Showmax, which is hitting five years since launch is unveiling its Showmax Pro service in Kenya and Nigeria targeted at soccer lovers and fans in the two countries.
Showmax Pro bundles the existing Showmax entertainment service with music channels, news, and live sport streaming from SuperSport. Showmax Pro features 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.
The service has been under beta testing since June last year and will begin to roll out in Kenya and Nigeria from 7 July. 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
This table gives details of the new Showmax Pro service in 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) |
According to Niclas Ekdahl, CEO of the Connected Video division of MultiChoice, “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.”
Another key development for African markets has been adapting the service for the data connectivity constraints on the continent and focusing on the most-used viewing devices.
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. 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.
Ekdahl adds that mobile usage is mainstream, so having a one-size-fits-all big screen service may not be the best solution here. With the mobile-only version of Showmax Pro, anyone with a smartphone in sub-Saharan Africa will be able to get the best African content, the best of Hollywood, and all of the best sporting action.
The pricing for Showmax and Showmax Pro in Kenya and Nigeria is as follows:
| Showmax | Showmax Pro | |||
| Showmax | Showmax Mobile | Showmax Pro | Showmax Pro Mobile | |
| Kenya | KSh 760 | KSh 380 | KSh 2100 | KSh 1050 |
| Nigeria | NGN 2900 | NGN 1450 | NGN 6300 | NGN 3200 |
