Baby Shark's Big Show Launches Soon On Play Room

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action will be rolling out a new preschool series, Baby Shark's Big Show!. This comes after the channel acquired rights to Tyler Perry's Young Dylan from Nickelodeon.

Synopsis for Baby Shark's Big Show 

Co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and SmartStudy, the global entertainment company behind the beloved children’s brand Pinkfong, the series (26 half-hour episodes) follows Baby Shark and his best friend William as they journey on fun-filled comedic adventures in their community of Carnivore Cove, make new friends and sing original catchy tunes along the way.

In the series premiere, “Baby Tooth/Slobber Slug,” Baby Shark gets his first loose tooth and enlists William’s help to lose it so he can trade it in for a sand dollar. When their antics get the tooth lost for real, they must team up with the Toothfish Fairy to track it down. Then, while Baby Shark and his friends are playing Barnacle Ball, Hank’s pet rock, Rocky, is accidentally sent soaring into the lair of the vicious Slobber Slug and they must stage an elaborate rescue mission.

Baby Shark’s Big Show! is executive produced by Gary “Doodles” DiRaffaele (Breadwinners) and Tommy Sica (Breadwinners), with Whitney Ralls (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls) serving as co-executive producer. 

Baby Shark's Big Show will air daily on the channel at 07:37 from Monday 8 December with repeats at 11:15.

Tyler Perry's Young Dylan Coming Soon To Play Room

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action will be airing Tyler Perry's Young Dylan in December. This will follow a slate of content launching on the channel including Blippi and Shaq's Garage.

Synopsis for Tyler Perry's Young Dylan 

The show centers on Young Dylan (played by real-life rapper Dylan Gilmer), who dreams of becoming a hip-hop superstar. The main storyline begins when his grandmother, Viola, finds herself unable to handle raising him and sends him to live indefinitely with her affluent son, Myles Wilson, and his family in a nice suburban home. 

The central conflict and humor come from the immediate and significant culture clash between Young Dylan's "street smart" swagger and the conservative, orderly lifestyle of the Wilson family, which includes his uncle Myles, his aunt Yasmine, and his two cousins, Rebecca and Charlie. 

Throughout the series, the family tries to adapt to their new dynamic. Dylan works on his music and often teaches his cousins lessons in "swag" and street smarts, while also learning about family rules and the importance of a stable home environment. More serious themes like class distinctions and child abandonment are addressed with humor. 

Tyler Perry's Young Dylan aired on Nickelodeon from February 29, 2020, to April 30, 2025, over five seasons. It serves as the longest running live-action shows of the decade by the network basically tying shows such as Henry Danger which held the record within the 2010s.

It will broadcast daily at 17:00 on Play Room replacing the first slot of Supa Strikas (Zulu).

Could Play Room Expand To More African Markets Perhaps In Place Of Nicktoons?

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action shows. Unlike Newzroom Afrika and Movie Room which are available across Sub-Saharan Africa, Play Room is confined to South Africa.

Not long ago, Canal+ had finalized it's acquisition of MultiChoice and expressed the notion of telling Africa's story to the world. They have been distributing regional brands like Africa Magic Hausa and Yoruba to Canal+ Afrique subscribers, these channels were exclusive to DStv.

Nicktoons which serves as a contender to Play Room had also ramped up its local offering with Nick In Your Language and NickMusic. As seen with MTV Base and BET come December 2025, those are likely to be shuttered and Nicktoons faces the possibility of audience fragmentation.

In recent years, MultiChoice had widened the reach of Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. to its DStv Family and Compact consumers making Nicktoons obsolete. SpongeBob's Zulu accent and the house vibes on NickMusic is what attracted viewers to the network. 

Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Nicktoons form part of the Pan-European group but only Nicktoons comes with a local variation while the rest aligns with other regions. Even if Nicktoons were to close, it's less likely that Nickelodeon would distribute this content.

Play Room serving as a contender with its own lineup of content can bolster the lineup for consumers in these markets.

Channel Premieres: How To Train Your Dragon 1, How To Train Your Dragon 2 & How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World And Flushed Away

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action will be airing 4 movies from DreamWorks: How To Train Your Dragon, How To Train Your Dragon 2, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Flushed Away.

