Recap To The Week: Zee World Unveils Brand Refresh With New Tag Line "Living Every Moment"

Zee World, known for its captivating entertainment is thrilled to announce its much-anticipated enhanced channel offering.  The refresh which comes with a tag line Living Every Moment rolled out on Monday 17 June 2024.  The channel features new graphics and airs ‘everyday’ people sharing their thoughts and feelings on ‘living every moment’.

This rejuvenation celebrates the legacy of Zee World while refreshing it for audiences across Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands.

‘It is important for us to remind our viewers who we are at the core while extending it out to all age groups and cultures across Africa.’ said Somnath Malakar, CEO of Zee Africa. The tagline ‘Living Every Moment’ represents what Zee has always stood for and continues to be the inspiration that the brand endeavours to deliver to its audiences’.

Living every moment while being immersed in Zee World is not merely about escapism; it’s about finding meaning in the ‘right here, right now! It’s about embracing the magic of storytelling, which has the power to transport us to worlds beyond our own, keeping us connected.

To amplify the refresh, Zee World is expanding its programming schedule with more variety of series. Prime time now kicks off at 5pm, allowing viewers to indulge in their favourite shows sooner, with new titles at 7:30pm and 8:30pm.

It does not stop there! In July from 5pm to 10pm there will a total of eight shows, ensuring non-stop entertainment.

“Our channel refresh represents our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment that resonates with viewers across the continent, and we are doing it with flair.’ said Desiree Pillay, SVP Content & Marketing at Zee. “A brand-new logo, a brand-new tagline and a whole lot of brand-new shows, we invite our viewers to join us in ‘Living Every Moment’ on Zee World as we embark on this exhilarating new chapter together.”

Tune in to Zee World, DStv 166 and immerse yourself in the excitement of our new channel offerings. Get ready to embrace change, embrace the new, and start Living Every Moment.

Development Alert: Sharkdog Formerly Exclusive To Netflix To Make Its International Debut On Nicktoons, The Nick Jr. Block Loses Its Daytime Slot For Nick In Your Language

A few months ago, it was reported that Nicktoons would be airing the Nickelodeon produced show Sharkdog from Netflix in May. But that was never the case as Nicktoons began to rebrand their offering with Sharkdog serving as the first initiative from the rebrand. 

A user known as Narq uploaded a Polish promo for the preschool show on his YouTube channel with the series slated for June/July premiere. This can only confirm that Sharkdog instead of serving as an African premiere will be more global/European. 

Sharkdog follows 10 year old Max and his best friend Sharkdog - half shark, half dog, all appetite. Blissfully unaware of his own strength, stealth and general sharkiness, Sharkdog often leaves a trail of chaos in his wake. But, like all good half-dogs, he's Max's BFF and Max is his.

It is created by Singaporean creator Jacinth Tan and produced by Paramount Global's ViacomCBS International Studios, in partnership with Singaporean based CGI animation studio One Animation.

Although a release date has yet to be confirmed, Nicktoons does however a timeslot vacated from 1st July at 17:00 which is where new Rock, Paper, Scissors was seen. So maybe Sharkdog will just swoop in within that timeslot since that timeslot is known for premieres.

Nick Jr. get less airtime on Nicktoons 

As seen later in the month, Nicktoons introduced Nick In Your Language which is basically Nickelodeon’s way of connecting to a local audience. By that we mean dub various shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants to IsiZulu and Afrikaans. 

Following its popular inception to the channel, Paw Patrol was the second program to get locally dubbed for the channel. This came at the price of the Nick Jr. block whose timeslot is being used to handle these shows with the only other means of viewing it at late nights.

The news doesn't come as a shocker to some as the late night preschool block was more productive than its daytime slot. Then there's also this thing of Nickelodeon supplying the block with Nick Jr. also having its own channel for most of the content. 

Development Alert: A Rebroadcast Of Case Closed And Until Money Do Us Apart Launches On Telemundo Across Africa Ahead Of The People's Doctor

During the month, it was reported that Telemundo would be airing a new anthology series in July, The People's Doctor. The first Christmas Miracles dealt with festivities, Decisions dealt with daily dilemmas with The People's Doctor entering the medical issues.

