ShowMax, on the back of its SEACOM announcement last month, has today revealed a new partnership with Vodacom. The company, alongside the telecoms giant, is bringing its mobile-centric ShowMax Select service to South Africa.
The service, which focused on distributing local content to mobile devices, debuted in Kenya last year.
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“Available exclusively to Vodacom customers on an add-to-bill basis, ShowMax Select is a new internet TV service designed for use on smartphones and tablets,” the company explains in a press release.
ShowMax Select is the company’s mobile-first, hyper-local streaming offering that debuted in Kenya in 2016
The service will be charged as an R49 add-on to Vodacom customers’ bill, and will host a “comprehensive catalogue of TV shows, movies, kids shows, and documentaries“.
“ShowMax Select is all about making internet TV even more accessible,” explains Chris Savides, ShowMax SA’s head.
“It’s half the price of our existing ShowMax Premium service with a strong focus on local content. We designed Select to be viewed first and foremost on mobile devices, with multiple options for managing data consumption.”
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ShowMax suggests that Select will house over 10 000 show episodes, including local favourites Isibaya and Binnelanders, and international shows like Teen Wolf and Merlin. But the service will be limited in a few ways when compared to ShowMax Premium.
For one, only one streaming device can be used at a time, not the two concurrent devices Premium allows. Additionally, content will not be available in “high definition” formats. Users can also download episodes to their devices for offline viewing, with two different file size/video quality options available.
While users in Kenya can pay for Select using M-Pesa, South African users will have to settle for an add-to-bill system enabled by Vodacom. ShowMax hasn’t announced plans to enable additional payment options.
