MultiChoice Delays The Launch Of Another New Channel In 2022

During the week, it was reported by MultiChoice that Moonbug Entertainment's preschool channel Moonbug Kids would be rolling out on Thursday, 13 October. Several consumers eager to see the launch only got disappointed as MultiChoice failed to launch it as promised.

One thing's for certain is that Moonbug Kids is coming likely in the next coming weeks although MultiChoice is dodging further questions about the channel now setting it's launch to the near future and this comes after the close exit of Da Vinci Kids.

Moonbug Kids was initially slated as a replacement for Da Vinci Kids as MultiChoice had planned to terminate the channel but backed out after receiving positive feedback about the channel's content.

In August, MultiChoice added INX Prime as a new Islamic channel which was also a subject of similar circumstance. Although not slotted to take up anything it came at a time eMedia's 4 channels were removed only to be reinstated thereafter issues with the rollout comes in.

Now the same has fallen into Moonbug Kids but as seen with INX Prime both MultiChoice and the channel wanted to properly promote it. Which could be the case for Moonbug Kids as it's launch coincides with Universal+?

So it kind of makes sense that Moonbug Kids doesn't compete with any other brand for the spotlight.

 

New Series Alert: The Final Call And B-Tech Coming Soon To Zee World

During the week, Zee World an international channel home to various Bollywood shows including Twist Of Fate, The Vow, Saloni and King Of Hearts unveiled their Zee Rush slot which will be allocated with shorter form content from the streamer, Zee5.

The romcom Never Kiss Your Best Friend starring Nakuul Mehta and Anya Singh, is scheduled to air in the following week in place of I'm On The Edge as a weekday series. Interesting enough, it will only run for 5 days thereafter The Final Call and B-Tech will be slotted.

When the pilot of Skyline flight 502, decides to end his life by committing suicide, he puts the lives of the 300 plus passengers in danger. Airline officer Kiran Mirza along with the ATS team, swings into action to save the passengers.

The Final Call ensembles Arjun Rampal, Neeraj Kabi, Sakshi Tanwar, Harshad Arora, Anupriya Goenka, Javed Jaffrey, Paula McGlynn, Anshuman Malhotra and Vipin Sharma in leading roles. Priya Kumar has begun writing a script for a second season.

B-Tech revolves around 3 boys who.want's to fulfill their dreams and at the same time they have to handle the pressure that was kept by their family.

The series ensembles Meraj Ahmed, Abhay Bethiganti, Arjun Chukkala, Kaushik Ghantasala and Madhulatha Reddy in leading roles.

Never Kiss Your Best Friend airs weekdays at 22:00 from 17 October thereafter the philosophy thriller The Final Call will come in on 24 October with web series B-Tech coming in on the 1 November.

Ratings For SABC 1-3, e.tv And DStv For September 2022

Notes
- Uzalo and Generation's viewership decreased to more than 0.8 million.
- Uzalo is the only show to come with an omnibus.
- Plate It Up is the only magazine show on the channel.
- Dramas occupy the most spots.

Notes
- Muvhango is the only show to get an omnibus within the month.
- Ubettina Wethu is currently sitting in the Top 10.
- Dragonball Super remains as the only popular youth show.
- Dramas occupy the most spots.

Notes
- The Estate Omnibus is currently the most watched drama, sitting in the Top 15.
- Alvin And The Chipmunks dominates the Top 5.
- SAFTA is the only variety show present in Top 20.
- Documentaries occupies the most spots.

Notes
- Johnny English's two instalments is currently sitting in the Top 10.
- Dramas occupy the most spots.
- All 5 of e.tv's soaps are sitting in the Top 5.
- Date My Family is the only reality show present.

Notes
- Mzansi Magic occupies the most spots, ratings continue to plummet.
- Losing Lerato is currently the only film present in the Top 20.
- Dramas and reality shows occupies an evenly amount of spots in the Top 10.
- Despite being a repeat, Lingashoni is the only drama to not have primetime occupy the Top 30.

Roundups #103: Blake Shelton To Exit The Voice On NBC, Thomas And Friends Scores Two Seasons Renewal On Cartoonito, Glee Docuseries Is Currently Underway On Discovery+

The Voice to lose yet another Judge

Season 23 of “The Voice” will welcome some new faces and say goodbye to the hit show’s longest-tenured coach.

