The future of local reality TV is hanging in the balance following the shock announcement that MultiChoice is pulling the plug on its streaming giant, Showmax.
Despite heavy investment and a major relaunch in 2024, the platform is being discontinued as MultiChoice shifts its focus toward “long-term sustainability” in a tough market.
The news has hit “The Real Housewives of Durban” (RHOD) fan-favourite Jojo Robinson particularly hard.
She took to Instagram to share her heartbreak and confusion over the sudden shutdown.
“Showmax, what is happening? So obviously I had heard rumours that it could potentially be closing, but we didn’t know for definite,” Robinson told her followers.
“Showmax is one of my favourite streaming platforms at the moment, it’s got all of the ‘Housewives’, and it gets it instantly. I am so sad, I feel like it’s been such a big part of our lives for so long. Like we’ve been like Showmax fam, and now we just losing it! Gone! No more Showmax originals.”
For fans of the Durban franchise, the biggest worry is whether the show will survive the platform’s closure.
Robinson revealed that while a sixth season had been greenlit, production has mysteriously stalled.
“She’s going. I’m so sad, and obviously, that puts uncertainty with ‘RHOD’; we usually would have filmed ‘RHOD’ already. Season 6 was approved to be shot, and then it just went quiet, and nothing happened, only to find out now that Showmax is gone.
“Does this mean ‘RHOD’ is gone? Is all of our Showmax originals gone, or is it moving? It’s so up in the air, like nobody knows now, but understand that ‘RHOD’ hasn’t shot.”
She added that it’s unlikely we’ll see the ladies back on screen anytime soon, noting: “Everything is still new, but I don’t think we getting ‘RHOD’ 2026. Hectic. It’s already overlapped for a year.”
MultiChoice confirmed the news via an email to subscribers, citing a need to “strengthen our overall digital offering”.
Reports suggest that Canal+, which recently took over the company, did not view the venture as a success.
Robinson praised the platform for its high-quality local shows and quick access to international content, saying, “Showmax was producing top-notch local content. It was giving us the best international content. We were used to waiting for international ‘Housewives’ shows for like a year, now we were getting it as it was airing overseas.
“I’m so sad. I don’t want to say goodbye to everything I was used to, and we still had so much to offer for ‘RHOD’, now the future is sort of like up in the air.”
