ShowMax, the Naspers-owned video on-demand (VOD) platform, will enter the original content space, shifting its business model to match that of global rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Video streaming services are abundant and subscribers are kept on one platform through content they will not be able to find anywhere else.
Earlier this year, Netflix's earnings results showed its investment in original content, like "Stranger Things", "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black", paid off. It said it planned to release more than 1 000 hours of original programming this year, up from 600 last year.
ShowMax plans to release hyper-local content using popular local actors, with the hopes that South Africans will have a reason to continue subscribing to the platform.
Mike Sharman, founder of Retroviral Digital Communications, says: "Incredibly smart move. At the start of 2017, Netflix profits were up 56% as a result of its original content."
Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx MD, says this move is not only smart, but necessary.
"Although ShowMax has a vast local catalogue, it does not necessarily have an attractive local catalogue, due to the fact that it comprises [older] catalogue material, which tends not to be top of mind for viewers. To stand out with local content, you need fresh local content."
He says ShowMax can't compete directly with Netflix as it does not have the production budgets or the access to talent.
"However, by latching on to hot local content and trends, it begins to create demand. People who are stopping DStv for Netflix won't have a problem adding ShowMax to the mix, due to the low relative cost.
"One can see this as the beginning of the coming of age of ShowMax, as it evolves from content aggregator into content creator. The same kind of evolution marked Netflix growing up and becoming a real threat and alternative to TV and the cinema," says Goldstuck.
Richard Boorman, ShowMax head of communications, says: "We're doing this because we think there's amazing production and acting talent in SA, and we're keen to tap into that."
The TV shows will appear exclusively on ShowMax and Boorman says there are no plans to sell rights to any TV station.
ShowMax is available in more than 60 countries. Sharman says SA is a testing ground for its original content.
"There's a bigger play here; the real opportunities exist in other key, African markets ? think Kenya and Nigeria in particular, as well as the Middle East and even Eastern Europe, where ShowMax is building incredible traction in markets such as Poland.
"Niche content can be produced for various markets, in order to encourage trial and grow the subscriber base; VOD platforms are ultimately volume-driven businesses."
SuzelleDIY reinvented
The first original show to debut on the platform will be eight-part mockumentary, "Tali's Wedding Diary". Each episode will be 20 minutes long. Boorman says filming has commenced.
It will feature Julia Anastasopoulos, well-known for her SuzelleDIY character, as a self-obsessed "Sandton princess" who moved to Cape Town and has hired a documentary crew to film the build-up to her wedding to her property-agent fianc'e Darren.
ShowMax says there is also work under way on "iNumber Number", an original co-production with Mzansi Magic. It is a crime and corruption drama series based on the award-winning 2013 movie of the same name.
Boorman says: "We've got more ShowMax Originals in the pipeline but I don't have any specific details to share at this point."
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