Discussion: Could SABC Look Into Closing A Few Channels??? As Plans Are Underway To Cut Back On Costs + 7de Laan Could Go Dark By Next Month Abruptly As SABC Is Cash Strapped

Could SABC look into reducing their portfolio?

During the week, it was learnt that 7de Laan would pause production and this was after SABC had been piling up its debt for the soon-to-be-axed Afrikaans drama. The public broadcaster not struggling to obtain income through load shedding and the reduction of analogue is looking to axe more content.

Not long ago, it was discovered that uBettina Wethu would be next victim. Unlike 7de Laan, uBettina Wethu has seen a decline in viewership that eMedia Investments was able to rescue the drama with a fourth season awaiting release on their linear platforms.

Another would be sporting rights in which the public broadcaster failed to obtain rights to the T-20 and also couldn't come to an agreement with SuperSport for the Rugby World Cup.

With the public broadcaster relying on peanuts to get on by at this point perhaps a restructure to their local portfolio is needed. For several decades, they had been producing content for SABC 1-3 while as supplying SABC Sport and Education perhaps a reduction to their local offering would do them good.

Instead of prioritising 3 channels, maybe the public broadcaster could put all their money on SABC 1 and use SABC+ to substitute the other two channels. SABC 1 remains as the most watched free-to-view channel in the market while the other had seen major declines.

The public broadcaster is anticipated to lose viewers once 7de Laan departs on SABC 2. Perhaps a merger between SABC 2 and SABC 3 would do them good. One thing I've seen from their competitors is the growth in dubs you barely get that much with the SABC.

I'm not saying SABC 2 would be exactly like Telemundo/Zee World but something similar to eXposed/eExtra which too has its lineup of international dramas with local elements such as Die Kontrak, SterStatus and Ouma Sarie all of which are folded under the Kuiertyd block.

SABC 3 despite not getting as much viewers as SABC 1 or 2 has more viewers than most of the public broadcaster's DTT offering such as SABC Education, SABC eKhaya and SABC News. Maybe the channel could serve as an Encore station for their past programming.

Another could be exploring a potential sell of their channels, the idea would be similar to Disney that the public broadcaster maintains majority stake and this other party manage the content with the public broadcaster in charge of marketing this content to consumers.

7de Laan is under hot water

As mentioned earlier, SABC had decided to axe the longest running Afrikaans soap on SABC 2 as they can't afford the expenses supplied to the production crew for further episodes. With the last episode initially set for December 26, 2023 the series is likely to go off air much earlier.

According to sources, the SABC only contracted Danie Odendaal Productions to produce 7de Laan episodes until 24 October, although plans were to keep the show running until 26 December as mentioned. The soap faces a chance of being cancelled by next month and not December as advised.

That is unless SABC doesn't find the necessary funds to keep the show on air and crew involved in production of the show were informed about this and had since then gone on to film other projects so should the SABC find something it would be impossible to film these episodes.

Leading to further speculation that the SABC may not get the remaining 45 episodes of the show but something far less than that if none at all. Ideally, 7de Laan could as well end with a two part feature film which broadcast for an hour or two and not the usual 21 minutes as seen with the finale of Showtime's Ray Donovan.

Recap To The Decade: SABC Delays Launch Of New Channels On DStv Because They Want More Money

In 2020, the public broadcaster unveiled their first TV channel in over 10 years, SABC Education. It is meant to serve as a curriculum vitae based channel like Mindset while as serving content already seen on SABC 1-3 including Skeem Saam, Afro Cafe and Matric Reloaded.

This was one of the confirmed TV channels to be beamed on DStv and StarSat. Of course, that wasn't the case as the channel is still accessible on the SABC+ streaming service and through DTT with some content as mentioned accessible on the public broadcaster's most viewed brands.

A lot of mystery still surrounds the sudden disappearance of SABC Education as you had StarSat listing it on their website which had since then been scrapped while as MultiChoice continue to make it accessible on the iPlate section (or test channel section) of DStv.

At first, several consumers thought that MultiChoice had paused the launch of the channel as they await the public broadcaster to rollout more new channels and now the blame shifts toward the public broadcaster after demanding that pay-tv companies pay for SABC 1-3.