How To Train Your Dragon

A Viking breaks all rules and befriends a dragon he is supposed to kill. He decides to call him Toothless and they join forces to put an end to the terror that wreaks havoc in their respective worlds.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Hiccup and Toothless explore several unmapped places. They come across a dragon rider who turns out to be Hiccup's mother. Hiccup and Toothless protect the village from a dangerous warrior, Drago.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Hiccup aims to unite the vikings and the dragons in order to bring peace on the island of Berk. However, he must stop the evil Grimmel and his devious plans to wipe out all dragons.

Flushed Away

In the film, a pampered fancy rat named Roddy St. James is flushed down the toilet in his Kensington apartment by a sewer rat named Sid, and befriends a scavenger named Rita Malone in order to get back home while evading a sinister toad and his hench-rats.

Not long ago, it was reported Play Room would be adding Blippi and Shaq's Garage to the lineup both of which are dubbed in Zulu. This will be accompanied by two other shows already seen on the channel: Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures and Rainbow Rangers.

More Zulu In The Stoep!!! With Blippi And Shaq's Garage Loading Soon On Play Room

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action will be adding two shows to the lineup: Blippi and Shaq's Garage. Both shows are also set to be dubbed in Zulu and made available in English.

Synopsis for Blippi 

The show features a cheerful, energetic character named Blippi, who takes viewers on adventures to places like factories, play parks, and zoos. As he tours these locations, Blippi relays his experiences directly to his audience, posing questions and explaining unfamiliar concepts.

The Blippi universe primarily consists of live-action content featuring the main character, Blippi (originally played by the creator, Stevin John, and later by actors like Clayton Grimm), as well as animated spin-offs. 

Blippi will be first live-action series to have been dubbed on the channel. For 2 years, they've only been targeting animated shows and not long ago Movie Room had numerous international films.

Synopsis for Shaq's Garage

Inspired by Shaq’s real-life love of cars, Shaq’s Garage is a modern-day mix of action, adventure and comedy that brings the athlete-entrepreneur’s “family” of cars, known as the Shaq PA, to life. This auto squad is sent by Shaq on various missions to help others and do good in their hometown community of Ollanta and beyond!

The Shaq PA is a diverse cast of 10 different characters, with O’Neal as the Shaq PA leader and the voice of giant truck, Biggie D, along with his buddy, the Grenoble, voiced by NFL Superbowl champion Rob Gronkowski.

This comes after the announcement that Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures and Rainbow Rangers would be added to the lineup. Both of which are currently seen on the channel in English.

Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures And Rainbow Rangers Coming Soon To Play Room In Zulu

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group offering a mixture animated and live action will be adding Zulu audio to Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures and Rainbow Rangers. For sometime, both shows had only been distributed on the channel in English.

Synopsis for Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures

The show centers on the everyday life and exciting adventures of Barbie Roberts as she navigates school, sports, and time with her three younger sisters—Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea—her parents, and her wide circle of friends, including her next-door neighbor Ken Carson. A key element of the series is the family's "Smart House", which occasionally exhibits strange behaviors, adding a fun dynamic to their lives. 

Synopsis for Rainbow Rangers 

Rainbow Rangers takes place in the magical land of Kaleidoscopia and focuses on the adventures of seven 9-year-old girls—Rosie Redd, Mandarin Orange, Anna Banana, Pepper Mintz, Bonnie Blueberry, Indigo Allfruit, and Lavender LaViolette—who are all represented by the colors of the rainbow. Each use their own powers to help protect the citizens of their land, clean the planet, and make the world a better place while also contending with the Praxton family.

Each episode begins with a problem with nature seen on Earth. A rainbow is sent to Kaleidoscopia and Kalia calls all seven rangers and Floof to her. After they are shown the nature problem, Kalia chooses the three ideal rangers for the mission, Floof mostly joins the three on their scooters. When the mission is completed, the three rangers return to Kaleidoscopia on their scooters.

