MultiChoice and NBCUniversal have announced a new partnership that will form a new entity for Showmax in order to grow the African streaming service. The new Showmax group will be 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% by NBCUniversal.
MultiChoice plans to relaunch Showmax, powered by NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology platform, along with content from NBCUniversal and Sky. Showmax customers will have access to international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) football. The partnership will also provide access to all the best African content such as Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.
NBCUniversal and Sky, both owned by Comcast, will provide ongoing support through the licensing of both technology and content.
“We launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and are extremely proud of its success to date. This agreement represents a great opportunity for our Showmax team to scale even greater heights by working with a leading global player in Comcast and its subsidiaries,” said Calvo Mawela, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice.
“The new business venture deepens an already strong relationship and builds on the Sky Glass technology partnership that we announced in September last year. We believe we are extremely well positioned to create a winning platform going forward.”
Dana Strong, Group Chief Executive Officer, Sky, commented, “This new collaboration in streaming and content with MultiChoice, NBCUniversal, and Sky takes our partnership to the next level in one of the world’s most vibrant, fastest growing markets. Last year, we announced MultiChoice as a customer of the Sky Glass platform and now we are excited to help innovate its Showmax streaming service.”
Matt Strauss, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal, added, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity to further scale the global presence of Peacock’s world-class streaming technology, as well as to introduce millions of new customers to extensive premium content from NBCUniversal and Sky’s stellar entertainment brands.”
Further details about the new Showmax service, including launch date, content and pricing will be announced at a later date.