Paramount Buys Out Tyler Perry’s Stake in BET+, Plans To Fold It Under Paramount+

Paramount Skydance has acquired Tyler Perry’s stake in BET+ and will fold it into Paramount+ at the beginning of June.

Perry had held a 25 percent stake in BET’s streaming service since 2019. Now, the more than 1,000 hours of content on BET+ will move to Paramount+.

Perry is still under an overall deal with BET Media Group that will run through 2028. He will continue delivering content to BET and now Paramount+.

In an internal memo, Louis Carr, president of BET Networks, said, “As we continue to drive BET’s growth, our stories have to live in more places. Beginning in June, we are expanding our reach by making Paramount+ the new home for BET+ content. This powerful next step ensures the stories we champion, the creators we support and the culture we represent go further than ever before.

“Paramount+ will bring global fans over 1,000 hours of iconic series, films, originals and cultural touchstones that reflect the full spectrum of the Black experience, including hits like The Ms. Pat Show, All The Queen’s Men, Zatima, Average Joe and Diarra from Detroit. Our celebrated Black storytelling will live alongside Paramount’s premium series, sports, specials and films, where it will be clearly branded, prominently featured and easy to find in the BET Hub.”

More Details Regarding The Possible Expansion Of SuperSport Play On DStv

During the month, it was reported that MultiChoice might be looking to add SuperSport Play to its DStv decoders. For sometime, MultiChoice limited the channel's reach to its Free-To-View subscribers on the soon to be revamped DStv Stream app.

We assume due to Canal+'s takeover in 2025, they're basically cleaning house and assessing some of the poor decisions made by MultiChoice. In this case, it could as well be the availability of SuperSport Play.

SuperSport Play is basically a mashup of SuperSport Grandstand and Variety 4 as it sources mainly highlights and local content from SuperSport's premium sports channels. It tends to air replays to certain sporting events.

Unlike Variety 4, SuperSport Play doesn't have any live or first run content which made it the ideal channel for DStv Stream's Easyview customers.

Not long ago, MultiChoice had begun work on another SuperSport channel for DStv consumers. Initially, they used the feed for one of the Variety channels but overtime it had been replaced with a separate feed not accessible on their website.

For any future additions, usually there's some programme guide but for this one it's not the case.

From what I could gather, Reel Africa and World Of Freesports are on the lineup alongside highlights to NASCAR and International Cricket. It should be noted that none of these are seen on SuperSport Play's programme guide during that time.

But what led us to believe that it could have something to do with the channel mainly had to deal with the lineup. 

As mentioned, SuperSport Play very much like Variety 4 revolves on highlights and local content which is the case for this channel. We can only assume that maybe a linear version is starting to take shape as it's now spotted on Lyngsat.

SuperSport Play also took some of its content from SuperSport Blitz and Schools and maybe this version would have that content omitted. Seeing as Blitz and Schools are already available on Easyview.

But again this channel is in its early stages and more could be added overtime and who knows it could be a pop-up. I have doubts cause no pop-up would be airing Reel Africa as MultiChoice has its Variety channels for that.

Canal+ Aiming To Launch Showmax Replacement App Under DStv Stream In MultiChoice Markets

Canal+ unveiled its financial year results ending 31 December 2025 and gave some indicators on what awaits MultiChoice after completing it's acquisition last year. 

As reported earlier in the month, Showmax will be shutting down its operations after 11 years. The news doesn't come as a surprise and it was long speculated after MultiChoice shortened the window for shows exclusively for Showmax through DStv. 

Now the French giant plans to use to the existing footprint of DStv Stream to expand its streaming endeavours in MultiChoice territories. This service has already been active in 25 African countries and will likely go live by the end of 2026.

“As you know, this was a severely loss-making activity on which we saw no recovery, no matter what was done,” the CEO said.

Saada explained that Canal+ quickly came to an agreement with Comcast to shut down Showmax as soon as possible, but said he couldn’t share details on the negotiations.

During their financial year presentation, Canal+ confirmed that Comcast was on board with the decision to end it's joint venture for Showmax. Of course, they didn't want to divulge on the details except promising enhancements to DStv Stream.

Saada explained that Canal+ quickly came to an agreement with Comcast to shut down Showmax as soon as possible, but said he couldn’t share details on the negotiations.

They also plan to migrate existing Showmax customers to DStv Stream and have shows like Die Kantoor and Youngins accessible to viewers.

What is currently unknown is when this service will be released but it's likely slated for 2026 considering that Showmax will be discontinued in the "near future" according to their release.

Of course another challenge would be the pricing because consumers were billed R45 to R99 monthly for Showmax while Premium subscribers got it at no additional charge. Under DStv Stream, the price range for affected content is over R400 per month.

StudioCanal Takes A Majority Stake In Italy's Lucky Red

STUDIOCANAL, Europe's leading film and television studio and CANAL+ in house studio has today announced the acquisition of a majority stake in LUCKY RED, one of Italy's major Italian distribution and production companies.

Established in 1987 in Rome by Andrea Occhipinti, Lucky Red initially operated as an independent art-house film distributor. It has since expanded its scope and now stands as a major player in Italy’s independent film distribution and production landscape. Over nearly four decades, Lucky Red has released more than 600 films, many of which have received major international distinctions, including awards from Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, the Academy Awards and the David di Donatello Awards. Its catalogue includes films from some of the world’s most acclaimed directors (Bong Joon-ho, Jafar Panahi, Joachim Trier, Paolo Sorrentino, Michael Haneke, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wim Wenders, Danny Boyle, Luca Guadagnino, Alexander Payne, Todd Haynes, Stephen Frears, Asghar Farhadi). In 2024, Lucky Red was awarded ‘best international innovation for distribution’ at the third International Film Distribution Summit.

Lucky Red and STUDIOCANAL are building on a long-standing relationship that has bought audiences an array of cinematic hits from The Coen Brothers' INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS to STUDIOCANAL's German production HEIDI, and the acclaimed WE LIVE IN TIME starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. Their partnership continues with the highly anticipated release of Aardman and STUDIOCANAL's SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE BEAST OF MOSSY BOTTOM coming to theatres this Halloween, ELSINORE, currently in post-production in the UK for STUDIOCANAL, Lucky Red, Magnolia May Films and LD Entertainment, VIOLETTE (Changer l’eau des fleurs) from acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and FONDA from Academy Award and BAFTA winning director Justine Triet, announced last week. FONDA will star Mia Goth and Andrew Scott with Allison Janney in talks to join the project shooting this Spring. STUDIOCANAL picked up several major territories including Italy.

With this acquisition, the partnership enters an exciting new phase, giving STUDIOCANAL a unique opportunity to expand direct operations into a major European market, alongside its existing direct distribution and production presence across 11 European territories, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia and New Zealand, with offices in the United States and China. For Lucky Red, the move unlocks the potential to board more ambitious projects, reinforcing its ability to attract both seasoned filmmakers and emerging talent, setting the stage for even greater creative and commercial success.

Lucky Red continues to deliver strong box office success at the Italian box office with recent hits including THE BOY AND THE HÉRON, PERFECT DAYS, EMILIA PEREZ, DRACULA, BERLINGUER: LA GRANDE AMBIZIONE, NO OTHER CHOICE, A SIMPLE ACCIDENT, SENTIMENTAL VALUE. The company’s success also extends to television with acclaimed titles such as BELCANTO (RAI & Netflix), GIGOLO PER CASO (Prime Video) and CHRISTIAN (Sky), demonstrating its ability to captivate audiences across both big and small screens.

