What a hit! Somizi and Mohale's wedding special breaks streaming record

Somizi and Mohale's traditional wedding was one of the biggest events of 2018 and a TV special of the big day was a huge hit with audiences, breaking Showmax's viewership record.

Somizi and Mohale: The Union, which premiered on Monday, featured the couple's wedding preparations and traditional wedding ceremony, held in the south of Johannesburg late last year.

Fans were excited to see the ceremony and a statement from Showmax on Thursday confirmed that it broke the service's record for the most views ever on its first day.

It beat Showmax Original The Girl From St Agnes and the most popular international series ever screened on Showmax.

“We expected Somhale to do well, but the response was even bigger than we’d hoped, and it goes to show how our shift to local content is paying dividends. In fact, the views of local content are up more than 40% in less than a year,” Niclas Ekdahl, CEO of the Connected Video division of MultiChoice said.

The release also revealed that half of the service's catalogue is now made up of local shows.

Popular on the service are Black Tax, Binnelanders, Getroud Met Rugby, Lockdown, Kwa Mam’Mkhize, The Queen, The Real Housewives of Johannesburg, The River, Suidooster and Trackers.

Additional episodes air every Monday, ending with Somizi and Mohale's white wedding, which is set to air on March 16.