Recap To The Week: SABC Extend Agreement With MultiChoice For News Channel, Rolls Out Second Local News Channel SABC Lehae On DTT Platforms

During the week, it was revealed by the public broadcaster that they extended their carriage agreement with MultiChoice for SABC News that promises to keep redefining the broadcasting landscape. Although, the duration of this agreement remains unknown.

Interesting to note, the public broadcaster finally gave an official brand name to their second news channel currently seen on DTT and DTH, SABC Lehae. After failing to officially roll it out during the year sources mentioned it had a soft launch.

Formerly known as SABC Parliament and SABC eKhaya, the public broadcaster views SABC Lehae as an alternative to SABC News. Not sure what that means when it comes to the multilingual brand's chances on pay-tv cause as seen with SABC Sport that's not seen on DStv.

But from what we've observed in a previous story, it's likely that the channel could be added onto eMedia Investments' Openview platform. The public broadcaster had promised the company as well as consumers two additional channels to accompany SABC 1-3 and Sport.

Aside from that, Openview doesn't offer a local news channel and SABC Lehae could help fill that void seeing as Newzroom Afrika and eNCA reside with DStv. Similar to these brands, SABC Lehae would hold an significant position keeping viewers up-to-date with daily happenings.

Could SABC eKhaya Be The Next Channel By The Public Broadcaster To Launch On Openview?

During the year, SABC announced the rollout of a second news channel on their DTT platform, SABC eKhaya. Formerly known as SABC Parliament, the news channel would serve as a spinoff to the current SABC News channel on DStv offering content in local languages.

Similar to SABC Education and SABC Sport, the channel would feature a lot of archived material and telecast content already seen on SABC 1-3. Overtime, the public broadcaster would work on ways to limit the rebroadcasts as the channel garner traction.

Unlike MultiChoice's DStv and SABC's DTT, eMedia Investments doesn't offer a local news channel on the free-to-view Openview platform. The last iteration News And Sport was shut down due to financial constraints and poor feedback from consumers.

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Most other local news stations like the already mentioned SABC News alongside Newzroom Afrika and eNCA are funded by MultiChoice's DStv.

From the looks of things, SABC eKhaya appears to be the only option for eMedia Investments and works under their platform's current budget. As mentioned, there's not much live content on the channel it basically serves as a catch-up service to SABC 1-3.

Similar to SABC Sport, it has longevity and could help fill that void left by News And Sport. The only issue would be funding as consumers would expect a brand like SABC eKhaya to function like SABC News but that is only possible if the SABC were to receive funding.

In other developments, SABC is said to have finalized details for the next TV channel which might be unveiled in the next financial period with rumours suggesting it to be a general entertainment brand similar to the defunct SABC Encore.

What Happened To SABC's Indigenous News Channel, SABC eKhaya?

During the year, the public broadcaster promised to unveil the highly anticipated news brand, SABC eKhaya. A spinoff to the current SABC News channel seen on MultiChoice's DStv, the channel would be broadcast in all 11 South African languages was slated for April 2023. 

We were told by sources that the channel had a soft launch so to better understand this we turn to SABC Sport. The channel was active almost a year or so before it was added to the Openview platform and TelkomOne (now SABC+) and similar to SABC Sport it's not available on SABC+.

If we had to guess, the public broadcaster is probably looking to get the channel on MultiChoice's DStv or eMedia Investments' Openview. We assume they want to give this channel as much exposure as seen with SABC Sport which became the top 10 channels on Openview.

Not much marketing was put into SABC Sport but the channel managed to defy all odds and the same outcome could be expected for SABC eKhaya should it not exclusively to DTT and streaming.

From what we understand they want to make it a leading brand similar to SABC News or it's initial offering at the time, SABC Parliament. For now, the channel will serve as a catch-up to the current offering seen on SABC 1-3 and overtime they could fiddle around with the repeats.

It's currently unknown whether the public broadcaster plans to market SABC eKhaya or similar to SABC Sport wait until they can get more platforms onto the concept.

Recap To The Past Decade: The Public Broadcaster Looking To Rollout A Health And History Channel As Ninth And Tenth TV Channel

In the last decade, the public broadcaster has been going through a financial crisis and despite the current situation are still looking to add more channels to their DTT platform. Initially set to be 18 TV channels was downsized to possibly 9 channels.

