MultiChoice's Showmax invests in African content for growth

By Omar Mohammed
NAIROBI, April 27 (Reuters) - MultiChoice 's MCGJ.J online
streaming platform Showmax is investing in producing its own
local content for African audiences as it competes for their
attention against Netflix on the continent, a senior executive
told Reuters.
MultiChoice is Africa's largest pay-TV group, available in
50 African countries. Its streaming service Showmax, launched in
2015, is available in 46 African countries and also in several
Western countries, including Britain and France, which have
sizeable African diaspora populations.
The company is focusing on developing movies and shows set
in its biggest markets of Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa,
senior executive Yolisa Phahle said in an interview.
"For us, it really is about getting the local entertainment
which we know African audiences enjoy, programming in their
languages, stories reflecting their realities, their hopes and
their dreams," said Phahle.
She did not say how much Multichoice was investing in the
production of local content.
The company released six new original productions last year
to add to its catalogue of content from the U.S-based cable
channel HBO. It also offers global football, including the
English Premier League, on its Showmax Pro platform.
Some of the shows released so far this year include a
reality TV series from Nigeria and a police procedural drama set
in Kenya.
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to spend more time at
home, there was an initial increase in viewership for Showmax,
Phahle said.
Last week, MultiChoice said it would charge Showmax mobile
subscribers across Africa on average 20% less for access on a
single mobile device, in recognition that some users may not be
able to afford such luxuries during the pandemic-induced
economic slowdown affecting most countries.
Broadcasters of all kinds on the continent are under huge
pressure to keep viewers engaged, said Phahle: "They simply have
hundreds and hundreds of other places where they can take their
eyeballs or their wallets."
The company is co-producing programmes with HBO and Cinemax
on productions set in Africa to global audiences, she said.
"They know that the stories that we are telling from our own
backyard will find global audiences," she said of HBO and
Cinemax.