Showmax beats Netflix to win Best Television/Streaming Network

Showmax was named Best Television/Streaming Network at The National Film and TV Awards South Africa, held at the Opera House in Tshwane on Saturday, 9 November 2024. 

Content on Showmax won 14 awards – the most of any streamer. Awards included:

• Produced by GOAT, the Jamaica-set Showmax Original The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip – South Africa took home Best Reality Series, as well as Best Female TV Personality for Lethabo LeJoy. 
• Produced by POP24, the record-breaking Showmax Original The Mommy Club won Best Non-Scripted TV Series
• Supersport’s Rugby World Cup series Chasing The Sun won Best Documentary
• kykNET’s swimming club drama Diepe Waters won Best Afrikaans TV Series
• The Showmax Original Red Ink, an adaptation of Angela Makholwa’s thriller, won Best Actor for Bonko Khoza as serial killer Napoleon Dingiswayo and Supporting Actress for Lorcia Cooper as Detective Morapedi
• Nambitha Ben-Mazwi, who plays private security bodyguard Ndoni in the Showmax Original Empini, won Best Actress
• Mzansi Magic’s family drama My Brother’s Keeper won Best Actor in a TV Series for S’dumo Mtshali as Donga
• Mzansi Magic’s polygamy drama Gqeberha: The Empire won Best Actress in a TV Series for Zikhona Sodlaka as Bulelwa
• Mzansi Magic’s church drama Umkhokha: The Curse won Outstanding Performance for Deli Malinga as MaMzobe
• The Showmax Original skop, skiet en donder movie The Butcher’s Soul won Best Supporting Actor for Vuyo Dabula, making his comeback after surviving a near-fatal shooting during a hijacking
• Mzansi Magic’s Gomora won Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series for Sannah Mchunu as Zodwa
• Katlego Lebogang, who played detective Phumeza in the Showmax Original Spinners, won Best Newcomer

On the same night, at The Behind The Scenes Awards at Gold Reef City, content on Showmax kept winning. Produced by Tshedza Pictures, the Showmax Original teen drama Youngins won Best South African Streaming Series, while Mzansi Magic’s polygamy show Mnakwethu won Most Entertaining Reality TV Show. 

These are just the latest in a steady string of accolades for Showmax content since the African streamer relaunched on the Peacock platform in February 2024 in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky. 

At last month’s South African Film and Television Awards, Showmax cemented its positioning as the best place to stream South African content. Titles on Showmax won 37 Golden Horns from 142 nominations in 2024 – the most of any streamer. This included Mzansi Magic’s Shaka iLembe, the most awarded title overall, which set a new record for the most Drama category wins ever, and the Showmax Original Outlaws came joint second overall and dominated the Telenovela category. Similarly, at the 2024 Silwerskerm Film and TV Awards, the Showmax Original crime drama Koek was the most awarded series. 

Other recent highlights include:

• The Showmax Original Spinners beating the Emmy-winning final season of Succession to be named Best Foreign Series at the 29^th Shanghai TV Festival’s Magnolia Awards
• The Showmax Original Catch Me A Killer becoming the first South African series at Series Mania in France and winning Best Production Design at the British Film Designers Guild Awards
• The Showmax Original university drama Wyfie being nominated for Best International Series at The Seoul International Drama Awards
• The Showmax Original Original Sin: My Son The Killer being up for Best Documentary at the Venice TV Awards
• Showmax winning Representation of LGBTQIA+ awards for both Wyfie (Scripted Series) and Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap (Non-Scripted Series) at MIP Africa’s Inclusive Lens award
• The Showmax Original sci-fi The Fix winning the Dangerous Visions Prize at Chattanooga Film Festival in the USA and best SFX/VFX at Electricdreams International Film Festival in Italy

The awards season isn’t over yet either. This Thursday (14 November 2024), Kenyan running documentary Death in The Heartlands, from the Showmax Original true-crime series Dark Side of Glory, is up for Sports Documentary of the Year – Over 60 Minutes at the Broadcast Sports Awards. 

On Tuesday, 26 November 2024, kykNET’s Die Brug is up for an International Emmy for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment – the third nomination in three years for local content on Showmax, after rugby documentary Two Sides (2023) and crime drama Reyka (2022). 

Showmax didn’t win Best Television/Streaming Network just for its local content though. Today, Showmax is streaming the finale of The Batman spinoff series The Penguin, currently at #1 on IMDb’s Most Popular TV list, with HBO’s epic Dune: Prophecy premiering on the streamer next Monday, 18 November 2024.

Another of the best-reviewed series of the year, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist starts on Showmax this Wednesday, 13 November, starring Oscar nominees Don Cheadle, Taraji P Henson, Samuel L Jackson, and Terrence Howard, while The Real Housewives of Dubai S2  starts streaming this Friday, 15 November 2024. Showmax is also streaming Kung Fu Panda 4, the sixth biggest blockbuster of 2024 so far, from 29 November 2024, not to mention The Fall Guy from next Monday, 18 November 2024, and Civil War from Monday, 25 November. Showmax Premier League Mobile also offers live streaming of every Premier League and PSL game, as well as match highlights, talk shows and behind-the-scenes content. 

To see everything coming to Showmax in November, including a new season of Youngins, read here.

Showmax’s marketing and PR team is on a similar awards roll, having won two Loeries and the Gold PRISM Award for Best Corporate: Business to Consumer PR for its relaunch, two New Generation Awards, and the Silver for the Creative Team of the Year at Promax Africa, where Showmax was the most awarded streamer, taking home seven Golds.