ShowMax is the name of Naspers’s Netflix rival, which will be launched to the media in Johannesburg next Wednesday.

That’s according to a report on the entertainment news website Channel24, which is owned by Naspers subsidiary Media24.

According to the website, the service will be rolled out commercially in South Africa soon after the launch.

A “whois” look-up of the showmax.co.za domain corroborates the information. The website address has been registered on Naspers’s behalf by a domain registration company.

The business is being set up separately to MultiChoice, though it appears it will be headed by former DStv Digital Media CEO John Kotsaftis.

Kotsaftis led the launch of popular on-demand video services DStv Catch Up and DStv BoxOffice.

A teaser sent to media ahead of the launch suggests that ShowMax will offer popular television series such as Ray Donovan, The Big Bang Theory, Vikings and True Blood.

MultiChoice’s decision to launch the service comes after Netflix announced plans to expand its presence to 200 countries around the world, including South Africa. Netflix is expected to arrive on South African shores by no later than December 2016. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media