South Africa’s streaming market delivered one of the most compelling stories of Q1 2026, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video locked in an exceptionally tight race at the top and a standout local flavour setting the market apart from the rest of the world.

Netflix led the quarter with an average 26% market share, but Amazon Prime Video matched it stride for stride at 25%, drawing level by March in one of the most competitive two-way battles seen across any market this series. What makes South Africa’s landscape truly distinctive, however, is what lies beneath the top two: art-house platform Mubi claimed a remarkable third place with an average 17% share — a performance that outpaces its standing in every other global market tracked this quarter — while homegrown platform Showmax held strong at 15%, reflecting the clear and growing appetite for locally relevant content among South African audiences.

Key takeaways from the quarter:

• Netflix (#1) averages 26% across Q1, though slips 1 pp over the quarter from 26% in January to 25% in March
• Amazon Prime Video (#2) holds flat at 25% across all three months, drawing level with Netflix by March in one of the most competitive two-way races at the top of any market in this series
• Mubi (#3) averages 17% across Q1 and gains 1 pp over the quarter, rising from 17% to 18% in March, a share that far exceeds its performance in any other market globally and makes for a compelling South Africa-specific story
• Showmax (#4), a local South African platform, averages 15% across Q1, underscoring the appetite for locally relevant streaming content in the market
• Apple TV (#5) and GuideDoc (#6) both gain 1 pp over the quarter, reflecting growth among more specialised platforms

These insights are based on aggregated user activity from streaming interactions on JustWatch in South Africa, reflecting how audiences engage with streaming services across our platform.