Most Popular Posts Of 2023: Everyday Novelas Takes The Most Wins With eExtra's Kuiertyd And Surprising Development Cennet: The Power Of Destiny And HONEY Make It To The Top 10

Presenting the reader's 10 most viewed stories of 2023

1. Development Alert: Wie Laaste Lag Currently Streaming On eVOD + Coming Soon To eExtra

2. Afrikaans Voice Actors For Roekeloos Dade, Annekan Die Swa Kry And Ramo

3. Reminder: Doodsondes Returns For A Fifth Season Likely After Roekeloos Dade On e.tv

4. New Series Alert: Powerbirds And Robin Hood Currently Airing On eToonz

5. Nigeria: Kwara TV Broadcast For The First Time On StarTimes, FreeTV And Soon On DStv + International Expansion Are On The Cards

6. New Series Alert: Telemundo To Debut First Turkish Drama Cennet: The Power Of Destiny Across Africa This October

7. New Series Alert: Soete Wraak Coming Soon To eVOD

8. Its The Moment You've All Been Waiting For NickToons Africa Debuts The New Series From Monday 13 November At 13:30 CAT Along With Breadwinners On Monday 6 November At 15:35 CAT Plus A Nick Jr Block For The Preschoolers So Much Is In Store For The Little Ones In November 2017

9. Channel Termination: HONEY To Go Dark On DStv From 31 October 2023

10. New Series Alert: As Expected, Roekeloos Dade Is Rolling Out On eExtra In The Coming Months

Notes

• Kuiertyd occupies the most spots in the top 10 (5) and Everyday Novelas offers 6 (including Cennet).

• eToonz's Powerbirds was the most popular kids show or better yet Regular Nick attraction.

• Nicktoons has the oldest post on the list which dates back to 2017.

• Roekeloos Dade has been the most mentions (3)

New Series Alert: My New Mother In Law Coming Soon To Zee One

Zee One, a general entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises and a spin-off to Zee World that distributes various Bollywood films and series has announced their first new series for 2024 titled My New Mother InLaw (Tomar Khola Hawa).

Based on the already seen Hindi drama series Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega, it follows Jhilmil's carefree life takes an unexpected turn when she becomes a young mother-in-law and the head of the family after getting married to Abir.

The drama starred Swastika Dutta as Jhilmil Roy, Subhankar Saha as Abir Roy, Srabanti Banerjee as Ahona Mitra, Kheyali Dastidar as Chaya Roy, Arpita Mukherjee as Shivani Roy and Tathagata Mukherjee as Arjo Roy.

It debuted by 2022 with a total of 183 episodes each with a 22 minute duration. My New Mother InLaw serves as one of six adaptations to the female oriented family drama alongside Hitler Gari Pellam, Thirumathi Hitler, Mrs. Hitler, Hitler Kalyana and Tu Khara Mun Chhai.

My New Mother InLaw is anticipated to rollout earlier in the new year on Zee One.

Development Alert: eMedia Investments Might Be Looking To Rebrand eVOD To eVOD Stream

eVOD is a South African based streaming service operated by eMedia Investments that offers Lou

Iocally produced and inyern home to e.tv and eExtra. It competes against existing platforms like Disney's Disney+, MultiChoice's Showmax, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

During the year, MultiChoice opted to rebrand the DStv app to DStv Stream as a means to sort of divide it from the linear counterpart and Showmax. Now it appears as if eMedia Investments is looking to do the same as several posters featuring the eVOD Stream logo has been shared across their platforms.

Similar to how Apple TV+, SABC+ and Paramount+ took the plus from Disney+ playbook. eMedia Investments seems to have taken a similar turn with MultiChoice's DStv Stream not only with the name but colour as well.

eVOD Stream is available with a red logo in some areas but a majority are featured with the blue. I get some would point to eNCA but DStv incorporated this colour since it's inception while eMedia had to browse several designs before finding their place with the red logo.

Although nothing has been said about the possible new name, let's not forget about how Openview got a facelift from the HD. There was no marketing done over the rebrand and removal of HD from the name and I wouldn't be shocked if the same outcome awaited eVOD Stream.

My estimated guess is that the eVOD Stream trademark will rollout sometime in 2024. Various content from the streamer is seen using this logo including Blink Kant Bo, Christmas Without Gogo and the upcoming Die Agentskap.

