About a week ago, we told you that ShowMax had decided to axe the Live news streaming service from its platform. The streaming service said that reason for this was that they were given access to the channels as a temporary measure in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis in order to help everyone keep up-to-date on the latest developments.
Since the lockdown is now easing and slowly things are getting back to some kind of new normal, they were going to be discontinue the news service. The company did not give any hints of any new services it was working on but we now know something was being worked on.
The streaming service has announced the launch of ShowMax Pro. ShowMax Pro will start rolling out in Kenya and Nigeria as from today (7 July) with additional markets getting it in the coming weeks.
According to ShowMax, the rollout of this new service will be completed within 6 to 8 weeks across sub-Saharan Africa.
What is ShowMax Pro
So, what exactly is ShowMax Pro? It is a new subscription option for ShowMax users and on top of the entertainment options available on ShowMax, it adds music channels, news, and live sport streaming from SuperSport.
Showmax Pro users will be able to enjoy all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, and PSL games as well as a wide range of live sport events including IAAF Athletics, professional boxing, and the world’s biggest marathons.
There will be two options available for users on Showmax Pro, the mobile only option which will be cheaper and the other one will be available on all other devices including smart TVs. The mobile only option will be available for Ksh 1,050 while the standard one will be available for Ksh 2,100 per month.
Below is a look at what the different ShowMax bundles offer.
| Showmax | Showmax Pro | |||
| Showmax | Showmax Mobile | Showmax Pro | Showmax Pro Mobile | |
| Series, movies, kids’ shows, documentaries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| IAAF Athletics, pro boxing, major international marathons, & more | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Music channels Trace Urban, Trace Gospel | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| News channels Africa News, Euronews, Newzroom Afrika | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Football: all Premier League, Serie A, PSL and La Liga games | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Number of concurrent streams | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Smartphone and tablet apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smart TV, laptop, Android TV, Apple TV apps | ✓ | – | ✓* | – |
| Maximum video resolution | HD | SD | HD | SD |
| 14-day trial | ✓ | ✓ | – | – |
Showmax originally launched in August 2015 and is available across sub-Saharan Africa.
ShowMax introduced live sports events to its platform last year but it did not offer all sporting events, just a handful of them. The company seems confident with the progress and that is why it has launched ShowMax Pro. “The live sport test we ran on Showmax in conjunction with SuperSport has been well received, so that’s forming an integral part of our new Showmax Pro service,” the company said in a statement.
“Showmax is an African video on demand service with many years’ experience operating on this continent. We’re local-first, which means listening to our customers and delivering African stories told in familiar voices as well as the best that Hollywood has to offer. Our local-first strategy is an advantage because it allows us to tailor our content, apps, packages, and partnerships specifically to what’s most important in Africa,” concluded the company.
The pricing for Showmax and Showmax Pro in Kenya and Nigeria is as follows.
| Showmax | Showmax Pro | |||
| Showmax | Showmax Mobile | Showmax Pro | Showmax Pro Mobile | |
| Kenya | KSh 760 | KSh 380 | KSh 2100 | KSh 1050 |
| Nigeria | NGN 2900 | NGN 1450 | NGN 6300 | NGN 3200 |
Also Read: Showmax Announces Mobile-Only Plan for Half the Price