SABC 1-3 made up part of that alongside SABC News which is currently seen on the DStv platform with the defunct SABC Encore making up the fifth TV channel. Other TV channels in talks at the time included a sports, health, history, education and parliament channel.

SABC Education was the sixth channel out of the nine to enter fruition after the pandemic. It was initially meant to be in partnership with the Department Of Education but with no luck is just a catch-up/archives channel for content viewed on SABC 1-3.

SABC Sport came as the seventh channel a year after on eMedia Investments' Openview platform. It currently ranks as the top 10 channels on the platform just like SABC Education it features rebroadcasts as well as delayed live matches apparently.

SABC Parliament came as the eighth and believe it or not they were in active development but somewhere along the line. The channel was retooled as a multilingual news channel which too features archived material, SABC eKhaya.

After taking the facts to consideration, it's possible that the public broadcaster might be turning to their 2018 DTT plans when discussing additional channels or possible the scrapped 2011 plans which included an interactive video service channel.

With that being added up, it's possible that the public broadcaster might introduce another 2 channels possibly a health and history channel. Although nothing is official yet the idea wouldn't seem far fetched at this point.

From my understanding with SABC Parliament, they lacked funding so they pursued something similar, SABC eKhaya. So health and history might as well be victims of similar circumstances although nothing concrete it wouldn't be shocking.

SABC Launches Second News Channel Formerly Known As SABC Parliament In April 2023

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will offer the public service broadcaster’s first ever 24-hour news channel in African languages in April 2023. In addition, this channel will offer an extensive coverage of parliamentary proceedings.

The launch of this channel is in line with the SABC’s public mandate obligation, for the provision of universal access, as enjoined by the relevant legislation governing the SABC.

The imminent launch of this channel reinforces the SABC’s pivotal role in facilitating social cohesion, by providing a wide range of programming that caters for the needs of the entire society. The SABC is also driven by the three key principles in its news delivery and value proposition: the principle of inclusion, deliberation and opinion formation which are aimed at empowering citizens to be part of participatory democracy, despite their socio-economic status, geographical location and language.

The channel, which is not new, was acquired in 2018 and publicly accessed through the DTT platform from 2019, offering parliamentary proceedings exclusively. In line with the SABC’s governance framework, a business decision was made to reposition the channel to offer more than parliamentary proceedings and include bulletins and current affairs in African languages. This channel will continue to broadcast on DTT and will be added on the public broadcaster’s OTT platform.

SABC:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- TelkomOne's transition into SABC+
- SABC 1 title card registered for Openview
- SABC Children appears to have wrapped production

The SABC’s Group Executive: News and Current Affairs, Mr. Moshoeshoe Monare stated that “This is our response to the demand from millions of our viewers yearning for extensive news coverage and a dedicated channel in their own languages. The response from our viewers was phenomenal and this is not a replication of our English news channel. We are telling different stories of our communities and reflecting people’s aspirations in their own languages.”

Monare further stated that “This public news service is an added platform to serve mainly communities that are not necessarily reached by mainstream commercial media. These are millions of viewers who wait until evening, to watch less than half an hour bulletins in their own languages. SABC News is well positioned to rise to this challenge, because of its decades of experience in public broadcasting in indigenous languages”.

The SABC reiterates its commitment as the country’s only public service broadcaster, to fulfil its constitutional mandate of delivering news and current affairs content that reflects the diverse South African society.

All the details pertaining to the channel will be revealed soon.

SABC Parliament Has Been Scrapped For Upcoming DTT Channel, Might Be Added Onto Openview And DStv

During the week, the public broadcaster unveiled a promo where several of their anchors announced the launch of an influential news channel which will serve as a complimentary to SABC News covering Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa basically all 12 indigenous languages.

The channel is said to not offer English news bulletins or at least from what other places are showing as they're leaving that to the current SABC News channel carried exclusively onto MultiChoice's DStv and also available on their DTT platform.

As discussed, no name had been shared for the channel as it gears up for an early 2023 release on DTT platforms.

SABC:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- TelkomOne's transition into SABC+
- SABC 1 title card registered for Openview
- SABC Children appears to have wrapped production

From what several consumers have shared SABC Parliament, a brand which formed part of the public broadcaster failed DTT plans have been shelved or restructured better yet to cater for this new channel with shows like Fokus, Leitlho La Schaba and Ngula La Vuthi.

