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Channel Closure: WildEarth Will Stop Airing On DStv By The End Of April, Freeview And ROKU Might Follow Soon

WildEarth is an interactive wildlife channel which brings viewers closer to nature with live safaris within the hotspot of Africa. Founded i...

Friday, November 26, 2021

December 2021 On Disney Africa | MultiChoice Carry The Channels Through 2024 | New Series Alert: Ghostforce FINALLY Airs On Disney Channel Alongside A New Festive Movie | Disney Junior Continues On From November With A Little Help | More Content To Get You In The Festive Spirit


The Walt Disney Company has renewed their contract with MultiChoice through 2024 meaning viewers have another 2 years to enjoy Disney Channel and Disney Junior once Disney+ launches in South Africa.

Later this year, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to close off 100 channels internationally by the end of 2021 and who would have guessed that being those markets that are almost last in everything could work in our favor.

Disney+ launched in 2019 and South Africa has to wait till June 2022 with the rest of Africa possibly waiting till 2023 so the deadline only seemed logical considering the timeframe.

If I had to guess, Disney Channel and Disney Junior will likely go off air by the end of 2023 (December 31st, 2023 at 23:59; round it off it takes you to 2024). By then Disney+ should be available in most African markets if not all as yet kind of similar to Asia.

DISNEY CHANNEL:

GHOST FORCE
Series Premiere
Weekdays from 6 December at 15:15
Premiere episodes from 6th to 21st December

From the creators who brought us Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir come this animated series set in New York. You can find all the action every weekday this month with premiere episodes Mondays to Fridays from 6th to 21st December at 15:15

Liv, Andy and Michael are three junior high school students who, unbeknownst to their friends and family, form the Ghost Force. A superhero team who have one main objective; keeping the City of New York safe from feral and mischievous ghosts who wish to take over the city.

In the first of this month’s premiere episodes, Bananice/Pharaok (Monday 6th December at 15:15), Andy and Drake’s basketball rivalry awakens Bananice, a ghost that freezes everything in its wake. Then, the team battle a pharaoh ghost dead-set on turning everyone into mummies. 

New series launches with premiere episodes on Mondays to Fridays, from 6th to 21st December at 15:15, on Disney Channel.

AMPHIBIA
Season premiere episodes
Weekdays 9th to 31st December at 14:50
Premiere episodes 9th to 27th December

Hop to your screens this December when season three of the popular frog-out-of-water animated comedy Amphibia premieres with new episodes on Mondays to Fridays from 6th to 27th December at 14:50.

Amphibia is a frog-out-of-water animated comedy series that chronicles the adventures of 13-year-old Anne Boonchuy, who is magically transported to the fantastical world of Amphibia, a rural marshland full of frog-people. There she meets an excitable young frog named Sprig Plantar, his unpredictable sister Polly and overprotective grandpa Hop Pop. With Sprig’s help, Anne will transform into a hero and discover the first true friendship of her life.

In the first of this month’s premiere episodes, The New Normal (Monday 6th December at 14:50), Anne and the Plantars get transported to Earth and try to adjust to a wild new environment.

Season three of Amphibia launches with premiere episodes on Mondays to Fridays from 6th to 27th December at 14:50 on Disney Channel.

DISNEY CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIES
Programming event
Fridays throughout December at 17:00, repeated at 10:40 on Saturday and 15:45 on Sunday

Disney Channel’s Friday feast for film fans continues throughout December. This month we have a festive special premiere of brand-new DCOM Christmas Again. We kick things off with a certified Disney classic and all-time favourite High School Musical. Catch our marvellous movies every Friday at 17:00, repeated on Saturday at 10:40 and at 15:45 on Sunday.

High School Musical (Friday 3rd December at 17:00) Troy is best known as the player who keeps the East High basketball team on the scoreboard. Of course, life isn't always about athletics, though, and as Troy slam dunks on the boards, beautiful and brainy Gabriella is raising the reputation of East High as the key member of the school's successful academic team. Despite their outgoing natures, no one would ever peg Troy and Gabriella as theatre types. When word gets out that this popular pair has secretly chosen to reach for the stars and try their luck on the stage, the students of East High are about to learn an important lesson in teamwork while gearing up for a musical performance that will have their audience dancing in the aisles.

High School Musical 2 (Friday, 10th December at 17:00) The "Wildcats" of East High School are ready for fun now that they are on summer break. Troy is thrilled when he is offered a job at a club, but it's all part of Sharpay's plan to keep him from Gabriella. How will it all end? All questions will be resolved in the club's Talent Night.

Miraculous New York: United Heroez (Friday, 17th December at 17:00) Marinette’s class heads to New York, the city of superheroes, for French-American Friendship Week. The whole class is there except Adrien, whose father refuses to let him go!

In Christmas Again (Friday 24th December at 17:00), Rowena “Ro” is a high-spirited teenager who is experiencing a lacklustre Christmas. Ro isn’t handling her parents’ divorce well. She wants her life back the way it was—her parents back together, her dad’s new girlfriend and son out of the picture, and their family traditions to remain the same. After a disappointing celebration with her family, including her sister Gabriela “Gabby,” Abuela Sofia and Abuelo Hector, she makes a wish to a neighbourhood Santa for a “do-over” and unexpectedly finds herself reliving Christmas day over and over … and over again. Now, in order to break the strange magical loop, Ro must learn to appreciate her loving family as it is, as well as the true meaning of Christmas.
 
Cheetah Girls (Friday, 31st December at 17:00)
Four New York teens facing the challenges of growing up as they dance and sing their way toward that elusive record deal. As the girls are gearing up to rehearse for the school talent competition, they're discovered by famous record producer Jackal Johnson. But the feisty foursome soon learns that their big break is not what they expected. Jackal wants to remake them into something they're not. Ultimately, the path to stardom challenges their friendship and the girls must find a way to come together in order to achieve their dreams. 

Look forward to great Disney viewing with movies for the whole family on Fridays throughout December at 17:00, repeated on the following Saturday at 10:40, and Sunday at 15:45,
on Disney Channel.

CHRISTMAS WEEK
Monday to Saturday, 20th to 25th December

Christmas week promises a festive feast of Disney programming kicking off with classic Disney movies and Christmas themed episodes of some favourite shows.

The week starts with classic Disney movies on weekdays at 11:05.
Cloud 9 (Monday, 20th December at 11:05) stars Dove Cameron as a snowboarder thrown out of her team and is forced to train with Will, a former snowboarding champion whose reputation went down the drain after a failed performance.

Full Court Miracle (Tuesday, 21st December at 11:05) is inspired by the true story of University of Virginia Cavaliers basketball star Lamont Carr, the film centers on a group of young Jewish basketball players who search for a coach to help them out of a slump.

Twas the Night (Wednesday, 22nd December at 11:05) Mischievous 14-year-old Danny and his irresponsible uncle Nick almost ruin Christmas when they decide to take Santa's new high-tech sleigh for a joyride

The Ultimate Christmas Present (Thursday, 23rd December at 11:05) 
Young Allie steals a weather machine from Santa Claus, to make a snow day. The machine breaks and causes an out-of-control snowstorm.