Anna Marsh, CEO of STUDIOCANAL and Chief Content Officer of CANAL+: "I am delighted that STUDIOCANAL is deepening its partnership with the incredibly talented team at Lucky Red, one of Italy’s most vibrant film and television companies. This development enables us to gain a solid presence in one of Europe’s prime markets, further reinforcing our status as the leading European studio. Both Lucky Red and STUDIOCANAL are dedicated to bold and distinctive storytelling across all forms, supported by deeply experienced teams committed to delivering extraordinary stories to audiences. This collaboration will further strengthen Lucky Red’s position as a major player in film and television”.

Andrea Occhipinti, founder and CEO of Lucky Red: “We are thrilled to be joining the most dynamic company in the European entertainment industry. Lucky Red and STUDIOCANAL are both distributors and producers of successful films and series, with complementary strengths and a shared long-term vision. Thanks to the incredible catalogue of film from STUDIOCANAL and its production slate, this prestigious international partnership will allow Lucky Red to strengthen its legitimacy as a major player in the local film industry, attracting high-caliber talent and producing first class content. I firmly believe that this is a perfect match and a great opportunity for further growth”.

Canal+ And Sky Launch New Partnership To Develop English-Language Drama

Sky and CANAL+ announced a strategic co commissioning partnership to develop premium, English language scripted content, bringing together complementary creative expertise, shared investment and international reach to support ambitious storytelling.

Sky and CANAL+ will work together to develop a minimum of two projects per year over an initial three-year term, co-financing green-lit projects. Drawing on the capabilities of STUDIOCANAL and leading independent producers, the partnership will provide a stage for both established and emerging talent.

The collaborative model is designed to support wide distribution, reaching audiences across Europe and beyond, and providing a strong route to market for UK led stories with international resonance.

Maxime Saada, CEO CANAL+, said: "Sky and CANAL+ share the same storytelling DNA and drive to develop globally successful content and IP. Our previous co-productions, like The Young Pope and Zero Zero Zero, are great examples of what we can do together through this complementary and ambitious new partnership.”

Dana Strong CBE, Group CEO Sky, said: “We are excited to build on our strong working relationship with CANAL+ to create this partnership. Sky and CANAL+ share a strong track record in creating premium drama, and through this collaboration we will bring our creative ambition and expertise together at scale.”

With the agreement now in place, Sky and CANAL+ will begin developing the first slate of tentpole projects in the coming months. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to long term collaboration and sustained investment in premium scripted content, developed in the UK and designed to travel internationally.

Canal+ Announces Plans To Deploy OpenAI To Its Streaming App, Forms Partnership With Google Cloud

Enhanced Canal+ App Experience With OpenAI Technology

Starting June 2026, CANAL+ will roll out a major evolution of the CANAL+ App using the technology from OpenAI to power content search and discovery. This new feature represents a major breakthrough in delivering a more intuitive, intelligent, and personalized user experience - a world first innovation in the entertainment industry that further confirms CANAL+’s position as a pioneer and consistent trend setter.

The CANAL+ App will offer a uniquely enhanced search experience that goes beyond traditional keyword based queries. Thanks to OpenAI frontier models, subscribers will be able to express what they want to watch in their own words - based on their preferences, their mood, or even spontaneous curiosity - and receive tailored content suggestions that truly meet their expectations.

Whether a subscriber types “I would like a comforting romantic comedy” like BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY, “an epic historical series” like KING & CONQUEROR or “something lighthearted, fun and entertaining to watch” like LOUPS-GAROUS into the search bar, the CANAL+ App will be able to suggests tailored content that matches subscribers’s queries.

Deploying OpenAI is a natural continuation of CANAL+’s long-standing tradition of pioneering innovations that shape the future of entertainment experiences. Just as CANAL+ pioneered the ability to watch the best content all in one place with its aggregation strategy in 2019, and was the first to offer a content viewing experience in connected vehicles in 2024, this collaboration continues to redefine how its subscribers access and enjoy entertainment.

Maxime Saada, CEO of CANAL+ : “We are delighted to collaborate with OpenAI, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, to enhance the entertainment experience of our 40 million subscribers. This collaboration is part of CANAL+’s long-standing tradition of innovation and its commitment to continuously reinventing entertainment. Today, our subscribers already access the very best international and local content on the CANAL+ App. With this technological collaboration, we are proud to take a major leap forward, redefining how audiences discover content.”

Ashley Kramer, VP of Enterprise of OpenAI : “People increasingly expect technology to understand them the way they naturally express themselves. By bringing OpenAI into the CANAL+ App, subscribers can describe exactly what they feel like watching. It’s a great example of how advanced AI can make everyday entertainment experiences simpler, more intuitive, and more personal.”

CANAL+ will use Google Cloud’s AI technology to optimize content discovery and propel video creativity

CANAL+ and Google Cloud have announced a new multi-year partnership focused on artificial intelligence. Starting in June 2026, CANAL+ will deploy Google Cloud’s latest generative AI technologies across European and African markets where the CANAL+ App is available, unlocking a new era of creative possibilities for the group.

Tailor made entertainment experience fueled by Google Cloud content video Indexing

Using Google Cloud’s technologies, CANAL+ will accelerate the content video indexing of its extensive content library. The new content classification will provide the global media and entertainment group with an in-depth multimodal database combining sound, video, and text data. This increased granularity in content classification will enable smarter, more personalized content recommendations on the homepage of the CANAL+ App, matching each subscriber’s preferences according to their viewing habits. This will make it easier than ever for subscribers to discover even more content they love on CANAL+.

CANAL+’s multimodal database of video content paves the way for a wide range of opportunities - from enhanced content discovery to entirely new business models.

A new creative frontier fueled by innovation and faster experimentation cycles

CANAL+ will also leverage Veo3, Google’s new genAI video technology to provide its production partners and creative teams with tools that will unlock the creative ambitions of their talent, for instance, previsualizing a scene before shooting it or recreating historical moments from a single archival photo.

The partnership guarantees a very secure technical environment, where rights, assets ownership are deeply protected. Using these tools & platform, CANAL+’s partners will have full control of their production, of their editorial decision, with opportunities to try new approach while ensuring cost control, thanks to significantly shorter experimentation cycles.

This secure technical platform and tools will be made available to production who wish to use it in films supported by CANAL+.

Stéphane Baumier, Chief Technology Officer of CANAL+ : “We are pleased to leverage Google Cloud’s most advanced AI technologies to drive CANAL+’s technical innovation. Building on a long-standing collaboration with Google, this strategic partnership paves the way for limitless possibilities. Content video indexing for CANAL+ at scale gives the group a significant edge, notably by enabling us to deliver sharper discovery and truly enhanced personalized journeys on the CANAL+ App across all our markets. Creativity is the cornerstone of CANAL+’s content production. We are excited to push creative boundaries by providing creators with tools that enable AI-generated video scenes, impossible to produce using traditional methods.”

Matt Renner, President, Chief Revenue Officer of Google Cloud : "The entertainment industry is at a pivotal inflection point where the intersection of creativity and compute power defines market leadership. Our deepened collaboration with CANAL+ is a testament to a shared culture of relentless innovation. By leveraging Google Cloud’s generative AI technologies, CANAL+ is not just adopting tools; they are architecting the future of media and fundamentally transforming the entertainment landscape on a global scale.”

You Are My Love, Former Glow TV Series Has Been Picked Up By Star Life

A few years ago, eMedia Investments removed South African based entertainment channel Glow TV from their platforms. With no other platform available to package the channel, Nismedia that served as the parent company ended it's operations.