Zombie TV as some would already know is what you'd call the current status of Telemundo and most other TV channels. As more households continue to switch to dump their TV sets the likes of NBCUniversal will reduce the amount of content for their channels.

My Heart Beats For Lola and Ana's Revenge which serve as the many rebroadcasts will be ending in the coming days. Cased Closed will replace My Heart Beats For Lola from 29th June with Until Money Do Us Part from 2nd July replacing Ana's Revenge. 

Until Money Do Us Part follows poor salesman Rafael and wealthy business executive Alejandra are two strangers who suffer a car accident that changes their lives and intertwines their futures. It starred Carmen Villalobos and Sebastián Martinez.

Case Closed dealt with family laws as specialist Ana Maria Polo acts as a judge to mediate conflicts and disputes between two parties.

Paramount Global Is Believed To Be Ending Their Partnership With AMC Networks International For CBS Reality And CBS Justice

Not long ago, it was reported that AMC Networks International will be axing one of the few CBS branded stations in Europe as part of a joint venture with Paramount Global, CBS Europa. Other channels part of this agreement include CBS Reality and CBS Justice. 

As we've mentioned sometime ago, we don't envision True Crime replacing the remaining feeds for CBS Reality but more likely the African feed for CBS Justice. Unlike the UK, CBS Reality was positioned as a factual channel so maybe something like Reality TV.

AMC Networks International had been phasing out the CBS trademark across their portfolio this started out in the UK by 2022 and will reach Poland in the coming months. Since then, it has been long speculated that Paramount Global is looking to exit this partnership.

This means channels like CBS Reality and CBS Justice will be phased out in these endeavors seeing as Paramount own the CBS trademark.  It also means AMC Networks International will have to find new names for these channels or close them altogether. 

Their other partner Paramount Global is going through financial constraints and had since auctioned themselves to several bidders. It attracted interest from Sony Pictures Television and Apollo with more advance talks reaching Skydance Media. 

However talks with Skydance Media fell through as Shari Redstone backed out of the deal at last minute. 

Shari Redstone who serves as majority shareholder has been trying to keep her family’s company together and under immense pressure. It will have to look at shedding costs either by getting out of all deals (including AMC) or selling BET and Showtime. 

Canal+ Increases Stake In Asian Streamer VIU To 36,8% With The Option To Get Majority Ownership

French media and telecom conglomerate Vivendi’s pay-TV unit Canal+ Group has increased its stake in Asian streamer Viu to 36.8 percent, the company said on Thursday.

“After satisfaction of key business milestones, Canal+ Group has released the last installment of its $300 million staggered investment,” it explained. “A further investment, at Canal+ election, could result in an increase of Canal+’s stake in Viu to 51 percent.”

The company didn’t immediately outline what would be needed for it to make such a decision to go for a majority stake in the Hong Kong-based video streamer. But it did highlight its interest in Asia. “This investment is a renewed testimony to Canal+’s commitment to develop Asia as one of the group’s growth engines and underlines Canal+’s confidence in Viu and its team.”

Canal+ first bought into Viu, led by CEO Janice Lee, in a June 2023 deal with Hong Kong telecom powerhouse PCCW Group, taking a 26.1 percent stake. As part of that deal, Canal+ secured the option of paying an additional sum to increase its stake to a 51 percent majority. 

Launched in 2015 with backing from PCCW, Viu’s video service offers both advertising and subscription-supported options in 16 territories in Asia, the Middle East and South Africa. When it unveiled the Canal+ deal last year, he company said it had more than 66 million monthly active users and 12 million paid subscribers, the bulk of which is believed to be based in Asia. Viu has specialized in licensing and producing original Korean content, but it also creates original content in Southeast Asian territories including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.  

Canal+ has 26.4 million subscribers worldwide, including 17.1 million in Europe, 8.1 million in Africa and 1.2 million in the Asia-Pacific region. Beyond its investment in Viu, it is also the largest shareholder in African pay-TV giant MultiChoice and in Viaplay, the Scandinavian pay-TV and streaming company. Earlier this year, it also took a stake in leading Senegalese production company Marodi TV.

After 25 Years, AMC Networks International Will Be Changing CBS Europa In Poland To Film Cafe

In June 2022, the British arm of the AMC-Paramount partnership revised their channel line-up with nearly all CBS branding being dropped. CBS Reality remained on air in the region during that time before being phased out for True Crime the following year.