Good Luck Charlie: The Roadtrip Movie (Friday, 24th December at 11:05) The Duncan family’s Christmas trip goes awry when mom Amy and Teddy are separated from the rest of the family en route to stay with their grandparents for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Friday, 24th December there is a block of Christmas-themed episodes of various favourites from 13:40 to 17:00.

The frivolity starts with festive Bunk’d episodes at 13:40. In ‘Secret Santa’, Ravi's advice to Emma and Lou on their CIT gift exchange doesn't go as imagined. Meanwhile, Zuri, Xander, Jorge and Tiffany run into a disgruntled man they are convinced is Santa and must work together to save Christmas.

There are back-to-back episodes of Jessie from 15:45 to 16:35. In ‘Christmas Story’, Morgan and Christina get stuck in a snowstorm and the family fears they won't make it home in time for Christmas, while Jessie is left with shopping for the kid's Christmas presents. When Jessie takes the kids to the mall to see Santa, they have a run-in with his mischievous elves.

DISNEY JUNIOR:

T.O.T.S 
Series premiere episodes                
6th to 10th December at 09:30 and 14th to 17th December at 09:30

 Special delivery! The T.O.T.S (Tiny Ones Transport Service) are back with great adventures and premiere episodes from 6th to 10th December at 09:30 and 14th to 17th December at 09:30

“T.O.T.S.,” a heartfelt animated comedy series for pre-schoolers, explores the hilarious adventures of best friends Pip and Freddy, a tenacious penguin and a kind-hearted flamingo, who are the only non-stork delivery birds in-training T.O.T.S. As new members of the esteemed team, these junior flyers must use tender care in taking baby animals—kittens, cubs, calves, bunnies, puppies and joeys among them—from the nursery to their forever families around the globe.
Premiere episodes of T.O.T.S air weekdays from 6th to 10th October and 14th to 17 December at 09:30

MARVEL’S SPIDEY AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS
Premiere episode and stunt     
Weekdays from 13th to 17th December at 18:00 and Saturday and Sunday, 18th & 19th December at 13:00
We have a brand-new festive-themed episode of Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends kicking off back-to-back episodes from episode one of everyone’s favourite webslinger.  Spidey airs Monday to Friday, 13th to 17th December at 18:00, followed by a weekend marathon on 18th and 19th December from 13:00 – 16:00. 
In “A Very Spidey Christmas” (Monday, 13th December at 18:00) When Doc Ock becomes determined to steal everyone’s Christmas presents, it threatens to put a damper on an important holiday event. Then in “Gobby on Ice”, the Spidey team puts their fun on hold when Green Goblin creates a giant snow monster.

Episodes of marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends air from 13th to 17th December at 18:00 and Saturday and Sunday, 18th & 19th December at 13:00

IT’S A DISNEY JUNIOR CHRISTMAS!
Holiday Mornings
Monday to Thursday, 20th to 23rd December at 09:30 and Christmas Eve special programming on Friday, 24th December at 09:30
Start your holiday mornings off the right way with all your favourite Disney Junior friends from the PJ Masks to Mickey and Friends on Monday to Thursday, 20th to 23rd December from 09:30 – 12:00
The PJ Masks get the party started with a Halloween special, ‘Halloween Tricksters’ (Monday, 20th December at 09:30), the PJ Masks must protect the children Luna Girl, Night Ninja, and the Wolfy Kids stole Halloween goody bags from.
Catch Mickey Mouse Funhouse Monday to Thursday, 20th to 23rd December at 10:00 and again at 11:30.
In “Minnie Goes Ape!” (Monday, 20th December at 10:00) Mickey, Minnie and their friends return a baby gorilla to the Enchanted Rainforest. And then in “Dino Doggies”, Mickey and Goofy take Pluto and Teddy to Prehistoric Land, a fantastical world filled with weird trees, volcanoes and dinosaurs.
Chicken Squad make their appearance Monday to Thursday, 20th to 23rd December at 10:30 followed by Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends at 11:00
Christmas Eve programming promises plenty of festive cheer and Christmas-themed episodes starting with Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas on Friday, 24th December at 09:30
After a series of mishaps, Mickey, Minnie and the gang are separated all over the world and must try to get back to Hot Dog Hills by Christmas Eve. A mysterious and jolly stranger shows up to tell them about The Wishing Star, which could be the secret to bringing everybody home in time to celebrate together. Catch Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas on Friday, 24th December at 09:30
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Friday, 24th December at 11:30) sees Mickey and his friends put their Christmas Eve celebrations on hold to try and rescue Santa Claus when his sleigh breaks down.
In Doc McStuffins (Friday, 24th December at 13:00)  Doc and the toys travel back in time to the North Pole to save Christmas.
Elena wants to have a quiet Navidad at home, but a freak snowstorm threatens her plans and strands her friends at the palace. At first, they're grumpy but they soon cheer up and have fun together. Be sure to catch this episode Friday, 24th December at 14:00
Lovable pups Bingo and Rolly are up next on Puppy Dog Pals (Friday, 24th December at 14:30). In “A Santa for Bob”, the pugs go on a mission to find Santa and in “Snowman Secret Service”, when Bob asks Bingo and Rolly to protect a snowman he’s building, the pugs make it their mission to keep their new snowy friend as cool as possible.

Find all your holiday entertainment Monday to Thursday, 20th to 23rd December at 09:30 and Christmas Eve special episodes on Friday, 24th December from 09:30 to 18:25

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- Upcoming shows for Nickelodeon and Nicktoons
- Cartoon Network to air Big Blue and Coach Me If You Can
- Cartoonito launching as a linear channel in EMEA perhaps to replace Boomerang
- December on Da Vinci Kids
- Universal Kids launches in Korea, could South Africa follow?
- ACME block might surface on Cartoon Network
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime
Is a new kids brand on the way through Warner Bros. Discovery?
Cartoon Network working on an African superhero series
- SABC Children might actually be in development
- Could SABC Children be multilingual?

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: There’s Something For Everyone With The Best International Content On DStv


(As indicated in the sneak peeks)
GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT
While telling African stories is at the heart of what MultiChoice does, our channels and services also pride themselves on delivering the hottest international shows – and that’s set to continue in 2022.

DStv Premium subscribers will be among the first to get in on all the drama as Sex & The City’s Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda make their return on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) in the highly anticipated ten-episode spin-off series, And Just Like That..., from 13 December.

And Just Like That… stars Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Sarah Jessica Parker (who reprises her role as the fashion icon and columnist, Carrie Bradshaw); the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated Kristin Davis (the naïve but tough Charlotte York); and the Emmy Award- winning Cynthia Nixon (the irrepressible Miranda Hobbes).

The sizzling new series follows the characters as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

The series also includes cast members Nicole Ari Parker, Sara Ramírez, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler and the late Willie Garson.