All of this are basically repeats from SABC 1-3 and News and also summarised my theory for this new channel just another OpenNews which might as well have more success than eMedia's failed News And Sport channel.

SABC:
- Could SABC Encore revival be scrapped?
- A former SABC channel was added onto Openview
- SABC Movies' dream journal
- SABC Education not launching on Openview

Taking the content to account, it's possible that this might be one of the two entertainment channels eMedia Investments failed to launch in 2021 and also one of the three yet to be launched channels on DStv to replace eMedia's 4 channels.

The public broadcaster is behind on launching new channels but the details about this upcoming channel matches the description promised to Openview consumers about the two channels in 2021: it would carry a lot of existing and archived material.

With SABC Parliament scrapped, you've got to wonder what's become of the SABC Encore revival and SABC Children. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if these suffered the chop as well but the channels were just clear speculation.

Roundups #125: Avatar To Return With New Animated Series On Nickelodeon, Eternal Love Rebroadcast Coming Soon To Star Life And SABC Plans To Launch Indigenous News Channel In 2023

Third Avatar instalment in the works at Paramount

Get ready to show off your element-bending skills as Paramount+ is brewing a new Avatar animated series. The show is slated for a 2025 release and will feature an ‘earth Avatar’ after Aang and Korra. There is also a report that an animated movie will arrive in theaters after the series comes out and will have the same Avatar as the show.

Avatar Studios is building its own universe now, and with many projects booked and planned ahead, there is going to be no shortage of Avatar content for fans. An adult Aang movie is reportedly coming to theaters on October 10, 2025, as well as the much-anticipated on-demand series. Both will be released in the same year – a major launch for the studio.

The movie will be Avatar Studios’ first-ever project, hence this implies that it will come before the animated series, followed by the animated movie. Fans should also not forget that there is a live-action young Aang series coming in 2023.

Regular Nick:
- CBeebies picks up second season to Tish And Tash
- Best & Bester coming soon to Nicktoons
- We Baby Bears currently the only original program on Cartoon Network
- January on Cartoon Network and Boomerang

Eternal Love is back by popular demand on Star Life

Eternal Love revolves around the lives of Dr. Rohit Sippy and Sonakshi Rastogi, two completely different individuals belonging to completely different worlds unaware of the fact that their worlds, though poles apart, are meant to collide.

It is an Indian romantic drama television series that aired from 17 June 2019 to 14 March 2020 on StarPlus. Produced by Sandiip Sikcand under SOL Productions, it starred Karan Grover and Dipika Kakar as lead actors.

The series aired on the channel in 2021 and makes a comeback as part of The Best Of Star Life from January 9 replacing Forbidden Love.

Everyday Novelas:
- Prediction: What to expect on Telemundo by next year?
- Prediction: eBolly to rollout on the Openview platform
- Prediction: What to expect on TLNovelas by next year?
- Carmen And Razia Sultan coming soon to Zee One and Zee World

Second SABC News channel reportedly in development

SABC News has been exclusive to DTT and MultiChoice's DStv platform giving viewers insights on what's happening in South Africa and across the world. Despite having a bit of rivalry with eNCA remains as another valuable brand to the market.

As seen within their bulletins, it was revealed that the public broadcaster wants to launch its 7th TV channel by next year probably before March which serves as an expansion to the current SABC News Channel offering multilingual content and a possible replacement to SABC Parliament.

Of course, the public broadcaster fails to mention where they'll get the necessary funds to go on such a venture. My guess is the channel will serve as one of the upcoming channels for Openview (Openview Ultra, grain of salt) and DStv.

My guess seeing as this channel may not be tied down like the SABC News Channel is that it will be crawling with repeats from SABC 1-3 possibly dubbed and offer primetime news for about 2 hours.

SABC:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- TelkomOne's transition into SABC+
- SABC 1 title card registered for Openview
- SABC Children appears to have wrapped production

Prediction: Parliament TV To Be Taken Over By The SABC, Rebrands Into SABC Parliament

Prediction: A statement of what you think will happen in future

Earlier in the week, it was announced TelkomOne would be taken over by the SABC's new streaming service, SABC+ then an idea came to mind about one of their DTT plans so we dive on further to them and explain it a bit better through another brand, Parliament TV.

