ShowMax: 7 things you should know about Naspers’ new VoD service

Naspers today officially launched its ShowMax video on demand (VoD) offering. The Johannesburg launch followed more than a week of media reports around the product, which is aimed at the South African market.

Despite the best efforts of the country’s tech journalists, it did manage to keep some details of the launch under wraps.

While the threat of Netflix was never overtly mentioned, there can be no doubt that the bigwigs at Naspers are well aware of exactly how many internet users in the country already subscribe semi-legally.

ShowMax has tried to differentiate itself from other VoD services in the country by offering a massive lineup. Whether that brings in enough subscribers from South Africa’s online population (the number of people who can afford the bandwidth required for video streaming is still relatively small in the country) is another matter entirely.

In the meantime, here are a few things you should know before you rush out and subscribe.

1. Cost

ShowMax’s premium offering will set you back R99 a month, which puts it more or less on par with Netflix. Unlike Netflix however, that pricing won’t be contingent on fluctuations in the Rand/Dollar exchange rate. There is a very limited free option available and you can also try it out for free for the first seven days.

Payment for the service can be made via debit or credit card, PayPal, or ShowMax voucher codes.

2. Content

There’s lots of it. According to ShowMax, some 750 TV series titles and more than 400 films are available from launch. At the launch event, GM John Kotsaftis said that if you were to watch ShowMax’s catalogue 24 hours a day starting today, you’d only get through it all by November 2016.

That content comprises a mix of US, British and South African productions. It’s not just new stuff either. Some of the available films and series stretch back more than 20 years.

There’s also plenty of stuff for the kids, because if you want this kind of thing to really work, you’ve got to get the whole family hooked.

3. What’s it for?

Binge-watching. While there will occasionally be brand new content, ShowMax is mainly for catching up on those shows you’d always meant to watch but never got around to, like The Wire and Sherlock.

4. Any exclusives?

Well once ShowMax launches its original content, that’ll be exclusive but it’ll also be the only South African platform to allow access to “The Late Late Show with James Corden”.

5. How many devices can I connect with?

You can connect with up to five devices from a single account.

6. Access

You can access ShowMax online as well as through Android and iOS apps and Samsung and LG smart TV apps.

Mobile devices capable of accessing ShowMax include iPhones and iPads running iOS 7 and higher and Android phones and tablets running Android 4.1.0 or higher.

7. Connecting

In order to get a good, solid stream on ShowMax you’ll need at least a 2Mb/s ADSL line. If you plan on watching on more than one device at a time, you’ll probably need a 4Mb/s line.