Where to watch:
• M-Net (DStv Channel 101) with a double-bill premiere on Monday, 13 December at 20:30.
• DStv catch up, express from the U.S every Friday from 10 December, exclusive to subscribers with a connected DStv Explora and the DStv App

House of the Dragon will broadcast exclusively on M-Net, DStv Channel 101 and episodes of one of next year’s most highly anticipated series will also be available on DStv Catch Up. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the series is set 200 years before the events of the record-breaking and multi-award-winning Game of Thrones series and tells the story of House Targaryen. The 10-episode series will come to M-Net early in 2022 and stars, amongst others, BAFTA-nominated Paddy Considine, Emmy Award-nominated Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans.

DStv is the Home of Survivor, on the back of the success and buzz generated by recent seasons of Survivor South Africa. Survivor USA comes home to M-Net in January 2022, taking place among the sand and surf of Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands – a favourite location. But, in the words of Jeff Probst: “Don’t expect the same old, same old”. The latest season has been changed up in more ways than one.
Season 41 will usher in a new era, which will be marked by a lack of a theme, harkening back to the early days of the series. The show will simply be known as Survivor 41. “Those ideas served us very well for 20 years, but now it’s time for something new,” explained Probst. “The new players and the gameplay will define each season, much like a Super Bowl or any other regular sporting event.”
Survivor South Africa has been a huge hit in Australia, where it’s streamed on 10play – so we’re bringing Survivor Australia, here. The eighth season of Australian Survivor – ‘Brains V Brawn’ - features contestants divided into two tribes with obvious delineations and starts on M-Net in December, straight after the end of the current, seventh season.

On the M-Net Channels, The Thing About Pam will span six episodes with Renee Zellweger making her broadcast television debut in an NBC true-crime series based on a wild saga initially chronicled on one of the most popular “Dateline NBC” storylines of recent years.

The series is based on the 2011 murder of Missouri woman Betsy Faria. Her husband, Russ Faria, spent four years behind bars for her murder before being acquitted in 2015 – with his wife's death still unsolved. Zellweger plays Pam Hupp who is serving a life sentence for the 2016 murder of Louis Gumpenberger. Authorities believe Hupp killed Gumpenberger to frame Russ Faria for the murder of his wife. Hupp testified against Faria in the initial trial where he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after his wife was found stabbed 55 times in their Missouri home. The Thing About Pam is currently scheduled for April 2022.

Award Shows remain popular with DStv viewers, and with the American Music Awards taking place just a few days ago, there’s plenty to look forward to with the 64th Annual Grammy Awards (1 February on 1Magic), 94th Annual Academy Awards (28 March 2022 on M-Net), Billboard Awards (28 April on 1Magic) and Miss Universe.

Our partner channels continue to diversify our offering with shows that spark inspiration, defy the rules, entertain, enthrall and amaze.

In TLC’s Too Large, morbidly obese individuals fight for their lives with the help of bariatric surgeon Dr. Procter. Friendships are put to the test. A previously homeless man gets back on his feet. A teacher loses weight to regain lost love. A desperate mother attempts to transform her body to be a better parent for her son. Only some will make the changes necessary to earn the bariatric surgery and change their lives.

From the producers of 90 Day Fiancé comes sexy new docu-soap Love in Paradise – The Caribbean, following people who found love in the Caribbean. The tropics will provide the backdrop for relationships in various phases from holiday flings that turned serious to a rekindled love after 10 years apart and a vacation romance that turned into a pregnancy. Will meeting in paradise work out once the suntan fades?

On Universal, Tell Me Your Secrets is a brand-new American thriller drama series. Emma Hall (Lily Rabe), the former girlfriend of a serial killer named Parker, is released from jail after covering for him and placed into witness protection in Louisiana. Mary Barlow’s (Amy Brenneman) daughter was believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by Parker, but her body was never found, leaving Mary to believe she is still alive. Having lost her only source to find Theresa, she remembers his girlfriend, Emma, and tasks John, a convicted rapist who is looking for redemption, to find her.
Action-Drama Leverage Redemption stars, Christian Kane and Noah Wyle and sees the Leverage team taking down those who think they can take what they want.
On E!, Clash of the Cover Bands is a new music competition series hosted by Stephen “Twitch” Boss with global powerhouse Meghan Trainor, Grammy-nominated powerhouse singer- songwriter Adam Lambert and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ester Dean serving as celebrity judges with the end-game of a $25 000 prize and the chance to appear in studio for a musical performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Swim and Pushing the Line are headliners on Discovery Channel (promo mistaken it for Discovery World). Pushing the Line (January 2022) follows some of the top highliners and the up-and-comers of sport, who live together and push one another to take on the craziest places to set lines and break records.
In The Swim, Ben Lecomte endeavors to fulfill his childhood dream of swimming the Pacific Ocean. He, along with NASA and nine other partners, create a living laboratory to uncover secrets of the ocean and clues about the state of life on Earth.
January sees the arrival of Design Star: Next Gen on HGTV, while Investigation Discovery’s Relentless is a six-part series which follows filmmaker Christina Fontana's search for a missing woman in Hannibal, Missouri. The sixth season of Twist of Fate comes to ZEE World, featuring the most-loved couple affectionately known as AbhiGya, with old villains returning to disrupt their happy love life.

DOCUMENTARIES & WILDLIFE
BBC Earth delivers Sir David Attenborough’s The Green Planet, which will see the legendary environmentalist travel to the USA, Costa Rica, Croatia and northern Europe, from deserts to mountains and from rainforests to the frozen north to try to understand more about how plants live their lives.
All Creatures Great and Small S2 (2 January, 19:00), Midsomer Murders S22 (3 January, 20:00 – territory premiere) and Miss Scarlet and The Duke S2 (14 February, 20:00) all return to BBC Brit next year, too.

On National Geographic, Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller sees van Zeller tap into her underworld contacts to embed in the world's most illicit smuggling pipelines. Season 2 of Green Eyed Killers returns to Lifetime to tell the stories of ordinary people, who come to extraordinary ends all because of jealousy.

LOCAL
Mzansi Greed debuts on Moja Love on 2 December at 21:30. The true -life program lets viewers explore the world of crime and greed. What lengths will a person go to for money and power? The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and other crimes, featuring Interviews with family members, police investigators business associates, fraud victims and, in some cases, the fraudsters themselves.
Season 2 of Mina Nawe House starts on Moja Love on 4 December at 21:00. The five couples move into a house to undergo a “relationship restart”. All the couples will be together in one house for 11 days in order to save their marital bonds. The couples do a number of exercises to see if their relationships are worth saving. The couples will need to decide if they should breakup or make up. Tune in for all the drama and revelations!

KIDS
For the kids, Cartoon Network presents Coach Me If You Can and Big Blue. In the former, Daniel Sissou has a secret: his favorite soccer ball is none other than Erico Platana, the world’s greatest soccer player who a mad sorcerer has turned into a ball. In order to go back to being human, Erico has to seriously deflate his ego and help clumsy Daniel become a champ. They may both be bumblers but together, things can only get better!

Aimed at kids 4-8, Big Blue follows sibling underwater adventurers Lettie and Lemo and their quirky submarine crew as they explore and protect a vast, ocean-covered planet from ship- stealing crabs, know-it-all jellyfish, and a health inspector shark!
On NickToons, Big Nate follows 11-year-old prankster Nate and his best friends as they navigate sixth grade with humor and style. Coming to Nickelodeon in February is Overlord and The Underwoods, an original half-hour, live-action, single camera family comedy which follows the titular North American family, whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord - the second most-wanted villain in the universe - seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection.

