Returning To Mzansi Magic Channel 161 || Kings Of Maskandi, Short & Sweet And Suxoka

Ziyakhipha ku-reality on Mzansi Magic with the return of some of the channel’s reality shows this July and August. Kings of Maskandi S2, Short & Sweet S2 and Suxoka S3 are all coming back for more drama-filled entertainment including inspirational personal stories of growth and healing, as well as heated confrontations.

Kings of Maskandi S2 will continue to showcase the Maskandi rivalry culture through the worlds of the three Maskandi acts, Abafana baka Mgqumeni, Bahubhe and Khulekani Shongwe; and also zoom in on their personal and on-stage journeys. So what’s new this season? The show follows their individual stories but this time, new Maskandi artists are added to the mix, and they will also be competing for the title. The 13-part reality show will also delve into MC Nkunzemnyama's world and unpack his story.

Short & Sweet S2 is back for another adventure-filled season following the lives of Thandazani and Vovo plus some new faces as they navigate life and seek to prove that just like age, height is no impediment to living a full and wholesome life.

This season Thandazani is organising ukugidiza ceremony for his late grandmother and he is doing it for everyone who would like to get married in the family as well as him. For Vovo, this season is all about confronting and fixing issues with her aunt, hosting a thanksgiving ceremony and continuing her efforts of making difference in her community.

Joining the cast of Short & Sweet this season is Joshua Ryan Van Starden (23), a content creator, Mongezi, aka Mayoghurt, a 22-year-old Maskandi musician and Zandile (29) who wants to work towards opening a business, a traditional chemist where she can sell her water and other herbs.

Suxoka S3 is also making a comeback for a third instalment, a show where lies and deceit are confronted with the truth. Hosted by Motlatsi Mafatshe, the show sees couples, friends and family members sit and confront each other about issues of infidelity or betrayal with the hope of resolving these amicably.

Tune in to Mzansi Magic for Kings of Maskandi S2 from Tuesday 02 July at 8pm, Short & Sweet S2 from Thursday 25 July at 8pm and Suxoka S3 from Sunday 04 August at 7.30pm.

New Series Alert: The People's Doctor Coming Soon To Telemundo Across Africa

Telemundo is a Spanish language entertainment channel operated by NBCUniversal. Following its launch in Africa, it had garnered traction for shows like My Heart Beats For Lola (Mí Corazon Insiste En Lola Volcan) and Lord Of The Skies (El Senor De Los Cielos).

Now it is being reported that Telemundo will be airing a new anthology series from July 15th titled The People's Doctor (also known as El Doctor Del Pueblo). It will replace Come Back To Me (Vuelve A Mí) once it concludes from July 11th in the same timeslot. 

Based on the life of José Gregorio Hernández better known as The Doctor Of The People intervenes in the most dire situations where the love of families are put to the test. The series had an unexpected miracle and teaches a life lesson and brings hope.

The series ensemble a cast of Gabriela Rivero, Úrsula Pruneda, Gabriel Porras, Luz Ramos, Erick Chapa and Cecilia Toussaint. 

In other developments, Telemundo will be airing a rebroadcast of The Impostor (La Impostora) once Ana's Revenge (La Venganza De Analía) ends. We are still awaiting further updates on the third and final season of Queen Of The South which we hope to share soon.

SABC 2 Distances Themselves From Anime With Inazuma Eleven Reduced From 5 To 2 Days

SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air channel catered towards families that operated by the public broadcaster. It is home to soaps Muvhango and formerly 7de Laan alongside other content such as Deal Or No Deal SA and Speak Out.

During the year, SABC 2 underwent a major restructure as part of the public broadcaster's endeavors of reinventing themselves and getting with the times. This has led to a reduction of Afrikaans content as the latter had been folded under SABC 3.

This wasn't the only endeavor SABC 2 had further minimized in the last months as Inazuma Eleven has moved an hour early from 17:00 to 16:00. Initially airing 5 days a week from Monday to Friday was reduced to Thursday and Friday being 2 days.

Based on the BBC show of the same name, Ready Steady Cook South Africa is a collaboration between Primedia Studios and the production company Rose and Oaks Media. They were also responsible for The Masked Singer South Africa on SABC 3.

This was the show SABC 2 had allocated at the 17:00 timeslot with 260 episodes having being commissioned. After SABC had redirected Deal Or No Deal SA from SABC 1 to 2 with Afrikaans news bulletin Nuus from SABC 2 to 3 the ratings fell flat.

Unlike the latter, we have to yet how Ready Steady Cook SA is performing ratings wise same with Inazuma Eleven. When DragonBall Super aired it was the top 5 watched show pulling 600,000 viewers so we can only assume these shows are only getting half.