Since then, various shows from Glow TV had started to resurface in South Africa with the short lived Uzozisola - Regrets on e.tv while Star Life aired Saras & Kumud and Forbidden Love. Now Star Life will expand this lineup with You Are My Love.

Synopsis for You Are My Love

The story revolves around the intense love story of Pankti Sharma, a beautiful, kind-hearted young girl with dreams of becoming a successful singer, and Ahaan Dhanrajgir, a charming, aspiring rockstar musician from a wealthy family.

Pankti lives under the control of her materialistic and failed actress mother, Anita Sharma, who is deeply in debt and bankrupt. In a shocking and exploitative twist, Anita "sells" her daughter Pankti to JD (Jayant Dhanrajgir)—Ahaan's rich, powerful, cruel, manipulative, and much older uncle—for money to sustain her lavish lifestyle. Pankti is forced into a exploitative arrangement as JD's mistress, trapping her in a life of emotional and financial bondage.

When Ahaan meets Pankti, he falls deeply in love with her at first sight, and she reciprocates his feelings. Ahaan, unaware at first of the dark reality behind Pankti's situation, becomes determined to rescue her, help her pursue her singing dreams, and free her from JD's clutches. Their romance faces immense obstacles, including family opposition, JD's ruthless interference, betrayal, societal judgment, and dramatic twists involving blackmail, revenge, and emotional turmoil.

Known in India as Tu Aashiqui and broadcast on Glow TV as The Cost Of Love. It was broadcast on 20 September 2018 and concluded on 12 October 2018 on Colors TV after 288 half hour episodes.

It starred Jannat Zubair Rahmani as Singer Pankti Dhanrajgir, Ritvik Arora as Musician Ahaan Dhanrajgir, Rahil Azam as Jayant Dhanrajgir, Gauri Pradhan as Anita Sharma, Rushal Parekh as Uday Mathur and Nidhi Shah as Poorva Sharma.

You Are My Love will broadcast daily at 16:00 CAT from 19 March on Star Life.

Channel Premiere: Mannat, Colors TV Original Launches On Star Life

Star Life, a Bollywood based channel operated by JioStar has announced that they'll be launching a new series called Mannat. Known in India as Mannat – Har Khushi Paane Ki, the series will air daily at 21:30 from 19 March.

Synopsis for Mannat

The story is set in vibrant Mumbai and centers on Mannat, a talented, happy-go-lucky, and determined young chef who aspires to become one of India's renowned chefs. Abandoned as a newborn at Marine Drive by her biological mother, she was saved by a young boy and raised by her loving maternal aunt (maasi), Shruti, whom she initially believes to be her mother.

After graduating from culinary college, Mannat lands her first job at a high-end restaurant called "Mezbaani," owned by the cold, ruthless, and critical Aishwarya (her biological mother, who abandoned her) and her business partner Vikrant Saluja (the male lead, who becomes supportive and romantically involved with Mannat).

Unaware of her true origins, Mannat faces challenges in the professional world, including prejudice due to her disadvantaged background. Aishwarya, initially harsh toward Mannat and even fires her at one point, shares a deep but hidden connection with her. The narrative explores Mannat's journey to fulfill her career dreams while uncovering shocking truths about her birth, family ties, and identity.

It starred Ayesha Singh as Mannat Khanna, Adnan Khan as Aman "Vikrant" Saluja, Mona Vasu as Sonia "Aishwarya" Khanna Raisingh, Manit Joura as DCP Dhairya Kumar, Mamata Verma as Shruti Khanna and Yami Khandelwal / Trisha Sharda as Dua Saluja.

Since it's inception on Colors TV, Mannat continues to be broadcast on the channel with over 390 episodes having being filmed. It will join Noyontara: The Hidden Truth as another TV show to have aired on Colors TV.

Mannat will broadcast daily on Star Life from 19 March at 21:30 CAT replacing Sweet Love.

New Series Alert: Parineeta Coming Soon To Zee One

Zee One, a Bollywood based entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises offering English dubbed content has announced the addition of a new show, Parineeta. It is scheduled to broadcast daily on Zee One from 28 March.

Synopsis for Zee One

The story begins with the contrasting worlds of Parul, an ambitious girl with a thirst for knowledge, and Rayan, a wealthy, sharp-tongued city-bred man. 

Their lives collide when a series of events—including threats from a local character named Tapoti—compels Rayan and Parul into an unwanted marriage. Rayan initially rejects Parul, harboring deep resentment from their brief, antagonistic time at university.

After moving into the domineering Basu household headed by Rayan's grandfather, Ashutosh, Parul faces constant hostility from Rayan and a complex love triangle involving Shirin, who attempts to sabotage her at every turn.

Parineeta debuted on Zee Bangla on November 11, 2024 and since then over 470 half hour episodes have been produced. It starred Parul Adhikari as Ishani Chatterjee, Rayan Basu as Uday Pratap Singh and Shirin as Surabhi Mallick.

Parineeta premieres 28 March 2026 on Zee One replacing Padamatis Love. Other shows set to rollout on the channel during the month include How Do I Say This and Undercover Love.

Has eExtra Decided To Call It Quits For Bollywood Dramas?

Before Star Life and Zee One, there was eExtra that brought India to South Africa with shows like Madhubala, Yeh Teri Galiyan and Piyaa Albela. But in recent months, it appears that eExtra's Kuiertyd is building up it's airtime on the channel.

By the afternoon, eExtra now has daily repeats of Yosef, Sout Van Die Aarde, Chrysalis and Dokter Ali. This was the timeslot used to accommodate ramp up it's rivalled offering for Star Life now that's been reduced to a one hour slot for Naagin.

Uzozisola - Regrets gave Naagin the weight it needed but after e.tv scrapped further airings. Naagin just became an outsider on eExtra as daily repeats of e.tv soaps take up the morning with Kuiertyd taking up the afternoons and primetime.

Empress In The Palace, a former show on eExtra has since found its way onto eSeries. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if eMedia Investments decided to move all its Asian stories to eSeries in order to combat with those repeats.

As for Bollywood dramas, I feel like eExtra's story had come to an end I mean it never gained much recognition. For DStv viewers, there was Zee World with Glow TV on Openview and with it's afternoon slot most viewers were probably at work by then.

It could never garner the Zee World recognition it deserved even with Star Life and Zee One only airing repeats by then.

As for Kuiertyd, that's another story as Ouma Sarie and Droomvelore's broadcast on e.tv those shows were able to attract over 3 million viewers. Their continued success led KykNET to ramp up their own portfolio with Dikker As Water and Landman.

For sometime now, several Openview consumers didn't really see the need of having eExtra air these shows. Especially since eMedia Investments had been outsourcing from their competitors who had branded channels (i.e. Zee One) on Openview.

This market as some people recall has been overcrowded on both DStv and Openview. Not that it's a bad thing but in scenarios like this it's hard for a broadcaster like eExtra to offer alternatives if there's bigger prey out there.

Development Alert: eVOD Originals uMbali And Splintered Pieces Resurface On Openview

eMedia Investments had added the first seasons of uMbali and Splintered Pieces to eSeries on weeknights at 22:15 and 22:45 respectively. The latter was produced for eVOD and eMedia Investments had limited it's reach to Openview.

Following eVOD's rollout in the market, eMedia Investments had been giving some of its content an open window on their other platforms. But for shows like uMbali and Splintered Pieces, e.tv had been struggling to accommodate these shows.

They attempted to have it take up the timeslot of the Sunday movie block on e.tv and with minimal success for its movie offering. eMedia Investments decided to yank it to weeknights at 22:00 and that too had a limited run.