Disney Channel and HONEY is cooking in 2022 with Disney’s Magic Bake-Off and Kids Kitchen Relay. Disney's Magic Bake-Off is a baking competition series about complicated challenges and fun games as contestants shape and bake extravagant Disney-inspired cakes. In Kids Kitchen Relay, two teams of three kids each go head-to-head in a relay cooking competition. The teams are given a theme and must cook one dish as a team in three rounds without any communication between team members.

Also on Disney is Ghost Force (December 2021). Liv, Andy and Michael are three junior high school students who, unbeknownst to their friends and family, form the Ghost Force - a superhero team who have one main objective keeping the City of New York safe from feral and mischievous ghosts who wish to take over the city.

“We aim to have something for everyone, all the time, across our channels,” says Yolisa Phahle, CEO General Entertainment and Connected Video at Multichoice Group. “Our international content slate has grown larger than ever, delivering unprecedented value for our subscribers across hundreds of channels, with thousands of hours of fresh, world-leading content, every year.”

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
 
Read Also:
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- SuperSport unveil their offering for 2022
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Showmax unveil their content slate
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: MultiChoice’s Hyper-Local Strategy Delivers Even More Drama, Comedy And Reality + New Channels


(As indicated in the sneak peeks)
MultiChoice’s hyper-local content strategy sees us continue to tell stories that resonate with our customers, in their language and featuring characters they identify with – and helping take proudly African stories to global audiences. The company is the biggest funder of local content in Africa and produced 2 692 hours of local content in the last financial year – 41% more than the year before – bringing its local content library to nearly 66 000 hours
“We’re home to over 42 local channels across the continent because it’s incumbent upon us to both cater for regional tastes and share familiar stories,” said Yolisa Phahle, CEO of General Entertainment and Connected Video at Multichoice Group. “We support local production companies, unearth new acting talent and develop entire industries – and then showcase them to the world, a duty we couldn’t be prouder to bear”.
MultiChoice’s Owned Reality Formats continue to grow, with Our Perfect Wedding rating #1 in 90% of the territories in which it is broadcast and spawning more and more localised versions – most recently Gojwachin in Ethiopia. A Ghanaian version of Date My Family will make its debut next month and the format continues to show massive youth appeal, with at least 50% of its audience aged 35 and younger.
Tinsel – Africa’s longest-running soapie – retains its #1 position in its timeslot with top segment households and now runs to over 3 100 episodes. Telenovela The River is the top- performing show in its timeslot in South Africa and Nigeria, among Compact households, dubbed for Nigeria and adapted as Kina in Kenya.
Our dramas include The Unmarried (which has reached over 2 million viewers across South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia), Lockdown and Die Byl (proven multi-season top performers on linear and VOD platforms) and Nqobile (reaching over 1.5 million viewers in South Africa). Riona remains the most-watched drama among top segment audiences in Nigeria, Pazia has captured almost a third of the Tanzanian market and Ubuntu and other dramas in its timeslot routinely reach over a quarter of the combined Zambian DStv and GOtv market.
East Africa
Coming to Maisha Magic Bongo in 2022 are new shows, including Sinia - a drama about two wealthy families and the secrets and lies that are hidden beneath the glitz and glamor, Danga – about street-smart conmen Pipi, Angel and Mo who will stop at nothing to deceive the richest man in town, Mark and La Familia, where after enjoying four decades of prosperity, Mr & Mrs Ibrahim must pay a heavy price.
On Maisha Magic Plus, Tuko Talks sees Lynn Ngugi engage people from all walks of life in raw and tell-all conversations about their past, pain and joy. In Kenyan police procedural and Showmax Original, Crime and Justice S1, detectives Silas and Makena safeguard the streets of Nairobi. Dealing with all manner of crime, they must learn to trust each other's instincts in the pursuit of justice
A Pearl Magic Prime highlight to look forward to is Chapterz, which exposes a seemingly perfect family’s hidden skeletons. On Zambezi Magic, Wanilata is a reality dating show in which singletons get the chance to connect with their crush. Every episode sees the contestants go on a date, with the final question being: "Do you love me?"
Our Perfect Wedding Zambia returns to ONEZED, as does Ubuntu, in which Chief Mukango promises his cousin Tachimba that he will succeed him as chief of Ubuntu when he dies. Things take an unexpected turn when a sickly and dying Chief Mukango names his daughter, Thandiwena, heir to the throne instead.
On Abol TV, Adey is a riveting dram series that shows the multiple facades of life behind the backdrop of 2 separate families that are somehow connected with a 17-year-old girl. In Zuret, a criminal organisation is running an operation to smuggle millions of dollars out of the country. A secret agent infiltrates the group to capture the ringleader, however, the secret agent discovers that the love of his life, who he hasn’t seen in years, is engaged to one of the criminals.
Maisha Magic Poa (DStv Channel 144) was launched 1 October 2021 and is available on the all new POA package, which is tailormade to give more customers access to exhilarating content at a competitive price. The channel is also accessible to DStv Bomba, DStv Family, DStv Compact, DStv Compact Plus, as well as Premium subscribers.
“Maisha Magic Poa is a game changer in the Tanzanian television and entertainment landscape whilst the new bouquet remains a testimony to MultiChoice’s dedication to provide Tanzania with quality and affordable entertainment,” said Fhulufhelo Badugela CEO of MultiChoice Africa.
West Africa
On Akwaaba Magic (Ghana), Dede is a naive rural teenager who is deceived by her stepmother to leave her family and life behind in order to work as a domestic helper in the home of Robertsons, a complicated wealthy family, where she falls for the youngest son, whilst struggling to achieve her dreams Inside Out’s Soraya cuts short her national service to fight for justice for her mother, framed for a murder committed by Maafio, a rich and powerful woman. Dismissive of police corruption, Soraya is prepared to take the law into her own hands.
The latest localised version of the hit MultiChoice format, Date My Family Ghana, is a reality dating show that helps singletons find love by sending them on dates with their potential partner’s family. Can you really trust your family to help you find love?
Biggie is back again on Africa Magic (Nigeria) with a 7th season of Big Brother Naija (June
2022), which will once more test a group of isolated housemates with a series of tasks as they compete for a large cash prize.
There’s even more reality on the channel as Date My Family Nigeria arrives in January 2022, sending singletons on dates with three potential partners’ families in a bid to find love. Idols Nigeria kicks off in February, hoping to unearth more amazing Nigerian performers. Judging Matters helps to address legal issues from a small claims court, in partnership with the Lagos state ministry of Justice, hosted by Justice Olushola Williams and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.
Shoot Your Shot returns for its 2nd season – once more hosted by Bisola Aiyeola – to help all manner of people set the right mood for an introduction to someone they have been crushing on. Love Come Back also returns, with host Ibrahim Sulaiman helping one man or woman in their quest to get another chance at love with an ex.
Africa Magic is home to plenty of amazing, scripted content too. Make a date with The Johnsons every weekday as they dodge life’s curveballs. My Flatmates is a sitcom that documents the lives of four friends who share an apartment. Enduring favourite Tinsel continues, still finding fresh drama as two rival film production houses continue their fierce battle for box-office domination.
Both Movement – Japa (weekly at 21:00 WAT on AM Showcase) and The Rishantes (weekdays at 8:00pm WAT on AM Urban) started on 1 November. In the former, three friends desperate to leave the country for the west set out as ship stowaways - but end up on the wrong ship. In the latter – a spin-off of Halita - the three Rishantes have created new life at their mansion, 7 years after the explosive events that surrounded the Zamani family and Lufu group. Beyond the surface of their gilded lies, there are powers and events that could lead the family to a cataclysmic ending.
Mozambique and Angola
The Mozambique market can look forward to the launch of Maningue Magic on DStv Ch 503 on the 17th of January 2022. The channel is set to deliver the much-anticipated local telenovela, Maida, local lifestyle show, Txunado, local drama The Influencer, as well as Boss Station, a Mozambiquan original music show. Viewers can also expect to see a local version of Date My Family.
In Angola, customers will be spoilt with weekly comedy shows as well as a dubbed telenovela through the launch of Kwenda Magic on DStv Channel 502, also on 17 January 2022.

