Online streaming service Showmax has introduced live news streaming to its platform.
7 channels, that mostly broadcast news to global audiences 24/7, are part of Showmax’s new offering.
BBC World News, CNN International, Sky News, Euronews, Al Jazeera and Newszroom Africa are global 24/7 news channels that Showmax subscribers in South Africa (and now Kenya), where this is limited to at this time, will have access to.
To underscore its local relevance, Showmax, owned by South African behemoth Naspers through the MultiChoice Group, is offering subscribers access to the news arm of the national broadcaster, SABC, SABC News, as well.
This, Showmax notes, is its contribution to helping everyone staying at home due to the Coronavirus outbreak to remain not only entertained from its wide selection of movies and shows but also informed.
The new live news channels are available through the web ( via Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge browsers), smart televisions from Samsung (2017+) and LG (2014+), Showmax’s Android TV app and devices running on Android 4.4 KitKat or later versions.
Showmax is still mum on the prospects of expanding the availability of live news channels outside South Africa but it is something to watch out for [SEE UPDATE BELOW].
Sister MultiChoice brand DStv started offering the above 7 channels alongside another one, eNCA, a South African 24-hour news broadcaster, for free online to everyone in South Africa (even to those who are not DStv subscribers) through DStv Now 2 weeks ago.
Unlike DStv, however, Showmax has not announced a date when the live news channels will stop being accessible.
Last year, Showmax started experimenting with live Premier League broadcasts for select football matches.
Started in South Africa in mid-2019, live sports streaming became available in Kenya in October of the same year with select football fixtures from the English Premier League every weekend. Maybe live news streaming will follow a similar timeline?
UPDATE: March 27, 2020
This is now available to Kenyans. The 6 international news channels (minus, SABC News, of course) are available to all Showmax subscribers in the country.
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