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Streaming has become more popular in South Africa and there are three main players in this market: Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video.
Each of these platforms offers thousands of great movies and series to South African viewers, as well as great value for money.
However, many South Africans are unwilling to pay for all three services and choose to enroll in only one of these options.
The correct choice will depend on what you consider most important in a streaming service.
Content
All three services offer a wide range of movies and TV series, but there are clear winners and losers when it comes to content.
If you prefer to watch movies, Amazon’s Prime Video has by far the largest range of movies of the three services, with 11,710 movies to choose from.
Netflix is far behind Prime Video with 3,589 movies, while Showmax lags behind with 1,113 movies.
These figures are taken from Just look – a content aggregator for streaming services available in specific countries.
Showmax is again the service with the lowest television series option, offering 434 options to its customers.
Prime Video offers 1,283 series, but Netflix is the winner in this category with 1,827 options.
However, the numbers alone may not tell the whole story.
For example, Showmax may have the smallest content catalog, but it has a wide range of South African movies and shows, which may appeal more to local viewers.
The table below lists the movies and TV series available on Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video at the time of writing.
| Transmission platform | Films | T.V. series |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | 3,589 | 1,827 |
| Prime Video | 11,710 | 1,283 |
| Showmax | 1,113 | 434 |
Transmission quality
While content is important, many South Africans may prefer the service that offers the best streaming quality or uses the least amount of data.
In terms of streaming quality, Netflix offers 4K streaming for its most expensive package, Premium, at the cost of R169 per month.
The standard package offers 1080p streaming, while Netflix Mobile and Netflix Basic offer 480p streaming.
Amazon Prime Video offers a single subscription option that costs $ 5.99 per month and supports 4K streaming.
Showmax, however, only offers customers HD quality in its most expensive package, which costs R99 per month.
| Transmission packet comparison | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Package | Maximum transmission quality | Simultaneous streams | Price pm |
| Basic Netflix | South Dakota | 1 | R99 |
| Netflix standard | HD | 2 | R139 |
| Netflix Premium | 4K | 4 | R169 |
| Showmax mobile | SD (mobile only) | 1 | R49 |
| Showmax | HD | 2 | R99 |
| Prime Video | 4K | 3 | R91.37 ($ 5.99) |
Showmax Pro
One area where Showmax has an advantage is that it offers packages that include live sport.
Showmax Pro Mobile and ShowMax Pro offer the full suite of Showmax content, as well as 24-hour news channels and a wide range of sports, including:
- English Premier League
- The league
- A league
- UEFA Champions League
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Running
- Athletics
The full list can be seen in the Showmax FAQ website.
The price of these packages is as follows:
| Showmax Pro Packages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | Maximum transmission quality | Simultaneous streams | Additional benefits | Price |
| Showmax Pro Mobile | SD (mobile only) | 1 | 24 hour news channels, live sports | R225 |
| Showmax Pro | HD | 2 | 24 hour news channels, live sports | R449 |
Subscription to Amazon Prime
A unique benefit of Prime Video is that it can be purchased as part of the larger Amazon prime package, which offers a number of additional benefits including:
- Free delivery on Amazon
- Exclusive Amazon offers
- Free video games, in-game articles, and a free subscription to the Twitch channel.
- Amazon Music
- Thousands of free books, magazines, comics and Kindle Singles.
It’s worth noting that the buying benefits are significantly more beneficial to customers in the US, where Amazon has a larger e-commerce presence than in South Africa.
Amazon Prime costs $ 119 per year or $ 12.99 per month.
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