Continent-wide
The Honey channel continues to grow since its introduction this year – and viewers can look forward to a 2nd season of Pastors’ Wives on the channel in 2022. Pastors are often in the spotlight, but the show goes behind the scenes to meet the charismatic women holding it all together.
There’s a brand-new season of Mina Nawe House coming to Moja Love on 4 December at 21:00 CAT. Five couples move into a house to undergo a “relationship restart”. All the couples will be together in one house for 11 days in a bid to save their marriages and, at the end, decide to break up or stay together.
Debuting on Moja Love is Mzansi Greed (2 December at 21:30 CAT), a true-life program that lets viewers explore the world of crime and greed and see the lengths a person will go to for money and power. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and other crimes, featuring interviews with family members, police investigators business associates, fraud victims and, in some cases, the fraudsters themselves.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- SuperSport unveil their offering for 2022
- Showmax unveil their content slate
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Local Stories, Global Appeal – International Success!


(As indicated in the sneak peeks)
MultiChoice’s ambition to tell stories that resonate with our customers, in their language and featuring characters they identify with drives our hyper- local content strategy, while developing industries across the African continent and helping take proudly African stories to global audiences. The company is the biggest funder of local content in Africa and produced 2 692 hours of local content in the last financial year – 41% more than the year before – bringing its local content library to nearly 66 000 hours.
“MultiChoice is home to over 42 local channels across the continent, each designed and curated to cater for regional tastes whilst simultaneously creating a platform to cross pollinate regional content,” says Yolisa Phahle, CEO of General Entertainment and Connected Video at Multichoice Group. “Our General Entertainment stable continues to command the lion’s share of viewership across the DStv Platform as we roll out our owned formats across Africa, strengthen our relationships with global co-production partners and continue to expand our repertoire”.
Looking forward to 2022, the big news on Mzansi Magic is the return of Big Brother Mzansi Season 3 in 2022 – with 24-hour coverage of a group of strangers living with each other in Biggie’s house and competing for the biggest ever prize of R2 million. Big Brother Mzansi will be broadcast across the African continent.
The fourth season of MasterChef South Africa comes to M-Net on 28 February, exactly a decade after the first season aired. Looking to inspire and shape the next generation of food stars, the series will be filmed at the foot of Table Mountain in a dynamic new location that celebrates both the heritage and the innovation of South Africa’s diverse culinary offering.
In Recipes for Love & Murder (March), when a woman who wrote to her seeking advice about an abusive husband is found dead, recipe advice columnist Tannie Maria and her colleague, rookie journalist Jessie, spring into action, determined to solve this small-town Karoo murder and catch the killer. Big city cop Khaya and his team of local police officers always find themselves just slightly behind our delicious detecting duo, as the investigation takes us through an array of unlikely suspects.
Throughout the series, we also meet the people writing to Maria for advice and the subjects of Jessie’s articles, as well as indulging in the delicious recipes Maria dreams up to help them solve their problems. The series is based on the best-selling novels by Sally Andrew. The series stars Maria Doyle Kennedy (Outlander, Orphan Black, Kin) and Tony Kgoroge (Black Sails, Invictus, Long Walk to Freedom).
Survivor South Africa is making an international splash, with producers Afrokaans elevating the local version to sit alongside the very best in the world. In 2022, Survivor SA returns for its 9th season - and this time the greatest game on earth will see a cast of returnee outcasts who were outwitted and outplayed on previous seasons battle it out to outlast and become the Sole Survivor. These players, who never made it to the final Tribal Council, all have a score to settle. Get ready for Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts - on M-Net in July 2022.
The first season of the grand-daddy of international game shows - Wie word 'n Miljoener? - continues on kykNET in January, with the biggest payout to date has been R125 000. Who will survive the hotseat and put their general knowledge to the ultimate test by answering 12 questions with 4 life-lines - and the opportunity to win R1 million?
Op My Eish S2 starts in April with a new celebrity looking for love - Francois Jacobs. His wingman is comic Schalk Bezuidenhout. Entries for prospective partners closes on 5 December2021. What is our handsome actor/director looking for in a possible future partner? A lady with a passport!
The fifth and final season of SAFTA-winning Hotel sees the return of all the original key cast – this time, they’re navigating the madness of lockdown and the pandemic. James Borthwick is Ferdie, but this time around he is not the manager of the hotel – he is a permanent guest after his emigration to New Zealand didn’t go according to plan. Hotel is written by Bennie Fourie, Beer Adriaanse, Ryan Metcalfe and Claudia van Zyl and directed by Fourie.
kykNET has been keeping viewers glued to their screens on Tuesday evenings with gripping scripted content like Nêrens Noord Kaap and the anthology drama Spoorloos. In 2022, kykNET will continue in delivering the cliffhangers and mystery with the Die Byl S4 and Projek Dina returning for a second season. A new season of Spoorloos is currently in development with a story set behind the backdrop of a small coastal town.
There are also returns for Bertus Basson’s In die Sop, Boer Soek ‘n Vrou and Op Seer se Spoor (on kykNET&Kie).
On 1Magic, season 5 of The River continues to follow the diamond-divided Dlaminis and Mokoenas. In season 2 of Lingashoni, we continue to follow a poverty-stricken farm worker who returns to his former life as a high-flying businessman after a decade-long memory loss. The 3rd season of Real Housewives of Johannesburg returns in April with a bumper 14-episode season.
Debuting is Abasemzini, a bootcamp series which takes 4 pairs of mothers and daughters-in- law and put in a house to sort out their differences. This is done at the request from the one man they have in common - the mother’s beloved son and our bride’s husband. Also new is Makoti, where four women move in with their soon-to-be mother in-laws to prove they are worthy Makotis for their sons. Their will, values and adaptability are tested as they vie for their mother- in-law’s approval to marry her son.
In Wounds, a group of nurses at Healing Hands Medical Centre in the suburb of Motherwell are all used to having to deal with life and death situations on the daily. However, they are all sitting with their own psychological, emotional and physical wounds that are in dire need of attention. In Entangled, when overachieving perfectionist and hopeless romantic, Lethabo Tau is exposed for having lied about who the real father of her 8-year-old recluse son could be, she quickly goes from married to ‘it’s complicated’.
In season 2 of Mzali Wami, Ntokozo, a young girl taken from her mother at birth, gets entangled in an elaborate human trafficking ring involving her biological mother and the woman who stole her. After the success of the first season of Ingan’Yam, season two is reloaded with the breakout star of RHOD S1, the much-loved LaConco!
It’s two years after the explosive events of season one of The Republic and President Mulaudzi has won a second term - but only at considerable sacrifice. The second season focuses on two beautiful young South Africans who have felt all too personally the failure of government, as they strike back against the corruption that is eating away at the country. They become a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, embraced by social media and South African society at large. Can they give South Africans new hope in a dark time?
While I Blew It (S4) and Ubizo (S3) return to Mzansi Wethu in 2022, there are also plenty of new, homegrown series, too – including Bangoxoshile, Not The One For You, Siza Mina and Fafi. Bangoxoshile is a series that assists homeless people who were forcefully removed from their homes by family, relatives or a spouse. The show host will consult with a property lawyer and then proceed to mediate and seek clarity with an aim of getting the complainant back their home. In Not The One For You, friends and family write in to ask for assistance in confronting a friend or family member about a potent relationship that they should not be in.
Siza Mina is a tabloid daily talk show featuring controversial topics and guests who are seeking intervention in resolving issues relating to family, marriage, parenting, divorce, broken friendships, cohabitation, unsettled debt and disputes around housing and contracts. Fafi’s 28-year-old Thandi Ndlovu is in love and getting married in 3 months - however it’s not her husband-to-be, Sgoloza Ndlovu, she’s in love with, rather her beloved late husband, Menzi Ndlovu. The Ndlovu family custom has dictated that upon Menzi’s demise, his brother must marry his widow.
Returning to VIA for a 4th and 2nd season, respectively, are Sjefhuis and Eendag. Sjefhuis takes eight young, ambitious chefs hungry for their big break and sets them up in a villa where they will duke it out to land an apprenticeship with the master chef Bertus Basson. In each episode of thrilling reality TV show Eendag, a couple who — for whatever reason — have not had the opportunity to tie the knot, get the chance to do so. Our producers provide everything from the venue to the catering — but there’s a catch: Our couple has to plan the wedding themselves and they only have one day to do so.
In terms of highlights for the past year, the local and global crossover appeal of our content is illustrated most recently by Chasing the Sun and Reyka. The former was the best-performing documentary on M-Net last year, drawing over 1.2 million viewers across DStv linear and the DStv app and was acquired by Sky Sports for broadcast in other territories. The latter is set to be available in 80 territories, with broadcasters and streamers including CBC (Canada), SBS (Australia), TVNZ (New Zealand), Sky Italia, Britbox (North America), Channel 4 (UK), HBO (Latin America) and Canal+ (Poland and France).
“The success of our own formats is testament to the power of our hyper-local strategy,” says Phahle. “It’s a winning formula that we’ll continue to focus on as we produce thousands of hours of local content every year for our viewers to immerse themselves in.”