Since last year, South African TV regulator ICASA had granted SABC rights to demand carriage fees for their 3 channels on DStv. Although SABC Education much less SABC Sport aren't included in this ruling it is believed that the pending agreement is pausing the distribution of these brands.

Last year, e.tv's 4 channels were removed from DStv and SABC Education alongside the rest of SABC's portfolio was said to be used as collateral. According to sources, SABC is demanding more money and the current offer imposed by MultiChoice seems under budget.

It has been learnt by MultiChoice that the public broadcaster makes R500 million or better yet half a billion in advertising with just their 3 channels. Apparently half a billion is not enough to cover for their expenses or get some decent content people would watch.

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 Decade: SABC Encore Revival Is Still In Development For The Openview Platform

SABC is gearing up for the launch of their second news channel, SABC eKhaya. It will serve as the 7th TV channel by the public broadcaster and it will also be a regional spinoff to the current SABC News brand viewed on MultiChoice's DStv, SABC's DTT and SABC+.

It will debut in the second quarter of the year exclusively on SABC's DTT and SABC+ offering news in all 11 South African languages. A format which was once seen on the current SABC News but abandoned following the brand's expansion to the rest of Africa.

As seen these past years, SABC has been behind on expanding their linear presence. In 2021, they formalised a partnership with eMedia Investments for 3 additional channels including SABC Sport and now we are in 2023 and we're still awaiting updates on the 2 channels.

From what was gathered, these two channels would leverage content from SABC's archives and just like SABC Sport. The plan was to offer something unique and not available on SABC 1-3 as more households tune into these stations and their content.

Although, we have yet to get an update on the supposed channels. SABC eKhaya isn't the only channel the public broadcaster might be looking to introduce in the coming future but likely a revival to the controversial SABC Encore now referred to Intelsat as SABC 1.

For almost 2 years, the public broadcaster had been working on this supposed channel under SABC Entertainment, SABC Children and SABC Encore. What had me more convinced about Encore was the time since it left DStv which is when these tests were underway.

One of the brand names, SABC Entertainment was initially meant to be the name for SABC Encore before those plans were scrapped while as the connection with SABC Children may have to do with the fact that both channels exist to leverage from SABC 1-3.

The public broadcaster had marketed SABC Encore on numerous occasions particularly for live matches or memorial services alongside talked on a revival. On top of that, SABC 1 had been spotted with the SABC Encore tag.

If anything, I do wonder how this brand would be any different to the version viewed on DStv. The channel was opened on numerous occasions for rebroadcasts of live matches on top of that memorial service and with SABC restructuring repeats on SABC 1-3.

It wouldn't be shocking if SABC Encore returned in a similar form to M-Net's SWITCH channels or eMedia's Power UP as SABC 1-3 won't be leveraging repeats from the other. Considering it was somewhat relevant, I can see the 80s/90s version of the channel remain intact.

Recap To The Decade: SABC Children's Future As Linear Channel Likely On Openview Alongside The Possible Revival To SABC Encore Remains Quo

SABC Children is the name of the public broadcaster's kids division that offers a mixture of local and international programming for kids aged 2-12. It was also intended to be a preschool spinoff for the educational channel, SABC Education.

SABC Children was added as an online channel on Tuluntulu alongside SABC Education and this was before SABC Education was eventually added to SABC's DTT and SABC+. The channel served content (mostly repeats) in multiple languages including English.

In 2021, the public broadcaster began experimenting on a potential cable counterpart to the current SABC Children as seen with SABC Education in 2020.

Numerous tests were conducted at the time which included the likes of SABC Encore and SABC Entertainment. Basically, these channels were funneled under one tile and it was only last year were there was any mention of its outlet or in this case Openview.

It's no secret that the public broadcaster is expanding their linear presence on the platform. In 2021, they added 19 radio stations alongside SABC Sport and promised consumers two channels a few months after but never launched them as intended.

SABC Children was listed as a potential new channel even before the platform was mentioned. Since 2022, the channel has been using the placeholder SABC 1 for which the actual channel was actually spotted in 2022 using the tag, SABC Encore.

