Kenya: Showmax officially launches its new streaming platform in Kenya

Showmax announced in March last year that they would launch a new platform for its streaming service in Africa. This was after Showmax’s parent company, MultiChoice, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky announced a joint streaming venture.

The platform was soft launched in January this year and it came with a lot of issues that includes missing episodes and lack of mobile payment options.

Showmax has worked on most of these kinks and this was announced to journalists and  partners at the official relaunch event at Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi.

Showmax GM in East Africa, Emma Gichonge, acknowledged the strategic investment between MultiChoice and Comcast that gave rise to the new Showmax.

“It’s incredible to think that just over 12 months ago, Showmax embarked on a brand-new chapter in our story, and today we’re on the other side of what has been a significant change,” said Gichonge. “The partnership between MultiChoice Group and Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky came with several strategic changes, all designed to make Showmax stronger and more able to meet the streaming demands of the African continent.”

Showmax currently runs on the globally scaled, Technology and Engineering Emmy-winning Peacock platform, which Gichonge said has prepared Showmax to achieve its ambition of being the best streamer on the continent.

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“For Showmax, the capacity of the Peacock platform fits our objectives to be the No. 1 streaming platform in Africa. Our business was born on this continent, and we believe that we are uniquely placed to lead the sector. We knew that with a robust platform to support us, we could roll out our innovative new products at very competitive prices,” Gichonge said.

Showmax currently offers three plans that include Showmax Entertainment Mobile at Ksh 300, Showmax Entertainment on all devices at Ksh 650 and Premier League (only on mobile) at Ksh 500.

Showmax also offers bundled packages that include Showmax Entertainment and Premier League at Ksh 1,000 and Showmax Entertainment Mobile and Premier League at Ksh 700.

Also speaking at the press junket was Timothy Okwaro, Executive Head of Programming MultiChoice Africa Holdings, who talked about the company’s hyper-local content strategy as well as the benefits of Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky deal for international content.

“The deal gives Showmax a guaranteed pipeline of content from Universal Pictures, NBC, Peacock, Sky, DreamWorks Animation and Telemundo,” Okwaro said. “Showmax also draws content from a range of international studios including the hugely popular Paramount and HBO, as well as Banijay, BBC, eOne, Fremantle, ITV, Lionsgate, Sony, Warner Bros., Discovery, and more.”

Showmax is launching four new Kenyan titles in May, with even more titles expected to drop in 2024. The titles include the comedy drama series Big Girl Small World, which premiered on 8 May, Untying Kantai on 9 May, The Real Housewives of Nairobi S2 on 10 May and the first Kenyan Showmax Original docuseries Nilichoma on 28 May.

International titles in May include Barbie, from Oscar-nominated writer-director Greta Gerwig, and Christopher Nolan’s 2023 box office hit Oppenheimer.