Showmax: The End Result For HONEY TV

HONEY was Africa's first Pan-African lifestyle channel operated by Via's Media24 home to locally produced shows like 7 Colours and Yes, I Have HIV. It was also outsourcing content from M-Net like Date My Family and Our Perfect Wedding.

A few months ago, MultiChoice inline with their entertainment offering opted to discontinue the channel across Africa after a two year run alongside other locally produced brands during the year such as Maisha Magic Movies, Novela Magic and ROK GH.

From what everyone could make from all this, several content that was produced specifically for HONEY would fall with the channel while others would resurface another platform i.e. Showmax or Mzansi Magic as Media24 is still producing regional content.

The only problem would be the geography as a show like Date My Family Kenya would only be exclusive to consumers in Eastern Africa. It might have a following in Southern Africa but isn't viewable on neither DStv and Showmax making consumers feel left out.

Maybe HONEY's termination falls inline with some of the recent additions like Zee Zonke and Play Room. MultiChoice is probably trying to prioritise the regional line-up as that is proven to have a bigger effect while as continuing to source out content from the African region.

New Series Alert: Die Agentskap Coming Soon To eVOD

eVOD is South African based streaming service home to a variety of locally produced and international productions will be following fellow competitor kykNET & Kie and launch their first new Turkish drama for 2024 titled Die Agentskap (Menajerimi Ara).

Four managers of talent agency Ego, namely Kıraç, Feris, Çınar and Peride, deal with difficult situations every day and defend their business visions. They skillfully combine art and business, but their private and professional lives sometimes come into conflict. 

Based on the French series Dix Pour Cent, it starred Kıraç Özdal as Barış Falay, Çınar Bilgin as Fatih Artman, Dicle Ertem as Ahsen Eroğlu, Barış Havas as Deniz Can Aktaş, Peride Şener as Ayşenil Şamlıoğlu and Feris Dikmen as Canan Ergüder.

It debuted by August 2020 on Star TV with a total of 45 episodes each with a 150 duration. Star TV is known for shows like Kuzgun (Voëlvry), Erkenci Kuş (Droomvelore), İstanbullu Gelin (Deur Dik En Dun) and Cesur ve Güzel (Die Vreemdeling).

The first 7 episodes will be available to stream weekly on eVOD from January 10 and weirdly enough not much marketing from the eMedia department. Similar to most productions on the platform, it will be added on other platforms soon.

More Cord Cutting Might Await Brands Like Nicktoons And MTV Base If Merger Between Paramount Global And Warner Bros. Discovery Moves Forward

During the week, it was reported that Paramount

Global and Warner Bros. Discovery were exploring a potential merger. For now, Warner Bros. Discovery can't look at merging with another entity until April 2024 and talks are said to be in the early stages so it's not known whether they'll go through with the plan.

For a while now, we had explored a variety of outcomes pertaining to the offering on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Not long ago, expanded into the general entertainment section with Smithsonian Channel alongside MTV and Comedy Central with this article pertaining to secondary brands.

Paramount Global operates brands like Comedy Central Extra, BET Gospel, BET Hip-Hop, MTV Base, MTV Hits, Nick@Nite, TeenNick and Nicktoons while Warner Bros. Discovery offers Discovery Family, Real Time, Discovery Max, Boing and Toonami.

With Paramount's possible downsizing to Warner Bros. Discovery, the latter might not have much content left for all these channels and might look into closing them down if not merging in some countries.

Take for instance Nick Jr., Paramount Global was able to operate the channel separately from Nickelodeon with its own slate of content and with this consolidation the latter similar to Nicktoons will most likely cease to exist if not merge under Nickelodeon.

Considering that a ton of archived projects would be available at hand, it's possible the Nicktoons concept could remain intact and looking at the size of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount maybe Boing/Boomerang could become a worthy successor to Nicktoons.

Nicktoons doesn't serve much purpose especially if they're not looking to produce animation under Nickelodeon. Warner's portfolio has more consumption than Paramount and shows like Paw Patrol and SpongeBob would get more exposure on Cartoon Network.

Despite not as big of an consumption, these channels do have plenty of exposure in other countries so much so that Paramount Global could explore a potential sale to these channels.

Star+ Will Be Integrated Under Disney+ In Brazil And Latin America By 2024

A major change in the streaming market will take place in Brazil in 2024. Disney will close the Star+ service application and unify the platform with Disney+ in the second half of next year. 

