Could MultiChoice Be Looking To Add Play Room On DStv And GOtv Platforms In Southern Africa And Likely The Rest Of Sub-Saharan Africa As A Replacement To Akili Kids??? Here's Why

Last month, MultiChoice and Ngwato Nkosi Group unveiled Play Room as a new kiddies channel to DStv. The channel combines fun and learning for children with a mixture of locally produced and international series with titles like Akili And Me and CoComelon dubbed in Zulu.

There are plans to include more languages of course it's not known how many languages Play Room is looking to incorporate to its line-up.

It was also confirmed by the channel themselves that Play Room will for now be available in South Africa. At the moment, it's not viewable in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Play Room served as a replacement to the factual based children's channel Da Vinci. In ROA, Da Vinci was substituted by Nigeria's Teen Africa TV which had since then following the closure of the factual brand expanded to 40 African countries (including MultiChoice's GOtv).

That only leaves Southern Africa without a replacement, as seen with past additions Zee Zonke and NWTV. These brands are all being filtered for Southern Africa despite incorporating local languages while Play Room is being excluded from the the rest of Africa.

MultiChoice had inserted test cards for Play Room in Southern Africa of course questions amount to why these appear in the region if the brand would be tailored only for South Africa like eToonz. If we had to guess, MultiChoice could be looking to launch a localised feed in Southern Africa.

Similar to the likes of Nickelodeon, this feed would come with a varied offering/language with some content sharing between and this includes the bulk of international shows like Paw Patrol, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures and Total Dramarama.

With Play Room taking centre stage on channel 300, we presume the feed in Southern Africa would take up channel 311 - just a hunch. But that can only happen if eMedia Investments' free-to-view eToonz gets booted seeing as we do use the same frequencies.

As for ROA, there appears to be some conflict pertaining to the content e.g. Akili And Me (Akili Kids, Kenya) and Henry Danger (Nickelodeon). It would make sense to remove some channels like Akili Kids if the plan would be distributing the exact content in local languages.

Akili Kids which is the East African version of Play Room serves as a multilingual children's channel with content like Akili And Me and Wild Kratts in Swahili. It also offers both fun and learning something that Play Room could look into building for these markets.

How Play Room Could Pan Out In The Rest Of Africa On DStv And Possible GOtv?

During the week, it was reported by sources that Ngwato Nkosi Group and MultiChoice will unveil their third TV channel to consumers, Play Room. A KTV and Akili Kids infused channel featuring educational and entertaining content some of which will be in local languages.

From what is understood, it's currently unknown if Play Room will be available in the rest of Africa at the same time as South Africa. Similar to sister channel, Newzroom Afrika it was first launched in South Africa before rolling out in the rest of Africa.

Movie Room on the other operate with two independent feeds one seen in Southern Africa and another for other African markets.

If anything, Play Room could undergo a similar scenario seen with their other sister brands. It could first establish its presence in South Africa or rollout across Africa at the same time and in a similar form to Movie Room I mean the idea of housing seperate feeds wouldn't seem far fetched.

It was very much confirmed that popular animated titles like CoComelon and Akili And Me would be dubbed in Zulu. A language that some parts of Africa aren't familiar with so if anything it wouldn't be shocking if there wasn't any local push initially in these countries.

Countries like East Africa already supply their own Play Room brand, Akili Kids. That is likely to get phased out should MultiChoice put any local investment toward Play Room.

I mean the scenario in each country is different but in recent years MultiChoice has been doing a lot of quality control. Not that Akili Kids is not performing to its potential but there's just so much of a resemblance to Play Room that MultiChoice may want to limit that offering.

Another having to do with transponder constraints, a lot of people following up on the matter are expecting more channels to close as the pay-tv company unveils new attractions.

As Predicted, Akili Kids Launches In Kenya On DStv

A month ago I conducted a list of possible kids channels that might surface on DStv and one of my predictions reached the surface.

Akili Network, creators of Akili Kids!, Kenya’s first and only 24/7 free-to-air children’s learning TV channel, announces a partnership with DStv, a platform from Africa’s leading entertainment company Multichoice Africa. As of March 3rd, DStv will now carry Akili Kids! on channel 311 for all existing DStv customers in Kenya.

Akili Kids! was made in Kenya, for the Kenyan people and is committed to ensuring the wholesome development of children by selectively broadcasting only programmes that have positive learning outcomes. Akili Kids! has a wide variety of programs catering to children, parents, guardians and caregivers across the entire country. Moreover, the channel is deeply dedicated to enhancing relationships between parents and children by airing shows that can be enjoyed by children and the entire family together. Akili Kids! has a weekly viewership of over 5.4 million children and 4.3 million adults between 6am and 6pm, as per a specialized Geopoll report designed to measure viewership of children, parents and caregivers. Akili Kids! has introduced a comprehensive child-protective advertising policy that ensures children are not exposed to unhealthy or potentially harmful marketing messages.

Established in 1995, DStv aims to deliver the right type of content to millions of Africans, anytime, anywhere. As part of the Multichoice Africa family, DStv shares in the vision of making both homegrown and international entertainment more accessible to Africans as well as contributing to the economic growth of Africa by creating employment opportunities and empowering businesses across the continent.

“We are incredibly excited to add DStv as a distribution partner. With DStv’s exceptional brand value and reach, the greatest beneficiaries of our partnership is to Kenyan children, parents and caregivers.”, says Jesse Soleil, President and Co-Founder of Akili Network.

Kenyan children, parents and caregivers can now watch Akili Kids! TV on DStv channel 311 to enjoy a wide range of programmes: school readiness during the day, and action, adventure and learning shows for school-aged children in the afternoons and evenings, all of which promote academic, social, emotional, mental and physical well-being.

That means South Africa (eToonz) and Kenya (Akili Kids) are the only markets where DStv offers an accessible regional kids channel both of which occupy the same channel number in their respective regions.

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