This comes after the announcement that Blippi and Shaq's Garage would be added to the lineup. Both of which will be dubbed in Zulu and distributed in English 

New On Play Room: LEGO DREAMZZZ And LEGO Friends: Girls On A Mission - Release Date And What To Expect

Following its rollout on Cartoon Network and eToonz both of are distributed on MultiChoice's DStv consumers in South Africa. Play Room is set to allocate two shows from LEGO Group - LEGO DREAMZZZ in Zulu and LEGO Friends: Girls On A Mission.

Synopsis for LEGO DREAMZZZ

LEGO DREAMZZZ follows Mateo, Izzie, and their friends after they discover the Dream World is a real place connected to the waking world. They learn they are "Dream Chasers," a secret group that can enter the Dream World to help children who are trapped or terrorized by the evil Nightmare King.

The series airs every Saturday at 17:15 from 4 October.

Synopsis for LEGO Friends: Girls On A Mission 

The show centers on the five best friends living in Heartlake City, who decide to become a five-girl super squad. They dedicate themselves to protecting their city from bad people and swindlers, using their individual strengths to work together on heroic missions. Along the way, they face challenges, solve problems, and often find that doing good deeds is harder than it looks, while also learning the true meaning of friendship. 

The series airs on Sundays at 12:30 from 5 October.

Play Room Acquired Broadcasting Rights To The Thundermans From Nickelodeon

Play Room, a South African based children's channel offering a mixture of animated and live-action content will add Nickelodeon's The Thundermans from 1st September at 15:30. This will be the channel's third live-action series from Nickelodeon following Henry Danger and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky And Dawn.

Synopsis for The Thundermans 

The series revolves around the Thundermans, a family with superpowers who try to live normal lives in the fictional city of Hiddenville. Phoebe dreams of being a superhero and using her powers for good, while her twin brother Max wants to be the next big supervillain and use his powers for evil. Parents Hank and Barb attempt to live normal lives and not use their superpowers – albeit not very successfully – while Nora and Billy enjoy using theirs whenever possible. A former supervillain named Dr. Colosso has been transmogrified into a rabbit and lives in Max's lair in the basement, offering him advice on becoming a villain.

It stars Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, Chris Tallman, Rosa Blasi, and Maya Le Clark, and features the voice of Dana Snyder as Dr. Colosso.

The Thundermans premiered on Nickelodeon in October 2013 and wrapped its four-season run in 2018, ranking as the number-one series across all TV among Kids 2-11 and Kids 6-11. It was created and executive produced by three-time Emmy Award-winner Jed Spingarn. The show has seen a resurgence following its 4Q21 launch on streaming, where it quickly became the top title across all SVOD among Kids 6-11; and has continued to rank among the top titles with Kids 6-11.

The series is executive produced by Jed Spingarn (Big Time Rush, Jimmy Neutron) and Sean W. Cunningham & Marc Dworkin (The Thundermans, Julie and the Phantoms). Kira Kosarin and Jack Griffo are also executive producing. Production of the series for Nickelodeon Studios is overseen by Shauna Phelan, Head of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action. Brian Banks serves as Nickelodeon’s Executive in Charge of Production.

Play Room Acquires Broadcasting Rights To Lego City Adventures + Makes Several Schedule Adjustments

Some consumers may have noticed that aside from Play Room Live being reduced to half an hour with its Reloaded offering on weekends scrapped. Play Room also reduced and yanked away a bunch of shows from its lineup like Batwheels, Nicky Ricky Dicky And Dawn and Iron Man: Armoured Adventures.

With its movie offering being the only major booster as there's been a lot of adult favoured films such as Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm, Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage The Cowardly and Spider-Man Across The Spiderverse.

We can only assume that similar to eToonz, Ngwato Nkosi Group who manage the channel are currently reviewing it's lineup and most likely making minor budget cuts. Take for instance, Play Room Live being a half hour show we can only assume the show is not financially liable.

That's what happened with Hectic Nine 9 on SABC 2, now the program went from airing 5 days a week for an hour to 2/3 days a week for half an hour.

Another has to do with the dubbed animated content on their channel. Play Room had garnered traction for the dubbing shows like Cocomelon and Supa Strikas yet they've moved at a rather slow pace in allocating more episodes to these titles so I wouldn't be surprised if they opted to source from third parties.

From Monday 18 August, Play Room is set to allocate a new animated series LEGO City Adventures.