It's not clear whether SABC Children will launch separately or under SABC Encore. But for one tile to be using three brands and out of all one has an identity of its own, SABC Children seems like a possibility maybe this one tile is being used for multiple channels.

As to when the public broadcaster will unveil these two channels or provide an official update it's likely to rollout after SABC eKhaya. A brand which might not be made available to Openview consumers but pay-tv platforms such as DStv and StarSat.

Conspiracy Theory: Openview Consumers Might Miss Out On Yet Another New Channel By The Public Broadcaster

The public broadcaster is gearing up for the rollout of their second news division, SABC eKhaya (formerly SABC Parliament). A multilingual news platform offering news in your language and also a spinoff to the current SABC News channel seen on the DStv platform.

Prior to that, the public broadcaster was working on another TV channel under the placeholder SABC 1 for the Openview platform. It is believed to be SABC Encore as consumers had spotted it on the programme guide of SABC back in 2022.

Following the expansion of SABC Sport and SABC's 19 radio stations, the public broadcaster was looking to the idea of launching a second sports channel on top of a potential revival to the defunct and controversial SABC Encore once viewed on DStv.

As mentioned prior to the testing of SABC Parliament, SABC was working on another TV channel under the placeholder SABC 1. Compared to most experiments this is the only channel to mention it's platform as others like SABC eKhaya were currently being tested for DTT.

With that in mind, it's possible SABC eKhaya alongside SABC Education might not be one of the two channels expected for Openview customers. If anything, the multilingual news channel might be something the public broadcaster is looking to get on pay-tv platforms.

If anything, the public broadcaster might as well be working on launching more TV channels in the coming future aside from the above-mentioned. Some channels the public broadcaster were looking to start up include a health and history channel.

Recap To The Decade: SABC Looking To Launch A Second Sports Channel And Reduce Sports Offering On SABC 1-3

eMedia Investments in partnership with the public broadcaster expanded their agreement in 2021 to include more content from the SABC on the Openview platform. SABC Sport serves as the only additional channel currently ranks as the top 10 watched channels.

Amidst that success, SABC had suggested the idea of launching a second sports channel which too would carry it's own content. As of this moment, it only remains a dream but considering they're launching another news channel - anything goes at this point.

From what was mentioned decades ago by the public broadcaster when implementing DTT. The idea for SABC Sport was not only to give consumers a strong competitor to SuperSport but to also lessen the blows of SABC 1-3's primetime offering.

In a briefing, they blamed the government's failed attempts at eradicating analogue signals that the SABC had to stay behind while eMedia Investments launched their own DTT platform which currently serves 3 million households in South Africa.

SuperSport limits some of their sporting rights to DStv, SABC's DTT and SABC+ thus causing some conflict amongst SABC 1-3 with the current SABC Sport channel as they have to exclude certain programs in order to cater for the consumers who can view them.

Analogue TV is said to be phased out in the coming future not putting my hopes on March 2023 and the public broadcaster will be undergoing even more changes particularly with SABC 1-3 which will have their primary shows airing on their respective brands.

Sports in this case hasn't been discussed in terms of phasing out I mean it's still in talks but no timeframe was given which kind of begs the question as to what happens the day SABC 1-3 limit the access.

Several DStv particularly Access and Easyview alongside StarSat rely on these channels and not much alternatives are available. As for Openview, SABC Sport is a wreck on top of limited alternatives there's repeats hovered inbetween.

Getting back to the topic of the second sports channel, is it possible they'll use this channel perhaps to remove the burden of primetime on SABC 1-3 and seeing as SuperSport controls part of their lineup. What if this sports channel didn't cater to the likes of Openview.

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.

Recap To The Decade: SABC Education Remains As One Of The Long Awaited DTT Channels For DStv And StarSat

SABC Education is educational channel operated by the public broadcaster that is commonly used for content seen on SABC 1-3 alongside archived material. Some of the content includes Hectic Nine-9, Skeem Saam, Geleza Nathi and The Adventures Of Luna Belle.

The channel was made available on SABC's DTT platform in May 2020 and at the time negotiations were underway to get the channel on platforms such as DStv and StarSat. Similar to eMedia Investments, even these platforms are awaiting on new channels.