Now they've limited it's reach to Openview instead of allocating it on eExtra since it's also available on DStv or try to accommodate these shows on e.tv a lot better. One of the two would have helped these shows get more ad revenue compared to eSeries.

Synopsis for uMbali

Mbali is a "beguiling beauty queen" who uses her looks and street smarts to climb the social and economic ladder. After her boyfriend is arrested and her family loses their primary financial support, she vows to do whatever it takes to escape her circumstances.

Her pursuit of "the good life" leads her to steal husbands and boyfriends, creating a trail of enemies. She eventually finds what she believes is true love with her sister's fiancé, Peter, but her past and relentless ambition constantly threaten her safety and the lives of those around her.

Synopsis for Splintered Pieces 

The series explores the lives of two friends caught in a web of secrets and blurred boundaries. It focuses on Linda, a successful therapist who is bored in her relationship with her boyfriend, Paul.

On her birthday, Paul throws a surprise party where Linda meets and sleeps with a photographer named Jade. The situation becomes more complicated when Linda also sleeps with Tebello, the husband of her best friend Tshepi.

Tshepi is struggling with infertility, and when Linda falls pregnant, the paternity of the baby is unclear. A DNA test eventually confirms Tebello is the father, leading to a heartbreaking arrangement where Linda gives the baby to Tshepi and Tebello to raise as their own. 

Canal+ Might Overhaul The Current DStv Structure And Take A Dig At SuperSport

As it is understood, MultiChoice has lost almost 3 million DStv subscribers in the last two years and this is the reason Canal+ is backing out from further price increases. The focus has shifted on returning the company back to its 2023 projections.

Post the takeover, MultiChoice reportedly had 23.5 million 90 day active subscribers and this dropped further by 11% to 18.5 million. In South Africa, the DStv Premium base (including Compact+) saw a drop of 96,000 subscribers.

Since last year, MultiChoice had been exploring the possibility of unbundling SuperSport from the current DStv offering to make the costs flexible. This isn't the first time such experiment occurred and it's not known why they hadn't pursued it earlier on.

In France, Canal+ already offers the Canal+ Sport bouquet which includes sports from rival brands like DAZN and Eurosport. There's even a base package with select sports like UEFA Champions League, Formula 1 and Moto GP.

It is currently priced at €34.99 (R671, 89).

Of course, it's Canal+ Afrique's operations uses the same model as DStv which is why there's a lot of skepticism about a SuperSport only package. Canal+ CEO had dismissed the idea stating that "everyone who has tried this has failed". 

If such exists, it's going to be almost as pricey as your current DStv Premium bouquet. It's less likely they're going to make it cheaper as the current DStv structure helps subsidies the costs.

This new structure MultiChoice has been testing out for DStv will only benefit the non sports fanatics on lower tiered packages.

DStv Premium has been in decline for 10 years so it's a safe bet that MultiChoice will gradually use this offering to phase out that market. The plan for this offering was to have 3 sports package one for football with other sports on another package.

There's plenty of Premium subscribers that don't watch football and MultiChoice would give them the option to exclude it from their offering. They'll be times where you don't feel like watching SuperSport and MultiChoice would make that possible too.

In the end, you as a Premium client can continue catching shows like Landman and Doc on M-Net while watching One Piece on Netflix. You can do all this for under R700 and still have R300 to yourself.

Reminder: Hawaii Five-O Returns For It's 10th And Final Season On eSeries Alongside CSI: Miami And NCIS: Los Angeles

CSI: Miami Season 10 (FINAL)

This is the tenth and final season of the American crime drama series CSI: Miami, which follows a team of forensic investigators in Miami using cutting-edge science and police work to solve complex crimes. It premiered on CBS on September 25, 2011, and concluded on April 8, 2012, consisting of 19 episodes—the shortest season in the show's run. 

The season picks up from the previous cliffhanger, with Horatio Caine and his team pursuing a serial killer while dealing with personal and professional challenges, including betrayals and high-stakes investigations like a hotel murder and a tornado-destroyed crime scene. 

It starred David Caruso as Lt. Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Calleigh Duquesne, Jonathan Togo as Ryan Wolfe, Rex Linn as Frank Tripp, Eva LaRue as Natalia Boa Vista, Omar Miller as Walter Simmons and Adam Rodriguez as Eric Delko.

Key episodes include the premiere "Countermeasures," where the team tracks a killer, and the finale "Habeas Corpse," wrapping up major storylines. 

CSI: Miami has been airing on the channel at 21:25 since March 2.

 

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 10

This season of the action-packed spin-off series focuses on the elite Office of Special Projects (OSP) team in Los Angeles handling high-stakes undercover operations against threats to national security. It aired on CBS from September 30, 2018, to May 19, 2019, with 24 episodes. 

The plot kicks off with the team recovering from a dangerous mission in Mexico, introducing new allies like retired Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride, and tackling cases involving stolen military tech, assassins, and international intrigue. 

It starred Chris O'Donnell as G. Callen, LL Cool J as Sam Hanna, Daniela Ruah as Kensi Blye, Eric Christian Olsen as Marty Deeks, Barrett Foa as Eric Beale, Renée Felice Smith as Nell Jones and Linda Hunt as Henrietta "Hetty" Lange.

Standout episodes feature "To Live and Die in Mexico" as the opener and "False Flag" as the finale, emphasizing team dynamics and espionage. 

Season 10 starts March 16 at 20:30 

Hawaii Five-0 Season 10 (FINAL)

The tenth and final season of the rebooted police procedural series centers on an elite task force combating crime in Hawaii, blending action, drama, and island culture. It premiered on CBS on September 27, 2019, and ended on April 3, 2020, with 22 episodes. 

The storyline wraps up long-running arcs, including Steve McGarrett solving his father's case from a decade ago, while handling cases like mob assassinations, tunnel collapses, and Halloween horrors. Former cast members like Masi Oka and Michelle Borth return as guests. 

It stars Alex O'Loughlin as Steve McGarrett, Scott Caan as Danny "Danno" Williams, Ian Anthony Dale as Adam Noshimuri, Meaghan Rath as Tani Rey

Beulah Koale as Junior Reigns, Chi McBride as Lou Grover and Katrina Law as Quinn Liu.

Notable episodes include the premiere "Ua 'eha Ka 'ili I Ka Maka O Ka Ihe" and the series finale "Aloha," providing closure to the team. 

The tenth and final season of Hawaii Five-O starts March 17 at 19:35.

DStv Stream Expected To Merge Into Showmax Replacement App

Canal+ is planning to launch its own streaming service in MultiChoice markets as consumers bid farewell to Showmax. Further content from the service will now be redirected to M-Net, Mzansi Magic and KykNET.

Canal+'s streaming service which might fold under DStv Stream, viewers get to watch live TV and content on demand. They plan is to also utilise other apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with VIU likely to form part of this duo.

This was a feature MultiChoice made exclusive to Explora Ultra and since Canal+ takeover in late 2025, the company is cleaning house. They already scrapped M-Net's contract with HBO as well as that of SuperSport for the Winter Olympics.

In October 2025, Canal+ leadership indicated plans to merge DStv Stream, Showmax, and the Canal+ app into a single "super app" to combine content and reduce costs. As seen already, Showmax with all that Comcast filter is going out the window.

As mentioned, Canal+ will likely use the existing footprint of DStv Stream to expand its streaming ambitions as opposed to starting from scratch. It fits well with the company's structure on having the same content viewed across multiple platforms.

