Showmax to live-stream Grammy award star Tyla’s concert on Jan 18

Multichicoice’s Showmax has announced that it will be live-streaming Laura Tyla’s performance on 18 January on its platform. The video streaming giant will be putting its new Peacock-powered platform to the test through the event. 

The Amapiano South African star, who recently won a Grammy award, will be performing at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.

The concert will be the first time Showmax will be live-streaming for an entertainment event. Reacting to this, Chief Marketing Officer, Yatish Narsi said the Showmax aims to place itself among the top referenced in the world of entertainment. 

“Showmax doesn’t just aim to be the best in Africa; we aim to take our place among the best in the world,” said Narsi about the live stream.

Showmax is an online subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service that launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Its majority owner is Multichoice, which owns 70% of the business. American conglomerate NBCUniversal owns 30% in all territories except Nigeria, where NBCUniversal holds an indirect 23.7% stake in the local subsidiary.

The platform relaunched a year ago in partnership with a US-based firm, a company in the giant Comcast media stable. It is using the same streaming technology that NBCUniversal used to launch the Peacock streaming platform outside Africa.

“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 company said last year.

In the words of Patrick Miceli, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal, towards the revolution of Showmax the Peacock platform is designed to showcase top events.

“Peacock’s best-in-class technology platform will deliver a world-class streaming experience to Showmax audiences. The Peacock platform was designed from day one to support both live and on-demand content, including the biggest live sporting events, so we look forward to extending that capability and reliability to the new Showmax,” he said. 

The cost of running Showmax

Following Multichoice’s 99% decline in its half-year profit for 2024, the South African pay television company pointed out that its profit was further milked by incremental investments in streaming platform Showmax.

Also, the DStv, SuperSport, and Showmax owner, whose Pay TV business operates across 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, said its performance was majorly affected by weaker local currencies. It also pointed out that constrained consumer spending particularly in Nigeria and extreme power disruptions in Zambia marred its headline loss.

Multichoice noted that its adjusted core headline earnings per share fell to 2 cents per share for the six months ended Sept. 30. This is from 356 cents per share last year. It added that subscriptions fell by 5% in South Africa and 15% across other parts of Africa where it operates.

For the past calendar year, Multichoice has been prioritized to fight off competition from streaming giants Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. “Stripping out Showmax, the group would have seen reported trading profit increase by 28% on an organic basis,” said Multichoice.

While expressing the cost of running its video platform, the satellite TV company highlighted that the video streaming platform has reached the peak of its investment cycle.

“However, excluding R2.3-billion in forex losses in the group’s rest of Africa business and an R1.6-billion incremental investment in the group’s Showmax business, group trading profit is expected to increase by over 30% year on year due to inflation-led pricing and cost optimization processes,” a statement from the company reads.

On another dark end, Multichoice also lost about 1.8 million subscribers in the African markets. According to a report made by Technext in November, the South African satellite provider’s loss was owing to free-to-air alternatives and economic declination across the continent.  

The Pay TV company’s subscription fell by 18% in Nigeria. In other African countries, it dipped by 8% and 19% in Angola and Kenya respectively. It also experienced the highest fall in Zambia, with a 60% decline. 

Read More: Multichoice suffers huge fall, loses 1.8 million subscribers across Africa.