As of 2021, StarSat removed any mention of SABC Education on their website while MultiChoice removed any info from their programme guide. When asked whether SABC Education would be still be launching on the above-mentioned platforms.

Sources replied that plans are still underway to get the channel onto these platforms. Of course, three years is a long wait for just 1 channel you'd assume that they'd have some update the following year if not 2020 but things were still the same since then.

MultiChoice and SABC were beefing with one another in regards to the carriage agreement for SABC 1-3. So maybe that's what's causing the delay of these additional services nothing is certain for now as both parties look to address the matter in court soon.

Sentech To Launch Streaming Platform To Rival SABC+

The SABC is Sentech’s biggest client — by far. But that’s not stopping the state-owned broadcast signal distributor from formulating plans to rival the public broadcaster in streaming services.

While the SABC has been without a board for several months, Sentech has been making plans to launch what appears will be a competitor to SABC+, the streaming service launched by the public broadcaster late last year when it took over management and operation of Telkom One, a joint venture it had with Telkom.

News of Sentech’s plans to offer a so-called OTT service (over the top — industry jargon for streaming) emerged in parliament on Wednesday when communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the company will “soon launch a homegrown OTT platform that will be anchored by Nemisa but which will be available to other content producers”. Nemisa is a state-owned non-profit in Ntshavheni’s portfolio that focuses on technology education, including in multimedia production.

The launch plans come amid growing tension between the SABC and Sentech over signal carriage fees.

“Our goal is to eventually make this platform the home for quality films, documentaries and children’s stories, in addition to SABC+,” the minister told MPs.

Sentech plans to launch the OTT platform in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year – that’s sometime between March and May this calendar year. A Sentech spokeswoman was on leave and not immediately available to comment further on the platform and its planned content offerings.

The launch plans come amid growing tension between the SABC and Sentech over the signal carriage fees the latter charges the former to distribute its terrestrial channels to South African audiences.

The SABC and its commercial free-to-air rival e.tv last year accused the broadcasting signal distributor of excessive pricing and anticompetitive behaviour.

Formal submissions
Their broadsides against the state-owned enterprise were included in formal submissions to communications regulator Icasa, in which they called for urgent regulatory interventions in the signal distribution market to deal with alleged monopolistic abuses by Sentech.

The submissions form part of a market inquiry by Icasa into the signal distribution services market. Sentech has asked that the regulator’s discussion document be withdrawn because, among other reasons, updated legislation to govern audiovisual services is in development and Icasa’s investigations shouldn’t pre-empt these potential policy changes.

E.tv parent eMedia Investments said in its submission to Icasa that it is “deeply concerned at the fact that the issues relating to significant market power in relation to signal distribution services have been ignored for decades”.

Video Entertainment:
- Rumour: SuperSport Schools to get a dedicated channel on the DStv platform
- Disney Junior and Disney+ to debut new Star Wars series in May
- Paramount+ set to merge with Showtime
- eVOD has yet to offer linear channels as promised in 2021

“This is despite pleas by the broadcasters that the market needed urgent regulation. Indeed, Icasa recognised as far back as 2010 that there was an urgent need to regulate the market due to Sentech’s undisputed dominance,” eMedia said. “Yet Icasa has taken no steps in this regard… All this has been to the detriment of broadcasters and caused them financial harm.”

The SABC also strongly criticised Sentech’s tariffs and behaviour, describing them as “not appropriate or correct”. It said its concerns led to the creation of a “chart of accounts project” at the public broadcaster to determine the fairness or otherwise of Sentech’s fees.

“The details of the various costs per service and per transmission site have been requested from Sentech with the objective of understanding how the structure of the cost for each service was derived. Sentech has not been cooperative in this regard for the past two years,” the public broadcaster alleged in its submission.

The SABC also filed a complaint against Sentech at the Competition Commission in 2021, in which it accused the signal distributor of “unfair and anticompetitive pricing”. 

Coming Soon To More Platforms??? As Sources Say Discussion Are Said To Be Underway For The Much Anticipated News Platform, SABC eKhaya

SABC is set to launch a second news channel known to audiences as SABC eKhaya (formerly SABC Parliament) in the second quarter of the year carrying parliamentary content and other news programming in indigenous languages including English.