Parliament TV is a provincial channel which airs on channel 408 through the DStv platform and operates more like a news hub but usually for gatherings and other important events which in a way can be kind of boring but you get the gist of it.

A few years ago, the public broadcaster unveiled 5 new channels of which two which fortunate to materialize with one of the latters being SABC Parliament going through development hell.

Not that it isn't a thing as test had been conducted on it a while back and from what was stated by the public broadcaster. The channel would need some form of funding on top of an outlet where they could try to expand and what better way than through Parliament TV.

Parliament TV is available to consumers on the DStv platform on an exclusive basis and the change to SABC Parliament means the channel alongside SABC News join the bulk of entertainment to be confined with the pay-tv company.

Summary: Government To Update Viewers On The Progress Of Digital Migration And Unveil A Further Set Of Channels

1.  Introduction

1.1. Many developments involving the Broadcast Digital Migration (BDM) and Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) have taken place since our last media briefing on the 24 November 2021 and my SONA debate address on the 15th of February 2022.

1.1.1. The Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies determined and gazetted the 31st of March 2022 as the end of dual illumination period and the Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) date.

1.1.2. The regulator, ICASA successfully concluded the auction of the high demand spectrum, raising the much-needed R14.4 billion for the national fiscus. This left the BDM process, particularly the analogue switch-off (ASO) with limited time to conclusion, for the National Treasury to access over R14 billion proceeds of the spectrum auction.
1.1.3. ICASA, announced a transitional period for the broadcasting service licensees and signal distributors to ensure a seamless transition process for the switch-off of the remaining analogue transmitters to end on 30 June 2022.

1.1.4. The Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of concluding the much-delayed broadcast digital migration but deferred the (ASO date to 30 June 2022 to allow the Minister to complete installations to households that has applied on 31st October 2021. It is important to indicate that, as usual, e-TV has since appealed this judgement.
1.1.5. The Minster of Trade, Industry and Competition has gazetted a request for comments on the DTIC’s intention to prohibit the importation of analogue television sets, to prohibit the dumping of analogue TV sets in South Africa whilst supporting the penetration of digital television viewing.

1.1.6. We have managed to conclude SABC analogue Switch-off in the five provinces of the Free-State, Northern Cape, North-West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. In the provinces where analogue has been switched-off, we have concluded a process of re-arranging spectrum (Restacking) in these 5 provinces thereby giving a way for the spectrum to be assigned for future technology usages.

 

 

2. Date for Final Switch- Off of Analogue Signal and the End of Dual Illumination Period

2.1. Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies in line with paragraph 3.3.1 of the Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy published in Government Notice No. 958, Government Gazette No. 31408 of 08 September 2008, as amended, determine the 31st of March 2022 as the date for the final switch-off of the analogue signal and the end of dual illumination.

2.2. The Minister had considered the two (2) conditions for the end of dual illumination period as set out in the Digital Migration Regulations published in Government Notice No. 1070, Government Gazette No. 36000 of 14 December 2012, and satisfied herself that these conditions have been met as follows: that the electronic communications network service licensee, SENTECH, appointed to provide signal distribution services to the SABC has ensured that the digital broadcast signal for the SABC has reached hundred percent (100%) through the terrestrial and the satellite networks; and that the coverage requirements for Multiplexes 1 and 2 based on the terrestrial television broadcasting service licensees licence conditions have been met, for those licensees who have appointed an electronic communications network service licensee to provide signal distribution services.

3. Gauteng High Court judgement and Progress with the Set Top Boxes (STBs) Installations

3.1. We welcomed the Gauteng High Court judgement including the deferment of the ASO Date from 31st March 2022 to 30 June 2022. The deferment is to give government sufficient time to complete installations of Set Top Boxes (STB) for households who have timeously registered and thus are entitled to receive their STBs before the analogue switch off. The 30 June 2022 date coincides with date ICASA has announced as the end of transitional period for the broadcasting services and signal distributors.

 

3.2. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies committed to ensure that the 507 251 households that registered by the 31 October 2021 have their STBs installed by no later than 30 June 2022 and same for those the High Court directed be installed by no later than 30 September 2022.

3.3. As of 25 April 2022, of the 507 251 households, we had distributed 258 821 STBs to the beneficiary households and 109 000 STBs installed, with 6973 beneficiaries not having been found at their registered addresses and could not be reached through the provided mobile numbers.

