Since April 2022, e.tv halted distribution of weeknight international series at 20:30 in an attempt to bolster their streaming endeavours with the likes of Disney+, Netflix and Showmax all following a similar pattern.
While e.tv's new offering has seen somewhat of success, there's still various consumers that feel excluded from this shakeup having no means opted to create some distance with the channel and explore the number of alternatives out there.
It's obvious the streamers mentioned above would make a suitable candidate to this offering but as some households struggle to get the necessary means it's best to just look at alternatives that despite being phased out are still reachable to this day.
I managed to find a list of alternatives which I thought of dividing between pay and free as there's some that are willing to the freshest shows at a cheaper price or wait a while longer to view some of this content.
Now a look at the pay-tv alternatives
1. M-Net is a premium entertainment channel home to the very best and latest international series. While e.tv used to give you 3-5 year old repeats to their offering with M-Net you can several of their upcoming projects like Chicago Fire, Seal Team, New Amsterdam and NCIS: Los Angeles.
The biggest downfall to the brand is obvious pricing which is almost close to a R1000 monthly on DStv Premium that brings in item number 2.
2. Me is catch-up channel to M-Net infused with a bit of 1Magic. The only issue with the channel is the rollout of some of the content formerly and currently on e.tv. You have Queen Sugar airing on Sundays and stuff like Chicago PD can air as early as 17:00 while e.tv used to give you that 3 hours later. But again it can be useful and make e.tv feel like they're repeating their shows 2 or 3 years later.
Best part this is all available for as little as R309p/m on DStv Family formerly R420 on DStv Compact when it was M-Net City.
3. Universal, if you've viewed e.tv's 20:30 slot that's basically what the channel is about. You had variations like Rizzoli and Isles, Bones and Leverage Redemption but the lot winds up being e.tv's lineup. You have the latest seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles and The Librarians and you find them catching up with the Chicago franchise and S.W.A.T.
In the end, Universal has more value with e.tv opting to cancel these shows from their lineup and is far better than option number 2 and valued at the same amount as them.
Now a look at the free-to-view alternatives
1. SABC 3, stylised as S3 is currently a must have for those on pay platforms following the loss of several premium International channels like Sundance TV and FOX. Viewers on those platforms like to browse shows like Kim's Convenience, Killing Eve and Narcos. Although most of it is repeats they're not following the same pattern as e.tv as the content can be outdated or probably never before seen on the pay alternatives. The disadvantage is that viewers would probably want Chicago PD and all S3 would do is air NCIS.
The channel is accessible anywhere just don't use an aerial as those will be thrown in the recycle bin.
2. eXposed
Although the lineup of shows are dead, eXposed is the reruns graveyard to the international offering. You find stuff like Empire, Shades Of Blue, Hawaii Five-O and even Blackish. Compared to all others this could be the new home of 20:30 or the reincarnate.
Downfall of Xposed is the resumes at 8am not everyone will be around to binge whatever content comes onto the channel which is why one would need the extra 7 hours. The channel is available on Openview.
No comments:
Post a Comment