Of course, the problem part of retaining the DStv structure would be costs as Showmax would give you the freshest content for under R99 while on DStv you need at R500. Unless Canal+ has a backup plan consumers might not be persuaded by this.

But then again, MultiChoice was in discussion about possibly unbundling it's DStv offering with SuperSport serving as an add-on or standalone package. This would take the strain off paying R1000 for the full package.

Canal+ had deployed similar mechanisms in France where consumers would pay for select content and with the MultiChoice deal these endeavours are expected to accelerate.

Disney Channel Relaunching In Spain This April In Place Of Disney Junior

Last month, it was reported that Disney XD would be shutting down its remaining international feed in Poland by April. As Disney is looking to launch its preschool oriented brand Disney Jr. with AMC Networks International likely to be a partner.

Now reports are going around that Disney is looking to revive some of linear operations with Disney Channel set to relaunch in Spain. This comes after its reported relaunch in the UK was debunked for Disney Jr. in 2025.

Very odd part about this is the channel is said to be replacing Disney Junior with the preschool brand downsized to a programming block in April. 

Press statement 

The historic Disney youth channel is preparing its return to television in Spain after its disappearance at the beginning of 2025. The company is finalizing a strategic move that will mean the recovery of Disney Channel in the Spanish market, after the brand disappeared from the television landscape.

The channel stopped broadcasting in Spain on January 7, 2025, putting an end to more than two decades of continuous presence in Spanish homes. Its closure marked the end of an era for a channel that had been one of the benchmarks for youth entertainment since its launch in 1998 and that, for years, was also part of the DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) offering.

Now, the channel is preparing its return through a brand change that will directly affect Disney Jr. The children's channel, currently dedicated to the youngest members of the household, will be transformed into Disney Channel through a rebranding process, thus recovering one of the company's most recognizable brands on television.

The move will not involve the total disappearance of preschool programming. Within the new Disney Channel, a daily window dedicated to Disney Jr. content will be maintained, with series and programs aimed at a preschool audience, while the rest of the schedule will be oriented toward a family and youth audience, following the classic model of the channel.

This change will allow the company to reorganize its television presence in Spain and reposition the Disney Channel brand in the linear offering, at a time when children's consumption continues to combine traditional television and streaming. The channel will be available on all platforms where Disney Jr. currently broadcasts.

The official announcement of the brand change will take place in mid-March, at which time the company will reveal more details about the channel's new stage and its programming. The transformation of the current Disney Jr. into Disney Channel will become effective on April 1, the scheduled date for the channel's relaunch in Spain.

‘Garfield’ Animated Series Ordered By Paramount+ With Lamorne Morris Voicing Famous Orange Cat

Garfield is making a TV return. Paramount+ has picked up a new original 2D-animated series featuring the iconic lasagna-loving orange cat, voiced by Emmy-winning actor-comedian Lamorne Morris (New Girl, Fargo).

Tentatively titled Garfield, the series, from Nickelodeon Animation Studios, is inspired by Jim Davis’ original comic strip and features the chonky feline at his finest, most sarcastic and lackadaisical. Dave H. Johnson (Middlemost Post) and John Trabbic III (SpongeBob SquarePants, Middlemost Post) serve as executive producers.

This pickup of Garfield, which is currently in production, brings to an end the project’s lengthy road to the screen. It started back in 2019 — two Paramount mergers and regimes ago — when Nickelodeon’s then-parent Viacom acquired the IP to the cartoon from owners Paws and announced the development of a new Garfield animated series.

Under the agreement, Paramount predecessor Viacom also took over managing the global merchandising rights to the property. Since then, the Garfield character has been integrated into the Paramount Products & Experiences portfolio across categories spanning apparel, toys, publishing, food, pets and more, including such Nickelodeon game franchises as All-Star Brawl and Kart Racers, in which the Mondays-loathing cat was voiced by Frank Welker.

Meanwhile, the animated series has taken awhile to come together, spending seven years in development and production.

It is the first Garfield animated series since Paws’ 2009 The Garfield Show, which ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network/Boomerang in the U.S. with Welker voicing the title character.

Separately, there is Alcon/Sony’s Garfield 3D CGI animation feature franchise with Chris Pratt as the voice of the tabby cat. The first film, The Garfield Movie, was released in 2024; plans for a sequel, with Pratt reprising his role were announced last year. It is moving forward.

Since its launch in 1978, Davis’ syndicated comic strip has chronicled the life of the eponymous cat, his owner Jon Arbuckle and Odie the dog, as well as various friends. The brand currently counts over 200 million daily comic readers and millions of social media followers.

Garfield marks the latest new series pickup at Paramount+ by the streamer’s new post Skydance-Paramount merger team led by Cindy Holland, Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer, and Paramount+‘s Head of Originals Jane Wiseman.

In the kids and family space, it joins the recently ordered animated series The Elephant & Piggie Show! and The Pigeon Show! Starring the Pigeon from Mo Willems’ Hidden Pigeon Company.

From Nickelodeon Animated Studios, Paramount+ has the upcoming film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, originally targeted for a theatrical release, and the 2D series Avatar: Seven Havens, ordered by Nickelodeon a year ago, both with Nick Animation banner Avatar Studios.

On the live-action side, over the last few months, Paramount+ has ordered legal drama Discretion starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, as well as limited series 9/12, headlined by Jeremy Strong, and Fear Not, starring Anne Hathaway. The streamer also formalized the pickup of Tulsa King spinoff Frisco King, toplined by Samuel L. Jackson, which had been in the works as NOLA King.

While original drama series is Paramount+’s focus on the live-action side, it plans to be opportunistic in unscripted, starting with the pickup this week of dating show Making Love. The streamer also has the upcoming four-part docuseries Made for March designed to complement CBS and Paramount+’s 2026 March Madness basketball coverage.

Morris has a history sharing the screen with a feline; his character on New Girl Winston Bishop was known for his close bond with his beloved cat, Ferguson.

An Emmy for his role on Season 5 of FX’s Fargo, Morris will next be seen starring opposite Nicolas Cage in Prime Video’s Spider-Noir and is currently in production on Jumanji 4. He also co-hosts The Lamorning After podcast with Kyle Shevrin and the New Girl rewatch podcast, The Mess Around, with former castmate Hannah Simone. Morris is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360 and Myman Greenspan.

MTV Is Becoming More Like E! Entertainment And That's Bad

Last year, Comcast spun off most of its cable networks such as CNBC and E! under the company, Versant. Leaving brands like NBC, Bravo and Telemundo alongside their studios and Peacock, their streaming service under NBCUniversal.

E! which serves as one of the few brands alongside CNBC to be distributed internationally by Versant has seen in declines across Europe in recent years. 

Since the spinoff was announced, NBCUniversal had begun phasing out of E! across its portfolio either by shutting down the channel as seen in the UK or replacing it with Bravo as seen in Africa.

Prior to this, E! had seen a major reduction in content as NBCUniversal axed E! News with Keeping Up With The Kardashians later revived on Disney+ as The Kardashians. Point being made is that these were one of their most stable brands.

It appears MTV is starting to make the same mistake cause following the acquisition of Paramount by Skydance Media. They've already cancelled 3 of their top shows like Ridiculousness, Catfish: The TV Show and Jersey Shore.

Similar to E! which was reliant on Bravo for The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, Watch What Happens Live and Below Deck. MTV is doing the same with Caught In The Act: Unfaithful (VH1) and Ink Master (The Smithsonian Channel).

The problem part is that since Paramount's takeover there hasn't quite as yet been any word on new content for MTV.

