Coming Up In April 2020 On Discovery Channel Africa

Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
From Tuesday 28 April at 20:00
From an early age, actor, comedian and retired Marine Rob Riggle had an explorer's spirit. His sense of wonder was fuelled by his grandfather, who filled Rob's head with incredible myths, mysteries, and legends from far off places. Now, Rob is taking his passion for adventure across the globe in a bid to solve some of the world's greatest mysteries. This thrilling series follows Rob's journey, as he meets local guides and invites people who don't think he's up to the challenge to join him. Relying on his mental toughness and self-taught karate, Rob will take on some of the biggest, most daring challenges he's ever faced in the ultimate adventure.

Expedition X
From Tuesday 14 April at 20:55
Real life Indiana Jones, adventurer Josh Gates, has decided it's time to really explore the dark side of the planet. So, he's put together a top team to undertake investigations delving into realms beyond the 'unknown.' They include scientist Phil Torres and paranormal researcher Jessica Chobot, who have been brought in to investigate reports of supernatural encounters, mysterious creatures, and astonishing extra-terrestrial phenomena. Whether it's tracking paranormal activity in Mexico City or trekking through the remote jungles of Cambodia in search of a legendary ape-man, they embark on unprecedented expeditions into the unexplained and perhaps... unexplainable.

Ed Stafford: First Man Out
From Wednesday 22 April at 20:00
Survivalist and explorer, Ed Stafford, heads to the wilds of China to face off the planet's top survival experts in a real- life race to get out of the country's most hostile environments. In every episode, Ed faces a different and equally skilled opponent in the race to be the first to reach a pre-determined extraction point, on a journey fraught with danger. From the huge cliffs and bamboo forests of Bashan to the mountains and waterfalls of Yunnan Province, he may be able to survive almost anywhere or anything, but so can these extraordinary people. With speed as important as survival, who will be the first to escape these lethal landscapes in a country with some of the world's most extreme climates?

Mystery Stunt
From Friday 10 April at 11:40
Behind every mystery lies curiosity. This compelling strand of thought-provoking shows follows intrepid explorers investigate the world’s longest-running mysteries, using cutting-edge technology in their quest for the truth. Expedition Unknown follows explorer Josh Gates as he examines unsolved stories around the world, interviewing key eyewitnesses and uncovering recent developments. Lost Secrets sees historian Justin Jampol unlock the secrets of the past through recently unearthed artefacts, using advanced scientific testing to reveal new details. In Mission Declassified, investigative journalist Christof Putzel unlocks the secrets of cold cases by using declassified government files to get to the truth. And, Storming Area 51 follows UFO Bros Joe and Emmett Hayes as they head to the Nevada desert to observe, investigate and fully embrace the pandemonium of the storming Area 51 event. These shows and more explore the unexplained to unravel the fascinating truth behind the legends.

Telemundo Africa Debuts A New Season Of The Anthology Series, Decisions

If you've watched Christmas Miracles (Milagros De Navidad) meet it's elder sister Decisions (Decisiones: Unos Ganan, Otros). This is actually the revival for the 2005 version which Telemundo titled Decisiones (Decisions without the extended title) doesn't seem interested to air anytime soon but don't worry the stories change constantly there's not much to miss out from the first season.

The new season is more inclined towards thriller, suspense and action - tell stories that are affecting ordinary people today. Inspired by high profile research, cases of human identity, social and political struggles, each episode focuses on a transcendental decision that will change the lives of the main characters in a moving, extraordinary and radical way. At the end of each episode, current statistics related to the central plot will be included, which were prepared by Noticas Telemundo to create awareness and reflection on the issues.

The series has a variety of stars including Luz Ramos, Jorge Luis Pila, Litzy, Laura Flores and many more.

The series airs weekdays at 20:00 CAT from Monday 27 April

BBC Africa Content Goes FTA On Soweto TV

BBC Africa TV programmes are now available to viewers in South Africa on the free-to-air channel Soweto TV.

The deal means viewers to Soweto TV also gain access to the BBC’s global news programme for children produced by Angelina Jolie, My World, multi award-winning investigative series Africa Eye, weekly health, fitness and food programme Life Clinic, and women’s discussion show # TheSheWord.

Simon Kendall, Business Development Director for BBC World Service, said: “We are delighted that audiences in Gauteng and throughout South Africa will now be able to view an exciting selection of BBC programmes through our new agreement with Soweto TV. We look forward to working more closely with Soweto TV and to building on this exciting new presence in South Africa.”

South Africa: DStv Easyview Is Better Than OpenView

OpenView is a free-to-view platform owned by eMedia Investments that offers quality entertainment while DStv Easyview is a pay-tv platform supplied by MultiChoice at R29p/m (formerly R39p/m). Ever since OpenView took the market by storm a lot consider it a better alternative to some of DStv's package like Easyview.

Before I get to what makes Easyview swell let's look at what makes OpenView superior starting with general entertainment section. For years e.tv has constantly restructured that section back in 2013 it was a kind of crappy compared to now where's so much entertainment including reality, international and local drama series, telenovelas and quality movies. With Easyview they basically have a Telenovela channel that's already found on OpenView except OpenView has 2 more channels for telenovelas, a repeats channel except OpenView's repeats channel also airs international programming, a dull reality channel which is accessible 24 hours a day compared to eReality on OpenView and a movie channel that airs somewhat classical films relying on a portion of channels found on OpenView for modern movies (ouch). Community channels also air a bit of everything in this section but most would rather stick with OpenView for quality entertainment over MORE low quality programming there. If you want quality entertainment get OpenView and if you want more channels with low quality get Easyview. The winner is OpenView.

