Pending Investigation: The Competition Tribunal Orders MultiChoice To Televise Their Sporting Content To Openview Consumers

The Competition Tribunal has granted interim relief to eMedia in its fight with MultiChoice over the carriage of sublicensed sports from the SABC on its Openview free-to-air satellite platform.

eMedia took MultiChoice, which owns SuperSport, to the Competition Commission last year after the pay-television broadcaster refused to allow the SABC to broadcast rugby and cricket games on its channels it broadcasts via Openview.

According to a statement by the tribunal on Monday, eMedia has accused MultiChoice of “abusing its alleged dominant position by concluding anticompetitive and restrictive sublicensing agreements with the SABC”.

“eMedia alleges that MultiChoice prevents the SABC from broadcasting major sporting events (such as rugby and cricket games – including World Cup tournaments), sublicensed to the SABC, on the SABC’s channels carried on eMedia’s Openview platform.”

eMedia lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission last year and subsequently also sought interim relief from the tribunal to “stop MultiChoice from enforcing the restriction in existing sublicensing agreements or including such restrictions in any new sublicensing agreements until the merits of the case are decided”.

“The tribunal has granted eMedia interim relief pending the final determination of its complaint to the commission, or for a period of six months, whichever occurs first,” it said.

From Kuiertyd To Guilty Pleasures: eExtra Revives Timeless Dizi Channel, tvN And Eurochannel After Being Ousted From DStv

eExtra is a South African general entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments. Since its inception in 2017, the channel has become exclusive home of international stories viewed in Asia, Turkey, India and now Europe.

Following its departure from Latin America, eExtra has slowly alienated its lineup from other channels viewed on DStv. It usually offers between 6-8 primetime shows which is more than what any of its other competitors offer on the platform e.g. Telemundo. 

Since 2022, eMedia Investments had been going through a carriage dispute with MultiChoice for eExtra alongside eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz. These channels have gone under numerous extensions with the final ending by July 2024.

eExtra's purge from DStv would not only lead to less programming but also a decline in revenue and possible content cuts. Although this channel would remain on Openview and in a separate agreement with Starsat consumption will decline.

Out of all 4 channels, eExtra has the least amount of repeats and also the most amount of local airtime. It's third party offering consists of purged offerings from thee DStv platform such as Timeless Dizi Channel (Turkey), tvN (Asia) and Eurochannel (Europe).

Timeless Dizi Channel was a general entertainment channel home to various content produced in Turkey. MultiChoice opted to only make it a pop-up channel and unlike most brands on the list several content had resurfaced on DStv.

The brand is known for shows like Kind Van Die Noodlot (Asla Vazgeçmem), Voëlvry (Kuzgun) and Kurt En Shura (Kurt Ve Shura).

tvN was also added as a pop-up channel by March 2021 and MultiChoice opted not to make it permanent. Since then, CJ ENM has been trying to revive the channel on another platform but was only successful in select shows on eMedia Investments' linear channels.

The brand is known for shows like Cheese In The Trap, Tails Of The Nine Tailed and Tomorrow With You.

Eurochannel was more of an underrated channel offering short form content various European countries including Germany, Denmark, Romania and Poland. This channel was exclusive to DStv Stream by 2015 and unlike Ginx eSports TV wasn't carried full-time.

The brand is known for shows like Soos Nag En Dag (Kukačky) and Sommerdahl Moorde (Dan

Sommerdahl - Todliche Idylle).

Possibly Cancelled??? As Production Is Paused On MTV's Siesta Key After 5 Seasons

Sources connected to the show tell us the series is not considered officially canceled by the network ... as there’s a possibility it could return in the future. Still, the current incarnation of the show has come to an end after 5 seasons.

Many fans online, including several Reddit threads, have been wondering for months when they would get a 6th season of the show -- which hit an all-time ratings low in season 5 before airing its finale in January 2023.

The show came on the air in July 2017 and quickly became a hit in the first 4 seasons, which were filmed in Sarasota County, Florida. In season 5, the show pivoted and documented cast member Juliette Porter and her friends as they moved to Miami.

Longtime cast member Amanda Miller indicated a while back the show was likely canned ... writing on Instagram, "For the last 5 years these people (& a few more) have become more than friends, they’re my family. It’s been an honor doing this show with them by my side and the memories we’ve all made together are unforgettable & I will be carrying them with me forever."

The series had its fair share of off-screen drama ... mainly surrounding former cast member, Alex Kompothecras. After the show's debut, animal rights activists called for a boycott of the show after Alex was associated with a friend group that cruelly dragged a live shark behind a boat.