Next season will be Blake Shelton’s last on the show, NBC revealed in a statement on Tuesday, and Chance the Rapper and former One Direction member Niall Horan are set to join as first-time coaches.

Kelly Clarkson will round out the coach lineup in the new season, set to debut next spring,

“I’ve been wrestling with this for a while and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to step away from ‘The Voice,’” Shelton said in a statement via the network. “This show has changed my life in every way for the better and it will always feel like home to me.”

Thomas the tank engine is coming

Mattel, Incorporated announced that it has renewed Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, the highly successful animated series based on Thomas the Tank Engine, for two additional seasons. Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studios has begun co-production with Mattel Television on the two new seasons which are set to deliver in 2023. Building upon the emphatic reception to Season 26 and the introduction of the series’ first autistic character, Bruno the Brake Car, seasons 27 and 28 will continue to broaden the global viewership of the celebrated series and are comprised of 26 11-minute episodes; each series also includes its own 60-minute special.

Season 27 finds the Number One Engine and his Sodor squad more ready than ever, as surprises await them around every turn. From cleaning up the muddiest of messes to the grand opening of a bakery-café, Thomas, Percy, Kana, Nia, Diesel and Bruno are all aboard for more memories and hijinks. No matter how big the delivery or impossible the task, there is nothing that Thomas and his friends can’t accomplish together.

“The global impact of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go is as strong as ever and has been reinforced through the franchise’s recent introduction of Bruno,” said Fred Soulie, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mattel Television. “Alongside our global broadcast partners, we’re excited to maintain the Thomas & Friends legacy by continuing the beloved adventures of Thomas and the Sodor crew, all while allowing audiences to revel in the playful nature of the series and further connect with our characters.”

Glee documentary in the works

Discovery+ and ID are exploring the real story behind Fox’s hit series Glee.

The streamer has ordered a three-part docuseries from Ample Entertainment, the company behind HBO docuseries The Invisible Pilot and Facebook’s 9 Months with Courteney Cox.

The series will have access to key cast and crew members, who will share first-hand stories of their time on the comedy drama series that ran for over 100 episodes between 2009 and 2015.

It will lift the curtain to reveal the highs and lows of the production and the on-set community and will also feature testimonials of close family and friends with never-heard-before stories.

 

Could Openview Be Losing More Channels In The Near Future?

During the year, Openview consumers lost a total of 3 channels Rewind and News And Sport from eMedia Investments as they were reviewing their offering on the platform with Soul Music's exit on the platform remaining as much of a mystery.

Compared to other outlets there hasn't been much bloodbath coming for these consumers as they inherited the likes of eXposed, ePlesier, The Home Channel+ and an upcoming entertainment channel scheduled to launch by the end of 2022.

Of course, there's been a pair of channels viewers have been questioning for a while now and as the year is about to come to a close why not bring it up now.

Last year, eMedia Investments and Nismedia engaged in a brawl in regards to the carriage agreement for Glow TV. Long story short, things haven't been the same between both parties and signs of its demise on the platform are as clear as day.

If you browse Openview's website, there's no mention of Glow TV despite its presence on the decoder. So just like how eMedia's 4 channels remained on DStv due to a technicality, could the same matter be the case for Glow TV?

SA Music is currently the only music channel on the platform kind of like how France24 and SABC Sport remain as the only news and sports channel respectively but in this case it's more serious.

Later in the year, Openview consumers awoke to the news of Soul Music's demise on the platform which served as a sister channel to SA Music but that's not where the worries originate but to its previous distributor StarSat.

StarSat has seen a loss in channels and it's interesting how it remains relevant at least to South Africans following the loss of current DStv channels like Discovery Family, Real Time, Investigation Discovery, TLNovelas and DreamWorks with more likely to join that list.

On Openview, the only channels consumers from eMedia Investments inherited were SA Music and Soul Music with its termination on the platform having to do with StarSat. Imagine if the same action seen on StarSat were to have fallen on Openview but this time with SA Music.

Honestly, the future isn't certain for any channel at this point but SA Music and Glow TV seem closer to the light than any other channel.