LEGO City Adventures explores the intertwining paths of the city's everyday heroes as they work together to stop a mysterious master criminal who begins to wreak havoc on their town.

Citizens of LEGO City featured throughout the series include: Sergeant Duke DeTain (Joe Zieja, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4), an overly heroic cop; Freya McCloud (Misty Lee, DC Super Hero Girls), a crisis-ready fire chief; Shirley Keeper (Alex Cazares, The Loud House), the grumpy street sweeper; Harl Hubbs (Daniel MK Cohen, Fixed), an overeager handyman; Tippy Dorman (James Arnold Taylor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), an expert doorman with a secret; Solomon Fleck (Roger Craig Smith, Avengers Assemble), the dedicated city mayor; Percival “Wheelie” Wheeler (Mick Lauer, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal), a skateboarding police chief and more.

Created and produced by LEGO Group, LEGO City Adventures is also produced by Flaunt Animation (Scotland) and Passion Pictures (France) and written by Jon Colton Barry (Phineas and Ferb), Steven Banks (SpongeBob SquarePants), Jamie Moyer (Modern Family) and Brian Hunt (Second City Chicago). Jason Oliveri is the executive in charge of LEGO City Adventures for Nickelodeon.

Movie Picks: Minions: Rise Of Gru On Studio Universal, Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage The Cowardly Dog On Play Room And Ghoomer On Zee Zonke

We're currently doing a little experiment and as such have launched a movie picks segment which comprise of channel premieres. These include movies that were likely accessible to premium and ones consumers couldn't see first hand when it was released.

Below is a list of premieres consumers should keep an eye on

Minions: The Rise Of Gru 

13 August 

18:00

Studio Universal 

In 1976, an eleven-year-old Gru dreams of becoming a supervillain, assisted by the Minions, whom he has hired to work for him. Gru is ecstatic when he receives an audition invitation from the Vicious 6, a supervillain team now led by Belle Bottom, who hope to find a new member to replace their founder, the supervillain Wild Knuckles, following their betrayal and attempted murder of Knuckles during a heist to steal the Zodiac Stone—a stone connected to the Chinese zodiac.

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage The Cowardly Dog 

17 August

16:00

Play Room

The film is set in Nowhere, Kansas, where the co-protagonists are facing a giant Cicada Queen. They discover that the cicada's unnatural size and every other strange encounter which Courage has dealt with were the result of a dark matter meteor located under Courage's residence.

Ghoomer

17 August

18:00

Zee Zonke 

Young batting prodigy Anina loses her right hand on the eve of her international cricketing debut. A failed cricketer enters her life and offers her new hope. With innovative training, she becomes a bowler for the Indian cricket team, and they invent a new style of bowling.

He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe And Steven Universe Future Launches On Play Room

Later in the week, Play Room is set to allocate two new animated shows to the lineup the first He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe launched on Netflix in 2021. The second is a mini series Steven Universe Future which is based on the animated series Steven Universe from Cartoon Network.

Synopsis for He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe 

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a dazzling CG-animated series that reimagines the thrilling heroic adventures of the Guardians of Grayskull for this next generation of fans. It introduces an all-new He-Man for kids to call their own, one they can meet the very first time he holds aloft his magic sword and says, “By the Power of Grayskull, I have the Power!”

He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe, produced by Mattel Television™ and premieres on July 21 at 18:00 on Play Room, brings a fresh stylized take on the world of Eternia, designed to reflect the sensibilities and aspirations of today’s kids, while celebrating the evergreen core truth of Masters of the Universe: we all have the power to become the best version of ourselves.

Synopsis for Steven Universe Future 

In Steven Universe Future, after saving the universe, Steven is still at it, tying up every loose end. But as he runs out of other people’s problems to solve, he’ll finally have to face his own. Haunted by the past and lost in the present, Steven begins manifesting new, uncontrollable powers that the Crystal Gems have never seen from him before. What does it all mean, and what does Steven want for his future?

The series is created by Emmy and Annie Award-nominated writer Rebecca Sugar, and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It premieres on July 21 at 15:00 on Play Room and not long ago, it was reported another spin-off is in development titled Steven Universe: Lars Of The Stars.