As seen below ratings for DragonBall Super and a more recent ratings sheet with Ready Steady Cook SA nowhere in site:

If we had to guess the reason for anime's downfall on SABC 2 is likely due to existing competiton from Crunchyroll, YouTube and Netflix. Another being SABC 2's failure in consistency as shows Yu-Gi-Oh were sidelined by them for nearly a decade.

News Shorts: Supa Strikas Now Has A Release Date On Play Room With Ambani Tech Squad, Black Tax To Make Its Freemium Debut On e.tv With A Season 2 And Via Allocates Two New Afrikaans Series In August

Play Room is now a Supa Striker

Last month, it was reported that Play Room had acquired rights to Supa Strikas (currently seen on Moonbug) although not announcing it officially. They gave viewers a teaser on their social platforms and it didn't take long to link the logo with Supa Strikas.

Now the series is slated to air daily at 17:00 from 17 June with a third season. In other developments, the channel will be rolling out an educational segment Ambani Tech Squad (through Ambani Africa) dwelling on technological concepts.

Ambani Africa, an award-winning EdTech powerhouse that uses augmented reality, captivating animation, and exciting gamification to enhance the learning journey for students, parents, educators, and organizations alike.

More DStv repeats on e.tv

BET is a general entertainment channel operated by Paramount Global that celebrates black culture through films and series. It is home to locally produced shows such as Redemption, Queendom, Isono alongside international shows like Basketball Wives.

For several years, eMedia Investments had been distributing various content from the broadcaster on their linear platforms and even co-produced some content with e.tv now slated to rollout Black Tax at 19:30 from 15 June.

Black Tax is a comedic series that follows Thuli as she is brought up in a tightly-knit black community and grows up to be successful. However, as her family starts growing she questions the importance of the black tax.

Upcoming shows on Via

Die ontwerpers

Season 1

1 August – 24 October 2024

Thursdays 17:30

In each episode of this show, an interior designer takes the viewer on a tour of three spaces: One they designed themself, one that inspires them, and – finally – their own home.

Wie was dit?

Season 1

2 – 30 August 2024

Fridays 20:30

A new competition show for lovers of true crime and police dramas. We all know someone who's good at solving the fictional crimes they see on TV. In this show, we'll set out to see if these "couch detectives" are truly as smart as they claim to be. Four "couch detectives" will check into a hotel in a sleepy countryside town and, in each episode, they will be presented with a fictional crime that they need to solve. The contestant who cracks the most cases by the end of the season, is the winner. This season will feature celebrity contestants.

Klankbank

Season 5

2 August – 25 October 2024

Fridays 20:00

In each episode of this game show, three contestants go head-to-head to test their knowledge of popular music. How much money can they collectively bank for the ultimate winner to take home in the end? Hosted by Arno Greeff.

Cartoonito's International Expansion Continues As It Replaces Boomerang In South Korea

Cartoonito is an international channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery dedicated to preschoolers and families. Since its launch in 2021, the channel had garnered traction globally for shows like Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels and Masha And The Bear. 

Since 2022, Cartoonito has replaced various Boomerang feeds in Latin America, Turkey, Europe and Africa. With the United States, Taiwan Oceania and South Korea serving as one of the few markets where content is allocated on Cartoon Network. 

Through a promo, it was revealed Boomerang would rebrand to Cartoonito in South Korea from July 1st with the region serving as a late entry.

It is currently unknown how much content from Boomerang would fold under Cartoonito when the rebrand occurs. However, Jessica's Big Little World will form part of the launch lineup alongside Lamput, Esme & Roy and Bugs Bunny Builders. 

Warner Bros. Discovery's decision for replacing Boomerang with Cartoonito in EMEA which might be contributing factor in South Korea:

"We are aligning with our international strategy as Cartoonito is now a global brand for the company and all Boomerang channels in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region will become Cartoonito." "Everything depends on a country-by-country basis since the pipeline of brands we have is not the same in every country, but overall that's the strategy."

The Possible Fate Awaiting iROKO Former TV Channels On DStv

Canal+ is a French based pay-tv provider operated by Vivendi that distribute various films, series and TV channels. It recently acquired remaining shares in MultiChoice after serving as its largest investor with the company seeking approval from local legislation. 

They intend to merge operations should this deal move forward but alas the two had been rivals years prior and this comes with a similar lineup of entertainment. In this case, Canal+'s ROK Studios and M-Net's Africa Magic channels as mentioned sometime ago. 

Unless some restructuring plan is underway for both these brands it's likely that the ROK channels and Africa Magic would be subjected to a merger. Sort of as a streamlining attempt as seen with Africa Magic Urban as the latter would fold under Showmax and iROKO TV.

Of course, Canal+ did acquire the TV channels and studios and not the iROKO+ streaming service. If anything, Canal+ could reduce their investment on iROKO TV now that they have Africa Magic and opt to license content just to build the offering on IROKO+. 