The news channel will serve as a regional spinoff to the current SABC News channel on DStv which had a similar offering for the yet-to-be-named news channel before expanding their footprint to the rest of Africa which further limited those aspects.

The channel is said to launch the second quarter of the year exclusively on SABC's DTT and very likely SABC+ as seen with SABC News which is said to be available on DStv at an exclusive basis.

Since news of the channel surfaced, consumers were curious as to whether eMedia Investments, and if it's still an option On Digital Media and StarTimes would be looking to add the channel on their platforms seeing as they lack such alternative unlike MultiChoice.

SABC:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC, Part 2
- Could SABC Encore revival be scrapped?
- A former SABC channel was added onto Openview
- SABC Movies' dream journal

Taking to account, these outlets have pending agreements with the as mentioned public broadcaster for more channels aside from SABC 1-3 which they have fallen far behind on in terms of filing up with the end of bargain.

The yet-to-be-named news platform fits the description of the promised new channels like a glove - repeats. As seen a few years ago, eMedia Investments is waiting on two encore based channels while MultiChoice opts to use them as leverage on eMedia's 4 channels.

As to whether discussions are underway, sources had mentioned to numerous viewers of such matter but seeing as the channel is still at its early stage. It seems highly unlikely, for now you can view the test channel exclusively on SABC's DTT.

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

Reviewing Major Changes Coming Soon To The SABC: The Early 2023 Edition

Throughout most of 2022, I'd say the public broadcaster was silent regarding upcoming developments for SABC 1-3, Sport and Education and after that last minute showcase that was aired virtually I'm more convinced that they're now interested in reinventing themselves.

Earlier in the month, they unveiled a new project known as SABC eKhaya which is set for launch on the DTT platform and SABC+. The project is an expansion of the current SABC News Channel on the DStv platform and also the revamped SABC Parliament channel.

Aside from the new project, the public broadcaster was part of an interview basically discussing some minor aspects of reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC and also briefing readers in on a couple of other aspects I thought readers would find interesting.

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

Probably give readers a better understanding regarding some of the questions - new channels.

As mentioned last year, plans are underway to reduce the load of rebroadcasts seen on their 3 channels meaning instead of having Uzalo broadcast on SABC 1 with repeats on the other two channels you'll have repeats air on 1 channel and the other alternative is SABC+.

From what media outlets got from the public broadcaster it could take into affect between now and April 2023.

If I had to guess why these changes haven't taken to affect by now they're probably trying to find other content to put in their place while as changing the timeslots for other content. I mean I don't see any sense in repeating Uzalo more times in 24 hours if the goal is to increase the attention for SABC+.

I mean e.tv once offered two repeat timeslots on weekdays for their longest running soap Scandal and the former musical Rhythm City. Now there's plenty of repeat variety with Elif, Wrede Stad and Verdeelde Liefde.

I do remember them mentioning that SABC 1 would be more youth oriented and SABC 2 would stick to current affairs so maybe more of that will be seen in the blank spaces. As for SABC 3, it will keep moving forward even though some prefer it merging with the other two channels.

Other aspects discussed had to do with SABC Sport, for several decades it was long stated SABC 1-3 will be more like e.tv which is general entertainment and if you wanted to view soccer, cricket and netball you needed SABC Sport.

The problem with getting there had to be the demise of analogue TV. The government has been delaying for more than a decade already same goes for the chances 7de Laan's timeslot won't be interrupted every now and then.

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

Considering that not everyone has access to SABC Sport particularly when they do turn off these signals with others on the likes of DStv and StarSat. The likelihood is that similar to Impact Wrestling on e.tv, viewers will get 2 hours of sports at least as to not drive away viewers.

If this switch happens, I doubt it would be completely over with I'm just not expecting them to use the channels for FIFA as that disrupted their schedule quiet frequently.

Over to the content, we all know that SABC is not ringing in as much dough to get as much content as possible as some report that staff and crew members don't get paid on time.

Now the idea is to also greenlit content exclusively for Netflix and MultiChoice similar to what DreamWorks Animation does with the streamer alongside Peacock and Apple TV+ now they're another alternative for programming.

