Here’s why you shouldn’t care that Showmax is gone

2026-03-08 - 05:04

Imagine you buy a restaurant, a wonderful one that makes fantastic hummus. I’m not talking just any hummus. This hummus is life-changing – it’s delicious and can cure the common cold. You bought the place because people keep coming back for this hummus, but on the business side, it needed a bit of help. So, after the purchase, you have a plan to change the décor, cut expenses and generally make the place more sustainable so that it can keep serving hummus, right? Then imagine the shock when the reporters come running because somebody announced that you were getting rid of the bowls you serve your hummus in. Never mind that the old school hummus bowls are difficult to clean. Now there’s panic because without bowls, how are we going to eat hummus? Call the Hague! You’d have to be a nutter to buy a business and get rid of the stuff people love. There’d be no point in buying it in the first place. After all, nobody buys a casino and then says, “right, let’s get rid of all the tables, machines and cards”. In the same vein, nobody buys a casino and says, “hey, let’s not improve things, especially not where we have so much expertise”. ALSO READ: Billions wasted, well over R10bn in trading losses – how Showmax failed The end of Showmax The same thing applies to the recent announcement by MultiChoice, and its parent company Canal+, that its streaming platform Showmax will be shut down. The way people are panicking, one could swear that there’s a little laptop deep in the heart of MultiChoice where all the episodes of Adulting are stored and at midnight on 16 June, somebody is going to walk in and delete them all. The content will still exist. Anyway, it would be folly to keep the successful show from viewers, especially paying viewers. Beyond that, if Showmax is so important for local content, then surely making it sustainable and flourishing should be more of a priority than keeping it on life support. Why have two streaming services? Broadcasting is here to stay in South Africa, one way or another, but streaming has been riding an impressive wave. I wonder why a global company like Canal+ would stop pushing Showmax, given the growth and potential of streaming. Hmmmm, could it possibly be that somebody woke up and asked why there are two streaming platforms, with one that literally has “stream” in the name, offered by the same company? ALSO READ: Showmax axed in shock move by Canal+ Perhaps when somebody asked what the strategic value of keeping two streaming services, with one being live and the other on demand, nobody could give a good answer. Maybe some people just like living in the past and take comfort in not noticing that Dstv Stream has been adding on-demand content to its offering quite aggressively. If they weren’t aware of any of these developments, finding out that Showmax is disappearing could be scary. Showmax just a vehicle for local content In reality, though, nobody is really worried about Showmax itself. It’s what they’ve been led to believe it represents – the investment in local content. That’s the positive comment they have been sold on, both by the platform and by MultiChoice. Audiences have bought into this brand as a pioneer of supporting African content. Great. One now needs to take a step back and realise that Showmax was merely a vehicle used by MultiChoice to do that pioneering work. The elements and content can still exist without the name. Wouldn’t having two streaming platforms from the same company cannibalising one another make less sense than just having everything on one platform with different tiers? Wouldn’t that open more resources to invest in content rather than administration? Wouldn’t it be good for the industry if a company that is so instrumental in investing in the industry were more efficient and could make offerings to audiences that are not confusing? ALSO READ: DStv staff allege toilet paper shortage at head office – new owner’s cost-cutting gone too far? Time will tell whether there will be continued investment in the local scene. The closure of Showmax doesn’t tell us that it will end. If anything, my money’s on more investment in a smarter system. You’re going to miss Showmax like you miss Reggies – you’ll be upset for 27 seconds after it’s gone, but then start shopping at Toys R Us, and you’ll think, ‘oh right, this used to have a different name’. Calm down. In the words of urban poet Kendrick Lamar, “we gon’ be right, we gon’ be alright”.