Recap To The Week: Mr. Bean: The Animated Series Makes A Dash To Play Room

Based on the popular British skit comedy "Mr. Bean", this animated cartoon follows the adventures of everyone's favourite bumbler. The title character, voiced by Rowan Atkinson, lives in his flat with the lovable Teddy, where he makes moronic decisions yet brilliantly solves them. However, he also needs to outwit his evil landlady Mrs. Wicket and her horrible one-eyed cat Scrapper.

The fourth season to Mr. Bean is currently broadcast on Cartoonito and now the first season is being allocated on Play Room weeknights at 19:10.

The mind numbing questions I get from readers is why Play Room is becoming a repeat slope for shows viewed on Cartoon Network and Cartoonito. There was Batwheels, Teen Titans GO!, Steven Universe, Supa Strikas and now Mr. Bean: The Animated Series.

eToonz despite not being a 24 hour channel or a pay-tv broadcaster has plenty of content not accessible on other DStv channels. You would assume a channel carried and paid for exclusively by MultiChoice would sought out an alternative offering like Sonic Boom.

With all these repeats, Play Room is more redundant than ever it would be a matter of consumer preference at this point. At this point, Mr. Bean would only benefit Access consumers as Cartoonito doesn't form part of the package.

Play Room Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Steven Universe

Steven Universe, an original animated comedy series from Cartoon Network Studios, will premiere Monday, April 1st at 15:00 on Play Room. Steven Universe will join other shows from Warner Bros. Animation to have been licensed to Play Room including Teen Titans GO! and Batwheels.

Steven Universe is about the misadventures of a boy named Steven, the ultimate “little brother” to a team of magical guardians of humanity—the Crystal Gems. Steven may not be as powerful as the Crystal Gems.  Or as savvy.  And he doesn’t have much control over his powers, which originate from the gem in his bellybutton. But that doesn’t stop him from joining Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl on their magical adventures and somehow finding a way to save the day! Steven Universe is created by Emmy® and Annie Award-nominated writer and storyboard artist Rebecca Sugar (Adventure Time). Ian Jones-Quartey (The Venture Bros., Adventure Time) serves as supervising director.

Steven (voiced by Zach Callison) is an energetic, lovable, half-Gem of a boy who is still trying to figure out his powers to become the true hero he is destined to be. With one foot in the human world and another in a magic world, sometimes his mortal quirks disrupt Gem missions and Gem magic can crash into his everyday life. But no matter what happens in a day, Steven has a smile on his face, a ukulele in his hand and a joke to crack!

The Crystal Gems, the self-appointed guardians of the universe, are as much a family as they are a team. Garnet (voiced by R&B singer-songwriter Estelle) is the mysterious and powerful leader, Pearl (voiced by Deedee Magno Hall) is the perfectionist who craves structure and logic and Amethyst (voiced by Michaela Dietz) is the prankster and loose cannon of the group.

Featured voices also include: Sinbad, Joel Hodgson, Tom Scharpling, Grace Rolek, Atticus Shaffer, Reagan Gomez, Brian Posehn, Matthew Moy and Kate Micucci along with special guest stars Aimee Mann and Nicki Minaj.

NEW SERIES ALERT!!! Iron Man: Armored Adventures (Play Room) + Doodloopstraat (eVOD) + Uthando Lukamama (VIU)

This is incoming if you're viewer in South Africa, as you already heard Play Room, VIU and eVOD has rolled out new content in the new month without any notice to the media and they go as follows:

Iron Man: Armored Adventures S2 (Play Room)

The series follows the adventures of a younger version of Tony Stark and his alter ego of Iron Man. As Iron Man, he uses his technological inventions to fight other similarly technologically advanced threats. His friends James "Rhodey" Rhodes and Pepper Potts help him on his courageous and dangerous adventures.

Broadcast on Disney XD, Iron Man: Armored Adventures consists of 26 episodes and features Black Widow, Hawkeye, Doctor Doom, Magneto, and Justin Hammer appear in this season.

Doodloopstraat (eVOD, Turkey)

Cennet marries Yılmaz, whom she fell in love with, and comes to Istanbul from her village as a bride and as a result of their marriage, they have three children. Division ensues amongst the children as their dad is blamed for her death in a letter she had written prior to her passing which leds to a search for the truth and self discovery.