Even if they were reports none can hold a candle to what Ridiculousness, Jersey Shore or even Catfish: The TV Show had to offer. Because of that any new production looking to rollout will likely be discarded by the loyal viewers.

For MTV, I think it's going to be a whole lot worse because they closed a bunch of their music channels around the world. In some of these markets like Africa, MTV Base was the top dog and gave the MTV trademark some bling.

MTV had a bunch of local shows like Guy Code and Ghosted SA and after Paramount Africa decided to shut it's operations which affected these shows it's basically become a European import.

Unlike E!, they probably won't be an ending where shows like Teen Mom and Help, I'm In A Secret Relationship breath new life.

Paramount is making a play for Warner Bros. Discovery and for all we know the company could divert it's attention from MTV onto TLC. Outside of CBS, Paramount's doesn't have a strong portfolio to leverage from.

The buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery could led to rationale process where MTV is not deemed core in its strategy. For NBCUniversal that is Bravo and for Warner Bros. Discovery that's TLC and compare these two with MTV it's clear whose weaker here.

Post the takeover, Paramount has been struggling to bring MTV back to its glory days. There's been talks for a while about making it an online only service where it would rival with Spotify but again you killed off this audience by closing your music channels.

Whoever was watching MTV Base or MTV Hits had already moved on and probably found alternatives that audience is not going to magically come back.

Did Canal+ Blow It With The HBO Deal On DStv?

Not long ago, it was reported that DStv and Showmax subscribers will be losing out on The White Lotus and House Of Dragons as Canal+ is slashing costs at MultiChoice. As a result, all this content is now going to be curated for streaming.

This means DStv customers would wait for the latter to rollout on HBO Max which might be available in South Africa within the year. It is likely to be added onto the Explora Ultra alongside Netflix and Disney+.

A lot was riding on getting this deal on the table, it wasn't only the future of The Sopranos on M-Net at stake but that of Cartoon Network. MultiChoice was open to replacing but the reality is there's no real alternative to any of Warner's cable networks.

Cartoon Network alone is responsible for 49% of kids viewing on DStv while Cartoonito is the top rated kids channel on the family package. A replacement will most definitely not be able to recoup the figures by those brands.

Same goes for TLC, TNT and CNN as they're ranked #1 in their respective fields on DStv. Several scenarios do however come into play for the fall of HBO and Warner Bros. on M-Net.

Firstly, Canal+ deemed those as non viable but their road on DStv is not up yet just how it will distributed going forward. If Netflix bid for Warner Bros. succeeds that's where it's likely to end up another as mentioned would be HBO Max.

Another has to deal with the decline of DStv, M-Net losing out on HBO will definitely lead some to end their subscription. But it wouldn't be as impactful or massive as the loss of 12 TV channels alongside the 4 closed by Paramount.

DStv Premium has been a sinking ship post the pandemic and even before Canal+'s acquisition of MultiChoice. M-Net can't fight the streaming wars it does however have the edge over Universal TV and Comedy Central in its primetime offering.

But a majority of people nowadays would rather watch these shows on Netflix then pay R1000 to get them on DStv. It's not M-Net's fault but rather one of the various setbacks to linear TV.

Is The 24 Hour WWE Channel Going Dark On DStv?

During the month, it was reported that WWE would be streaming on Netflix in April for viewers across Africa, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. This comes ahead of WrestleMania 42 which is scheduled to broadcast on April 18.

The question on some people's minds right now is about the fate of WWE on SuperSport. As it was understood, MultiChoice had an existing agreement which was scheduled or so we thought to expire in 2027 with the latter consolidated under Netflix.

But after Netflix sent notice to viewers, we reached out to them (even WWE) for further confirmation on the matter and this was their response.

 

Starting on 1 April 2026, WWE content will be exclusively available on Netflix.

SuperSport was asked several times about WWE's move to Netflix and whether this would lead to the removal of its content on SuperSport as well as the cancellation of the 24 hour channel and Jambo WWE.

First response: There's no confirmation at this stage 

Last response: No, it is not leaving 

During the year, MultiChoice widened the reach of the 24 hour WWE channel to its DStv Access consumers alongside Trace Gospel and Trace Ngoma. Canal+ Afrique currently distributes the WWE channel to consumers in French markets.

Canal+ Axes MultiChoice Streamer Showmax

Canal+, busy with aggressive cost-cutting since it recently acquired Africa’s MultiChoice pay-TV group, is shuttering its loss-making and money-guzzling video streaming service Showmax that MultiChoice ran in partnership with NBCUniversal.

Variety has reliably learnt that Showmax will definitely be shuttered “soon” although a specific date isn’t yet available given a few remaining legal implications Canal+ and MultiChoice are sorting out.

Canal+ and MultiChoice confirmed the end of Showmax to Variety, saying there will be a “discontinuation of the Showmax service, following a comprehensive review of its streaming activities.”

MultiChoice launched Showmax across Africa 11 years ago in August 2015 to compete with the advent of streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others which all became available on the continent and started biting into MultiChoice’s legacy pay-TV subscriber base.

Two years ago, in February 2024, MultiChoice, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, relaunched Showmax, utilizing the technology behind the Peacock streaming service.

Millions of dollars were poured into the retooling of Showmax’s IT-platform and on content spending to boost the pan-African streamer in its fight against Netflix but it ultimately proved fruitless.

MultiChoice and NBCUniversal roughly poured a combined $309 million in equity funding into Showmax to primarily fuel content creation, but nothing came of the aggressive growth and subscriber uptake targets MultiChoice executives had promised investors before it relaunched.

Looking to shave a combined 400 million euro by 2030 in cost-cutting, including content cuts from the combined Canal+ group, the underperforming and money-guzzling Showmax is the latest victim of Canal+’s rightsizing at MultiChoice.

NBCUniversal has a 30% stake in Showmax as a joint venture. In its last annual results before the Canal+ takeover, MultiChoice revealed that Showmax’s trading losses had worsened by 88% while revenue significantly declined.

According to the company, “The decision to axe Showmax was made by the Showmax board and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice, a Canal+ company, on financial discipline and investment optimization, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment.”

Since Canal+, as part of its agreement to take over MultiChoice, isn’t allowed to get rid of any staff for a period of three years, MultiChoice won’t let any Showmax staff go but will reassign them to other positions within the broader company.

“The decision to discontinue Showmax services will not involve any retrenchments. The group will be engaging and supporting employees through various transition options,” it told Variety.

MultiChoice has already started to quietly rebrand Showmax Originals as Africa Magic, M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic Originals, with original series that will transition to these various DStv linear TV channels on MultiChoice pay-TV platform.

Showmax’s closure comes two years after Amazon MGM Studios shocked Nigeria and South Africa’s creative community in January 2024 when it abruptly announced that it would immediately stop commissioning any new local original content in Africa, and also killed already-existing development deals with a dozen production companies.

In January, during an investors’ call, Maxime Saada, Canal+ CEO, said that Showmax was “not a commercial success” and that its failure as a streaming service was “quite obvious.”

Saada also said that a decision about Showmax’s future would be made soon and that a reduction in the Showmax budget, which has been a huge financial drain on MultiChoice, would contribute significantly to Canal+’s overall cost-cutting goals.

Canal+ says it will “continue to invest in premium content for MultiChoice subscribers, technological innovation and strategic partnerships to consolidate its leadership in the African entertainment market.”

“Further details regarding our expanded content offering and platform upgrades will be shared in due course. We want to reassure our Showmax subscribers that they are our priority as we evolve our services to deliver a superior streaming experience.”

