$164M gamble on African Netflix rival


MultiChoice has announced that, alongside Comcast, they've poured $164 million (R2.8 billion) into Showmax since April 2024. The partnership with NBCUniversal and Sky, which started in April 2023, aims to make Showmax the top video-on-demand platform in Africa.



NBCU now holds a 30% stake in Showmax and has loaded it with content from Peacock, Universal Pictures, and Sky. By March 2024, total investment had hit $284 million (R4.8 billion), with Showmax's revenue climbing 22% to R1 billion for the year.



Despite the revenue jump, Showmax still recorded losses of R2.6 billion. However, those losses were lower than expected due to delays in operational expenses. The platform also shut down its more expensive Showmax Pro service but saw a 16% boost in subscribers post-relaunch in February 2024.



Looking ahead, MultiChoice is optimistic, with 88% of migrated subscribers still actively paying. The company is aiming to hit $1 billion in revenue within five years and break even by 2027. Their ambitious target? Growing Showmax to 25 million subscribers by 2028, doubling its numbers every year.



While some experts are more cautious, predicting just 15.6 million streaming users across Africa by 2028, MultiChoice is confident the continent’s streaming market will boom, and Showmax will be at the forefront of that growth.