3.4. We are pleased to report the completion of installations to all households that registered and qualified by 31 October 2021 for the Gauteng province. The installations of STBs for those who applied by 31 October 2021 in Northern Cape should be concluded in the next few days. Equally, we are on course to completing the remaining installations in the months of May and June 2022.

4. Impact of the KZN and Eastern Cape floods disaster on the STBs installations

4.1. We are currently undertaking assessments on the impact of the recent floods in KZN and EC on both the households with installed STBs and the structural integrity and existence of houses of registered households awaiting installation of STBs.

4.2. We have adopted a three (3)-pronged approach, particularly in eThekwini and Ugu districts due to high number of registrations and high impact of the floods:

 

Quarantine the numbers to still be installed but working with Department of Human Settlements to verify the number of households both installed and awaiting installations to determine the extent of the damage to the homes for continuing installation or replacing damaged installations. We will communicate as soon as possible the number of households whose installations will be delayed as we await the resettlement process. 
For the registered households whose homes require re-settlement or repair, we will work with Human Settlements to ensure installations when repairs or resettlement is completed.
Continue with installations to the households whose homes physical structures were not damaged by the rains.

5.  End-of-Life Stage for Analogue Technology and Digital Television as a way of watching TV in South Africa

5.1. We have previously indicated that we have received correspondence from the Analogue Transmitters technology manufacturers and repairers that their last inventory stock hold was in 2018

5.2. On the 24th of February 2022, the Minster of Trade, Industry and Competition on behalf of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa and following a request from the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, gazetted an Invitation for the Public to Comment on the Introduction of a Policy Directive on the Importation of Analogue Television Sets.

5.3. The intention of the Policy Directive is to prohibit importers, retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers from shipping to and importation of all analogue television sets classified under HS8528.7 after 31 March 2022.

5.4. Understanding that the retail market will have analogue TV sets, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies has commenced consultations with TV sets manufacturers and distributors within the country with the purpose of gazetting a Policy Directive to require for all Digital TV sets in South Africa to carry a Go Digital stamp to assist consumers from purchasing analogue TV sets.

 

5.5. Given the prevalence of Smart TVs in the country, SENTECH will commence a process to create a channel to carry streaming content or OTT from the current DTT/ DTH platform. More details will be shared during the Department’s Budget Vote speech on the 18th of May 2022.
5.6. We will also provide further details on additional channels on the DTT/ DTH platform during the Budget Vote Speech with the purpose of bring new and additional content with new owners as part of grow and diversifying South Africa’s creative industry. 

6. Conclusion

6.1. We are currently implementing an accelerated distribution and installation of STB’s drive in the remaining 4 provinces (Gauteng, Western-Cape, Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal) to ensure that we meet the deadline.

 

6.2. The government of South Africa remains committed to its objective of supporting indigent households to ensure universal access of digital services. We will commence with the end of September target immediately when we conclude a province, as it is a case in the Gauteng Province. We are also in a process of creating STB capacity for any subsequent registrations and placement in the retail market for future replacement and access to any requiring citizen.

6.3. We are continuing to increase our capacity to install more STB daily. SENTECH is out on a call for STB Installer applications to augment our installations capacity. Therefore, Sentech is constantly intensifying installer capacity nationally to ensure that all the registered and qualifying households are migrated within the set timelines.

MultiChoice Set To Add A Further 3 Channels From The SABC To Replace The 4 e.tv Channels On DStv

On Monday, the Competition Tribunal heard eMedia’s application for interim relief against MultiChoice’s decision to drop the eMovies, eMovies Extra, eExtra and eToonz channels from its DStv packages.

The broadcaster planned to suspend these channels from its service at the end of March 2022 but delayed the removals by two months after E-tv decided to take the issue to the Competition Commission.

eMedia Holdings legal counsel Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued that MultiChoice’s decision amounted to a dominant player refusing to supply a scarce service, in contravention of the Competition Act Section 8. The company believes it will lose as much as 19% of its advertising revenue should the channels be suspended.

 

 

In his opening arguments on the matter, Ngcukaitobi stated that MultiChoice did not justify its decision during negotiations or in response to a letter of demand from eMedia.

