Development Hell: Countdown To The List Of Bollywood Channels Coming Soon

Just going a through a list of concepts which was discussed, rumoured, delayed or potentially scrapped. Some of Bollywood channels currently seen on DStv and Openview were derived from several other concepts.

But I'm not here to discuss that but share a list of other channels and it goes as follows:

 

1. eBella/eBolly
The defunct channel was said to make a comeback as a replacement to one of the current Indian channels on Openview. The channel was said to offer Bollywood films something you hardly get on eMovies and other entertainment.

2. &TV
&TV is a Hindi language entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises home to shows viewers would have come across on Zee TV such as Begusarai, The Heir and on eVOD Dayan, Destructive Beauty. The reasons for its absence has to do with Zee TV as they licence content from the brand and with both being operated by the same company the two are in sink.

The only known regions to provide it a standalone is the US and Asia.

 

3. Star Maa
Star Maa is a Telegu entertainment channel operated by Star India which broadcasts dramas, reality shows and movies. The channel was said to launch on DStv Indian.

4. Untitled Zee World repeats channel 1
Around the time Zee Bollynova launched on the defunct Kwesé TV and before Zee One existed. Rumour had it that MultiChoice was looking to add a reruns channel for their #1 Bollywood entertainment channel which could have been scrapped for Zee Alem.

5. Star Gold
Star Gold is the brand name Star India gives to their movie channels. This was part of list of possible movie channels on DStv but the channel be viewed on StarSat.

6. Untitled Zee World repeats channel 2
Close to the launch of Zee Alem in Ethiopia, Zee Entertainment Enterprises revealed in an interview that they were open to launching some regional channels. The second repeats channel was said to cater for Zulu, Swahili and Hausa viewers.

 

7. Life OK/Utsav
Disney+ is scheduled to launch in South Africa in the coming month and Star branding has been replaced with Utsav in most parts of Europe where the African feed operates. The question boiled down to the potential brand name for Star Life and its programming.

8. Zee Naija
Unlike most other Zee channels, this brand wouldn't cater entirely to repeats as there was a bunch of local content being planned such as Dance Nigeria Dance, Deceptive Measures and The Passion For Love.

 

9. Untitled Star Life movie channel
Unlike Star Gold, the movie channel would have been dubbed in English and would give the main channel sometime to source out other programming.

10. Bollytunes & Zee Music
Remember that TV show that had no purpose to Zee World as the program aired between shows well it was said to have its own channel one for English audiences another for Indian subscribers on DStv.

11. Untitled eMovies channel
eMedia Investments was rumoured to launch a Bollywood pop-up channel for movies before the pandemic hit and there's been no updates in that regard except that the possibility of a third movie channel.

 

12. Zindagi
Zindagi was the name of a brand Zee Entertainment Enterprises gave to their regional offering. What this channel did was air regional content kind of like the African adaptation of Mehek but it could have been scrapped as the brand is not active.

13. Zee Zest
Zee Zest is a Hindi entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises and compared to all other channels on the list this one airs lifestyle and reality shows. It was said to launch on DStv Indian when it was known as Living Foodz.

 

14. Zee World and Zee One's replacements
The parent company of the channels are minority owners of the brands and rumour had it that the brands would include more content from Sony Pictures India as well as adapt to Sony branding.

15. Zee News (likely scrapped)
Zee News is a Hindi news channel operated by Essel Group that is also in charge of another news station on DStv, WION.

16. Zee Oldies
A channel for older dramas in the 90s to early 00s

Updated: Utsav Next Target Could Be The Star Channels Currently On DStv, StarSat, Zuku TV And Openview + Disney Channel And Disney Junior Could Go Off Air Sooner Than Expected As Disney Shifts Its Focus Towards Streaming

Later this week, Disney and Star in India announced that they would exit from the English general entertainment industry which resulted in the termination of most of their channels with Hindi channels taking their spot.

The Walt Disney Company revealed plans to close 100 international Disney channels before the FY22 with more Disney Channels expected to close in Europe as streaming looks to be the brands top priority.

The likely reason for Star's demise is due to Disney+ since The Walt Disney Company took the Star branding for their streaming service so Star India keeping it for English viewers would only cause confusion.

Earlier this year, the UK & Europe rebranded their Star channels to Utsav with the changes applicable to viewers of those regions. Of course, there's several signs that the branding will be duplicated in more countries.

Vijay TV is the only channel internationally to use that adapt to that branding and Star India is seemingly testing out the Utsav branding through the StarPlus and Star Gold channel in Africa.

Star Life being the only English channel in Africa will have to create some distance from Star India or join the party seeing that they're exiting the audience it's catered for.

The European counterpart manages the Star channels in Africa so it seems logical for the Utsav branding to enter the region the question would have to be why delay the switch, could Star Life have some involvement perhaps?

The Disney Africa Facebook page stopped promoting content from Disney Channel and moved it to the Disney Africa Channels page (formerly Disney Junior Africa) with the main page likely to be used as a portal to promote Disney+.

The UK, Asia, Italy and Australia already lost Disney Channel and Disney Junior so it doesn't seem far fetched to think the same fate awaits the Disney Channels in Africa.