Broadcast on TRT1 as Yürek Çıkmazı, it starred Ayça Bingöl as Cennet Tekin, Alp Navruz as Halil Tekin, İrem Helvacıoğlu as Av. Zeynep Önder, Mesut Akusta as Yılmaz Tekin, Bihter Dinçel as Birsen Karataş, Dilara Aksüyek as Feride Büyükdere.

Uthando Lukamama (VIU, Brazilian)

Lurdes, Vitória and Thelma are three women from different social classes that live their dilemmas as mothers. Lurdes is a struggling woman who is in search for her child after her ex-husband sold them to a child trafficker. Vitória becomes an unexpected single mother following a one night stand. Thelma is an overprotective mom who discovers that she has an incurable brain aneurysm.

Broadcast on Globo TV as Amor De Mãe, it starred Regina Casé as Lurdes dos Santos Silva, Adriana Esteves as Thelma Nunes Viana, Taís Araújo as Vitória Amorim, Isis Valverde as Betina Torres da Nóbrega, Humberto Carrão as Sandro Amorim Camargo and Chay Suede as Danilo Lopes Viana.

Play Room (Live) Vs. Teen Africa TV: Is Anyone Safe In This Game Of Cat And Mouse?

Play Room launched in November 2023 offering a mixture of live-action and animated content part of which were dubbed in local languages to consumers in South Africa. Prior to this, Africa's first channel for teenagers Teen Africa TV was introduced offering locally produced content ranging from reality shows, educational content and movies.

This was MultiChoice's second and third attempt at tapping into the local kids space following the demise of K-TV. With companies such as Disney pivoting toward streaming, MultiChoice was hoping to use Teen Africa TV and Play Room as channels to fill that gap.

Play Room had proved to be a popular addition to DStv following the launch of Play Room Live alongside diverse slate of local content with Bino And Fino (Nigeria), Jabu's Jungle (South Africa) and Akili And Me (Kenya). Teen Africa TV had a Nigerian adaptation of the musical La Voz Kids (The Voice Kids Nigeria) with Teen Street Live.

Fast forward to the present, you could say there have been some bizarre developments regarding Africa's Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.

Play Room has been rehashing if not piling up on content with Teen Titans GO!, Batwheels, Rainbow Rangers and Superhero Kindergarten. Not that it's a bad thing (entirely), most channels nowadays are zombified but viewers need consistency for which the channel lacks.

To make matters worse, Play Room Live appears to be in the danger zone with the channel dubbing it Play Room Live 2.0 following the holiday slumber. Not only has Play Room Live Reloaded been axed but now the youth show runs for half an hour.

At this point, I wouldn't be shocked if it got the boot I mean most kids don't rely on DStv nowadays to watch Cocomelon as everything can be streamed. I mean you don't often Hectic Nine-9 on SABC 2 and even K-TV had a youth show that too got the axe.

As for Teen Africa TV, I'd say it's in a much worser state than Play Room (Live) because now it's like Magic Showcase and broadcasts in certain parts of the day. From what I read, there was even some drama with the crew members for not getting paid for their work on the channel.

This is a channel that MultiChoice picked up in 40+ countries and viewers were perplexed by some of the content in hand particularly the dramas and movies. Disney Channel and Nickelodeon would often exempt themselves from any adult themes and this didn't extend to Teen Africa TV.

With very little marketing or much of a social presence, I wouldn't be shocked if Teen Africa TV were to end up like Media24's HONEY that was meant to be Africa's BBC Lifestyle. There's already a reduction in content and for whatever is commissioned barely gets press.

I wouldn't say the Teen Africa TV concept was a bad idea but it doesn't appear to be feasible which is where HONEY resided. This is a youth channel which is being distributed on a platform that caters for adults and this is the only kids channel with this much local content.

Play Room is more like Akili Kids with a reduced slate it's probably the most safest structure for any kids channel in this climate but if I'm being honest it appears Teen Africa TV is walking on eggshells.

Reminder: Superhero Kindergarten Rolls Out On Play Room From Tuesday 11 February At 10AM

Arnold Schwarzenegger will star as Captain Courage in Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, a new animated series aimed at preschoolers and produced by Kartoon Studios International, POW! Entertainment and Schwarzenegger’s Oak Productions.

