There are going to be many points in your life where you are forced to make a decision reagrding your entertainment system.

How best to set up the surround-sound? And the remote? Where do you put the television? HD or curved? 3D, or stick to what you know?

And that’s just the hardware – software is a whole other story.

As new players enter the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, South Africans are increasingly making their move over to streaming, letting go of subscription services like DStv  – but which SVOD option is the best?

MyBroadband took a closer look, and they think that  ShowMax are streaks ahead of the game. Launched in South Africa back in 2015, the service has been upping the ante ever since.

Some of the reasons they say it’s ShowMax over Netflix:

1. An extensive South African catalogue

Stream South African content? As ShowMax’s popularity increased in South Africa, the service made an effort to include an extensive catalogue of local content, such as Boer Soek ‘n Vrou, Binnelanders, Getroud Met Rugby, and Hoe Ons Rol as well as The Wild, Isibaya and classics like Vetkoekpaleis.

2. Exclusive international content

ShowMax has brought South Africans some of the best international series first:

ShowMax brought The Young Pope, starring Jude Law, to Africa first this year and has the exclusive rights to MMA series Kingdom season 3 as well as first rights to the Dr Who spin-off Class, both launching in June.

ShowMax has the rights to international shows including Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy, Fargo, Mr. Robot, Satisfaction, Mistresses and Beauty and the Beast.

It also has several classic HBO series not available elsewhere, such as The Newsroom, Band of Brothers and The Pacific as well as BBC content, including shows like Call the Midwife and Luther.

ShowMax is actually the only streaming service to offer HBO. Those are the guys who made The Sopranos. Casual.

3. Data-saving functionality

Use data to watch stuff? Well, in terms of data consumption, ShowMax “offers several data-saving options for its users”.

You can estimate the amount of data you need to watch streaming video with the online bandwidth calculator and limit the quality of the video so you can save data.

ShowMax also allows you to download up to 25 shows on Wi-Fi and watch offline on your Android or Apple smartphones and tablets. Nice.

4. Affordable price point

Get this: for R99 a month you can gain access to ShowMax’s full premium catalogue. You can also get access to two simultaneous HD streams.

Is Vodacom your network of choice? Then you can get a Select package for just R49 a month, “with access to over 4 000 hours of series, movies, documentaries and kids’ shows”.

5. Convenient payment methods – no credit card needed

ShowMax is priced in rands – Hello, convenience! – you don’t need a credit card – Whoo! – and you can buy prepaid vouchers, pay with yourSmart Shopper points, FNB eBucks vouchers, Standard Bank UCount Vouchers, and ABSA Rewards Vouchers.

Oh, and if you still have DStv for whatever reason, you can add ShowMax to your account.

It’s quite flattering to see just how much effort ShowMax has put into making it easier for South African audiences to use their services, from local content to easy pricing.

But what do you have to say about it? Exclusive HBO content is all I needed to hear.

Rain’s predicted for another week down here in the Cape, so you might as well do something with your time and sign up here.

ShowMax and chill, ekse.

[source:mybroadband]