Alex was later fired from the show in 2020 over past racist social media posts. The show, which was executive-produced by Alex's father, went on without him for 2 more seasons.

 Source: TMZ

Could M-Net And MultiChoice Look To Close The 1Max Channel On DStv Soon?

Last month, M-Net and MultiChoice had shuttered both 1Magic and Me channels from the DStv platform. As they consolidate further content to boost their streaming endeavors with the pay-tv company that had since then folded selected content on 1Max.

1Max is a Showmax based channel that is home to African originals alongside third party content. The channel kicked off its launch with Red Ink and Tracking Thabo Bester that garnered traction on Showmax alongside international shows like The Good Doctor and Ted.

From what has been established here, this channel was basically added as a replacement to both 1Magic and Me. But that may not be the case as Me was a low tiered brand while 1Max which is just 1Magic with more content is reserved on Compact+.

Why would Compact+ consumers care about 1Max if they have Showmax???

The channel was only unveiled when 1Magic and Me had shuttered with the media that wasn't informed beforehand about 1Max. If this was a channel MultiChoice intended to keep some marketing would have been included or notice days prior. 

Now we need to look at it like this 1Max is an absolute mess content wise. The channel features a chunk of repeats from other M-Net channels, retained 1Magic's music and sitcom block and finally retained Me's presence by 2 hours.

When M-Net City and VUZU merged to form Me although we'd get less adrenaline from the city it did however bundle lot of fiction. 1Max took a dunk on that and made it far worse as variety had been killed and overshadowed by those repeats. 

If 1Max was a channel MultiChoice intended to keep why not inform loyal consumers of Me about the channel or new season of The Good Doctor being broadcast. Another consumers in the rest of Africa are told to enjoy the 1Max experience on Showmax. 

Almost as if they're trying to destroy any chance this channel has of survival and distance consumers from the content. It wouldn't seem far fetched if 1Max was merely being used as a pawn to lure DStv consumers to Showmax and overtime just closed.

1Max is airing Wura which serves as a West African adaptation of The River perhaps the channel will close once it comes to an end similar to how The River was initially meant to close 1Magic before getting extended.

May 2024 On DreamWorks Channel Across Africa | Returning Shows Including The Adventures Of Puss In Boots And Dragons: Race To The Edge | Weekend Movies With Ice Age

NEW EPISODES (53-65)

The Adventures of Puss In Boots 

From Monday, 6th May

Weekdays at 6.25am, 7.45pm

Weekends at 11.00am, 4.50pm, 10.40pm

With the portal to the Netherworld wide open,

Puss, Dulcinea and their fellow San Lorenzans

must horde off a stream of monsters wreaking

havoc in town. Together, along with the Junior

Puss Squad, they swing into action as they battle

these creatures and the mysterious force behind them, travel to the mystical Netherworld, and try to save San Lorenzo from destruction.

NEW EPISODES (53-65)

Dragons: Race to the Edge 

From Monday, 6th May

Weekdays at 7.20pm

After defeating Viggo and destroying the Dragon

Eye, the calm doesn’t last long as Hiccup learns

the Hunters remain a threat led by a new villain

who can control Dragons! Now, Hiccup, Toothless

and the Riders must battle the Hunters like never

before with help from new and old allies. But after

a series of shocking revelations, Hiccup learns

that the true leader of the Dragon Hunter is

somebody he never expected who is after

something that threatens the course of the dragon‐kind forever! The race is on for the Riders to find this vital piece before it’s too late.

WEEKEND MOVIE

Ice Age 

Saturday 18th May at 9.20am

Sunday 19th May at 7.15am  

Twenty-thousand years ago, Earth is a wondrous,

prehistoric world filled with great danger, not the

least of which is the beginning of the Ice Age. To

avoid a really bad frostbite, the planet's majestic

creatures - and a few small, slothful ones - begin

migrating south . The story revolves around sub zero heroes: a woolly mammoth, a saber-toothed tiger, a sloth and a prehistoric combination of a squirrel and rat that is known as Scrat.

WEEKEND MOVIE

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Saturday 25th May at 9.20am

Sunday 26th May at 7.15am 

With global warming threatening their once-icy

domain with widespread flooding, Manny (Ray

Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis

Leary) set out to find a safe haven. Along the way,

another mammoth (Queen Latifah), who thinks

she is an opossum, joins the travelers on their

perilous quest.

Recap To The Past Decade: Warner Bros. Discovery (Formerly Time Warner) Was Looking To Acquire eMedia Investments

e.tv is a South African free-to-air entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments. Since its inception, it became the second most TV channel in the country surpassing masses like SABC 2 and SABC 3 whose audience has declined in recent years. 