Currently, Disney sells the two subscriptions separately and also on Combo+, which offers both platforms for a single price. It is also possible to subscribe to services at a lower price using the Meli+ subscription, from Mercado Livre. 

The unification of streaming services was confirmed by Disney in a press release. The action seems like a natural step for the company, which will also do something similar in the United States, with the Hulu platform. 

The Star+ application will be closed in Brazil and Latin America. 

Changes for the consumer 

According to official information, Disney will announce more details about the merger in the future, including issues such as the price and destination of Star+ subscribers, which will be closed. 

For consumers who already subscribe to Combo+, the change will bring more convenience during use. Currently, Disney+ and Star+ use applications that are practically the same, but have separate catalogs. 

While the Disney-named service focuses on the company's productions, Pixar and Marvel, Star is usually the home of Fox and sports. 

Currently, Star+ has productions from American channels such as FX and ABC, in addition to sports programming from ESPN. With the merger, this content will be centralized in just one application in Brazil and Latin America. 

Thus, in addition to bringing all the Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars films, Disney+ will also feature sports content and award-winning television productions. 

How The Possible Merger Of Warner Bros. Discovery And Paramount Global Could Dismantle MTV And Comedy Central?

MTV and Comedy Central are general entertainment brands operated by Paramount Global that distribute a variety of content ranging from reality shows, sitcoms, films and animation. They have garnered traction for productions like Ridiculousness and South Park.

As seen in the last decade, their linear counterparts had been reduced to waste. If you tune into MTV, the youth oriented brand airs Ridiculousness for most of the day which serves as the Teen Titans GO! of the network while Comedy Central is slumped over shows like The Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men.

During the week, it was reported that Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery were exploring a potential merger. For now, Warner Bros. Discovery can't look at merging with another entity until April 2024 and talks are said to be in the early stages so it's not known whether they'll go through with the plan.

Ideally, if a merger were to happen MTV could be dismantled or revert back to being a music oriented brand and take up the identities of the current MTV Base and MTV Hits channels across Europe. Award shows and live performances could remain intact on this restructured brand.

Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't offer a music brand or at least not on cable or streaming and MTV would be one way to sort of expand on that. They operate a number of TV channels most of which could be purged if not sold if this merger moves forward.

Then shows like Catfish: The TV Show and Ridiculousness could fold under HBO adult centred line-up while The Challenge could compliment Discovery's existing portfolio. TLC could inherit Ex On The Beach, Jersey Shore, Love And Hip-Hop and Teen Moms.

Comedy Central had become the Adult Swim of Paramount Global with South Park laying out most of the punches. All of this could as well be folded under Adult Swim and Cartoon Network with live-action residing on HBO leaving the linear component to serve only reruns to sitcoms.

HBO could even give the brand a dedicated block and use it as a trademark for sitcoms produced under their brand.

Smithsonian Channel Likely To Get Axed If The Possible Merger Between Paramount Global And Warner Bros. Discovery Moves Forward

The Smithsonian Channel is a factual based brand operated by Paramount Global through MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facilities and magazines.

Serving as a competitor to Disney's National Geographic and a majority of factual based channels operated by Warner Bros Discovery. It was home to content like Ice Airport Alaska, The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist, Damian Lewis: Spy Wars and Aerial America.

It used to operate various linear channels internationally and since December 2022 is only viewable on Paramount+ in these regions. As it has been outlined by sources that it would garner traction and of course some content would resurface on MTV.

During the week, it was reported that Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery were exploring a potential merger. For now, Warner Bros. Discovery can't look at merging with another entity until April 2024 and talks are said to be in the early stages so it's not known whether they'll go through with the plan.

Most of Paramount's assets are likely to be consolidated if not sold at this point. Unlike Nickelodeon or MTV, The Smithsonian Channel doesn't seem to have much of a future as it had been overshadowed by existing competitors.

Logically, shows like Aerial America and Mayday will just fold under the factual part of Warner Bros. Discovery not that this is new or anything. But they had been licensing content to other broadcasters before and after expanding their linear offering to other countries.

As for the brand in general, The Smithsonian Channel could continue to offer content based on their "museums, research facilities and magazines". Of course, I'd expect quite less of that at this point and they'd probably need to look at partnerships for sustainability.