Schwarzenegger is an executive producer of the series, which he and others are describing as the final project worked on by Lee, the Marvel Comics icon who died in November 2018 at age 95. Lee’s concept for the show was partly inspired by Schwarzenegger’s success in Universal’s Kindergarten Cop, the 1990 comedy directed by Ivan Reitman.

The official synopsis of Kindergarten Superhero

“Many years ago, Arnold Armstrong (Schwarzenegger) was just an average gym teacher who acquired incredible superpowers when the earth passed through the ionic dust left in the wake of a mysterious comet. As a result, Arnold transformed into Captain Courage, one of the earth’s greatest protectors…now, Arnold must serve humanity once again by working ‘undercover’ as a brand-new kindergarten teacher whose main task is to train this unique new generation of super-powered 5-year-olds secretly.”

Executive producing along with The Terminator star are Kartoon Studios chairman and CEO Andy Heyward and POW! Entertainment president Gil Champion. Paul Wachter, CEO of Main Street Advisors, helped broker the deal and will also executive produce. Fabian Nicieza, co-creator of the Marvel Comics character Deadpool, is scripting the animated series. 

Superhero Kindergarten will air daily at 10AM on Play Room from Tuesday, 11 February and this would mark the second preschool series from Kartoon Studios to rollout on the station following the rollout of Rainbow Rangers last month.

Play Room Live Is Back But There's A Catch

Forming part of the launch lineup in November 2023, Play Room Live was introduced as a teen focused interactive series where viewers could dive on into the latest trends or test their knowledge with quizzes. It currently serves as one of the only contenders for Hectic Nine-9 on SABC 2.

It was broadcast weekdays at 15:00 before moving down an hour later to 16:00 with highlights to past episodes on weekends in the same timeslot. Since December, Play Room Live was out of commission leaving the channel to air more repeat episodes of Henry Danger and Game Shakers.

At the time, it was stated the show had gone into production break with the series that will resume production in 2025. With schools that commenced a week ago, Play Room Live was nowhere in site which led some viewers to wonder the fate of the series.

According to Play Room, the show will return from 3 February at 16:30 hinting that it could be a half hour long as they brand it off as Play Room Live 2.0. The revamped show is also slated to introduce new hosts with further details to be made available in due course.

Below is a statement from the channel regarding the relaunch of Play Room Live 

Play Room To Debut DC's Longest Running Animated Series "Teen Titans GO!" In January 2025

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group that offers a mix of animated and live-action content has acquired rights to the first season of Teen Titans GO!. This comes after the broadcaster had acquired Batwheels and various films from the DC Superhero Girls franchise.

Synopsis on Teen Titans GO!

The character-driven comedy series focuses on the funny that happens in between saving the world and living together as teenagers without adult supervision. The comedic mayhem of the animated series is punctuated by pranks and the occasional need to fight crime, but it will also deal with the everyday issues of adolescence. With epic staring contests to decide who does the laundry, a series of quests and battles to construct the perfect sandwich or fighting crime in Jump City , one thing is for sure, these Titans will always be ready for an adventure inside the house and out.

The principal voice cast from the original Teen Titans series, based on DC Comics characters, will reprise their roles in Teen Titans Go!, with Scott Menville as the voice of Robin, the slightly power-mad perfectionist and leader of the Teen Titans. Hynden Walch voices Starfire, an alien struggling to fit in; Tara Strong voices Raven, the sardonic, deadpan demon girl; Greg Cipes returns as the slightly dim but always loveable loafer, Beast Boy; and Khary Payton provides the voice of Cyborg, a laidback kid who is half teen, half robot.

Since it's rollout on Cartoon Network, it serves as one of the longest running animated series in DC history with its 400th episode broadcast by the channel globally. This was accompanied with an all day marathon and a new short form series, Beast Boy: Lone Wolf.

The first season of Teen Titans GO! will broadcast daily on Play Room at 15:00 from 2nd January with the series also viewable on Cartoon Network.