As for SABC+, the goal right now is to gain enough traction especially after that whole mess with TelkomOne so original ideas isn't in the pipeline for the time being as they're more focused in getting the brand off the ground at this stage.

Conclusion

Despite being past the age of retirement, SABC is proving you can still grow in big boy pants and go through hurdles. It doesn't stop when you're 85, you got to keep moving forward instead of waiting for life to grab you by the balls.

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.

Could SABC Be Unveiling Another Two Channels Possibly On Openview Ultra, Here's Why?

For several weeks, eMedia Investments has been teasing consumers with the launch of Openview Ultra (formerly known as Openview+) which serves the pay tier to the current Openview platform for which the broadcaster is expected to unveil later in the year.

As consumers await the launch of Openview Ultra, eMedia Investments had reserved the area for 4 yet to be launched channels in the slots of channels 241, 242, 301 and 302 and as some had noticed not which muchs are available in the mentioned slots until recently.

eMedia Investments had placed SABC 2 and SABC 3 in the test channel section. Although, this may not mean much SABC 1 was often used as a test pilot for SABC Encore so it's possible that maybe SABC 2 and SABC 3 are just placeholders for other channels.

eMedia Investments:
- Glow TV to stop airing on the Openview platform from next month
- Prediction: eToonz to get an additional channel
- Could Openview+ lead to 24 hour capability of these channels?
- eToonz schedule explained

They are still awaiting for the SABC to drop the two entertainment channels which would explore their forever rich archives while SABC Sport and their 19 radio stations reside on the Openview platform.

The public broadcaster launched a second news channel before the end of the current financial year, SABC eKhaya which would cater to local languages formerly seen on the SABC News channel before it's expansion to other African markets.

SABC 2 does seem like the ideal placeholder for this channel as it was advised that the channel would dwell more into current affairs for which there's plenty of on this supposed channel.

As for SABC 3, not much is known at this point my hunch would be that rumoured SABC Encore/Children might fill up this slot as seen occasionally with SABC 1 as the public broadcaster had expressed interest in a revival although they had been no updates since then.

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

What Consumers Should Be Concerned About Regarding SABC's Yet To Be Launched Channels On DStv?

The public broadcaster still lagging behind on many aspects is slated to launch three additional channels to the DStv platform in the coming future with SABC Education currently seen on SABC+ and DTT taking about 2 years to be released.

SABC eKhaya another upcoming attraction by the public broadcaster which is rumoured to debut before the end of the current financial year which is March 2023 serves as a complimentary to the SABC News channel catering to the indigenous languages.

Now the new channels don't really come at the greatest time as MultiChoice was hoping to use them as leverage for eMedia's 4 channels which are currently in a limbo on their platform and with these new channels nowhere in site one has got to wonder how they'd survive with even less channels.

DStv:
- MultiChoice might lose yet another two channels
- Could Russia Today be removed from the DStv platform?
- Qwest TV coming soon to Showmax
- eMedia's 4 channels to go dark on the DStv platform

MultiChoice has already sourced out alternatives or at least everyone should believe with the likes of Movie Room and DreamWorks but seeing as these channels are set to rollout in the coming future where has to wonder if these channels are long-term.

MultiChoice carried SABC Encore at one point and lasted about 5 years before getting culled by the company. According to the SABC, the decision not to continue the channel came from the operator being MultiChoice as they hope to someday revive the channel.

Fast forward to 2017, eMedia's 4 channels being eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra come along and they too get the 5 year curse endured by SABC Encore with MultiChoice running to the parent company of the former channel for alternatives.

So the question viewers should be asking themselves is whether these channels are here to stay and build a name for themselves as seen with SABC News, eNCA, Mzansi Magic and a few more channels or whether these channels will only be treated as placeholders for other channels.

DStv Flex:
- February on The Home Channel
- February on HONEY
- Reyka renewed for season 2 on M-Net
- What to expect this January on Qwest TV?

No one knows exactly what led MultiChoice to discontinue carriage of SABC Encore but my hunch has to do with productivity. The channel relied solely on archived material now that you have eMovies that yes is airing rebroadcasts from M-Net Movies although not often e.tv it's getting taken away.