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- SuperSport unveil their offering for 2022
- Showmax unveil their content slate
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

Thursday, November 25, 2021

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Home Of Champions Looks Forward To A Blockbuster Year Of Sport


SuperSport celebrated a full house of international sport for 2022 at today’s MultiChoice Showcase, cementing the company’s reputation as the global Home of Champions. The company reaffirmed its commitment to bringing customers all the thrills of the best in action sports from the very best international sports events – live and packaged – from across the planet, on DStv & Showmax Pro.

Access to the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup takes pride of place in the SuperSport footballing line-up in December 2022. “Indeed, we’re the undisputed Home of Football, with Premier League, La Liga, the DStv Premiership, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League – and plenty of cup competitions in-between – offering an Unbeatable Football experience,” says Marc Jury, Chief Executive Officer of SuperSport.

SuperSport remains a long-term supporter of local sport, both as an investor and a broadcaster. “Our coverage of the DStv Premiership, Telkom KO, Nedbank Cup domestic rugby and cricket is unmatched, and we continue to grow to include a variety of other sport, including netball, basketball, boxing, hockey, golf and several others,” says Jury. The company will continue to broadcast key live sporting events which see South African teams competing with – and besting – opposition around the world, including giving fans the opportunity to follow the World Champion Springboks on their incoming and outgoing tours in 2022.

The company is also the largest funder of sports on the continent and broadcasts most of the major sporting events and leagues, sourcing content and producing its own thrilling programming.

2022 FIFA Football World Cup coverage will include all 64 matches, live and in prime time, supported by an array of highlights, historical footage, news updates and feature pieces. There’s also the UEFA Champions League and Europa League (until May 2022) and the FA Cup (until May 2022).

SuperSport has followed the marauding Springboks on their annual outbound tour to Europe this month and is set to bring viewers all the action from the all-new United Rugby Championship (until June 2022) and an old friend in the shape of the Six Nations will make a reappearance in February. We’ll also be following the World Sevens Series to each stop and supporting the Blitzbokke, every step of the way.

There's plenty of opportunity to catch global women’s sporting events as well: follow the Proteas Women take on the West Indies on an incoming tour; live the magic of the FIFA Women's World Cup; British Open Golf; Augusta National Women's Amateur; LPGA Weekly; Sunshine Ladies Tour; US Women's Open Golf and Solheim Cup. There's the FIG World Challenge Cup Gymnastics, FIG World Cup, FIH Pro League Hockey; DStv Schools Netball Challenge; Paarl Gim Netball Tournament and Spar Challenge International Netball Series. There’s also Women's Premier Division Rugby; Women's Six Nations; Women's Sevens and WTA 1000; WTA 250 & WTA 500 tennis. And that’s not counting mixed events like Athletics; Basketball National League, International Cycling; Absa Cape Epic; SuperSport Shootout Golf, Oxford v Cambridge rowing, PSA World Tour Squash; Super League triathlon and the World Triathlon Championship Series.

Cricket lovers can follow The Ashes and India’s tour of South Africa until January 2022, the IPL in March and the Proteas’ tour of England from July-September and Tennis & Golf fans have all their Majors needs covered, from January to July.

The best action on two and four wheels is sorted too, with coverage of the longest-ever F1 season, MotoGP, SuperBikes, and every major cycling event from May’s Giro d’Italia to October’s Absa Cape Epic and everything from the Amstel Gold Race to Challenge by la Vuelta and the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup and Paris-Roubaix to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Fight fans can get their fix with the very best big-bash boxing bouts, the entire galaxy of UFC stars and the no-holds-barred EFC. The SuperStars of WWE will continue to be a major staple of SuperSport, including headline events like the Royal Rumble in January and WrestleMania in April.

The American Indoor Track League, Diamond League, IAAF World Indoor Tour and World Athletics Continental Tour are crown jewels in their own right, but July & August see SuperSport deliver the Commonwealth Games from Birmingham.

