As part of its strategy to compete with Netflix Inc. and substantially increase its revenue on the continent, MultiChoice Group’s Showmax, the largest streaming service in Africa, has appointed top Sky executive Andrea Zappia as chairman following a deal with Comcast.
This month, Zappia, as confirmed by MultiChoice and his LinkedIn profile, became chairman. He was previously CEO of Sky’s new markets and businesses. For MultiChoice, he became a board member in September.
With the support and technology provided by Comcast, Showmax re-launched its service on Monday. The service is already available in 50 African countries. Streaming service MultiChoice aims to earn $1 billion in revenue in five years, according to CEO Calvo Mawela’s recent investor presentation.
Read also: MultiChoice Group appoints Marc Jury as interim CEO of Showmax
The collaboration between Multichoice and Comcast
In March, NBCUniversal, Sky, and MultiChoice (a division of Comcast) partnered to increase viewership in Africa, the continent with the world’s fastest-growing population. According to Mawela, Comcast has the option to increase its holding in Showmax, while MultiChoice holds 70% of the company.
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As more and more young, tech-savvy Africans use their phones for everything from banking to entertainment, the venture thinks there’s a chance to expand its audience in categories like football and local shows. The English Premier League will be available on the new service, which will run on the Peacock streaming platform.
According to Showmax CEO Marc Jury, who spoke about the partnership in an interview, the advantage of Comcast and MultiChoice is that they can combine international and African expertise, which will make them highly competitive on the continent. Expansion of the company’s operations is the goal.
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Foreign exchange problems in Nigeria and persistent power outages in South Africa were cited as the reasons for MultiChoice Group Ltd.’s third consecutive semi-annual loss, which was announced two months ago.
Net loss for the six months ending September 30th was 1.32 billion rand ($72.4 million), as disclosed in a filing by Africa’s largest pay-tv company.
The company claims that the naira’s weak performance versus the dollar is to blame for the recorded loss. The decision to devalue the Naira by 40% in mid-June caused the country’s problems. The Naira was then allowed to trade more freely against the dollar. Because of this, MultiChoice had to reevaluate its inter-group loans, which cost them money in foreign currency.
In light of recent financial setbacks, Multichoice is putting its faith in the redesigned Showmax to boost revenue.
The plans for the future showmax
Showmax Entertainment, Showmax Entertainment Mobile, and Showmax Premier League will replace the standard and Pro subscriptions on the redesigned Showmax platform, which will be launched in February 2024, according to MultiChoice’s announcement.
Showmax Entertainment and Entertainment Mobile both provide access to the same library of shows and movies; the main differences between the two plans are the supported devices, the maximum concurrent streams, the quality of the videos, and, most likely, the cost.
The collaboration between Multichoice and Comcast is to improve its delivery and be ahead of the competition.