SABC Education is just like SABC Encore and likely these upcoming channels should it launch will SABC try to limit the amount of Encore available otherwise face the consequences unless MultiChoice wasn't looking at that after all Nicktoons and Mzansi Wethu already exist.

Recap: SABC To Launch 24/7 Indigenous News Platform In Your Language SABC eKhaya

The public broadcaster announced the launch of their 24 hour news platform, Ekaya which will be made available on SABC+ and SABC's DTT.

Millions of South Africans depend on different SABC channels for news in their home language. Some of the languages are aired on the free-to-air platform for a limited time and in an effort to satisfy these consumers the SABC is launching a 24 hour news channel for African languages.

Unfortunately at the moment, we only offer news bulletins for a limited time on the free-to-air entertainment channels. So what this channel is going to do every single day is that it's going to give South Africans who are lacking an appointment to watch news everyday - Moshoeshoe Monare, SABC's Group Executive For News And Current Affairs.

SABC:
- SABC Parliament rebrands into Ekaya
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- SABC 1 title card registered for Openview
- SABC Children appears to have wrapped production

As a public broadcaster, we got this responsibility both constitutionally and morally to reflect the diversity throughout the South African society and give that content in all our 11 languages and this is the excitement of that channel - Moshoeshoe Monare, SABC's Group Executive For News And Current Affairs

Ekaya, which is Tsonga for at home is a news channel which will offer local, international, economic, politics, business, lifestyle and sports news in their languages. It will offer fresh bulletins alongside content currently viewed on SABC 1-3.

Ekaya serves as a spinoff to the current SABC News channel on DStv channel 404, SABC+ and SABC's DTT. While SABC News offers plenty of English content, Ekaya will focus more on other languages while as offering English content and is expected to launch later in the year.

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

The channel is currently viewable on SABC's DTT but from what's already stated it hasn't launched so it's kind of experimental. Although, a lot of repeats exist on the channel it had been mentioned that it won't try to be an SABC News duplicate.

SABC Parliament Scrapped For New Indigenous News Channel In Your Language SABC eKhaya With SABC Children Likely Canned With No Clue On SABC Encore

Two years ago, the public broadcaster introduced SABC Education a free-to-air channel currently available on SABC's streaming service SABC+ and DTT platforms. Thereafter came the official launch of eMedia's top 10 channels on Openview, SABC Sport.

eMedia Investments and the SABC promised their consumers three yet to be launched channels of which one currently resides on the Openview platform which is the already mentioned SABC Sport but further details of the other two channels remain a mystery.

During that fast for new SABC channels, the public broadcaster had been experimenting on two channels SABC Encore and SABC Children with SABC Parliament going through development hell as further testing had reportedly been 80% to 95% finished.

SABC Parliament and SABC Children were part of the public broadcaster's failed DTT plans while one was stuck on development hell the other alongside SABC Education had been streaming on the Tuluntulu app for sometime.

SABC Encore had a controversial time on the DStv platform in which talks of a revival were still underway as a space has still been reserved for the brand on DTT.

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 public broadcaster seeking to reinvent themselves scrapped SABC Parliament for a multilingual news channel which carries current affairs. The same content they want to burden off on SABC 2 to not make it look like an S3 duplicate.

To top it off, they still have schedule disruptions with the current 3 SABC channels when live matches are on despite the existence of SABC Sport which was meant to rectify that and will continue to do so unless possibly analogue kicks the can.

With the launch of this upcoming news channel, one has to wonder what has or what will become of the tested SABC Encore and SABC Children. Several tests have been done for a possible new channel and it's uncertain if these are the channels they opt to have onboard.

eMedia Investments is waiting on 2 more channels with MultiChoice waiting on 3 to replace the red brand's channels which are bundled on their platforms for 6 months due to court proceedings.

If this new channel happens to be one of the new channels for both brands it means both consumers are awaiting for just 1 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

As mentioned, SABC Education had been active for 2 years and talks for the channel have been under wraps as both MultiChoice and StarSat have finalised the necessary details about the channel and even reserved space for the brand on their platforms.

I doubt the channel is coming to Openview as the deal was for SABC Sport and two other channels. I mean I don't see any reason why they couldn't have added SABC Education much earlier if it was the second channel consumers were awaiting for.