MultiChoice had only stated the decision was based purely on commercial considerations.
It was only in its first answering affidavit to the case brought before the Competition Tribunal that MultiChoice elaborated. Initially, its rebuttal included that it had satellite capacity constraints.

MultiChoice said it had to cut eMedia’s four channels so it could accommodate three yet-to-be-launched SABC channels that it must carry under the changing legislation.

Ngcukaitobi also stressed that DStv doesn’t have to carry SABC’s additional channels immediately, but only sometime in the future following negotiations with the SABC.

 

 

A year ago, SABC officially unveiled their sports channel SABC Sport and a year prior SABC Education. On LyngSat, they registered three channels SABC Parliament, SABC Children and SABC Encore. Could any of these 5 channels be making their way to DStv?

SABC Encore has been rumoured for over a year as the public broadcaster offers it on DTT to broadcast sports and other events that weren't seen in the version that was made available on DStv. On top of the fact that the public broadcaster hoped to revive the channel.

SABC Education was meant to be on DStv and rival platform StarSat but the SABC was stalling so both brands removed further info about the channel on their website and i-Plate respectively.

The public broadcaster plans to launch more channels in the near future alongside a streaming service where these channels alongside SABC 1-3 will be available to stream.

Aside from DStv, the public broadcaster still has to launch a further two channels on the Openview platform as promised in 2021.

 

E-tv needs DStv
eMedia contends under the prevailing market dynamics, its channels were dependent on DStv to remain competitive. Ngcukaitobi argued presence on the DStv platforms allows E-tv to maintain customer contact, generate advertising revenue, and ensure a high-quality broadcasting service.

The company has also argued that carrying the four E-tv channels was economically feasible for MultiChoice, as eMedia provided them for free, and two were in DStv’s top 10 most popular channels.

MultiChoice’s other reasons for denying a carriage renewal agreement included that the channels did not meet its strategic objectives for local content, black empowerment, value propositions, and its aim to decrease the frequency of repeats.

Ngcukaitobi said MultiChoice’s claims that the decision was based on E-tv not meeting DStv’s strategic objectives were “contrived”.

He argued two of the four channels were sharply focused on local content, while eMedia was a majority black-owned business. He also maintained MultiChoice had not provided evidence it would replace the channels with other offerings that met its criteria.

Ngcukaitobi surmised that MultiChoice’s action was done from a desire to inflict harm on a potential rival by undercutting its revenue.

Roundups #28: M-Net Working On More Short Form Series As Lingashoni And The Queen Are Axed On 1Magic And Mzansi Magic, SABC Planning To Restructure Their Offering Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Unnamed OTT Service And, The Triplets Alongside New Episodes Of Roary The Racing Car Launches This April On JimJam Africa

M-Net calls it quits for these two series

“The Queen’s producers, Ferguson Films, will shoot Season 7 of the show, which will premiere in July 2022 and viewers will continue to enjoy the telenovela on their screens until its final episode airs on 13 January 2023,”.

“The 1Magic telenovela Lingashoni, produced by Stained Glass TV, will come to an end after its second season concludes on 16 March 2023. This follows the season’s premiere on 21 March 2022.”

A new telenovela will plug the gap on the weekday 9pm slot, replacing The Queen from January 2023. The new content, which is under development, will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile The River, a multi-award winning production, has been renewed for Season 5.

“Our replacement for Lingashoni will be announced in due course. The business has reviewed our approach to focus on stabilising the channel slate with limited high-end series and realities.”

Also read:
- The Scent Of Passion coming soon to Telemundo
- April on Honey
- March on TNT
- 7 Year Stitch coming soon to E!
- March on Curiosity
- March on Universal TV
- March on Studio Universal
- Simply Maria has a release date on TLNovelas
- Second batch of rumoured series coming to M-Net, 1Magic, Me and Showmax
- March on E!
- March on CBS Reality and CBS Justice
- March on History

Potential lineup changes coming to the SABC channels

As reported in the past week, the public broadcaster has pushed the launch for its new channels and OTT service to the next financial year which will end by March 2023.

These new channels are said to be made available on the untitled OTT service as predicted and plans are underway to redevelop the offering across all their television channels and radio stations ahead of the launch.

The public broadcaster wants to have a multi-OTT presence and just like Discovery Inc's Discovery+ they're not setting out to surpass Netflix or Showmax but to be sustainable for the years to come.