Sports, at launch viewers only turned to SABC for that on OpenView with Easyview they have a highlights channel and sport-infused programming and old matches on a variety of community channels besides SABC giving them the edge overtime OpenView grew their lineup with their first sports channel now defunct Kwesé Free Sports and went on to bring Fight Sports and use OpenNews for sports and turning it into e.tv News & Sports for reruns and exclusive sports matches with some news remaining. None of these platforms will give you soccer 24 hours a day but OpenView wins this round as well.

Now we get to the rest of section that makes Easyview "superior" even though it's a section operators put less investment onto its definitely bigger on Easyview side of things. Whatever you read from below just know Easyview wins it all and takes most of the cake compared to OpenView.

News, OpenView offers 2 news channels and only 25% of that channel is local with news programming being carried out on SABC and e.tv daily while Easyview has more than double the news channels alongside community channels and a weather channel with two of them being local news channels besides having SABC and e.tv for daily news.

Kids, OpenView had 4 kids channels, two educational, one factual and the other entertaining now it's been reduced to just 2 channels the same channels found on Easyview with programming on SABC and e.tv found on both platforms. Now getting to the part where Easyview wins there's a standard preschool channel alongside content from community and religious channels and possibly even that upcoming youth channel(s) and maybe the African animation channel.

Music, I know OpenView no longer has one and won't have one yet for another foreseeable future but let's look at the time they had one which was the trainwreck Beatlab TV along with content and segments from SABC and Glow TV not everyone likes indie so yeah the options are lacking on OpenView side even the radio channels seem weaker in comparison(your phone has a radio even the no internet or camera phones have it so use that). Easyview has segments from SABC, community channels, 3 music channels (2 gospel), DMX (international music only) and radio channels so no matter what happens OpenView will never beat that package when it comes to music.

Religion and community channels, OpenView had a couple of them and that didn't go so well Easyview has a ton of them even community channels have religious programming that ain't fading away from anyone's screens, it's enough to even launch a standalone package. These genres don't attract much attention to most of the media so does it matter if OpenView has one if they'll all be treated in the same manner.

If you tally up everything OpenView is only good for general entertainment and sports which is premium game changer while Easyview is better with the smaller and sometimes overbooked sections which has less impact and seems niche in a way overtime it could grow on both sides in the end OpenView might have each of these missing gaps but I doubt they'll be much growth in these sections compared to Easyview after all you need to pay R29p/m as opposed to OpenView free entertainment.

Statement From Chairperson Of Soweto TV Regarding The Mismanagement Of The Channel

Soweto TV (DStv 251/Starsat 488) was mismanaged for almost a decade and was on the verge of liquidation when all the members of the board resigned with immediate effect leaving only 1 member who was also the founding members of Soweto TV. The regulator ICASA instructed the remaining member to properly constitute a team of directors who will stabilize the channel and take it forward.

The new board member appointed an investigator and the following was discovered:
- Soweto TV has not been compliant with the regulator in regards to news and factual content.
- The channel accumulated an unpaid SARS bill amounting to R54,439,400 million rand.
-No performance management or monitoring contracts to measure deliverables and accountability.
- The channel had excessive amounts of repeats for the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 with constant incorrect electronic program guide for viewers.
- The previous management never submitted tax returns for years with violations and penalties from the revenue service
- There was no policy or any form of governance on the day to day operations, service providers were appointed with no procurement processes and business processes were compromised.
- Churches and key community organization's terminated their contracts with the channel.
- Channel had 84 staff members, a couple of them were "ghost" employees earning a salary with no trace of working at Soweto TV, some have been with the channel for almost a decade with no contribution to the channel.

Interventions to date
- The Board has alleviated the risk of the channel being liquidated.
- The Board has engaged ICASA and relevant stake holders on its plans to stabilize the channel and ensure that Soweto TV succeeds.
The board took a resolution to appoint Mr Thabo Molefe as the new CEO and the following has been affected:
- Since September 2019, the channel has committed to paying R14,439,400 to R4,567,000
- The channel has complied with the local content regulation and continues to reflect the community back to its audience.
- The channel has instituted both an acquisition and editorial policy putting Soweto TV amongst the leading broadcasters in South Africa.
- We've implemented new automated commercial systems that enable advertisers and sales agencies to monitor their investment and maintain schedule stability.
- The channel has formulated policies that speak to governance, accountability and performance.
- The channel has attended MultiChoice content and management workshops.
- The channel has hosted auditions for new shows with new faces to be introduced in February 2020.
- 9 new shows have been produced by and being released throughout the next months
- The brand of Soweto TV has been revived and in 2020 the audience will have an opportunity to view more local content and engage with a number of new initiatives.

The new Board is committed to the success of Soweto TV, once we have achieved programming and commercial stability, the Board will roll out the next phase of their work program which will comprise of increased community engagement including scheduling editorial consultants as well as membership rules to enable increased community participation.

The new board will not be directed by the opportunistic campaigns which are waged by people who have failed the Channel before. The community must not be misled by such people.