• Showmax is finalising its revamp ahead of a launch in February.
• This relaunch will be marked by an influx of locally produced content including 21 Showmax Originals launching in February.
• Showmax has yet to announce when exactly its revamp will launch or how much it will cost.

For the last year we’ve been waiting for Showmax to show off its much-lauded revamp. First announced in March 2023, Showmax will soon be the property of a new entity established between MultiChoice and NBCUniversal.

This new, revamped Showmax will launch next month and while we’re yet to find out when exactly it will launch and for how much, we do have some news about the content the platform plans to launch with the revamp.

According to a press release, as many as 21 Showmax Originals will hit the platform in February, it’s largest slate of locally produced content yet. This includes Angela Makholwa’s serial killer thriller Red Ink, and international co-production Catch Me A Killer, based on the memoir of Micki Pistorius, South Africa’s first serial killer profiler.

Looking at movies, four Showmax Originals will hit the platform on Valentine’s Day including Forever Yena, Intlawulo and Matilda en Matthys from South Africa and The Counsellor from Nigeria.

Of course, that’s not all, there will also be a steady stream of content from Universal Pictures, NBC, Peacock, Sky, DreamWorks Animation and Telemundo arriving on Showmax throughout 2024. This includes the second season of hit shows such as Halo, House of the Dragon and The Last of Us.

“2024 is a big year for Showmax,” says chief executive officer of the platform, Marc Jury. “We will be kicking it off with a content slate packed with world-class entertainment from the world’s biggest brands plus more African Originals than ever before and the first ever mobile Premier League plan for Africa”.

One of the more curious decisions with this revamp is the choice to cordon the English Premier League off. Rather than being able to subscribe to the likes of Showmax Pro, South Africans will have to subscribe to Show Max Premier League which, while granting access to all 380 matches, limits users to watching exclusively on mobile.

When Showmax relaunches there will be three plans namely Showmax Entertainment, Showmax Entertainment Mobile and Showmax Premier League Mobile.

As mentioned, we don’t yet know how much this new iteration of Showmax will cost nor when exactly it will launch. We hope that Showmax is readying something good for viewers especially with streaming services becoming more restrictive or adding advertising to augment costs.

As soon as we know more about Showmax’s revamp we’ll be sure to share more information.