Viewership Stats From The End Of September On Zee World, Zee One, Star Life And Glow TV

Previous stats: click here

ZEE World Africa
Twist Of Fate #rerun - 2.0
Jodha and Akbar #rerun - 1.6
Gangaa #rerun - 1.0
Guddan #new - 2.1
Twist Of Fate #new - 2.5
I Do #new - 2.0
I'm On The Edge #new - 1.6
What Women Want #new - 0.6

Notes
- Twist Of Fate remains as most watched drama even on repeat.
- I'm On The Edge is the least watched drama.
- Gangaa is the least watched drama on repeat.
- Twist Of Fate's reruns and I Do rises up by 0.6 million.

Star Life Africa
Forbidden Love #rerun - 0.4
Kulfi - The Singing Star #rerun - 0.5
Made For Each Other #rerun - 0.6
Love By Chance #new - 1.1
Lost In Love #new - 2.8
My Desire #new - 2.3
Anupamaa #new - 3.0
Imlie #new - 2.1

Notes
- Anupamaa currently most watched drama.
- Love By Chance I'd the least watched drama.
- Made For Each Other is the most watched repeat.
- Forbidden Love is the least watched repeat.
- Lost In Love's viewership rises by over a million viewers.
- My Desire's viewership rises by 0.2 million viewers.
- Anupamaa's viewership rises by a million viewers.

ZEE One Africa
Dance India Dance
Battle Of The Championship #rerun - 0.1
What Women Want #new - 0.8
Indian Food Classics #new - 1.0
Snack Attack With A Twist #rerun - 0.6
Agent Raghav - Crime Branch #new - 1.5
Curse Of The Sands #new - 1.4
Mehek #new - 1.4
Iron Lady #new - 1.2
This Is Fate #new - 1.6
Begusarai #new - 1.5

Notes
- This Is Fate currently most watched drama.
- Iron Lady currently the least watched drama.
- Indian Food Classics currently the most watched reality show.
- Dance India Dance currently the least watched reality show.

Glow TV
This Is Love #rerun - 1.6
Young Love #rerun - 1.2
True Love #rerun - 1.4
Complicated Love #rerun - 1.0
A Touch Of Love #new - 1.8
The Power Of Love #new - 1.6

Notes
- A Touch Of Love currently most watched drama.
- The Power Of Love I'd the least watched drama.
- This Is Love is the most watched repeat.
- Complicated Love is the least watched repeat.
- This Is Love's reruns lost over a million viewers.
- True Love's viewership rises by 0.4 million viewers.

Another Channel Bites The Dust, DStv Customers To Bid Farewell To MTV Hits After A Year

Last month, MultiChoice unveiled two new channels at their showcase, Moonbug Kids home to the YouTube sensation CoComelon which is scheduled to rollout later in the week and Qwest TV founded by Quincy Jones which is likely to rollout by November.

Earlier in the month, Da Vinci Kids was on the verge of extinction as MultiChoice opted not to renew their agreement with Macademia for their channel and after receiving positive feedback about the channel's content from consumers those planned were abandoned.

The channel was only able to comment once the issue had been resolved:

We're happy to inform consumers that DStv have now agreed to continue to broadcast the Da Vinci. We remain deeply committed to our challenge of making the world a smarter and kinder place, and to give African children the opportunity to explore and learn 21st Century Skills

Point being made, after the recent scare from the pay-tv brand it was believed that Qwest TV could be used to take the spot of another channel. As Broadcast Media Africa stated, MultiChoice will be adding new channels but most would come at the time another goes off air.

During the carriage battle with eMedia Investments, a spokesperson at MultiChoice was able to confirm that the pay-tv brand was facing transponder constraints with limited space for more channels opted to just try and reinvent their offering.

MTV Hits is set to join other channels which went off air during the year including Lifetime, Tellytrack, Russia Today and ITV Networks. With the channel that only has 19 days of activity before going dark on the platform - 31 October 2022.

MultiChoice had a ray of channels with the shortest lifespan e.g. VOOV now MTV Hits is currently the channel with the shortest lifespan on the platform in this decade.

MTV Hits was added as a replacement to MTV Music24 whose feed was killed off by Paramount Global as they review offering globally alongside VH1 Classic. This was the only channel to not have a local push now viewers have to rely on DMX to catch further international hits.