There’s National League Basketball and all the major road running marathons from Lagos to Milan and Hamburg to New York City.

Beyond traditional linear television, SuperSport is available on multiple platforms, including the all-new SuperSport app, supersport.com, dstv.com and on the Catch Up service.

SuperSport is also available on Showmax Pro, the streaming service that bundles the best of African and international entertainment with a selection of live sport from SuperSport (showmax.com).

Sport is back – and there’s nowhere better to enjoy it all in one place, than with SuperSport.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Homegrown Streaming Service Leads With Homegrown Content


(As indicated in the sneak peeks)

Africa-first streaming service Showmax is going big on local content for 2022 – and beyond – with a host of firsts from the four corners and many languages of the continent.

This follows a year where Showmax Originals consistently broke records as the most watched content ever on the streaming platform, from The Real Housewives of Durban in January to Uthando Lodumo in June, to Devilsdorp in July to The Wife in November 2021 - not to mention I Am Laycon setting a Nigerian record in February 2021.

“Our audiences are most engaged when watching shows that reflect their reality, their hopes and their dreams. This is why the three most popular shows on Showmax in the first half of 2021 were all local,” says Candice Fangueiro, Showmax’s head of content. “So, we’re delighted to introduce our next wave of Showmax Originals, a mix of returning favourites and groundbreaking firsts, from some of Africa’s most talented filmmakers.”

These include first seasons of the epic fantasy Blood Psalms, the reality series The Real Housewives of Lagos, docu-series Sex in Afrikaans, and the survival horror Pulse, as well as second seasons of The Real Housewives of Durban, the Kenyan police procedural and legal drama Crime and Justice and the romantic comedy Troukoors, and new seasons of the debut Showmax Original telenovela, The Wife, not to mention a three-film post-apocalyptic film slate, led by the critically acclaimed Glasshouse.

These include first seasons of the epic fantasy Blood Psalms, the reality series The Real Housewives of Lagos, docu-series Sex in Afrikaans, and the survival horror Pulse, as well as second seasons of The Real Housewives of Durban, the Kenyan police procedural and legal drama Crime and Justice. Also on the way is romantic comedy Troukoors and new seasons of the latest show that everyone’s talking about: The Wife.
New favourites, coming 2022:
The Real Housewives of Lagos | Reality series
The Real Housewives of Lagos will be the 16th international - and third African - instalment of The Real Housewives franchise.

“We’ve seen audiences across Africa devour The Real Housewives of Johannesburg and The Real Housewives of Durban,” says Fangueiro. “The Real Housewives franchise lends itself to localisation and we know our audience is going to love seeing the show reinvented, Naija- style. We can’t wait to show the continent - and the world - another side of Lagos, with all the drama, high fashion and luxury you’d expect from The Real Housewives franchise.”

Sex in Afrikaans | Docu-series
In Sex in Afrikaans, four Afrikaans couples and two singles, with the help of clinical psychologist Bradley R Daniels, will for the first time speak openly about their sex lives – and, in the process discover there is more fun to be had!

Featuring interviews with sex workers, adult shop owners, a unicorn, swingers, dominatrixes, a crossdresser, a dungeon master, people who dress up like babies, and others who prefer full body latex suits, Sex in Afrikaans will be an eye-opening tour of what your neighbours and co-workers get up to behind closed doors. The show is produced by Wie word 'n miljoenêr? host Rian van Heerden, through Provoco.

Blood Psalms | Epic fantasy
Showmax’s first epic fantasy, Blood Psalms, is set in ancient Africa, 1 100 years ago and chronicles the rise to power of a fierce teenage princess who battles a world-ending prophecy to navigate her people through ancient curses, long-standing tribal vendettas and the wrath of the gods.

Award-winning show creators Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka are joined by a heavyweight cast, which includes eight SAFTA winners – Bongile Mantsai, Hamilton Dlamini, Hlubi Mboya, Mothusi Magano, Siv Ngesi, Thishiwe Ziqubu, Warren Masemola and Zolisa Xaluva – and many more household names.

Glasshouse | Dystopian film
Showmax is developing a three-picture dystopian slate with Local Motion Pictures, in association with Crave Pictures, with Greig Buckle producing and Kelsey Egan directing and sharing story credits with associate producer Emma Lungiswa de Wet.

The first film, Glasshouse, is set after The Shred, an airborne dementia, has left humanity roaming like lost and dangerous animals, unable to remember who they are. Confined to their airtight glasshouse, a family does what they must to survive - until the sisters are seduced by a stranger who upsets the family’s rituals, unearthing a past they have tried to bury.

The film had its world premiere at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada in August 2021, receiving multiple five-star reviews and an 89% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Film Threat’s Lorry Kitka singled out Glasshouse as her “favourite film of the year so far” and Exclaim proclaimed, “Kelsey Egan is a filmmaker to keep an eye on.”

Pulse is a six-part survival horror series about game developers who find themselves trapped in the game of their own creation. The survival horror story is directed by multi-award-winner Salmon de Jager and produced by Primetime Emmy winner Steve Lanning.

Returning favourites, coming 2022
The Wife S2 and S3 | Telenovela
When it launched in November 2021, Showmax’s first telenovela, The Wife, outperformed the launch of any film or series on the streaming platform ever. Inspired by Dudu Busani- Dube’s bestseller Hlomu The Wife, the 40-episode first season tells the story of a journalist (Mbalenhle Mavimbela from Skeem Saam) who falls in love with a taxi driver, Mqhele (Bonko Khoza from Neckie Youth), not realising that when you marry a man, you marry his secrets.

Showmax has commissioned three seasons of 40 episodes each, inspired by Dudu’s books Hlomu the Wife, Zandile the Resolute, and Naledi His Love, respectively. The books follow the lives of the eight Zulu brothers, a formidable crime family, through the eyes of the wives they marry.

Crime and Justice S2 | police procedural and legal drama
Crime and Justice, which is Kenya’s first Showmax Original and the first co-production with global broadcaster CANAL+, follows detective duo Makena (Sarah Hassan, Famous, Just In Time) and Silas (Alfred Munyua, Nafsi, The First Grader) as they investigate one-ripped-from-the-headlines case per episode.
Crime and Justice was nominated for three Kalasha awards across all the 2021 TV Drama categories: Best TV Drama, Best Lead Actor (Munyua) and Best Lead Actress (Hassan).

KenyaBuzz hailed it as “the perfect Kenyan Original… intensely satisfying” while Quartz credited it with “keeping real-life crimes from being buried… reviving debate and discussion around controversies that might have otherwise faded from the news.”

The Real Housewives of Durban S2 | Reality series
The Real Housewives of Durban (RHOD) set a new first day overall views record when it launched on Showmax at the end of January 2021. The show built on the popularity of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg, which was one of the 10 most-streamed local series on Showmax in 2019.

RHOD has since launched on hayu in 27 territories internationally, including Canada, UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the Philippines.

Troukoors S2 | Romantic comedy
Premiering on 13 December 2021, Troukoors follows wedding planner Jessica who’s surrounded by love but struggling to find it for herself.