News Shorts: WildEarth Launches On Samsung TV Plus In The United States, Play Room To Broadcast DC Superhero Girls Following The Inclusion Of Batwheels And Telemundo Hits A New Low With Nurses S1

WildEarth launch on Samsung TV Plus

WildEarth.tv, home of the largest safari vehicle in the world, announced that the channel will officially launch on Samsung TV Plus in the USA on 12 December 2024, just in time for the holiday season.

Samsung TV Plus is the go-to service for free, premium entertainment that allows content owners and advertisers to engage consumers at scale. As a leader in free ad-supported TV (FAST) and video-on-demand (AVOD), Samsung TV Plus is the #1 free ad-supported app on Samsung Smart TVs, with over 3,000 ad-supported linear channels available across 30 territories and over 630M active devices, Samsung TV Plus is exclusively available across Samsung TV, Galaxy, Smart Monitor, and Family Hub

 lineups.

Earlier in the month, WildEarth was reinstated on MultiChoice's DStv this comes after the two had a carriage dispute with WildEarth going on a rant. Since then, the CEO of the channel had issued an apology to MultiChoice regarding their past remarks with both evading questions as to how they've come to an agreement.

The DC Universe enters Play Room

After Play Room acquired rights to the Netflix hit series Batwheels now the channel is set to expand this offering with DC Superhero Girls: Superhero Of The Year. The short series was initially broadcast on e.tv with the more longer format series and films on Cartoon Network.

DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year is an American animated superhero film based on the DC Super Hero Girls franchise, produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It follows seven female students of Super Hero High as they discover their superpowers and fight the evil Dark Opal, who intends to develop a lethal weapon.

It will broadcast at 4PM from 13 December.

A rebroadcast of Nurses S1 replaces Hidden Passions 

Nurses was acquired on Telemundo back in 2022 and serves as one of the longest time productions viewed on the channel by Colombia's RCN who also produced shows like The Chosen Granddaughter and slated to also a return in the coming weeks, The Scent Of Passion.

It was quietly scrubbed from the line-up last year forcing Telemundo to temporarily halt primetime due to a change in legislation imposed in Cameroon and Uganda which prohibited broadcasters from promoting gay content. A censored version of the show was rebroadcast on the channel later in the year.

Now Telemundo is set to rebroadcast the first season of the medical drama from 19 December despite already doing so within the year of course the third and fourth season were left out at the time for unknown reasons.

Reminder: Play Room To Debut Brand New Series "Rainbow Rangers" In November

Kartoon Studios, a leading media company that creates, produces and licenses children's multimedia entertainment content and products for global broadcast, digital and retail distribution, has licensed broadcast rights for season one of its new CGI-animated production, Rainbow Rangers, to Play Room. 

Rainbow Rangers, which is expected to air on Play Room in November, boasts a unique and highly-accomplished team of creators from the animated motion picture world, including Rob Minkoff (Disney's The Lion King director), Shane Morris (Disney's Frozen co-writer), Tim Mansfield and New York Times Bestselling author and Emmy-nominated writer Elise Allen (Dinosaur Train, Lion Guard, Barbie specials) who is serving as head writer and co-creator. Kartoon Studios' Chairman and CEO and multiple Emmy-winning producer of more than 5,000 episodes of children's programming, Andy Heyward, serves as executive producer, with legendary Disney alum Ruben Aquino creating key designs. Aquino is responsible for the design and animation of many of Disney's most iconic characters from award-winning films including "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Mulan" and "Frozen."

"We've assembled an unprecedented team of creative talent to bring Rainbow Rangers to life and are committed to selecting partners of the same caliber that have a shared passion for the brand," said Heyward.

Rainbow Rangers is an empowering, exciting, behind-the-curtain peek at the real lives of superheroes -- Earth's First Responders. The series seamlessly blends fantasy and action-adventure with relatable, accessible stories about friendship and saving the environment. The Rainbow Rangers -- seven girls, each a different color of the rainbow, each with her own wildly unique personality and powers -- band together to save the day whenever there's trouble for the people, animals or natural wonders of the Earth. Every storyline is designed to show viewers the importance of working together and that actions both big and small can make the world a better place.

Aside from Rainbow Rangers, Play Room had obtained rights to Batwheels from Warner Bros. Animation Studios which following its rollout had been popular addition joining the likes of Teen Titans GO!.