Recap: Paw Patrol Got A Dedicated Pop-Up Channel On DStv

Earlier this month, a lot of DStv consumers were alarmed to see Paw Patrol take up the whole schedule of Nick Jr I mean a full 2 weeks but what isn't that what PBS Kids did with Arthur a month ago perhaps it's coincidence or this is another indicator to cable becoming obsolete.

A lot of consumers may not be aware but Paramount had often launched pop-up channels dedicated to one of their current shows I mean they had one for Horrid Henry and another for SpongeBob most of these went to Nicktoons in those regions but now it will be a thing in Africa.

As it is, Paramount has been doing a lot of cost cutting for their Nickelodeon channels I mean Nicktoons is on autopilot at this point and Nick Jr. doesn't have much independency as seen already Africa and other parts of the world got 2 weeks of Paw Patrol.

If it's any consolation, Paramount+ is coming to South Africa within the following year and with Asia closing off Nickelodeon and Canadian operators losing exclusivity with Nickelodeon I'm expecting both Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. to become a graveyard for Paramount+.

It's already started with Nickelodeon as they got a lot of Paramount+ originals such as Big Nate, The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, Star Trek: Prodigy and Kamp Koral with Nick Jr. grasping at its straws almost to the point of braindead Nicktoons.

The Paw Patrol Channel is just prove that cable is no longer the centre of attention. I wouldn't mind watching a day's worth of The Loud House but 2 whole weeks is just pushing it.

 

DreamWorks USA Is Falling Apart: The History Of Universal Kids

On October 20th, 2004, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced a partnership with Comcast, HiT Entertainment (now Mattel Creations) and Sesame Workshop to create a new subscription based channel for aimed at children under the age of 4 kind of like Baby TV.

On April 4th, 2005, Comcast announced that the new kids channel would be called PBS Kids Sprout and it launched 6 months later on September 26. At first it launched as an on demand service then it got a channel later.

Unlike PBS Kids, the channel aired adverts however they were minimal and featured products aimed at babies and toddlers. Among the shows to air on the channel were Barney And Friends, Kipper, Pingu, Angelina Ballerina, Boobah, Calliou, Teletubbies and more.

In addition to airing many programming blocks, Sprout did something unique on the channel where it would take several short episodes of a show and combine it into a half hour show of its own complete with interstitials between segments.

2011 to 2013 saw a complex of business decisions that would lead NBC to get full control of the channel.

To summarise, Comcast claimed a 51% share of NBCUniversal at the time leaving them to handle the channel. Apex Partners sold HiT Entertainment to NBCUniversal and claimed their stake in Sprout. Sesame Workshop and PBS solder their share of Sprout forcing PBS to retract PBS Kids from the name by November 2013.

While all of this began in July 2012, Sprout began to run NBC Kids and Mi Telemundo respectively. This was a block that aired Saturday mornings aimed at younger children.

On September 26, 2015, Sprout recieved a refresh.

On May 1st, 2017, since Sprout was owned entirely by NBCUniversal. They announced that the channel would rebrand into Universal Kids and begin airing shows aimed at preteens at primetime hours. They would continue producing original content some from DreamWorks Animation that NBCUniversal purchased in 2016.

Unfortunately this change seemed to negatively impact the channel's viewership. It dropped by 30% in 2017 and a cut of 73% percent in 2018.

In June 2019, to try and recover Universal Kids financially they stopped producing new original content and shifted their focus to acquired series. But still in 2019 they were the lowest viewed channel in the United States with only 31,000 viewers per day luckily the decline dropped to 3%.

So it seems Universal Kids has fallen from its prime in recent years. Why is this?

I believe it is because of the brand change not everyone was familiar with Universal Kids even though it was the same channel. The new changes turned people off the channel. I think they could have slowed the rebrand perhaps add the changes to the lineup and take use of an intermediary name like Universal Sprout.

It seems like Universal Kids is in trouble and I mean soon to be terminated kind of trouble, can they dig themselves out of this?

At the moment, Universal Kids hasn't updated their programming and offers less and less content which often signals the downfall of a brand but with it being ranked the 132nd most watched channel in the United States one would hope but with cable becoming endangered I doubt.