In June, Canal+ and Netflix announced a strategic distribution agreement for Francophone Africa with a new partnership through which Canal+ became the first operator to bundle Netflix subscriptions into its traditional pay-TV offering across 24 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Insiders told Variety that instead of wasting further money through trying to compete with Showmax as a struggling stand-alone streamer, Canal+ is likely to expand its partnership and roll out this Netflix-bundling into the rest of Africa.

An award-winning South African director-producer who has made several series and films for MultiChoice under the Showmax banner, told Variety the end of Showmax is a sad day for South African filmmakers since it closes yet another avenue to showcase work and earn a living in an industry undergoing tumultuous change.

“Showmax was one of the only platforms available to us that was willing to back stories that were bold and authentic in a market that has traditionally always played things safe,” the filmmaker said.

“From ‘Koek’ to ‘Adulting,’ ‘Spinners’ to ‘Catch Me a Killer,’ ‘Khaki Fever’ to ‘Youngins,’ ‘Wyfie’ to ‘Dam,’ these are films and series which would never be created by rival platforms or broadcasters. Losing Showmax is a huge blow to the local industry and audiences, with Canal+ giving us very little to hope that they will fill that gap with anything of value.”

“If 2026 is the Year of the Horse, it feels like this one is getting sent to the factory to be turned into glue and cheap pies.”

Canal+ is scheduled to report its next set of financial results on March 11. This will be the first full-year combined results since the group took effective control of MultiChoice in September 2025.

MultiChoice Might Be Widening The Reach Of SuperSport Play Channel To More DStv Customers

SuperSport Play is regarded as freemium sports channel, by free we mean available to consumers without an monthly DStv subscription. All you need to do is create a free account on DStv Stream to access the channel.

The suffix "-mium" is basically premium as it offers a mixture of sports from football (e.g. Betway Premiership, some Premier League matches), rugby (Super Rugby, Six Nations, NRL), cricket (1-Day Cup, ICC events), golf (PGA, LPGA, LIV, Sunshine Tour), 

To some degree, you could say it's a mashup of SuperSport Blitz (news coverage and highlights), Grandstand (overflows or simulcast airings) and Variety 4 (school events and local content).

SuperSport Play is available to DStv Free-To-View customers as well as Premium and Easyview customers through the DStv Stream app. Similar to SuperSport Schools, it looks like MultiChoice might be widening it reach for consumers.

We can only assume under Canal+, this was probably another way to enhance consumer's experience. Under the Naspers regime, MultiChoice was very hesitant in making some of its live matches available on a package like DStv Access.

Now consumers on Access not only get to watch La Liga matches live but also RAW and SmackDown on the 24 hour WWE channel.

Besides that, there was also chatter last year about possibly launching a standalone SuperSport package. Although we're not holding our breath on that best guess is them partnering up with Netflix to give consumers access to SuperSport.

SABC Wants To Launch An Afrikaans TV Channel

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has revealed ambitious plans to launch a dedicated Afrikaans television channel as part of a broader strategy to win back its disaffected audience.

This move follows a U-turn by the public broadcaster, which recently admitted to making significant strategic errors by cutting popular Afrikaans content and moving its flagship news bulletin.

SABC head of platforms David Makubyane told Rapport that the broadcaster needs to expand its offering rather than scale down, despite its dire financial situation, to better fulfil its public benefit mandate.

“We actually need more TV channels, instead of scaling down,” Makubyane stated.

“Now that we have the digital space, one asks: Why don’t we have a Nguni channel? Why don’t we have an Afrikaans channel? Or a children’s channel or a documentary channel?”

In addition to such plans, the SABC is in the final testing phase of a dedicated RSG app. The app is designed to reach Afrikaans radio listeners globally and follows a recent redesign of the station’s website.

These developments come as the SABC attempts to repair its relationship with the Afrikaans community.

The broadcaster previously admitted that cutting long-running shows like 7de Laan and Fokus was part of an “expensive trial-and-error” process that lacked proper market research.

In addition to cutting the two–decade–old shows, it moved all its remaining Afrikaans programming to S3 (formerly SABC 3), which has substantially lower viewership and advertiser appeal.

That included shifting the Afrikaans news bulletin from 18:30 on SABC 2 to 20:30 on S3. That move was widely criticised by Afrikaans viewers, many of whom said they were already in bed by that time.

The broadcaster’s complete omission of the bulletin over the weekend of 5 and 6 April 2025 caused an uproar.

The SABC’s Afrikaans strategy confused many industry insiders, who warned that the Afrikaans audience was still attractive to advertisers.

The public broadcasters’ own research showed that DStv’s kykNET was the most valuable channel for advertisers in South Africa.

While many viewers and industry commentators concluded that the SABC’s decision was ideologically motivated, the real reason it wanted to move Afrikaans programming to S3 may be more nuanced.

In a presentation to a parliamentary subcommittee about potential financial models to replace SABC TV Licences, BMIT revealed that SABC 2 was classified as “non-commercial”, whereas S3 was a commercial channel.

Another R700 million bailout

The SABC’s grand ambitions are being overshadowed by a deepening financial crisis that threatens its very ability to remain on air.

The broadcaster informed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications in February that it urgently requires R120 million in additional funding to cover the upcoming local government elections.

National Treasury rejected it, and SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli warned that without this funding, the broadcaster will be unable to deploy the necessary infrastructure and personnel for nationwide election coverage.

“Without funding, the SABC will not be able to deploy infrastructure, personnel and resources on an appropriate scale nationwide for sufficient election coverage,” Chabeli told the subcommittee.

The financial pressure is compounded by a massive R1.5 billion debt owed to the state-owned signal distributor, Sentech. The SABC is currently unable to pay this debt, which has left Sentech itself at risk of collapse.

The broadcaster is currently pinning its hopes on a R700 million bailout from the National Treasury, which was recently earmarked to help settle the historic Sentech debt and ensure operational continuity.

Communications minister Solly Malatsi recently confirmed that a R700-million allocation announced for his department in the 2026 Budget Speech will go towards clearing the SABC’s debt.

“This is primarily to ensure that, from a Sentech liquidity perspective, we keep the operations to ensure that all broadcasters can have access to signal distribution.” 

Article was published by Mybroadband 

March 2026 On Nickelodeon Across Europe And Africa | Channel Premiere: The Marsupilamis | Returning Shows Including TMNT | More

Nickelodeon 

A brand new episode of The Loud House:

- 2026-03-10 10:30 9x13 Summer Camp: Ticked Off - season nine finale

-- Brand new The Patrick Star Show episodes:

- 2026-03-04 09:00 4x06a Sea Haw

- 2026-03-05 09:00 4x06b Li'l Past-cals

- 2026-03-06 09:00 4x07a Zoo U

- 2026-03-07 09:00 4x07b A Remembrance of Grand-Past

- 2026-03-10 09:00 4x08a Pat-Tathlon

- 2026-03-11 09:00 4x08b Upturn's Downturn

- 2026-03-12 09:00 4x09a In a Space Pickle

- 2026-03-13 09:00 4x09b Stare Wars

- 2026-03-16 09:00 4x10a Safety Worst

- 2026-03-17 09:00 4x10b De-Pat-ment Store

- 2026-03-18 09:00 4x12a Visiting Vikings

- 2026-03-19 09:00 4x12b It's Too Late...With Plankton

- 2026-03-20 09:00 4x13 Terror on Tape - season four finale (Halloween special)

-- Brand new episodes of Rugrats (2021) season two:

