Sentech's Freevision Delists eMedia's Openview Channels From Their Platforms

Sentech's Freevision which serves as one of the various rivals for eMedia Investments' Openview platform alongside PremiumFree TV started its services back in 2015. Similar to DStv's Easyview package, it mainly consisted of religious and provincial stations alongside various SABC and e.tv channels.

According to several consumers, e.tv channels had been ousted from the platform and this would include eExtra, eMovies and eToonz which serve as the initial offering on the platform. This would only leave mainly SABC channels particularly SABC 1-3, SABC Sport, SABC Education, SABC Lehae and SABC Variety.

eMedia Investments is already running through a similar hurdle with MultiChoice after they made the decision to exclude these services from DStv by 2022. Unlike Sentech's Freevision, these channels have a lot more viewers there of course with its pending demise one could say eMedia Investments is under siege.

With MultiChoice betting their odds on Showmax, Sentech had made similar pursuits with Freevision Play featuring a range of local content from various provincial stations some of which like Cape Town TV were exclusive to DStv.

Freevision Play taps into the same market as SABC+ and eVOD which is free and if we had to compare the three they're all winners in some way. Freevision Play has a catalogue of local content and TV channels, SABC+ is good for sports and local news and eVOD offers a mixture local and international content.

But the reality to all this only one out of three favour eMedia Investments and it's sort of this scenario of them being less reachable by fans. Right now, they're fighting to prevent analogue signals from going off the deep end as there's still households dependant on them for content and contribute to their ad revenue.

eExtra, eToonz, eMovies And eMovies Extra Continues On MultiChoice's DStv As eMedia Investments Looks To Take Legal Action Over Their Pending Demise

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice have been embroiled a carriage dispute regarding eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz. These channels are also allocated on the Openview platform with eExtra that is available on StarSat in a separate agreement. 

A hearing was scheduled for this August but according to a report it has been delayed once again with a date that has to be finalized. 

eMedia Investments is looking to take legal action against MultiChoice over the impending demise of these money grabbers. These channels ranked first, fourth, seventh and tenth serve as additional revenue stream to aid in the distribution and licensing of content. 

Other disputes these two parties engaged in revolved on the 2023 Rugby World Cup where SABC and MultiChoice reached an agreement worth R57 million. Of course, this agreement restricted these matches from being allocated on Openview and StarSat as they failed to obtain free-to-air rights.

In a court ruling, MultiChoice wasn't allowed to make such restrictions forcing the SABC to have their current agreement set in place scrapped. Following SABC’s absence from these events, sports minister warned a warning to these broadcasters for their failure to come into terms with a new agreement. 

eMedia Investments Unveiled Annual Performance From 31 March 2024 And Plans Ahead For Their Platforms

eMedia’s financial performance

eMedia presents a satisfactory financial performance for the 2024 financial year given its mitigation against continued loadshedding, which had a negative impact on overall viewership and saw a further decline in television advertising spend of approximately 1%.

The actors and writers’ strike in Hollywood at the beginning of the financial year also had a severe negative impact on one of the subsidiaries in the Group, Media Film Service, which made R31.5 million less in profit after tax when compared to the prior year. The Group also continued its legal battles against Multichoice during the current financial year spending R8.8 million more in the current year when compared to the prior year.

Notwithstanding all the negative impacts to business operations in the macro-economic environment in South Africa, the Group was able to return favourable results and further continues with the declaration of dividends to its shareholders with a dividend of 16 cents per share at the close of the financial year.

Revenue and market share

The Group’s revenue for the fiscal of R3.1 billion is only 2.1% less than the previous year which can be mainly attributed to the decreased revenue earned by Media Film Service as mentioned above. This was further underscored by television advertising revenue ending on R2.165 billion an increase of 3% despite the television advertising cake declining by 1%. This is the highest television advertising revenue earned by the Group in its history.

The Group once again outperformed the market in terms of advertising revenue in the television market. This benefit in advertising revenues can be attributed to the Group maintaining prime-time audience market share at 33.5% in March 2024 from 34.5% in March 2023, a slight decrease year on year.

Further analysis of the Group’s market share reveals an increase in both shoulder and prime time. The share ended at 33.0% and 33.5% respectively, making the Group the biggest broadcaster in audience share in prime time and second to DStv in shoulder time in South Africa.

e.tv

The prime-time market share for e.tv has shown a slight decrease of 0.7% to 20.7% audience share. Of interest, however, is that e.tv is now the biggest channel during both prime time and shoulder time surpassing SABC1. The continued loadshedding saw a change in viewer patterns and this saw an impact on some of the shows. Scandal (19:30 to 20:00) and House of Zwide (19:00 to 19:30) continues to have a demanding market share in their respective timeslots with Scandal, however, coming into some competition with SABC1 moving Skeem Saam from its 18:30 slot to the 19:30 slot.

During the year, e.tv launched new dramas, Smoke and Mirrors at 21:00 to 21:30 and Isitha at 21:30 to 22:00. Both these dramas command the number one position in their timeslots. The 18:30 drama, Nikiwe was withdrawn from the schedule as it was not commanding a satisfactory market share and was replaced by a new drama, Isipetho, which has more than doubled the market share.

e.tv now spends approximately R600 million annually on local drama series and again shows the dedication of the Group to grow the local television industry.

e.tv continues to face the impact of the uncertainty of the imminent analogue switch-off facing the country but the Group is confident that the audience share will be carefully managed. At present the Group is once again engaging with the Department of Communication in relation to the switch-off date regarding e.tv analogue transponders. The Group is firm in the belief that too many ordinary South Africans will remain without TV in a hard switch-off environment.