The ROK channels could start to burn out once consumers notice there's less new content and another if some of this offering were to just reappear on Africa Magic Showcase or Africa Magic Family for instance. 

Why eMedia Investments Hasn't Made Any Of Its Content On eVOD Accessible On Openview In Recent Months?

eVOD is a South African based streaming service operated by eMedia Investments that offers a mixture of locally produced and international content. It also serves as a competitor to existing streamers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Showmax.

As some readers are aware, eMedia Investments was planning to invest at least 100 million yearly on local productions for eVOD. Not only that, content viewed on the streamer was said to also be accessible to Openview consumers overtime.

This was usually between a period of 6 months to a year but as some viewers had noticed this had gone on for a much longer duration.

eVOD has been introducing productions like Mother Of All, Splintered Pieces and Net 20 Minute (dubbed program). Instead of these shows being allocated on e.tv or any of eMedia's other channels, they have an alternative lineup put in place.

If we had to guess, eMedia Investments is probably trying to lure consumers to eVOD and rushing their releases on Openview reduces that possibility. Openview is a freemium service and some content in question on eVOD form part of the pay tier.

Another reason could be that eMedia Investments is trying to give eVOD some value and don't want consumers to view it as repeats platform for select content on Openview. But an additional broadcaster as seen with MultiChoice's M-Net and Showmax. 

How Canal+ Sport Could Fold Under The SuperSport Trademark?

SuperSport is Africa's biggest sports broadcaster packaged and distributed by MultiChoice and Canal+. It is home to Varsity Cup (rugby), DStv Premiership (football), PGA Championship (golf), Formula One (motorsports) and WWE (wrestling).

Known to be a male dominant field, SuperSport expanded this lineup with Here For Her campaign targeted at females. This would followup to the introduction of youth sports with the rollout of SuperSport Schools after acquiring School Sports Live.

Not long ago, it was revealed that Canal+ had got the greenlight to acquire remaining shares within MultiChoice. There's been various questions clinging around to the fate of some content. 

Acquisitions are known to have their setbacks especially with mass layoffs, content cuts and possible mergers. As Canal+ intends to merge MultiChoice with their operations and these changes consumers anticipate would take sometime to be implemented. 

With the decline in linear consumption, companies have been very cautious with the daily running of a TV channel. Changing some minor aspects like the color of a light bulb to rearranging the order of library books would need careful assessment. 

Canal+ has acquired several assets in an attempt to expand their operations and this had led to channels getting the company name. This had led to some to wonder if the same aspirations could await SuperSport and whether this would impact consumers. 

Content wise that could remain intact but most rebrands are anticipated to often lead to something else. We've got to see that with 1Max (formerly 1Magic), this had led to an increase in local productivity and distribution in third party content. 

Instead of the entire set of SuperSport being identified under Canal+ Sport we presume these changes could have a smaller effect. If anything, the existing offering SuperSport Blitz and Premier League would be referred to as Blitz+ and Premier League+.

Plus (+) is a signature trademark for the French broadcaster from what we've seen in Poland and France. If anything, instead of SuperSport being phased perhaps an merger with + trademark to form SuperSport+.

Canal+ Acquisition Of MultiChoice Gets The Thumps Up, Awaiting Approval By Local Legislation

A MultiChoice independent board has recommended that shareholders accept a takeover offer from Canal+, but the groups still have major regulatory hurdles to overcome.

In a joint circular, the board said that the offer consideration of R125 per share is fair and reasonable and recommended that shareholders accept it once it becomes unconditional.

However, that point has not yet been reached, as the deal is still conditional on obtaining the approval of several government authorities inside and outside of South Africa. Canal+ and MultiChoice are in the process of assessing and finalising a possible reorganisation.

Shareholders have until 22 April 2025 to trade in MultiChoice Shares to participate in the offer. The timelines set out by the circular can be found below:

“In the circumstances, the Independent Board recommends that, in the event that the offer becomes unconditional, MultiChoice Shareholders accept the offer.”

Canal+ has been attempting to purchase MultiChoice since the start of the year, with its opening bid of R54 billion rejected.

However, it then increased its shareholding in MultiChoice to over 35%, meaning that it had to make an offer to buy the rest of MultiChoice. The French broadcaster has since increased its shareholding to 45.2%.

The group is also working on a way around South Africa’s foreign broadcast restrictions. The Electronic Communications Act prevents foreign entities from holding over 20% of a South African broadcaster’s voting rights.

The groups will have to spend the next year trying to find some way around this.

“In light of the duty on Canal+ to make a mandatory offer for the MultiChoice Shares, Canal+ and MultiChoice are in the process of assessing and finalising suitable structuring options and potential transactions, which may be undertaken by the MultiChoice Group on or shortly before the Closing Date to ensure compliance with the applicable limitations on foreign control while also maintaining MultiChoice’s BBBEE credentials.”