may vary by country.
“Showmax Pro will begin to roll out in Kenya and Nigeria from 7 July,” the company said. “Additional countries will go live in the following weeks.”
“The entire process is expected to be completed within 6-8 weeks with coverage across sub-Saharan Africa.”
Showmax Pro content
The table below details the Showmax Pro offering for Nigeria and Kenya.
| Showmax | Showmax Pro | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showmax | Showmax Mobile | Showmax Pro | Showmax Pro Mobile | |
| Series, movies, kids’ shows, documentaries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| IAAF Athletics, pro boxing, major international marathons, & more | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Music channels Trace Urban, Trace Gospel | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| News channels Africa News, Euronews, Newzroom Afrika | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Football: all Premier League, Serie A, PSL and La Liga games | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Number of concurrent streams | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Smartphone and tablet apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smart TV, laptop, Android TV, Apple TV apps | ✓ | – | ✓* | – |
| Maximum video resolution | HD | SD | HD | SD |
| 14-day trial | ✓ | ✓ | – | – |
| *Supported smart TVs: Samsung Tizen (2017-2020), LG WebOS (2014-2020) | ||||
Showmax Pro pricing
The pricing of the Showmax Pro service in Kenya and Nigeria is detailed below.
| Showmax | Showmax Pro | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showmax | Showmax Mobile | Showmax Pro | Showmax Pro Mobile | |
| Kenya | KSh 760 (R121.77) | KSh 380 (R60.88) | KSh 2,100 (R336.46) | KSh 1,050 (R168.23) |
| Nigeria | NGN 2,900 (R128.55) | NGN 1,450 (R64.27) | NGN 6,300 (R279.26) | NGN 3,200 (R141.85) |
Live sport testing
MultiChoice Connected Video CEO Niclas Ekdahl said that the streaming service’s local content offering is a major advantage.
“Showmax is an African video-on-demand service with many years’ experience operating on this continent,” Ekdahl said.
“Our local-first strategy is an advantage because it allows us to tailor our content, apps, packages, and partnerships specifically to what’s most important in Africa.”
The company began testing its sports live-streaming features in June 2019, and this new Showmax Pro service is based on the results of this process.
“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,” Ekdahl said.
Showmax also offers a mobile-only streaming plan, on which Showmax Pro will also be available at half the price of the standard offering.
“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,” the company said.
“This service has also proven popular, so in addition to the standard version of Showmax Pro there will also be a mobile-only version at half the price.”
Loading ...