Openview and multichannel

The non-linear eMedia channels continue to improve their ratings with eExtra, eMovies Extra and eReality which rank in the top 15 of all satellite channels available in South Africa. A few more channels will be launched on the Openview platform in the new fiscal year.

The rest of the eMedia channels, available on multiple platforms accounted for 26.9% of the advertising revenue amounting to R610.6 million which is up from R501.3 million in the previous year. Profitability in this unit has been maintained with content costs for the fiscal year being pegged at R325.6 million.

The distribution of the four eMedia entertainment channels on Multichoice, which contributed to the Group’s audience and revenue share, is still under investigation by the Competition Commission after non-renewal of the channel carriage agreement. At the time of this report, the channels remain on the Multichoice bouquet, and the court case is set down for August 2024. As mentioned, this has attributed to the year-on-year increase in legal costs.

The set-top box activations for Openview for the year amounted to 377 916 taking the amount of activated set-top boxes to 3 428 523 activated at the end of the period. Technological advancements being the focus of the business will bring in the next upgraded phase of the Openview set-top box, a smarter set-top box which will have memory facilities and Wi-Fi capability.

eNCA

eNCA continues to perform satisfactorily in its targeting of the discerning news viewer. In an attempt to engage the viewer, the channel has changed its positioning from ‘No Fear, No Favour’, to ‘Question, Think, Act’. It also continues to be the leading advertising revenue generator in the news market.

Other subsidiaries

All of the Group’s subsidiaries, with the exception of Media Film Service, have performed exceptionally with Y ending the year on a profit after tax of R16.8 million, an increase of 6% year on year.

Costs

Administrative and other costs were well maintained, increasing by only 2.35% year on year. This increase is mainly due to marketing activities returning back to normal, increases in legal fees as previously discussed and the adverse impact of the rand fluctuation.

Cost of sales, which mainly consists of the cost of content, in the case of e.tv, employee costs in the case of eNCA, and cost of the Openview decoder sales, decreased from R1 629.4 million to R1 584.8 million. A significant portion of the decrease can be attributed to close control of content costs across the channels and the retrenchments to create efficiencies within eNCA.

Profitability

The only asset of the Group is a 67.69% interest in eMedia Investments, the company that owns e.tv, eNCA, Openview, eVOD among other businesses.

eMedia Investments ended the year with a net profit after tax of R353.2 million, compared to a profit of R404.7 million in the prior year. The above profit should be viewed in light of the continued loadshedding and the impact this had on the advertising cake, foreign exchange rate and the impact of diesel usage on the business, as well as the increased legal and marketing costs together with the impact of the actors and writers’ strike in faraway Hollywood.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the Group ended on R628.3 million compared to R667.2 million in the prior year.

Conclusion

The Group is forging ahead with numerous technology advances and strategic planning to continue to be the audience share market leader. The investment in Openview provides the Group with the strategic flexibility and is the plan to address the challenges of the transition that digital migration brings with it. The Group also intends to launch a number of digital developments to enhance its revenue generation capabilities and take advantage of our highly in-demand content.

The Group remains focused on its core business of broadcasting, content creation, platform advancements and a granular focus on technology that improves the broadcasting process.

Pending Court Verdict Keeps Kuiertyd And The Rest Of eMedia's Offering On DStv Until August 2024

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice have been embroiled a carriage dispute regarding eToonz, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eExtra. These channels were initially slated to go dark by the end of March of that year but got an extended stay on DStv for 2 years.

eMedia Investments had accused MultiChoice of anti-competitive behavior resulting in the removal of the channels. MultiChoice on the other based the removal on transponder constraints and also the load of DStv content viewed on eMovies and eToonz.

These offering was supplemented by DreamWorks and Movie Room as KykNET&kie launched its rival offering to eExtra's Kuiertyd. Other channels that formed part of this expanded offering to select DStv consumers include PBS Kids and KIX.

As seen in the start of the year, MultiChoice had removed at least 11 channels in under 4 months. These included People's Weather, B4U Movies and WildEarth with M-Net's Me and 1Magic that merged to form 1Max and was the only channel to be replaced.

If there's no further delays this time, the number of channels to have departed DStv would increase to 15 should no other channel exit prior. Of course, with the rate of TV channels to have exited without a replacement MultiChoice could lose more DStv customers. 

Despite these channels residing on the Openview platform with eExtra on StarSat in a separate agreement. eMedia Investments would see a reduction in revenue for these channels and viewers as e.tv, eNCA and eNuus on KykNET remains on DStv.

eMedia's 4 Channels Recieve Another Extension On MultiChoice's DStv, Might Go Dark By August 2024

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice had been undergoing a carriage dispute with the Competition Tribunal. After the pay-tv operated planned to remove these channels by March of that year was only fortunate enough to axe eMovies, eMovies Extra, eToonz and eExtra by the end of May.

At the time, MultiChoice mentioned that they had been phased with transponder constraints and that eMedia's 4 channels didn't fit their 5 year content strategy. eMedia Investments showed that MultiChoice did have enough satellite capacity and that their channels do abide by local quotas.

