New Showmax set to change the game for streaming in Africa

Ten months after MultiChoice, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky announced a joint streaming vision for Africa, the new Showmax is here, featuring a refreshed brand and a massive content lineup, all delivered on a powerful new streaming platform.

At the heart of the new offering is the world’s first standalone Premier League plan for mobile, with all 380 games offered live on Showmax Premier League for just N2,900 a month.

In addition, there are two more Showmax plans available to customers: Showmax Entertainment on mobile for N1,200 a month, as well as the Showmax Entertainment plan priced at N2,500 per month at launch.

“There are currently just over 450 million smartphones in the hands of individuals across Africa … and more than 250 million avid football lovers on the continent,” says Opeoluwa Filani, GM of Showmax Nigeria. “Showmax Premier League is a game-changing product that gives individuals a ticket to the football they love, wherever they are, on the device they always have with them, at a price that’s impossible not to love.”

“Africa is incredibly important to the Premier League and our clubs; 20% of TV audiences on any given matchday come from Africa,” says Richard Masters, Premier League CEO. “We are delighted with this Showmax initiative, which puts the Premier League in your pocket at a new price point so that millions more can enjoy our fantastic competition.”

Core to the success of Showmax’s streaming ambitions in Africa is a new technical platform that is robust and built to scale. With the launch of Showmax, the Peacock streaming platform will be active in more than 70 countries and is continually enhanced by the combined expertise of thousands of engineers. The world-class platform has brought millions of viewers popular events such as Super Bowl LVI, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final, the Olympics and WrestleMania 39. More recently, Peacock successfully streamed two exclusive NFL games; the first game on 23 December drew 5.7 million concurrent devices, and the second on 13 January was the first-ever NFL Wild Card playoff game to be available exclusively on streaming. In 2023, Comcast won a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for its sports viewing experiences across Peacock, Sky and Xfinity.

“Peacock’s best-in-class technology platform will deliver a world-class streaming experience to Showmax audiences,” said Patrick Miceli, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal.