Insidus

Friday, July 30, 2021

New Series Alert: The Tempest Coming Soon To TLNovelas Africa

A week ago, I mentioned that The Power Of Destiny will likely be the last show to debut on TLNovelas before the pop-up channel stops airing ONLY on DStv well you can scratch that the last show will likely be The Tempest.

The Tempest (La Tempestad) which serves as a remake to Colombian telenovela La Tormenta follows Marina, a young and beautiful woman who gets fired one day as she tries to help a colleague who's been raped. An unsuspected twist of faith lands her in a car with a mysterious woman Mercedes who offers her a job at a small fishing village. She accepts when her mother's health declines and hopes that the sea side will offer both of them something good. Arriving at the town means that she'll have to meet the captain of La Tempestad, Damian Fabregas.

William Levy and Ximena Navarrete star as the protagonists, while Iván Sánchez, Laura Carmine, and César Évora star as the antagonists.

The show made its debut with a total of 122 episodes each being an hour on El Canal de las Estrellas (The Channel Of The Stars) which is also owned by Televisa which is set to merge with the channel's other partner, Univision.

New Series Alert: Dokter Ali Coming Soon To eExtra

Also read:
- Afrikaans voice actors for Droomvelore and Die Put
- Doodsondes returning for a fourth season on eExtra
- Dokter Ali season 2 coming soon

eMedia Investments has been going all out with these Turkish dramas, the first which is delaying the romcom Kamer 309 with the other being a sneak peek to Voelvry now viewers will get to see a brand new medical drama called Dokter Ali which is based on the South Korean drama which also got an American adaptation titled The Good Doctor.

Dokter Ali (Mucize Doktor) tells the story of Ali who was born in a provincial town and was rejected by his father for adoption. Ali with savant syndrome, who grew up in orphanages, graduated from the faculty of medicine with first degree. Then he starts to work in a private hospital as an assistant surgeon. Taner Olmez, Onur Tuna and Sinem Unsal are set to star.

The series debuted back in 2019 with a total of 85 episodes and accumulated 8 nominations with 5 wins.

The first season debuts weekdays at 19:30 from 12 August replacing As Die Skoen Pas for only 2 days on eExtra.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Warner Bros. Discovery Might Help With The Rollout Of HBO Max?

Not long ago, WarnerMedia and Discovery announced they'd merge to form a new company which would bring Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC as well as HBO, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim under one stable known simply as Warner Bros. Discovery.

These companies also have their streaming services like HBO Max and Discovery+ in the United States and around the world.

Now some countries like the UK, viewers have to wait till 2025 to get HBO Max due to a pending contract agreement with Sky. HBO also has an agreement with M-Net and Showmax so should it launch in the UK chances are Africa would have to wait for these contracts to expire.

As mentioned earlier, WarnerMedia and Discovery are merging this new company could form another streaming service which offers the best of Discovery+ and HBO Max specifically in markets like the UK. By the time, HBO Max rolls out in the UK and possibly Africa people would have already been downloading all their content through torrent sites.

This platform could be called Warner TV+

Supa TV Stops Airing On Openview After A Year

On Monday afternoon, one of the presenters at Supa TV announced that the channel would stop airing on channel 150 from 30 July with no reason from either Openview or the channel about the sudden termination.

Supa TV launched in May 2020 as an interactive TV channel that featured shows about betting, lifestyle and obviously sports e.g. Mo Sports, Supabeats and Supachats.

My guess is Supabeats will go back to being a digital service with some content seen on Supa TV being uploaded onto YouTube. It wouldn't shock me if the next channels to go off air at some point is DBE TV and France24.

Even though Supa TV will not be replaced, Openview is in the process of launching two entertainment channels from the SABC one of which are rumored to be SABC Encore following the launch of SABC Sport and their 19 radio stations in April.

On top of that, eMedia Investments is scheduled to launch their streaming, eVOD which might follow TelkomOne which isn't competing with Netflix or Showmax.

Friday, July 23, 2021

New Series Alert: Two Women Coming Soon To eExtra

tvN may be closing on DStv by the end of the month but that doesn't mean it's the only station which offers K-dramas. Following the premiere of Ice Adonis, eExtra is finally ready to introduce another K-drama called Two Women.

Two Women, tells the story of Kyung-Chae an executive of a five-star hotel. One day, Kyung-Chae takes pity on poor Hee-Soo by treating her like family. Hee-Soo repays Kyung-Chae kindness with a ruthless betrayal. The series stars Park Eun-hye, Wang Bit-na, Kang Ji-sub, and Kang Kyung-joon.

The series made its debut back in 2013 on tvN's rival SBS with a total of 119 episodes each consisting of 30 - 35 minutes and also bagged 3 nominations.

Two Women airs weekdays at 17:35 on eExtra from 2nd August with repeats at 23:00 also on weekdays and likely an omnibus on Sunday at 01:00.

Please Note: Power replaces Empire on e.tv from 2nd August

eExtra is available in South Africa on DStv, StarSat and Openview

New Series Alert: The Power Of Destiny Coming Soon To TLNovelas Africa

TLNovelas will be introducing it's last telenovela on DStv called The Power Of Destiny later in August where the pop-up channel stops airing on the platform meaning the only way to continue watching this show is through StarTimes (StarSat).

The Power Of Destiny (La Fuerza Del Destino), The story begins with Ivan and his mother Alicia returning to the land of his birth. His mother takes a job as a servant for the Lomeli Curiel family. At the home of the Curiels, Ivan continues his studies with the generous help of Doña Carlota, until he is 19.

Meanwhile, Maripaz, one of the daughters returns home after having studied abroad. She seduces Ivan and becomes pregnant. When Maripaz's mother, Lucrecia hears of the scandal she sends men out to beat Ivan. During the brawl, one of the men is killed and Ivan is wrongfully accused of the crime. Having nothing to lose, Ivan crosses the border illegally into the U.S. and heads for Los Angeles where he meets an older businessman who adopts him and pays for his education. After 11 years, he returns to Mexico to face his past.

David Zepeda, Sandra Echeverría and Gabriel Soto star as the main protagonists, while Laisha Wilkins, Rosa María Bianchi, Ferdinando Valencia and Juan Ferrara star as the main antagonists.

The series debuted back in 2011 with a total of 101 episodes. It also accumulated several awards including TVyNovelas Awards and several Premios awards.

ICYMI: Secrets At The Hotel (El Hotel De Los Secretos) replaces Roads To Destiny on FOX. My theory is the channel will repeat all the Televisa telenovelas from the defunct FOX Life before introducing anything "fresh" in that category.

From September, TLNovelas can only be found on StarTimes.

August 2021 On KIX Africa Features 6 Films And 2 Of Them From Last Year

Kung Fu League (2018)
Fei Ying Xiong, an indigent comic book artist, is romantically interested in Bao'er, but the head manager of their company, who also has an interest for Bao'er, prevents that from happening. So he summons four legendary Kung Fu masters to learn the highest level of martial arts and help him get his girl.

A Chinese Fairytale (2011)
Tax collector Ning, a clumsy and easily frightened man, doesn't have any money and decides to stay overnight in an abandoned temple. Little does he know that the temple is haunted. He meets a very beautiful lady who seduces him, but he doesn't know that she is a ghost.

Operation Bangkok (2021)
To save a hostage, Wu Wei and Liu Xiao will take the temporary special action team and infiltrate the place where over 100 mobs gather in and battle against the criminals violently.

Quan Dao The Journey Of A Boxer (2020)
Ah Ni, 12-year-old boy, has to take care of his blinded dad. He is always being bullied by squad when selling souvenir fluorescent sticks on the street for living. It was tragedy that Ah Ni got his eye blinded because of a friend - Uncle Hing. Since then, he tried to hide and have his peaceful life with Ah Ni.

The Three Swordsmen (2020)
"Three different swordsmen meet each other for their own reasons." Tae Yul, a swordsman in his thirties goes out to find his only daughter after losing one of his eyes. Min Seung Ho, the Joseon Dynasty's best swordsman chooses an ordinary simple life after perceiving the transient nature of power. Gurutai, the best swordsman in Qing Dynasty aspires to become the best even in the Joseon Dynasty.

New Channel Alert: One Of SABC's Two New Entertainment Channels On Openview Might Have Surfaced

SABC held a memorial service for fellow musician Tsepo Tshola and in the advert they displayed what appears to be SABC Encore and that it's available through DTT.

Not only that, Telkom's streaming service, TelkomOne seems to be transmitting SABC Encore through their platform which is likely part of a carriage agreement both parties established in 2020.

SABC Encore began in May 2015 and lasted about 5 years through an exclusive clause on MultiChoice's DStv. SABC mentioned on two occasions that they were working on reviving the channel through another platform.

I have no doubt in my mind at this point that SABC Encore is one of the two long awaited entertainment channels SABC promised to launch on the Openview platform.

In March, SABC stated these two channels coming to Openview will also be found on DTT as well as OTT platforms e.g. TelkomOne. Also that these two channels would have 80% existing content and 20% new content so maybe the memorial service is part of the 20%.

SABC Encore which was created to present the best of SABC will likely become another Disney where they make new property based on old content. In this channel's case I mean documentaries, reality shows and TV specials.

SABC Encore would be ReWIND's first competitor should it launch on Openview kind of like how SABC Sport is competing e.tv News & Sport.