Following their cancellation, MultiChoice was met with severe backlash from various DStv consumers. Overtime, the pay-tv operator managed to supplement this offering with the expansions of KIX and PBS Kids alongside further new channels, DreamWorks and Movie Room.

By August of that year, eMedia Investments had recieved numerous extensions for their 4 Openview channels. After MultiChoice was planning to remove it by July 2023 and could have removed it by January 2024 will probably be able get it over with by August 2024.

Alas this case will have a 2 year and 6 month duration and despite how some people (including myself) wish these parties could have solved their issues much sooner.

Just know, eMedia's 4 Openview channels future were predicted by the end of May 2022 - Openview. MultiChoice has refused eMedia's attempts for a possible extension and honestly the Competition Tribunal can only help them recieve compensation at this point.

From MultiChoice's perspective, these 4 channels don't really have much to offer as I've mentioned for the past year eMedia Investments had been bundling these channel's content on e.tv and a selection of content is also accessible on DreamWorks and M-Net Movies.

That doesn't mean they aren't performing to their potential I feel similar to Zee One or BBC UKTV. These channels will hold more use to consumers that don't have access to the content residing within DStv.

The only issue here which is similar to what Nismedia had with Glow TV before it's departure is sustainability. eMedia Investments would have cutback on content in order to stay afloat as about 40% of their revenue is on DStv.

Recap To The Month: eMedia Investments Produced A Short Film On Smoke & Mirrors Titled KwaNgonyama: The Movie Slated To Air On eMovies And eMovies Extra

During the week, it was learnt by news outlets that e.tv would be axing Nikiwe after its current season. After debuting earlier in the year in place of Durban Gen, the series was struggling to garner any traction as it lost 500,000 viewers just a month after its debut.

e.tv failed to properly publicise the series which played a part in its downfall and in recent years this has become a norm for most local broadcasters as the channel appears to downsizing it's efforts towards their content.

Smoke & Mirrors was also unveiled earlier in the year as a replacement for Imbewu and unlike Nikiwe had become a ratings success with consumers. As it served as the 4th most watched show on e.tv while Nikiwe struggled to maintain its position within the top 20 viewership.

They produced a short film titled KwaNgonyama: The Movie that is slated to air on eMovies and eMovies Extra and also stream on eVOD. But eMedia Investments doesn't seem to care that much about marketing the content which is watched by millions of households.

Press statement on the film

A close-up look into the life of Caesar Ngonyama

This December Smoke & Mirrors takes us to the Eastern Cape in the region of Kwa Bhaca. Caesar heads back to confront a threatening situation, his home is under attack. There, we get to meet the character of Bhele, the man responsible for his father’s death.

As a personal war erupts in the Eastern Cape, bullets start flying and bodies drop. With the assistance of Ngcuka, Caesar affirms his position as the alpha of his world. But why did he become the man that he is? To give us valuable insight into the complex life of Caesar, a short film was produced to air on

eMovies and eMovies Extra, while Caesar’s storyline unfolds on e.tv.

Smoke & Mirrors airs weeknights at 9PM

News Shorts: Showmax Debuts Another Original Animated Series Twende, Once Upon A Studio To Rollout On Various e.tv And Disney Platforms And Help I'm In A Secret Relationship Returns For New Episodes On MTV Across Africa

Meet ‘Twende,’ Showmax Africa’s First Original 2D Toon

Showmax has released a trailer for Twende — the first Showmax Original 2D animated series. The show follows a pangolin — an endangered species which is the slowest on the savannah and the most-trafficked type of animal in the world — who makes up for his natural lack of speed by driving a motorcycle taxi.

Twende will premiere on Showmax across Africa on December 4. New episodes will roll out on Saturdays.

Once Upon A Studio debuts in Africa

Featuring 543 characters from more than 85 Disney feature-length and short films, Once Upon a Studio welcomes heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers - in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation - to celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements.

Will be on Disney+ from 09h00, Disney Channel from 16h55 and on e.tv at 18h20.

Also on OpenView at these times:

- eExtra: 17h50

- eSeries: 18h15

- eToonz: 18h50

- eReality: 18h50

- eMovies: 19h50

- eMovies Extra: 19h50

- ePlesier: 20h00

November on MTV

Help, I'm In A Secret Relationship S2B

Monday, November 27th @20:00

Episodes 211-224

The broken hearts professionals are back in action! In season 2 of HIIASR, Travis and Rahne return to the streets to help suspicious and confused partners find out why their relationship’s being kept secret. But with the trend of hiding more prevalent than ever…they’ve got their work cut out for them this around.

On season 2 of HIIASR, our hosts are dealing with wilder stories, even crazier twists, and more jaw-dropping, shocking reveals than they’ve ever encountered before.

TOLDJA! e.tv's 4 Channels Were Meant To Go Dark On DStv By August But Were Extended, Might To Go Dark By The End Of 2023 If Not Early 2024

Last month, eMedia Investments' 4 Openview channels on the DStv platform were meant to go dark as the team advised consumers that eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra would be booted and would remain exclusive to the Openview platform with eExtra on StarSat.

Fast forward to the present, these channels are still onboard the DStv platform and through an enquiry it was revealed that eMedia Investments had got another months extension (possibly the rest of 2023) by the Competition Tribunal - you'd think they'd let this matter rest.

And also it was mentioned that eMedia Investments had tried to get an extension on DStv but MultiChoice refused which led them to run through the Competition Tribunal for help once again.

Amidst this extension, MultiChoice was looking to launch further channels like the Zulu dubbed Bollywood channel Zee Zonke later this month (possible replacement to the Afrikaans offering on eExtra) but was delayed to September likely due to this matter.

Last year, MultiChoice had mentioned that they were battling with transponder constraints which partly led to the cancellation of eMedia's offering while the other party claimed they had plenty of space for more channels. But it's possible MultiChoice's case was accurate as they closed several channels in the previous financial year.

With this extension you kind of wonder if the upcoming offering would make it to DStv or likely get scrapped as seen with Media24's Via duplicate for Access consumers. Aside from e.tv, other channels whose future are in question include National Geographic and Disney Channel.

As outlined through my research, Disney Channel (and if possible Disney Junior) might be the next channels to exit the platform as further content will be folded under another streaming platform if not Showmax as Disney is looking to streamline the business.

Recap To Last Year: How MultiChoice Went About Phasing Out The eBranded Channels?

During the week, it was reported by my sources that eToonz alongside eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra would stop airing on DStv by the end of July. Since then, eExtra had been promoting several content without any mention of DStv which confirms everyone's suspicion.

These channels were reinstated in 2022 due to pending investigation - MultiChoice never intended to relaunch these channels as others had hoped. So the only way you can watch the final episodes of your favourite Kuiertyd shows would be to tuning in on e.tv or getting an Openview.

For those who still reside on DStv even after the termination need to note the following:

• DreamWorks was added as a replacement to eToonz to Compact consumers featuring various content already seen by the former brand: All Hail King Julien, Dragons: Race To The Edge, Boss Baby: Back In Business and Home: The Adventures Of Tip And Oh.

• Not having much alternatives to kiddies entertainment, MultiChoice extended the reach of PBS Kids to Easyview consumers. Access and Family consumers got a lot of kids channels e.g. Cartoon Network, Disney Junior and JimJam so they get nothing.

• Movie Room was added to all DStv consumers or better yet to the packages that offered eMovies and eMovies Extra. So basically 1 movie channel was given to Compact consumers while as KIX was added to Family and Access consumers giving them 2 channels.

• Each DStv package got 2 channels to replace the 4 TV channels while Easyview only got 1 channel.

• New channels added to the platform during the year include CineMagic, Magic Showcase, BBC UKTV, NHK World Japan, Moonbug and Hilaal TV so in a way you could say MultiChoice found a way to distract consumers from their absence particularly with Easyview consumers.

Kuiertyd Updates: SterStatus Makes It's Freemium Debut On e.tv, Doodsondes Returns For A Fifth And Sixth Season On eVOD, eExtra's Kuiertyd Being Ripped Away From DStv Platform + More

During the week, eMedia Investments had been creating a lot of buzz some good (and others not so great) and I just thought of wanting you refresh your memory to see what is happening across their platforms. 

e.tv

Since 2022, eMedia Investments had restructured the channel into the leading destination for local entertainment similar to Mzansi Magic and SABC 1 with most of their international content being reverted to eReality and eXposed with "premium movies on the eMovies channels.

As advised only 1 project is currently in development:

• Perfect Picture, a celebrity filtered reality show formerly seen on SABC 1 had been scooped up by eMedia Investments for a second season.

eExtra

Last month, Roekeloos Dade alongside uBettina Wethu exchanged timeslots meaning the Turkish drama would air 30 minutes early while the local series would air an hour later. It only made sense for eExtra to undergo similar changes with their consumers. 

• SterStatus, a fashion show formerly seen on Media24's Afrikaans lifestyle channel becomes the second project to have gotten revived by eMedia Investments following Die Kontrak. 

• From 31 July, Elif will be airing 18:00 followed by Om Elke Draai at 19:00 then Hart Van Goud at 20:00 and Die Put at 21:00. eMedia Investments hadn't provided the full 24 hour schedule should they do we'll gladly provide it but as of now Kuiertyd will look like this

18:00 Elif

19:00 On Elke Draai

20:00 Hart Van Goud.

21:00 Die Put

• The channel rolls out three new international telenovelas (two of which are currently streaming on eVOD): Winter Son, Chrysalis and Ramo. All shows but Elif ends next month as it continues to be Kuiertyd's longest running series.

• From July 4, Die Vreemdeling the first ever Turkish series to be made available on e.tv will broadcast as a double bill at 16:00.

eVOD

* The final two seasons of Doodsondes will launch exclusively on eVOD. Even Die Put has reached its final rounds on the streaming service both of which are slated for eExtra's Kuiertyd.

Other 

During the week, it was learnt by sources that e.tv's 4 channels would be exciting MultiChoice's DStv and after a few hours we managed to recieve word that eToonz, eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra would in fact end its run on the pay-tv platform by the end of July.

As mentioned, further content can be viewed on e.tv and several pay-tv channels on DStv. Of course with e.tv, this comes at a limited basis with some content be it drama related or cinema based taking longer to be viewed on e.tv than on eExtra or eMovies some never seen on the brand.

Could eToonz, eExtra, eMovies And eMovies Extra Be The Next Channels To Exit MultiChoice's DStv?

Last year, MultiChoice renewed their partnership with eMedia Investments for eNCA which meant eNuus on kykNET could live on a couple of years. Unfortunately, this new agreement didn't include eToonz, eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra therefore ending it's run on DStv.

At the time, it was learnt that MultiChoice would adding more channels during that financial period including Movie Room and DreamWorks and also extending the reach of existing channels KIX and PBS Kids. They even got kykNET to rollout it's international telenovela slate.

But that's where things get interesting because around the time all this happened. The courts made their ruling and it was advised that MultiChoice retain these channels following pending investigation which created an overflow of content amongst their portfolio.

It was stated by eMedia Investments that they'd love to see their channels remain on DStv despite the tensions the pay-tv company have with Openview. MultiChoice at the opted to move further and refresh their lineup which led to the cancellation of Tellytrack, ITV Networks, Novela Magic and MTV Hits.

Over to the cancellations, it was stated that the channels would remain on DStv for another 6 months but when 6 months had passed. eMedia Investments only responded to say that eToonz, eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra would remain on DStv until further notice.

In an recent enquiry by fans, eMedia Investments' team responded to say that these channels would only be on Openview. Although a date hasn't been provided I presume these channels would be going dark by from August as it would mark 1 year since it was reinstated.

And also eExtra is undergoing timeslot changes around same time, if my hunch is correct it means that consumers would be missing out on the final episodes of Hart Van Goud, Om Elke Draai and Die Put as the latter conclude next month on eExtra with only 2/3 available on e.tv.

As for the other three, the content is spread across DStv for eMovies and eMovies Extra there's Movie Room and TNT, and eToonz with DreamWorks or better yet Nickelodeon. Not that this content isn't on value but taking the platform to account you kind of see these three wouldn't make the cut.

eExtra at some point was guilty as charged but now you can view some fragments of these brands through e.tv and across several DStv channels.

Alongside e.tv channels, other brands whose futures are in question include factual and wildlife brands National Geographic and National Geographic Wild and children's brands Disney Channel and Disney Junior as The Walt Disney Company transitions to a streaming only module moving further content to Disney+.

eMedia Investments And MultiChoice Renew Carriage Agreement For eNCA Through 2027, Still Silent On eMedia's 4 Other Channels Currently Seen On DStv

Yesterday, eMedia Investments revealed in their annual financial results that it secured a five-year extension with MultiChoice to carry eNCA on DStv. It also sold exclusive rights to carry its flagship news channel, blocking its own platforms like Openview from carrying it.

eMedia said it maintained its prime-time audience market share of 34.5% across E-tv, Openview, and eNCA — up slightly from 34.1% on March 2022. E-tv’s prime-time market share dropped back to.21.4% after increasing from 21.8% in 2021 to 23.7% last year.

eNCA is the most-watched news channel in South Africa among the nation’s wealthiest demographic and the second most-watched news channel among “All Adults”. This is despite the channel not being offered on all DStv packages, whereas its competition is, eMedia said.

Last year, the company was embroiled in a carriage battle with the pay-tv company for their 4 channels: eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra. Since August 2022, the channel remained onboard on the platform following pending investigation.

Of course, eMedia Investments remained silent at the time of publication so we assume these channels might as well be a gonner as MultiChoice isn't looking to carry these channels full-time while eMedia Investments hopes to see them continue on the platform.

As for eNCA, we can only assume that the only way you can get this on Openview is through the pay tier, Ultraview. But majority of Openview consumers can't afford or aren't willing to pay for the the bouquet with some comparing it to the likes of DStv.

Recap To The Year: The Future Of eToonz, eMovies, eMovies Extra And eExtra On DStv Will Likely Be Unveiled In The Coming Weeks

In 2017, eMedia Investments expanded their partnership with MultiChoice to include general entertainment channel eExtra, two movie channels eMovies and eMovies Extra and kiddies channel eToonz and since last year that all went to hell.

MultiChoice attempted to replicate the offering with kykNET & Kie's international telenovela slate alongside the additions of DreamWorks and Movie Room. Since then, the pay-tv company had been ordered to keep these channels onboard their platforms for 6 months.

Considering these channels were reinstated no later than August 2022 it means the channels were meant to go dark before the end of the previous financial year which is 31 March 2023 but few days into the next financial year they're still aboard.

If we had guess it's possible MultiChoice extended the agreement for these 4 channels past the 6 month cutoff date I mean the idea wouldn't be far fetched. From what is known from reps, these channels aren't permanent but they don't disclose when they're going dark either.

So it's possible that eMedia's 4 channels were being put on a trial run on MultiChoice's DStv platform to see which channel has a bigger impact on consumer's viewing habits and it's also possible that they're looking at ways to properly depose of these channels.

Compared to eExtra, all other e.tv channels supply a lot of rehashed content from DStv something the mentioned platform has been trying to reduce over the years with Magic Showcase and CineMagic being accessible to Easyview with kykNET Lekker on Access.

While as top level consumers such as Premium, Compact+ and Compact have access to a variety of channels such as Mzansi Magic, BBC Brit, kykNET, kykNET NOU! and several others.

As for eExtra, it's possible the pay-tv platform wants to limit the amount of dubbed programming. These programming have grown successful over the years so it's possible that similar to ITV Choice on M-Net they'd rather incorporate this on kykNET & Kie.

I mean the limitation of dubbed programming on DStv has been speculated for sometime now after the platform opted not to renew their agreement with Canal+ SPI International for the Turkish channel Timeless Dizi Channel and CJ E&M for Korean channel tvN.

All in all, it's possible that all the channels might go dark in the coming months as MultiChoice had sought out several channels for the affected consumers Access and Easyview including Movie Room, BBC UKTV, CineMagic, Moonbug Kids and Magic Showcase.

It's also very much possible that selected channels could remain onboard such as eExtra for instance as there's less duplication in terms of content but more in terms of dubs.

New Movie Alert: eMedia Investments In Partnership With Amazon Prime Video Drop Two New Productions, Tickets And Piet's Sake 2

eMedia Investments similar to MultiChoice and French company Canal+ seem to be going on a joint venture with the international streamer, Amazon Prime Video. As they unveiled two new local productions for streamers earlier in the month, Tickets and Piet's Sake 2.

Synopsis for Tickets:

Young lovers Crystal and Marlyn can’t keep their hands off each other. He dreams of rapping and she dreams of singing on the big stage. What they both actually want, is just a way out of the Flats. Phyllis, Crystal’s Mom, lives with a heavy secret, the burden of hiding it is driving a wedge between her and her daughter.

The film stars Robyn Rossouw, Monique Rockman and Danny Ross. Marvin-Lee Beukes whose known for his work on kykNET's Binnelanders and Suidooster sitting in the director's seat for the film, Tickets.

Synopsis for Piet's Sake 2:

When the son of a well-off Zulu polygamist squares off with his Indian varsity lecturer over who can be a youth or an adult better than the other, life gives them an opportunity to swap lives and live out their differences through a comedy of errors.

The film stars Starring Motlatsi Mafatshe, Kaseran Pillay and Warren Masemola. Norman Maake who known for Mzansi Magic's It's Complicated reprises his directing role to the sequel of Piet's Sake which for some reason is also titled Pete's Sake 2.

Those using eVOD may find it hard to view Piet's Sake 2 or Tickets as Amazon Prime Video obtained streaming rights. Unlike, most of eVOD's originals these ones were also managed by Amazon Prime Video so there's no clue on if this will be seen on eVOD.

If you're new to Amazon Prime Video, you get a 7 day free trial of the streaming service.

Reminder: eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra And eToonz Are Turning 6 In May 2023 On The DStv Platform

In May 2017, eMedia Investments expanded their partnership with MultiChoice which saw the inclusion of 4 additional channels to the DStv platform and also available freely on the Openview platform include eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz.

eExtra is a general entertainment channel offering series, reality shows and movies. Following the rollout of Kuiertyd, the channel has become one of the most popular channels on the platform for shows like Elif, Dokter Ali, Gebroke Harte and Die Put.

eMovies serves as one of the longest brands on eMedia's portfolio offering light hearted films ranging from comedy, adventure and romance while eMovies Extra is for more robust films ranging action, adventure and sci-fi.

eToonz currently behind eMovies in terms of existence is a fun and imaginative destination for children aged 2-12 years offering a mixture of animated and live-action shows including Zak Storm, GGO Football, Hank Zipzer and Bajillionaires.

Since 2022, MultiChoice has been in an on and off relationship with eMedia Investments for the carriage of these 4 channels and although not much has been confirmed as to whether these channels would be carried onboard for a much longer period.

What is evident is that these channels will be celebrating another year on the platform and it could give us an idea as to when we could recieve an update on the above-mentioned brands.

We honestly believe now that 6 months for these channels had already passed that MultiChoice and eMedia Investments extended their agreement for these channels within that period. Maybe these channels are on an experimental phase to see what works.

Or just like Glow TV, MultiChoice wants to honour their agreement and give them a decent farewell. I mean the idea wouldn't be far fetched considering how much they tried to duplicate/supplement these channels.

From our analysis, eExtra is the only thing worth exploring in terms of content compared to the above-mentioned there's less DStv repetition. But with kykNET & Kie serving a similar offering and e.tv duplicating the line-up we could see why that channel wouldn't survive.

But honestly would it be shocking if all the channels were to go dark I mean since last year MultiChoice had several improvements to the packages these channels best cater for with DreamWorks Channel, Movie Room, BBC UKTV, CineMagic and Magic Showcase.

MultiChoice Shares Cryptic Status Update Regarding eMedia's 4 Channels On The DStv Platform

During 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice got into a legal brawl regarding the fate of eMedia's 4 channels in the pay-tv market on DStv after the closed on the platform with the only other means of viewing their content happens to come from Openview which will soon come with its own pay-tv component, Openview Ultra.

As mentioned, a while back eMedia Investments' 4 channels being eToonz, eExtra, eMovies, and eMovies Extra were reinstated for about 6 months meaning the future of these channels will likely be revealed by the end of January or later in February depending on court outcomes.

For all we know 6 months may not include December as that was a festive holiday and maybe it did and they're just monitoring by days considering they were reinstated in the first week of August it could mean that an outcome should have been reached by this week.

DStv:
- MultiChoice and eMedia Investments gets roasted over load shedding plans
- BBC to close linear channels and move to an internet only digital future
- kykNET Lekker Opened To More DStv Customers For A Limited Time
- What Consumers Should Be Concerned About Regarding SABC's Yet To Be Launched Channels On DStv?

In a conversation with the pay-tv holder on whether these channels will remain onboard, they had this to say:

Not yet, we will advise if they will be closed.

We finally got confirmation these channels are neither permanent or temporary just #DisComplicated. I mean could we even see a happy ending to all this even.

Firstly, they don't fit into their 5 year content strategy as all eToonz does is repeat from DreamWorks and eMovies borrow their movie selection from M-Net Movies with Movie Room, TNT and Studio Universal getting a pass due to their global reach I suppose.

DStv Flex:
- What to expect this February on TNT?
- Big Cat Sunday this February on National Geographic Wild
- CBS Reality acquired rights to Killer's Caught On Camera
- Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller returns for a third season on National Geographic

eExtra kind of makes that ideal channel to have onboard compared to the other 3 channels. As seen with e.tv last year it does kind of make up as another local component to eMedia's portfolio in this case a rival for kykNET and another having to do with the audience.

My hunch on why MultiChoice is opting not to keep it has to do with the existing Zee TV lineup as that also doesn't fall under their 5 year content strategy and the other dealing with the fact Kuiertyd despite being a premiere on eExtra has a daytime block on e.tv.

There's always Kind Van Die Noodlot and In Die Ysterhand Se Greep on kykNET & Kie.

The fact MultiChoice doesn't see value in these channels doesn't mean they don't hold value elsewhere. In court arguments, they kind of implied that when referencing Openview as there's not much alternatives as seen with DStv at the moment.

For consumers wishing to view these channels would need to get an Openview or stream selected content on eVOD while others choosing to remain with DStv would need monitor e.tv's schedule to see what shows they'll missed out through these channels.

eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra And eToonz Future On DStv Reportedly Revealed

As mentioned a while back, MultiChoice was instructed to keep eExtra alongside eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz on the DStv platform for another 6 months and based on the timeframe it means that these channels are set to go dark by the end of January.

Before I actually give my reasoning behind the timeframe let's look at the matter at hand.

As seen last year, MultiChoice won their case with eMedia Investments and these channels were terminated successfully with other having to pay their expenses and few months later the roles were exchanged with 6 months included in this deal.

My hypothesis was that the 6 months were as seen in society a jail sentence for the pay-tv company and worst of all the necessary alternatives such as Movie Room and DreamWorks were added while upcoming channels such as the rumoured/possibly scrapped Via+ channel.

Take to account 31 January may not be the closing date but if you take to account the timeframe these channels were reinstated which is August it does take up to 6 months.

eMedia Investments:
- Ultraview Pride and Ultraview Indian coming soon to Openview
- More Bollywood coming soon to Openview Ultra
- More e.tv coming soon to DStv customers
- Could SABC be unveiling another two channels for Openview Ultra?

As you browse DStv's EPG, you'd notice that eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra all have schedules ending 31 January while as e.tv crosses over to the new month all the more reason to believe their demise is just around the corner.

Sure it's possible that maybe they haven't updated the schedule for these 4 channels but some like eExtra follow the same timetable but cover a different topic every now and then.

Besides, eMedia is never this late to update these channels sure some things may not stick part of time but a schedule was always visible for these brands and with their demise it means viewers will have to spend most of their time on e.tv if they wish to catch-up to some of their shows.

Just like Glow TV, I'm not really expecting a miracle I feel these channels will benefit more to Openview consumers as there's not much alternatives as seen with DStv. I just can't help feel sorry for all the viewers who don't have a dedicated telenovela channel or an alternative better yet even a channel for quality animation.

DStv:
- BBC to close linear channels and move to an internet only digital future
- kykNET Lekker Opened To More DStv Customers For A Limited Time
- What Consumers Should Be Concerned About Regarding SABC's Yet To Be Launched Channels On DStv?
- Press Release: DStv Welcomes The Launch Of Quincy Jones’ QWEST TV Onto Screens This Month

Pending Development: More e.tv Coming Soon To DStv Once eToonz, eExtra, eMovies And eMovies Extra Exit The DStv Platform

Last year, MultiChoice made plans to terminate eMedia Investments' 4 channels eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra by the end of the first quarter of that year only to be delayed to the second quarter as the pay-tv operator was going through court proceedings.

Initially, MultiChoice had won the case as these channels went dark for about two months only to resurface as the pay-tv company were advised to hold on to these channels for another 6 months which take viewers to the first quarter of 2023.

As advised, no dates were shared as to when exactly these channels will go dark exactly but my guess between January to March likely not even in the third month depending on how the court conceives 6 months.

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

If the court made their ruling earlier than 6 months than MultiChoice would have pulled the rug out of everyone's noses as seen last year leaving consumers with e.tv, eNCA and the Afrikaans news bulletins on kykNET.

MultiChoice managed to find replacements for these 4 channels in some manner with the launch of Movie Room, DreamWorks and kykNET's Turkish offering on kykNET & Kie alongside expanding the likes of PBS Kids and KIX.

But consumers wishing to see their favourite characters or at least a portion of the content can tune into the following on e.tv:

- Elif, Verdeelde Liefde and Wrede Stad weekdays in the 8:30 AM timeslot with Voëlvry weeknights (excluding Friday) at 23:00. Further shows such as #DisComplicated and Die Put would be made available in these timeslots.
- The Craze block features various animated shows on eToonz such as Pokémon, Peppa Pig, Gabby's Dollhouse, Regal Academy and Fast And The Furious: Spy Racers.
- Movies can be found on Fridays at 14:30 and 22:00, weekend afternoons at 2pm and from 8pm and during the week in the night owl slots in between the 12am to 5am slot.

DStv:
- BBC to close linear channels and move to an internet only digital future
- kykNET Lekker Opened To More DStv Customers For A Limited Time
- What Consumers Should Be Concerned About Regarding SABC's Yet To Be Launched Channels On DStv?
- Press Release: DStv Welcomes The Launch Of Quincy Jones’ QWEST TV Onto Screens This Month

Here's the downside:

- For those wishing to see Ice Adonis and The Rebel Princess on eExtra would need to get an Openview decoder and selected content can only be viewed on eVOD at this point.
- As for the Bollywood section of eExtra, it's basically become a hub for Zee World's leftovers or yet to be seen programs. For those on lower bouquets would just need to upgrade to the relevant package to watch the content or get Openview or eVOD for selected content.
- eToonz isn't only an animation brand but there's various live-action series on including Bajillionaires, Make It Pop and Hank Zipzer. As advised, certain content would need you to have the relevant package or to pursue the necessary alternative.
- As for movies, there's plenty of fish in the sea it's up to you on whether you want to catch one or not.

Exploring your remote control:

MultiChoice offers a variety of entertainment for the whole family if you're looking for movies turn to TNT, Movie Room and M-Net Movies, want some romance and drama turn to Telemundo, Star Life and Zee World and lastly the kiddies could always search on Cartoon Network, JimJam and CBeebies.

Roundups #124: Cartoon Network Unveils New Look Amidst 30th Anniversary, Nurses Returns For Third And Possibly Fourth Season On Telemundo Africa And Jackie Chan Confirms Development Of Rush Hour 4

Cartoon Network gets yet another wardrobe change

Cartoon Network explained their big brand refresh this week. As more eyeballs hit the channel as a result of the larger Warner Bros. Discovery restructuring, the company has to forge a new path ahead. Senior Vice President of creative and design for Cartoon Network, Jacob Escobedo spoke to AdWeek's Mollie Cahillane about the changes. Traditionally, the channel has employed a CMYK color palette, but things are broadening out with this new refresh. In the comments, the sap took aim at those rumors of Cartoon Network's demise and singled out the new direction for the different programming blocks. Warner Bros. Discovery is targeting a wider family audience and girls with some of these decisions. It will be interesting to see how that proceeds. Check out some of the comments down below.

"We decided to peel back all the layers of our branding," Escobedo said. "We were up against a lot of strange press saying Cartoon Network was dying or that it was dead. With this new packaging and the content that we're rolling out in 2023, it shows that we're very much alive and that we're a vibrant, fun brand that has a lot going on."

While trying to expand all our content, it brings new challenges," Escobedo said. "How does Harry Potter fit with Teen Titans? How does this content live together? This split-screen was a fun device for us to mess around with… We're going after a wider audience. We're going after girls, we're going after family, a much broader fanbase."

"We wanted the palette to just feel inclusive," Escobedo said. "Signifying inclusivity."

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
- January on Disney Channel
- January on Da Vinci Kids

Nurses returning for season 3 immediately after season 2 on Telemundo Africa

Throughout the year, María Clara has been incharge of managing the main plot for Nurses which includes a complicated love story, a failed marriage, raising her two children, and falling in love again--with a younger man. Not to mention her vital work.

As reported a while back the channel acquired rights to the third scheduled for February 13th and quite frankly a fourth season to Nurses. Although, the initial one in Colombia consists solely of three seasons. Various other distributors opted to portion the episodes within seasons.

The season finale of Nurses will be broadcast on January 29 and from what I can recall My Perfect Family will also be ending within the month. The channel hasn't found a replacement yet but will announce close to the time what's happening with the schedule.

Everyday Novelas:
- Prediction: What to expect on Star Life by next year?
- Meet In Love returning for season 2 on Zee World
- Televisa's Fall Into Temptation rolls out in Nigeria
- 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?

Rush Hour 4 has been greenlit

Jackie Chan revealed he is in talks for a “Rush Hour 4.”

The legendary martial arts star made the announcement at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he spoke about his upcoming projects and 60-year film career in front of a a crowd of adoring fans who regularly interrupted the talks to shout out questions, congratulate him on his honorary Oscar and ask him to sing. (He was happy to oblige with a quick burst of “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” explaining that he learned to sing so that he’d be able to do something for his fans that wouldn’t involve fight moves.)

What has become “the Jackie Chan style” is marked by its combination of action and comedy. He said, “You cannot create any more action because, what? Punching? Kicking? Those kinds of things… boring. So this is why I slowly use comedy with action and all the props around me, and after I cannot use any more, then I do dangerous stunts. High jumps. Believe it or not, this year is my 60th year in the film industry.”

Chan speaks with extraordinary enthusiasm and affability. He’s the king of the humblebrag: detailing how he dominated cinema in Hong Kong, then Japan and finally Hollywood with “Rush Hour,” which, pairing him with Chris Tucker, finally allowed him to use his own frenetic style. He originally thought the movie would flop, but, “I got a phone call. Brett Ratner and Chris Tucker call me from New York. They’re crazy. We were $70 million in the first weekend. For me, I don’t know how to count.” But he adds to cheers: “We’re talking about ‘Rush Hour 4’ right now.”

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