Naspers’ streaming service, Showmax, is now available in 36 new African countries. This comes barely ten months after the launch of the service which now boasts of “approximately fifteen thousand TV show episodes and movies, totaling almost ten thousand hours of viewing.”
According to the company’s Chief Product Officer, Barron Ernst, “We’ve been busy testing the service in key locations across the continent and optimising our delivery network,”
“Perhaps more importantly, we’ve adapted our apps to address the needs of consumers in Africa, introducing features like downloads for viewing TV shows and movies when not connected.”
He added “The speed and cost of connectivity are significant hurdles for any internet-based service in Africa. Getting it right means you’ve got to do much more than just flick a switch.
The product features developed by ShowMax to address connectivity constraints include:
- Adaptive bitrate streaming that monitors connection speeds and automatically adjusts video stream resolution to avoid buffering
- Download functionality to save up to 25 TV shows and movies in total to Android and iOS smartphones and tablets for viewing offline
- User-selectable download quality to limit data usage
- User-selectable streaming quality to limit data usage
- Automatic size reduction of static pictures delivered to mobile devices
“The other key to success is making sure you’ve got the right mix of international and local content. We’ve added Kiswahili and Nollywood shows and movies to our existing class-leading catalogue of Hollywood and British favourites,” said Ernst.
The service costs US$ 7.99 per month for unlimited viewing.
