This was contained in a statement given to newsmen in Lagos, by the organisation which added that the development had proved that local content definitely had cross-border appeal.

The television service drew audiences in Nigeria and other countries across the continent.

“The Big Brother Naija Lockdown which started July 19, 2020 had already broken a Showmax live-streaming record and become the most-watched live entertainment content ever on the streaming service.

“If watched back to back, the collective number of hours of the show streamed this season already add up to almost 30 years’ worth of viewing.
“Interestingly, a significant portion of the viewing is happening outside of Nigeria,” it said.

According to the statement, Showmax which was launched in Nigeria in July 2019, with Big Brother Naija Pepper Dem as the key launch drawcard had all eviction episodes live-streamed and recordings of the nomination shows posted on Tuesdays.

It said Comedians Bright Okpocha popularly known as “Basketmouth” and Kris Ugboma, known as “Bovi” also took turns hosting the Big Brother Naija Hot Room show.

“This year Showmax has gone a different route and is live-streaming the full show 24 hours and judging by the viewing statistics, BBNaija fans have enthusiastically taken to watching it online.

“The evictions are the most popular part of the show, with viewing peaking at 7pm on Sundays.

“Interestingly, while Nigeria accounts for almost 50% of the viewing hours, South Africans are also big fans, with 30% of the viewing happening in SA, and another 15% happening in Kenya.

“Ghana, Botswana, Namibia and Uganda also see notable viewing traffic for BBNaija,” it said.

The statement said capitalising on the success of BBNaija and the massive interest in the evictions, in a new development, Showmax had added the Big Brother Naija Nomination Show.

It said during the live eviction show, the contestants were called in by Big Brother to vote out two housemates and these Diary Room voting sessions, which are not seen in the course of the live stream show, were now available every Monday evening to watch on Showmax.

“With six weeks to go until the Big Brother Naija Season 5 finale on 27 September, which is also being live-streamed on Showmax, more viewing records are expected to fall,” it said.

Showmax is an internet television service with combination of hot African content, exclusive International series, kids’ shows and live sport from SuperSport. (NAN)