Amazon Prime Video steals former head of SuperSport

Amazon has headhunted former MultiChoice executive and former SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane, who will take on the position of director of Prime Video Africa.

According to a Variety report, Khobane will work closely with the Prime Video Africa Originals team headed by Ned Mitchell, the content acquisitions team led by Ayanna Lonian, and the product teams responsible for launching customer features.

He will also oversee the management of programming and marketing plans for Prime Video Africa’s content offering, which includes the following:

• Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;
• Citadel;
• The Boys;
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan;
• The Grand Tour;
• Reacher;
• Die Hart; and,
• Shotgun Wedding

“Khobane’s new role signals Prime Video’s continued, long-term investment in sub-Saharan Africa,” Variety quoted Amazon Prime Video as saying.

It added that it is committed to offering a diverse and engaging service for all Prime Video subscribers in Africa.

Khobane has more than 18 years of experience in pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasting, with the executive last serving as MultiChoice’s group executive for general entertainment.

Before that, he served as the CEO of SuperSport International and channel director at M-Net.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MultiChoice’s streaming fight

Despite increased competition in the African streaming market, Showmax reported strong growth between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.

MultiChoice observed year-on-year growth of 26% in its streaming video-on-demand service over the period.

“Users of the group’s DStv app and Showmax services continue to grow as online consumption increases,” said MultiChoice in its latest annual results.

“The overall online user base increased by 12% YoY, with the growth rate for paying Showmax subscribers at a strong 26%.”

Khobane’s role at Prime Video will likely see him compete with Showmax, which also plans to focus on local content.

On the other hand, MultiChoice’s pay-TV service DStv lost a substantial number of subscribers over the period.

Subscribers declined from 8.16 million to 8.016 million between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 — a reduction of roughly 144,000 or 1.8%.

MultiChoice still has a firm hold on live sports streaming in South Africa, but this could be under threat in the coming years from international players like Netflix — and now much sooner, Amazon Prime Video.

In early June, it was revealed that Netflix had initiated talks to live-stream its first-ever sporting event.

The event would be a celebrity golf tournament streamed from Las Vegas featuring pro golfers and Formula 1 drivers.

Players will include celebrities that appeared in the Full Swing reality show and Drive to Survive docuseries.

However, discussions are still in the early stages, and it remains to be seen if Netflix can pull the project off.

MultiChoice could take another hit when Netflix starts streaming popular HBO shows. The streaming giant struck a deal with HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery in early July 2023.

In South Africa and several African countries, MultiChoice’s DStv and Showmax services have had the exclusive rights to broadcast or stream the latest HBO shows, making them attractive offerings.

However, Netflix has already added all five seasons of Insecure to its US platform and will soon add older shows like Ballers, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, and The Pacific.

It remains to be seen whether Netflix will make these HBO shows available in South Africa as well.