South Africans were confined to their homes for a good part of 2020. With hard lockdown beginning in March, there was not much else we could do except watch series, movies and bake banana bread.
Showmax became even more of a household name during this time and South Africans tuned in to rewatch old favourites, or stream shows that were on their to-watch list.
Showmax shared some interesting insights as to what South Africans enjoyed in particular, which may help in adding new shows to your must-see scope.
South African streaming behaviour during lockdown
Sport spikes on key matches
Now that live sport is gradually opening up around the world, we see regular spikes in subscribers tuning in to live stream their favourite football teams on Showmax Pro, which launched this year in South Africa. All Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, and DStv Premiership games are available to stream on Showmax Pro, brought to you by SuperSport.
Big increase in lockdown streaming
In South Africa, there was a 50% spike in active users and a doubling in play events during the strictest lockdown period across all categories – international series and movies as well as local movies, series, and kids' content. Showmax is the place to stream critically acclaimed HBO series in Africa, with classics like Game of Thrones and Girls proving popular in addition to growing interest in recently launched titles like The Undoing, The Third Day and Industry.
Movie night every night
At the start of lockdown, there was a big increase in people watching movies during the week. Ordinarily, movies tend to be more popular over weekends when people are at home. Popular titles include After (2019), Anna (2019), Hustlers (2019), John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and The Invisible Man (2020).
Kids streaming
More families turned to Showmax to keep the kids entertained and we saw a large increase in people utilising our kid-friendly catalogue with hits like Paw Patrol, UglyDolls, Henry Danger and Victorious remaining favourites.
South African stories
When it comes to South African content, views continue to grow strongly even as lockdown has relaxed. We saw some of our biggest lockdown spikes in views of South African titles this year, including Showmax Originals Life With Kelly Khumalo and Somizi & Mohale: The Union as well as The River, The Queen, Legacy, Gomora, Lockdown, The Recce and Frank & Fearless.
The most binge-watched shows of the year
- Banshee
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Game of Thrones
- Good Karma Hospital
- House
- Insecure
- Lockdown
- Madam & Mercy
- Modern Family
- New Girl
- Ray Donovan
- Rick and Morty
- Sex and the City
- Suits
- The Handmaid's Tale
- The Walking Dead
- True Blood
- Younger
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