As for MultiChoice, they don't seem at all interested in acquiring SABC Sport as they already have SABC Education running through the test channel section and why would they want a channel like SABC Sport that might as well force more consumers to downgrade.

Taking that to account, it means both eMedia Investments and MultiChoice are waiting for one more channel which could be SABC Encore, SABC Children or whatever remains of either channel but the likelihood is that SABC Children had been scrapped.

An SABC 1 test card had been registered and often consumers on Openview and the former TelkomOne streaming service had spotted the SABC Encore banner on the most watched channel in South Africa which is all the more reason to believe SABC Children is dead.

The public broadcaster was more hyped about reviving SABC Encore as opposed to launching a preschool addition to SABC Education. SABC Encore even had a dedicated kids block so either way SABC Children would still be a thing even if not through a channel.

Adult and families dominate television households and even kids latch onto that lifestyle but change the roles you find only a portion of adults would watch something like JimJam. It's not that kids entertainment is performing poorly its just that some audiences prefer more mature content.

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

SABC Vs. e.tv: MultiChoice's Attempt In Reducing The Competition

Earlier in the year, MultiChoice attempted to scrap eMedia's 4 channels eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra currently packaged on the DStv platform which has proven to be unsuccessful as court rulings led to keep the channels for the remainder of 2022.

As some are already aware, MultiChoice had sort out several alternatives such as Movie Room and DreamWorks on top of building their offering through some of the existing brands residing on their platforms.

It's too soon to tell how consumers would react the moment these 4 channels eventually exit the pay-tv regime or in this case for MultiChoice as we got Openview+ rolling out in the coming year and as mentioned the necessary alternatives have been made available to DStv consumers.

eMedia Investments:
- Prediction: eToonz to get an additional channel
- Could Openview+ lead to 24 hour capability of these channels?
- eToonz schedule explained
- Housewives has been scrapped from e.tv's lineup
- eMedia's 4 channels to go dark on DStv
- Charlize Theron opinion over the Afrikaans language

But what I like to point out is the SABC, there was no media scrutiny around the public broadcaster as they do play a part in all this. An associate of MultiChoice had mentioned that 3 yet to be announced channels would make up for these channels.

Take into account, ICASA had put up a new ruling granting the public broadcaster rights to fund their 3 most watched and accessible channels in South Africa to pay-tv platforms for which they couldn't come to an agreement as yet following pending issues for which they plan to address publicly.

I don't want to give actual figures but what I can add is that the SABC and eMedia Investments had their part of the pie on DStv for which MultiChoice cutback for one party in order to compensate for the other for which the remaining party demands more despite already having a huge chunk of the pie.

SABC:
- SABC Movies: another scrapped channel by the public broadcaster
- Why Openview has been excluded from supposed SABC channel?
- Prediction: Mindset TV to be taken over by the SABC
- Prediction: Parliament TV to be taken over by the SABC
- TelkomOne transitions into SABC+ (review)
- SABC Children seemingly enters post production

Unlike eMedia Investments, the public broadcaster has a lot of original productions in the pipeline I'm not saying it's great as there's plenty of crap that isn't worth exploring but when you look at from a pay-tv perspective you can clearly see why SABC is a viable option.

eMedia can have Hawaii Five-O, Bob The Builder and Godzilla on for the 100th time all of which can be seen on various channels already residing on DStv while the SABC compliments that with Uzalo, Takalani Sesame and One Day Leader.

I'm not saying eMedia does a terrible job in selecting their content but it's something that is of no value to a operator like MultiChoice perhaps on a platform like Openview as there's not much alternatives to the above-mentioned content.

DStv:
- Could Russia Today be removed from the DStv platform?
- Qwest TV coming soon to Showmax
- fliekNET to make a comeback this festive season
- Why DStv Premium customers might lose out on a certain new channel?
- eMedia's 4 channels to go dark on the DStv platform
- VH1 making a comeback on DStv

MultiChoice turns to the SABC in the hopes that they'll be able diversify their offering and limit the amount of repetition already viewable on the platform. When most already know that the channels will do exactly that with their own offering