South African streaming shootout: Disney+ vs Netflix vs Showmax and more

South Africans will soon have another streaming service to consider, after Walt Disney Co announced that Disney+ would be available in the country from 18 May.

But how does Disney’s offering compare to rivals already in the local market? TechCentral pored through the companies’ respective websites to find out and produce a handy table breaking it all down (see below).

Disney+ will be joining streaming entertainment platforms such as Netflix, Showmax and Apple TV+ in the South African market. Priced at R119/month, or R1 190/year, its pricing is competitive with similar platforms available to local viewers.

Disney+ will offers viewers access to Disney original movies such as The Lion King and TV series that include many of the Marvel Studios titles, including WandaVision.

Netflix has been available in South Africa since January 2016 and offers subscribers several different pricing packages starting at R49/month for the mobile-only offering and going all the way up to R199 for a peak tier offering 4K-resolution streaming.

It offers popular series titles such as Friends, The Office and movies such as The Transformers and Don’t Look Up.

Homegrown

Then there’s the homegrown South African platforms, MultiChoice Group’s Showmax, eMedia’s eVOD and Telkom’s TelkomOne. Showmax is the most popular local streaming site, with a wide range of content, from local series such as the KykNET drama Waterfront to HBO titles such as Euphoria. eVOD and TelkomOne do not offer a catalogue as diverse as Showmax’s but have more than 100 local content and select international titles to showcase.

Showmax offers up to 720p resolution, poorer quality that the standard plan from Netflix, which offers 1080p, but it is working to offer 4K streams in time for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off in November, TechCentral has reported.

eVOD offers 720p to its subscription “AMP” users and those using the service for free are offered a lower-res, 360p solution. TelkomOne offers standard definition for all its users.

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International sites Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and BritBox are also available in South Africa and, with the addition of Disney+, it will be a tight competition for viewers.

Amazon offers a lot of international titles such as New Amsterdam and Amazon originals like The Grand Tour and The Underground Railroad, which stars South African actress Thuso Mbedu.

Apple TV+ also has a variety of international movies and series as well as original movies and series such as Ted Lasso and the movie Coda, which this week won an Oscar, making Apple TV+ the first streaming service to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

BritBox, meanwhile, a collaboration between the BBC and ITV, is focused mainly on providing users with modern and classic British TV series and movies. It includes titles such as Doctor Who and Downton Abbey.  — (c) 2022 NewsCentral Media