The Walt Disney Company is set out to be another Netflix. Even if that means cutting the cord of several channels in markets where cable is dominating the circuit.

In November, Disney Channel and Disney Junior have seemingly hit the reruns button with the main channel airing reruns of Gigantosaurus.

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Is Star Plus, Star Vijay And Star Life In South Africa And The Rest Of Africa Following Europe By Taking Down The Star Branding?

The news of the Star brands demise came at the end of 2020 through Netherlands. There's no details as yet on whether it will affect Star India in general.

It's been confirmed that all the Star TV channels in the UK & Europe, will rebrand from Friday 22nd January – the channels will be rebranded to:

■ Star Plus HD will now be Utsav Plus HD (Sky 705, Virgin Media 803, Yupp TV)
■ Star Gold HD will now be Utsav Gold HD (Sky 717, Virgin Media 801)
■ Star Bharat will now be Utsav Bharat (Sky 704, Virgin Media 802, Yupp TV)

The Star branding isn't completely dead besides India it will be used as an international adaptation for Hulu as a standalone service with some launching a dedicated channel for it on Disney+. It's even a placeholder for the FOX branded channels.

Gaurav Jandwani, Senior Vice President & Business Head (UK, Europe & SOUTH AFRICA), “As much as the past year has been challenging for all of us, it has equally brought out a sense of gratefulness and celebration for all things positive. To reiterate this sense of optimism, it gives me great pleasure to announce the brand refresh of our network from the 22nd January 2021 with the same promise of touching lives through our inspirational characters.”

The network says, “Since its UK launch over 2 decades ago, Star has established a special relationship with its loyal viewers through a string of hugely successful iconic shows. These shows have gripped viewers with countless hours of premium entertainment, with the addictive K-series dramas of early years to glossy A-List chat show Koffee with Karan, the renowned ‘Masterchef India’, the innovative ‘Satyamev Jayat’e or the recent staggering success of ‘Anupamaa’, to name a few. This special relationship has catapulted the Star Network to No.1 in the UK’s official TV ratings (BARB) for over a decade.

“As we move forward in 2021 with a sense of hope and optimism, there could not be a better time to reflect the same spirit in our brand. We are thrilled to announce that Star will rebrand its channels to Utsav’ (meaning celebration) on 22 January 2021 in the UK and Europe to celebrate positivity and energy reinforced through our loved characters. The Utsav logo, infused from the Star logo, signifies stability and progress while the trademark swoosh pays homage to the insurmountable human spirit.”

Disney Africa supplies FOX and 3 Star channels (StarPlus, Star Vijay and Star Life) under Star India. It would make more sense to replace Indian channels so that it doesn't cause a riot the day FOX adapts to the Star branding.

Disney+ is not available in Africa as they're still rolling out in other parts of Europe so viewers might get the service by 2022. They could take even longer to roll it here due to existing contracts with other suppliers for their content. These changes won't wait for Disney+, Turn to the defunct channels, Disney XD and FOX Life as a prime example.

The switchover will likely occur before the year ends I wouldn't be shocked if it happened within the next 3 months. These channels can all be found on DStv with portions on StarTimes (Starsat) and Openview.

Update: Star Vijay rebranded into Vijay so that channel will be excluded from Utsav

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Disney Is Renaming The Star Channels In Netherlands, What Does This Mean For StarPlus And The Other Star Channels In Africa?

When Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, it obtained Star India, a hugely successful broadcasting company based in India, which has a network of 60 channels in eight languages, that reaches approximately 790 million viewers a month across India and more than 100 countries.

With it’s streaming service, Hotstar being rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar in India in March.

Disney officially revealed details of how it was planning the branding of “Star” internationally at December’s Investor Day event, which will see Star added as a new sixth tier within Disney+ in February in many regions including Europe, Australia, Canada and in Asia. At the same time, Star+ is launching in Latin America as its own platform with live sports. With many Fox channels in Latin America will also be rebranded “Star”.

Disney Africa is likely to do the same as Europe with latching the best of Star on Disney+ since no one in this market can pay for a lot of streaming services.

According to Dutch television provider Ziggo, Disney will be rebranding its Hindi channels, Star Plus and Star Gold channels in the Netherlands to Utsav Plus and Utsav Gold. This rebranding will be taking effect from February 1st.

The name Utsav is likely based on Star Utsav which is one of Star India's linear channels which is currently being used for archived content. It was available in UK for 2 years before becoming a reruns channel.

Star India already operates channels in Africa such as StarPlus, Star Vijay and Star Life through StarTimes, Platco Digital's OpenView and MultiChoice's DStv. It wouldn't be shocking if the name was dropped in favour of Utsav. The one in India might do the same it's currently unknown at this point. Readers have been wondering how Star would replace FOX in Africa if the Star branding was already being used so there's your answer.

The rebranding is being done so Disney can use the “Star” brand as part of Disney+ in the Netherlands, which is coming on February 23rd.

There's still no news on when or if Disney+ will roll out in Africa so chances are will have to wait until at least 2022/3 I mean they could take longer since they're still rolling out in other parts of Europe and the fact that there's contracts they have with other distributors so they're waiting for some of them to expire to begin rolling out Disney+.

Read Also:
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