As mentioned a couple of times, the rumoured SABC Encore could be different to the one formerly seen on DStv and this info kind of proves my suspicions were pretty accurate.

Also read:
- SABC wants to launch a second sports channel
- Trollstopia coming soon to e.tv
- eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz to stop airing on DStv
- Dokter Ali S2 coming in April to eExtra
- SABC will launch more HD channels and streaming service
- What to possibly expect on SABC's streaming service?
- Should eReality merge with News And Sport?
- Racing240 expands to Openview this April
- Doodsondes returning for a fourth season on eExtra
- Saloni and East Meets West coming soon to SABC 2

More kids entertainment for Easyview customers

PBS Kids which was available to DStv Premium, Compact+, Compact, Family and Access package will also be available on Easyview when eToonz goes off air from April meaning viewers get hours of Arthur, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Wild Kratts and more.

JimJam is also available on channel 310 and kids can look forward to the following titles in April:
• The Triplets S1
• Roary the Racing Car (new episodes)

Also read:
- Press release of DreamWorks Channel on DStv
- March on Disney Channel and Disney Junior
- March on Cartoon Network
- We Bare Bears coming to Cartoon Network in April
- Da Vinci Kids acquired rights to The Deep
- March on Da Vinci Kids
- Drafted results for Cartoon Network in March include Lego Batman
- March on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons
- Cartoonito expected to return to EMEA by mid 2022

SABC To Launch More HD Channels And Delayed Their Streaming Service To The Next Financial Year + Possible Outcomes For eMedia Investments Agreement With MultiChoice For eNCA (Still Involves Openview)

Upcoming developments for the SABC

In 2018, SABC had announced plans to launch a streaming service and since then it's been delayed likely due to their contract agreement with the Asian streaming service, VIU which bundles several shows from eMedia Investments such as Scandal and Imbewu.

Perhaps it will be called: SABC VOD, SABC Streaming, SABC On Demand, SABC iPlayer or SABC Plus/SABC+.

According to Madoda Mxakwe on CxO Series, the public broadcaster is expected to launch some HD channels likely the two long awaited channels on Openview one of which were rumoured to be SABC Encore while upgrading SABC Education to HD in the next financial year accompanied by an OTT service.

The public broadcaster stated in some documents that the streaming service will be available before the end of current financial year which is March 31st, 2022 and is anyone surprised that they've never reached the deadline.

For almost a year, Openview consumers have been waiting on the two channels promised to them by both eMedia Investments and the SABC in mid 2021. Since then several names pop-up part of which were part of their DTT plans and still need to be addressed: SABC Encore (as mentioned), SABC Parliament and SABC Children.

The future of eNCA and e.tv News

Every year, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice enter negotiations regarding the carriage agreement of eNCA alongside several other channels packaged by the eBrand.

For several years, eMedia Investments had expressed their frustration with MultiChoice as other brands such as Newsroom Afrika and SABC News make more money than them despite having the most watched news channel on their platform.

Also read:
- SABC Encore and SABC Children channel might be in development for Openview
- DreamWorks Channel will be added to MultiChoice's DStv
- Should eReality merge with News And Sport?
- The Estate cancelled only on SABC 1 for new drama series
- Warner Bros. Discovery potential channel closures
- A list of Afrikaans voice actors for Die Put and Droomvelore
- Why VH1 Classic was terminated on DStv?
- Lifetime could be on the chopping block on DStv
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News And Sport is set to go off air by the end of March on Openview and the retrenchments following onto eMedia Investments kind of lead to the question over the fate of e.tv News segments.

The NewsLink Block on eNCA is changing headquarters which was held in the same spot as e.tv News is moving to the spot renovated by eNCA on DStv with new anchors.

eNCA launching on Openview to some extent???

Regarding the upcoming agreement, is it possible that e.tv News and eNCA will be unified under one brand just like SABC News segments on SABC 1-3 with the linear channel on DStv.

SABC News is available on SABC's DTT but the likely reason is the limitations as the public broadcaster isn't selling them like hot cakes but putting up a fence requiring households with an income of less than R3200 to obtain them at their nearest post office.

Adding eNCA onto Openview was seen as a get out of jail free card for DStv customers who are fed up with the yearly increases and never ending repeats and MultiChoice didn't want any of that but how about a portion of the brand?

