Showmax is quickly becoming Africa’s answer to Netflix. Of course, Netflix is already in many African countries and the battle of these popular Video-on-Demand platforms seems to have shifted towards pricing and content. Showmax is undoubtedly the more locally specialized platform with dozens of original local content, and the fact that the platform can piggy-back on the success of DStv is just an added advantage.

DStv customers in select markets now have the option to pay for Showmax together with their monthly DStv bill. There is no cost for Showmax once you link your Premium account to your Showmax account. This only applies to Premium subscribers. DStv Compact and Compact Plus subscribers get Showmax for 350 Kenyan Shilling.

  • If you have a credit, cheque card or Paypal subscription, log in to your Showmax account and change your payment method to “Add to DStv Account”.If you have added your Showmax subscription to another partner account or bill, you will need to cancel the current payment method and then reactivate by selecting “DStv add to account”.

  • Go to www.showmax.com and sign in using your Showmax credentials.Go to Manage Account and click on Manage Subscription.Select “DStv add to account” as your payment method.Enter your ID number (whichever you used to sign up for DStv).Confirm your mobile phone number. A one-time pin (OTP) will be SMSed to this number to verify your account.Enter the one-time pin and accept the T&Cs.

How do I watch Showmax on my Explora?

  • First, make sure your Explora is connected to the internet. To find out how to visit dstv.com/getconnected and select “DStv Connected Explora” from the slider in the middle of the page. (We recommend an uncapped connection of at least 10Mbps for the best viewing experience, and 2Mbps is the absolute minimum speed.)To access Showmax on your Explora, push the blue DStv button on your Explora remote control.Scroll to “Watch now” and select “Showmax”.Navigate to the content you’d like to watch and push OK when you’ve found the show you’ve been looking for.You will be prompted to sign into your Showmax account.Once you’ve signed in, there will be a 30-second countdown before the show is ready to watch.

At the moment, this service is available in South Africa. I have been able to do this in Kenya too. It is still unclear where else in Africa this service is available. For more information on how to add Showmax to your DStv account, click here.

Source: Showmax Blog.