“Troukoors is a light, sexy and bubbly romcom, like Younger meets The Bold Type meets Emily in Paris but set against the splendour and romance of the Cape wedding industry,” says Fanguiero.

Troukoors is created by SAFTA winner Louis Pretorius and SAFTA nominee Albert Snyman, the creators of critically acclaimed and much-loved shows like Die Boekklub and Fynskrif, with regular collaborator Nina Swart directing.
Showmax has already renewed Troukoors for a second season – before the first has even premiered.

In addition to this feast of local content, Showmax also offers first, and exclusive international series, premium documentaries, and the best kids’ shows. Showmax Pro adds music, news and live sport from SuperSport.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

SNEAK PEEK: Some Of The Content Coming To MultiChoice Showcase Including Reality, Lifestyle, Movies, Series And Kid Shows


Showmax/M-Net:

Crime And Justice - Detectives Makena and Silas from Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations investigate different crimes, some dealing with social or political impact.

Glasshouse (movie) - confined to their glasshouse, a family survives The Shred, a toxin that erases memory. Until the sisters are seduced by a Stranger who shatters their peace and stirs a past best left buried.

Gossip Girl - eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teenagers are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl.

Palm Springs (movie) - stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.

Succession S1 - S3 - the Logan family is known for controlling the biggest media and entertainment company in the world. However, their world changes when their father steps down from the company.

Ghana Jollof - is the first Showmax Original comedy series in West Africa and is shot in Lagos and Accra.

Via:

Sjefhuis - take eight young, ambitious chefs hungry for their big break and set them up in a villa where they will duke it out to land an apprenticeship with the master chef Bertus Basson — and just let the cameras roll around the clock.

HONEY:

Pastors’ Wives
Season 2
TX: Thursday 13 January 2022 – 7 April 2022
WAT 21:00 | CAT 22:00 | EAT 23:00 
13 Episodes  
PG13  
60 minutes  
Genre: Reality
Pastors are often in the spotlight, but in this show, we meet the charismatic women holding it all together in their religious households. We follow them and get to see how unconventionally they live their lives. We also get to witness the dramatic situations they may find themselves in when the pastors’ wives clash.

Kids Kitchen Relay
Season 1  
TX: Monday 10 January 2022 – 4 April 2022
WAT 15:30 | CAT 16:30 | EAT 18:30 
13 Episodes  
PG13  
30 minutes  
Genre: Reality
Two teams of three kids each, go head-to-head in a relay cooking competition. The teams are given a theme and must cook one dish as a team in three rounds without any communication between team members. They must overcome various challenges, ingredients and cooking requirements to be crowned as the winner and walk away with a prize. Hlonela Mrwetyana and Thato Rampedi host the show, with Chef Zanele Van Zyl as the judge.

Cartoon Network:

Big Blue - sibling adventurers Lettie and Lemo lead a quirky submarine crew to unravel the mysterious secrets of an underwater universe. Along with a magical fairy stowaway named Bacon Berry they must explore and protect their vast ocean-covered planet.

Coach Me If You Can - Daniel Sissou has a secret: his soccer ball is none other than the world's greatest soccer player Erico Platana, transformed by a mad sorcerer. In order to change back, Erico has to deflate his ego and help Daniel become a champ.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- Cartoonito returning as a linear channel likely for DStv
- Reorganising coming to National Geographic
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- The Search For Frida coming in 2022 to Telemundo
Could The Kelly Clarkson Show move to Me?
December on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- December on The Home Channel
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 
African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Toei Animaton teaming up with tvN parent company on anime 
Big Brother Africa has been greenlit in 3 markets

Monday, November 22, 2021

Could National Geographic Be On The Chopping Block Following The UK Alignment To Disney EMEA Production Hub?


The Nat Geo UK-based commissioning and production team has been restructured and now feeds into Disney’s EMEA production hub, reporting to Liam Keelan.

The move is understood to have taken place several weeks ago, with the Nat Geo London-based team now focusing on international productions, regional European and local market productions. The team is also working closely with London-based Sean Doyle, Disney’s Director of Original Production, Unscripted General Entertainment for Europe and Africa, it is understood.

The Nat Geo team, which comprises the likes of Commissioning Editors Carolyn Payne and Simon Raikes, Associate Producer, Development and Production Alexander Lawson and Production and Development Coordinator Daisy Bryant, now reports into Keelan, Disney’s Vice President Original Content, Europe and Africa, whose main focus is Disney+. Keelan, a former BBC Studios scripted exec and BBC commissioner who joined 18 months ago, reports into Diego Londono, EMEA EVP, Media Networks and Content.

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Disney, which owns Nat Geo, is looking to prioritize two-year-old streamer Disney+ and, alongside adult-skewing vertical Star, the Nat Geo vertical sits on the platform, consisting of high-end shows such as Limitless With Chris Hemsworth.

The Nat Geo UK team previously reported straight to Nat Geo US and commissions a number of international and US shows per year including the likes of Buried Secrets Of The Bible, Drain the Oceans and Mars: One Day on the Red Planet.

Given Disney’s desire to drive international subs to Disney+, one UK indie sector source familiar with the team said integrating the two “makes perfect sense.”
Another countered that Nat Geo UK has lost a degree of autonomy that came with pitching ideas straight to the US.

“This feels like a return to an older model where there are more regional commissions and to fund them well they need to get buy-in from other regions,” added the second source.

Disney+ has so far commissioned 21 international series, of which 16 are scripted and five non-scripted, most recently unveiling Spanish drama original Balenciaga (working title) at Disney+ Day, as the team targets 60 by 2024.

Non-scripted offerings include David Beckham competition Save Our Squad.

Keelan has spent the last couple of years building up his team and it now features two ex-Channel 4 commissioners, Sean Doyle and Lee Mason, who oversee non-scripted and scripted respectively, while Johanna Devereaux is also Director, Scripted Content, EMEA.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
 
Read Also:
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- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development? 
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa 

Another One Bites The Dust: Love Nature Reportedly The Next Victim To Get Culled By StarSat


A month after The Smithsonian Channel, the Canadian-based Love Nature featuring documentaries related to wildlife and nature goes off air on StarSat across Africa by the end of November.

Love Nature launched 2 years ago alongside The Smithsonian Channel as replacements to National Geographic and National Geographic Wild as StarSat had been going through a contractual dispute with The Walt Disney Company.

The demise of Love Nature leaves a big gap in the viewership as so many channels were culled from the platform including FOX, SA Music, SA Playlist, St Eyethu and a range of Discovery Channels.

Just like Smithsonian, fans of Love Nature will have rely on National Geographic to give viewers the best in factual and educational programming, and hope that doesn't get culled as well.

2021 has proven to be weak year on the basis of new channels. So far the platform launched MUTV, Zimbabwe's Jit TV, the ANC inspired C12 TV, Fashion TV, Roots TV and 3 Zee TV channels.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
 
Read Also:
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could StarSat pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Could SABC Encore and Children make their way to StarSat? 
- African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
Warner TV might be replacing TNT
- Canal+ acquires majority stake at SPI International
- Timeless Dizi Channel got a streaming service