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SABC Has Seemingly Begun Work On Another Channel, SABC Parliament

SABC Parliament was one of the 18 channels SABC promised to have on DTT alongside SABC Education and SABC Sport back in 2012 before failing to materialize due to government delayed switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television.

In 2018, this unfunded channel was purposed once again alongside other unfunded channels at the time such as SABC Sport, SABC Education, SABC Health and SABC History.

Three years went by since anyone has last heard about the channel now it seems like SABC Parliament will actually get the light of the day as the public broadcaster begun testing the channel on their DTT platforms and LyngSat.

Similar to The Parliament Channel on DStv, SABC Parliament will offer coverage of central government proceedings and other public affairs programming.

Considering that the main parliamentary channel on DStv I'm assuming this one will rehash whatever is on there as well as offer exclusive content which is similar to what's already being viewed on the main channel.

As mentioned earlier, this channel is unfunded and SABC can't cover the expenses unless another party rescues them. They already got Telkom to assist with SABC Education and eMedia Investments joins them with SABC Sport while MultiChoice covers the expenses for SABC News. All service providers handle their 19 radio stations.

The struggling broadcaster hopes to launch a second sports channel and are likely sticking to their unfunded DTT plans for 2018 which are SABC Health and History on top of the two long awaited entertainment channels for Openview which might have been unveiled too soon.

They currently have an ongoing case with pay platforms with regards to TV licence and carriage fees for SABC 1-3. Not saying this issue affects the launch of their additional channels but they can't afford to exclude them if they wanted to.

Read Also:
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- Kamer 309 coming soon to eExtra
- Could Star Life and Rewind be the first channels to go off air on Openview?
- What we might expect from SABC's streaming service?
- Could Star Plus and Star Life be rebranding soon?
- Other shows coming soon to eToonz?
- Nickelodeon returns to e.tv 
- SABC planning to reduce Muvhango

New Channel Alert (Rumor): SABC Entertainment And SABC Encore Might Be The Two Anticipated Entertainment Channels Coming Soon To Openview And TelkomOne And This Happens Admist Their 85 Year Anniversary

As some viewers on Openview (and TelkomOne) wait impatiently for the SABC to unveil their two long awaited entertainment channels which was suppose to be announced in June. It seems people find their own means of recovering the info.

A week ago, viewers spotted SABC Encore through TelkomOne which disappeared (for now) not to mention SABC hosted a funeral which highlighted the channel as well.

According to a viewer, they spotted another SABC channel through LyngSat Intelsat 20 which goes by the name, SABC Entertainment and oh look even SABC Encore is tallying along.

Another channel present but still under development is SABC Parliament which implies that SABC is more serious about adding channels.

SABC Entertainment was the first name the public broadcaster had chosen for SABC Encore that was part of 5 year agreement they forged with MultiChoice where the channel would offer archived material from the SABC.

According to sources, the only reason SABC Entertainment wasn't used at the time was that the SABC wanted a name that fits with the channel's premise being repeats and I applaud them for that.

SABC Entertainment seemed more like an SABC 1 you'd find on a pay-tv platform when I first saw that name.

My guess would be that this revived concept will serve as the SABC 4 and 5 channel they tried to pawn or a another eExtra which is used for repeats and leftovers.

MTV in the United States has two music channels one for the 80s the other 90s maybe SABC Entertainment and Encore will ride on that wagon for the time being and as the ship sails they'll definitely be some reshuffling.

SABC currently has an ongoing battle with MultiChoice (in fact pay-tv platforms) regarding the carriage agreement for SABC 1-3 alongside a pending deal with regards to SABC Education. This has been around for more than a decade actually if you count TV licence.

Others rumours is Openview is said to give eVOD it's own channel (114) which is probably similar to DStv's defunct Explora Tutorial channel and SABC Encore on channel 113 (spotted this week) so I'm presuming SABC Entertainment will launch on channel 112 since 111 was often used for eMedia's pop-up channels.

SABC is celebrating 85 years of broadcast and we might get some confirmation about these channels.

Read Also:
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- What we might expect from SABC's streaming service?
- Could Star Plus and Star Life be rebranding soon?
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- Kamer 309 delayed on eExtra
- Other shows coming soon to eToonz?
- e.tv is filming a new boxing drama
- Nickelodeon returns to e.tv 
- SABC planning to reduce Muvhango