Could Power Up Be A Permanent Channel On The Openview Platform?

During the year, eMedia Investments allocated Power Up as a catch-up service for most of the local content seen across their linear platforms. Following Eskom's unbearable power cuts it has led majority of households to miss out on primetime shows and even catch-up on repeats.

Power Up was one way to manage those hours lost within the week to load shedding and if anything Eskom's actions had prompted other businesses such as MultiChoice to rollout a similar offering for consumers.

From what was mentioned initially about Power Up was that it would serve as a pop-up channel which might simmer down depending on how quick Eskom was able to get their affairs in order. They promised 24 months but that's hard to believe considering the stages of these blackouts.

eMedia Investments hasn't shared much details about the viewership for Power Up but MultiChoice deemed their pop-up channel a success. We kind of wondered whether eMedia or MultiChoice would probably look into carrying something like Power Up or SWITCH'D ON full-time.

MultiChoice has been very strict when it comes distributing repeats as they've removed several channels over the years like SABC Encore, Sundance TV and Novela Magic which catered to the majority and had brands like Magic Showcase, BBC UKTV and CineMagic allocated to Easyview.

But eMedia Investments on the other hand doesn't seem strict about any of this. They allocated ePlesier despite the existence of e.tv, eExtra and eVOD and heck there was one point where Zee One and eExtra clashed luckily that managed to resolve itself for now.

Now it kind of boils down to Power Up considering there's no plans to add anything worthwhile to the channel. Is it possible eMedia Investments will perhaps move further repeats such as Nikiwe and Smokes And Mirrors on e.tv to Power Up as seen with eExtra's Kuiertyd this past week.

Om Elke Draai airs on Sunday at 10:40 followed by Hart Van Goud at 20:40 and Roekeloos Dade is on Saturdays at 11:00 for those wondering where to catch-up it's on Power Up.

The department will be turning off analogue signals across the country in the coming year and the only way one would need to view SABC much less e.tv is through a smart TV or platforms like DStv and Openview.

Considering these consumers would make up majority of SABC and e.tv's viewership the brands could whatever they want at this point as consumers would have the necessary options at their fingertips. Take for instance, Muvhango's omnibus or daily repeat at 09:00 on SABC 2 they could just move it to SABC Education.

Worst case scenario would be ripping the show away from consumers but if you could have a brand that lightens the load and gives that other brand the opportunity to expand their lineup it's a sort of a win win for the company as they'd get more viewers onboard while that audience would get more options aside from repeats.

eExtra's recent schedule adjustment leads one to wonder whether MultiChoice and M-Net will do something similar with Mzansi Magic and kykNET at some point or rip it away as there's more to view on DStv and limited options on Openview.

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