By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Earlier this month Showmax announced that it would live stream the concert for the end of the tour of Tyla, which took place at the SunBet Arena on 18th January.
According to the platform it was a success and may see more live streamed local event content appear on Showmax down the line. While we wait for that to happen, MultiChoice has announced plans to allow more of its customers to watch the concert if they did not catch it live.
MultiChoice has confirmed that the Mzansi Wethu channel is included in all DStv packages from Access and up for South African customers, with Tyla Live also set to appear on other DStv channels across the African continent.
“This was a technological feat,” says Yatish Narsi, Chief Marketing Officer for MultiChoice and Showmax South Africa. “Scaling to support viewers across 44 countries simultaneously required robust preparation, war-room coordination, and a tech team working around the clock. It’s a game-changer for African artists who have rarely managed to tour the continent. We’re now taking this incredible concert to millions of DStv viewers, making it an event that lives beyond the live stream.”
Gayton McKenzie, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, also made an appearance on the red carpet, saying, “Tyla is the first and the biggest but I’m telling you, as time goes by, if Showmax is intentional about making sure that our talent gets showcased to the rest of Africa, and the rest of the world, everybody’s going to watch it.”
On X afterwards, Tyla declared it, “My fav show yet.”
This was the last South African concert in Tyla’s homecoming tour. The ‘pretty girl from Joburg’ had a lot to celebrate with her fans, including wins at the Grammy, BET, and MTV Music Video Awards, not to mention more than 1.6 billion streams of her chart-topping, self-titled debut album last year.