- Safiu Kehinde
Africa’s entertainment giant, Multichoice, has announced plan to shut down its Showmax streaming platform over recurring losses.
The parent company of DSTV and GOtv made the announcement in a statement issued on Thursday.
According to the statement, Multichoice decision to shut down Showmax operation was made by the streaming platform’s board of directors.
The company cited the annual losses accrued by the platform as reason behind the decision, stressing that running the business is no longer sustainable.
“This decision was made by the Showmax board of directors and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice on financial discipline and investment optimisation, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment,
“The substantial annual losses experienced by the Showmax business have proved unsustainable.” The statement partly read.
Multichoice further maintained that the decision to shut down Showmax stemmed out of a thorough review aimed at bolstering the company’s broader digital strategy and ensuring sustainability amid intense competition in the streaming market.
“The decision to phase out Showmax reflects our focus on building a sustainable, competitive business for the long term in an increasingly demanding global streaming environment.” The statement added.
According to reports, Canal+ had, since the takeover, been working on how it will consolidate its video-on-demand services to effectively compete with deep-pocketed international players like Netflix, Disney and Amazon.
The group has indicated that it is looking to create a one-stop super app that brings its various video streaming services onto one platform.