- 2026-03-01 22:15 2x15 The Climb / Wolf at the Door

- 2026-03-02 22:15 2x16 Chuckie Little / What's Your Wish

- 2026-03-03 22:15 2x14 Mini-Mommy / No Talking

- 2026-03-04 22:15 2x17 A Scare to Remember / The Long Playdate

- 2026-03-05 22:15 2x18 Guitar Man / Uncle Jake's Day Out

- 2026-03-06 22:15 2x21 Purim

- 2026-03-07 22:15 2x19 Surving Dil / Reptar's Mama

- 2026-03-08 22:15 2x20 The Heist / The Lambster

- 2026-03-09 22:15 2x22 The Tommy / Breaking Begley

- 2026-03-10 22:15 2x23 Big Night / No, No, Nana

- 2026-03-11 22:15 2x24 The Sleepover / The Favor

- 2026-03-12 22:15 2x25 Chuckie Come Home - Part 1

- 2026-03-13 22:15 2x26 Chuckie Come Home - Part 2 - season two finale; possible series finale

-- Brand new episodes of The Smurfs season four:

- 2026-03-30 07:00 4x06 We Smurfed on the Moon

- 2026-03-31 07:00 4x07 Big Baby / Don't Smurf a Sound

-- The brand new show The Marsupilamis:

- 2026-03-09 09:45 1x05a Mar-Snoop - series premiere

- 2026-03-09 09:55 1x01a Jade the Juggler

- 2026-03-10 09:45 1x01b Parcel Chase

- 2026-03-11 09:45 1x02a Jade the Influencer

- 2026-03-12 09:45 1x02b Restaurant Review

- 2026-03-13 09:45 1x03a Dance Off

- 2026-03-16 09:45 1x03b The show must go on

- 2026-03-17 09:45 1x04a Houbi Houba Heist

- 2026-03-18 09:45 1x04b Twister's Treehouse

- 2026-03-19 09:45 1x05b Canteen Carnage

Nicktoons

* is a premiere for Europe

-- New episodes of Bubble Guppies*:

- 2026-03-01 02:35 3x26 Fruit Camp!

- 2026-03-08 02:35 3x01 Get Ready for School!

- 2026-03-15 02:35 3x03 The Elephant Trunk-A-Dunk!

- 2026-03-22 02:35 3x04 The Super Ballet Bowl!

- 2026-03-29 02:35 3x05 The Wizard of Oz-tralia!

-- New episodes of Dora the Explorer*:

- 2026-03-06 02:20 8x16 Dora and the Very Sleepy Bear

- 2026-03-13 02:20 8x17 Let's Go to Music School

- 2026-03-20 02:20 8x18 Dora and Boots Help the Fairy Godmother

- 2026-03-27 02:20 8x19 Dora's Animalito Adventure

-- New episodes of Harvey Beaks*:

- 2026-03-04 01:55 2x01 Steampunks Part 1 - season two premiere

- 2026-03-11 01:55 2x02 Steampunks Part 2

- 2026-03-18 01:55 2x03 The New Bugaboo / The Case of the Missing Pancake

- 2026-03-25 01:55 2x04 Kathy with a K / Harvey's Pet Plant

-- New episodes of Wallykazam!*:

- 2026-03-04 02:20 1x22 The Dragon Games

- 2026-03-11 02:20 1x24 The Big Goblin Problem Part 1

- 2026-03-18 02:20 1x25 The Big Goblin Problem Part 2

- 2026-03-25 02:20 1x26 The Explorers Club - season one finale

-- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season two (channel premiere):

- 2026-03-09 09:25 2x01 Mutant Battle Arena - season two premiere

- 2026-03-10 09:25 2x02 Mutantweight Title Bout

- 2026-03-11 09:25 2x03 Raph Fights Everyone

- 2026-03-12 09:25 2x04 The Island

- 2026-03-16 09:25 2x05 The Other Mutanimals

- 2026-03-17 09:25 2x06 The Rejects

- 2026-03-18 09:25 2x07 Rise of the Night Ninja

- 2026-03-19 09:25 2x08 The Night Ninja Returns

- 2026-03-23 09:25 2x09 The Itching Scratch

- 2026-03-24 09:25 2x10 Get Rod

- 2026-03-25 09:25 2x11 The Unusual Suspects

- 2026-03-26 09:25 2x12 The Big Muck - series finale

-- New episodes of Nella the Princess Knight*:

- 2026-03-05 01:55 2x05 A Need For Steed / Trinket's Lost Voice

- 2026-03-12 01:55 2x06 See You Later Gladiator / Clod O'Matic

- 2026-03-19 01:55 2x07 Trinket's Bad Hair Day / Blaine Stirs Things Up!

- 2026-03-26 01:55 2x08 Nella in Bowling Land / A Tricksy Wedding

-- New episodes of Rusty Rivets*:

- 2026-03-03 02:40 1x06 Rusty Marks The Spot / Rusty's Bits On The Fritz

- 2026-03-10 02:40 1x07 Rusty Digs In / Rusty's Brave Cave Save

- 2026-03-17 02:40 1x08 Rusty Goes Bananas / Rusty's Night Lights

- 2026-03-24 02:40 1x09 Rusty's Bit In The Woods / Rusty's Stuffy Toughy

- 2026-03-31 02:40 1x10 Rusty's Nest Friend Forever / Rusty's Flingbot

-- New episodes of Planet Sheen*:

- 2026-03-07 02:20 1x11 Ooze on First / Monster-Fighting Combat Strike Force

- 2026-03-14 02:20 1x12 To Chill A Mocking Blurg / Now You Sheen It

- 2026-03-21 02:20 1x13 Desperate Houseguests / Nesvidanya - series finale

- 2026-03-28 02:20 1x01 Pilot

-- New episodes of Shimmer and Shine*:

- 2026-03-03 02:20 4x08 Zahracorn Tickles / The Zahracorn Salon

- 2026-03-10 02:20 4x09 The Sky Garden / The Dragon Zahracorn

- 2026-03-17 02:20 4x10 Buddies in a Bottle / The Gem Hunt

- 2026-03-24 02:20 4x11 The Dragon Rider

- 2026-03-31 02:20 4x12 Boom Zahra-Bake! / Rocket's Big Bark

-- Brand new episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants:

- 2026-03-30 15:00 15x10b MuseBob ModelPants

- 2026-03-31 15:00 15x11a Delivery of Doom

-- Brand new episodes of Super Duper Bunny League:

- 2026-03-02 14:00 2x11b Funny Bunny!

- 2026-03-03 14:00 2x12a Lizard Lips Returns!

- 2026-03-04 14:00 2x12b Beta Carrotron!

- 2026-03-05 14:00 2x13a Greazy Granny!

- 2026-03-06 14:00 2x13b Escape from Happy Camp! - series finale

-- New episodes of Top Wing*:

- 2026-03-07 02:40 1x09 Chicks On The Loose / Rod's Dream Of Flying

- 2026-03-14 02:40 1x10 Beaver Dam Rescue / The Great Goat-Cart Race

- 2026-03-21 02:40 1x11 The Banana Bandits / Shirley's Rocket Adventure

- 2026-03-28 02:40 1x12 Top Wing's Eggcellent Rescue / The Great Pearl-A-Palooza Caper

--New episodes of Winx Club (The Original Series)*:

- 2026-03-04 02:40 6x05 The Golden Auditorium

- 2026-03-11 02:40 6x06 Vortex of Flames

- 2026-03-18 02:40 6x07 The Lost Library

- 2026-03-25 02:40 6x08 Attack of the Sphinx