Since then, the remaining CBS channels seen in Europe and Africa were a subject for numerous speculations. One of which included the possible demise of CBS Justice in Africa and CBS Reality following their demises in some parts of Europe as reported. 

According to the Polish website satkurier.pl, CBS Europa will change its name to Film Cafe by August 21, 2024. From what we've discovered, this trademark was already in use by AMC Networks International for another TV channel in Scretonia.

The only difference here would be the logos while Film Café in Scretonia operates independently from the rest of Europe. Based on the style and font, the one set to replace CBS Europa in Poland is being aligned to the AMC channels viewed in the UK.

Despite the variation in logos, CBS Europa and Film Café offer similar premises as they are movie channels revolved on the female audience. From what we assume, AMC and Paramount might be looking to retire the CBS trademark across their portfolio. 

No word on what awaits the feed of CBS Justice but by my guess that will probably rebrand to True Crime while CBS Reality is shortened to Reality TV or becomes True Reality.

Sentech Launches Freevision Play, A Streaming Service With No Monthly Fees

State-owned broadcasting company Sentech has launched Freevision Play, a free streaming television platform that may compete with the likes of SABC+ and eMedia’s Openview.

Described by the company as a “ground-breaking over-the-top video streaming platform”, Freevision Play will offer free access to a “wide array of local and community TV and radio channels”.

“Freevision Play is available to everyone with an internet connection and can be accessed via smartphones, tablets and smart televisions,” Sentech said in a statement on Wednesday. The service is available through freevisionplay.co.za, the company said. A Freevision Play app is also available for major smartphone operating systems.

The platform empowers users with access to educational, informational and entertainment content.

None of the SABC channels was available, although it was offering a range of community channels, including Soweto TV and Cape Town TV as well as something called the Brics Africa Channel. There was also a limited number of radio stations available to stream, but again none of the SABC channels is offered. No major commercial channels are available either.

“The platform empowers users with access to educational, informational and entertainment content, thereby fostering learning and engagement across the nation,” Sentech said in its statement.

“For broadcasters, Freevision Play offers an innovative solution to reach a broader audience without the high costs associated with creating and maintaining their own OTT (streaming) platforms and the challenge of aggregating audiences,” it said.

“By joining Freevision Play, broadcasters can expand their viewership, engage with their audience more effectively, and generate additional revenue through advertising. Freevision Play takes care of the upfront investment costs. It creates a multi-tenant platform, giving viewers and listeners a diverse range of choices while providing broadcasters with new audiences and viewers.”

Sentech emphasises that Freevision Play is “completely free to access”. It said users can also get access to on-demand catch-up content without a subscription.

“This ensures that everyone, regardless of their economic status, can benefit from the wealth of content available on the platform,” it said.

Important Notice Dated 19 June

As some readers have already seen we're trying to make this website flexible to access so we've moved featured post to the homepage same with popular posts. On the other of ads, hoping to resolve that situation soon hopefully end of the week nothing guaranteed for now.

Recap To The Year: Zee World Formerly Exclusive To MultiChoice's DStv And GOtv Is Also Available On Canal+ (Africa), Freeview Play (UK) And Rakuten (UK)

Zee World is an Indian entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that distributes various films and series in English. Since its launch in 2015, the channel currently ranks as one of the top 10 watched channels on DStv.

It introduced audiences to the complicated love story of Pragya and Abhi in Twist Of Fate and Bani, Piya and Rano's sisterly bond in The Promise. It also made Africa enter center stage in Dance Africa Dance (now known as Dance Naija Dance).

MultiChoice reserved rights to Zee World for their DStv and GOtv platforms but since Canal+ continued investment toward the company also offers the channel. As reported, MultiChoice will soon be owned by Canal+ as they seek to get approval from legislation. 

Since 2024, Rakuten and Freeview Play both of which are online platforms residing in the UK also package Zee World. Making this the first market outside of Africa and beyond the capacity of MultiChoice/Canal+ to offer the channel.

Lastly, eMedia Investments and StarTimes spun off the brand into a separate channel, Zee One. Described as a lightweight version to Zee World offers content already viewed on the brand while also licensing content that hasn't been viewed on the channel.