Similar to MultiChoice, eMedia Investments had garnered interest from foreign investors such as TF1 (France), Channel 9 (Australia) and United News Media (United Kingdom) with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery) owning 20%.

By 2001, South African laws limited foreign businesses hold over to local companies to 25%. Warner Bros. Discovery worried they may never to able to gain full ownership sold their shares to Remgro Limited (33%) and Hosken Consolidated Investments (67%).

Since then, Warner Bros. Discovery had produced various TV series and films alongside distribution of various channels in Latin America, France, India, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and Poland.

If Warner Bros. Discovery had pursued eMedia Investments as originally intended at the time. It's likely that most channels within eMedia's stable like eSeries and eReality would have access to an extensive lineup of content from Warner Bros. Studios.

Warner Bros. Discovery would have served as a competitor to MultiChoice while as licensing brands like Cartoon Network and Discovery to DStv. Their freemium channels would serve as a repeat channels while they continue to build their original content slate.

Tiki Towers APK

Tiki Towers (known as Tropical Towers in the United Kingdom) is a puzzle video game developed by Mock Science and published by RealNetworks division GameHouse. Based around a tropical Tiki culture-theme, the game involves players directing a troupe of monkeys to retrieve bananas by building towers of bamboo scaffolding to reach the fruits, with the ultimate goal of collecting all bananas and having all monkeys reach the designated "exit".

Download Now

Channel Closure: Pearl Magic Loko Will Stop Airing On DStv And GOtv By 30 April, To Be Replaced By Pearl Magic Reloaded

Not long ago, it was reported that M-Net and MultiChoice would be axing Africa Magic Urban on DStv by the end of April. This comes after Akwaaba Magic Abusua had folded under Akwaaba Magic with Pearl Magic Loko that is set to follow.

Pearl Magic Loko was a Ugandan based entertainment channel operated by M-Net that would offer content in Luganda. Similar to the likes of Zee Zonke, all the content was imported from other countries basically archived material from M-Net.

MultiChoice Uganda in a statement over the launch of Pearl Magic Loko:

“We are living out the business’s mission to be the best African storyteller – it’s not just a slogan for us, it’s a reality we bring to our treasured audiences. Ensuring that stories are told in local languages and allowing for a wider audience to enjoy the country’s favorite shows in their own tongue is key. That’s why the addition of Pearl Magic Loko is so important.”

Now the channel is burned off after a year on air by the end of April. Pearl Magic is planning to offer select content from Pearl Magic Loko under the banner Pearl Magic Reloaded weekdays at 14:00 to 16:00 from 1st May.

Pearl Magic Loko's demise forns part of a bigger conspiracy seen within DStv as several channels had already exited their platforms in under 4 months. This includes 1Magic, Me, People's Weather, B4U Movies, Ginx TV, Emmanuel TV and DW.

Recap To The Month: Akwaaba Magic Extends Its Reach To DStv Access And GOtv Value Customers In ROA, Akwaaba Magic Abusua Set To Close

The roll out of Akwaaba Magic on DStv was the first step in MultiChoice quest to make authentic Ghanaian content accessible across the African continent. Since the channel was launched in 2021, this 24/7 entertainment flagship channel has been exclusive to DStv Compact, Compact Plus and Premium customers. 

Making this announcement, Managing Director of MultiChoice Ghana, Alex Okyere said: “we are excited that all customers on DStv can now watch hit shows like Inspector Bediako S2, Brenya, Play By Ear, Accra Stand Up, The Billionaire’s Wife and Nana Akoto amongst others from as little as Ghs80 per month. In the past three years, Akwaaba Magic has rekindled interest in Ghanaian content production and fulfilled our commitment to developing and upskilling the film ecosystem”.

He adds from the 1st of April, a section of our customers who hitherto did not have access to the diverse shows on Akwaaba Magic, will now be able to watch their beloved Ghanaian stars on our Ghs 80 per month pack”.

Head of the Akwaaba Magic Channel, Nosisa Doe explains that “this move is In line with MultiChoice’s commitment to offering more value to its customers and reinforces our strategic vision to be Africa’s most loved storyteller.” Customers can expect new Ghanaian shows, series and movies starting with the second season of Inspector Bediako every Monday evening on the channel. Furthermore, the Akwaaba Magic Abusua channel would be terminating on the 12th of April 2024 and all unfinished series would be moved to channel 150 on DStv.

Akwaaba Magic will continue to run never-before-seen premium local Ghanaian content 24/7 in English and content in diverse Ghanaian languages with subtitling in English.  The Akwaaba Magic channel will be available to subscribers on DStv Access and for GOtv customers on the Value packages on channel 102.