Rainbow's 44 Cats And DreamWorks' Noddy, Toyland Detective Debut On e.tv And eToonz Respectively

eMedia Investments will begin to air two more kids shows across their channels to bolster the kiddies' lineup, 44 Cats and Noddy, Toyland Detective.

44 Cats (44 Gatti) is produced by Rainbow S.r.l., 4 Cats get taken in by Granny Pina and form a band and meet 40 other cats. It's currently on its second season in Italy with more markets to set to follow. The series can also be found on the Nickelodeon channels through DStv.

Other productions from Rainbow S.r.l. include Winx Club (Nickelodeon, eToonz), Regal Academy (Nicktoons, e.tv), Mia and Me (eToonz), and Poppixie (Nickelodeon).

Noddy, Toyland Detective is produced by DreamWorks Animation, the titular character turns detective. Accompanied by his dog Bumpy and car Revs, Noddy travels to the four corners of Toyland to investigate mysteries. Big Ears and Clockwork Mouse appear alongside new toys Deltoid, Smartysaurus and Pat-Pat the Panda.

Other productions from DreamWorks Animation include Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (Nickelodeon), Dawn of the Croods (eToonz), The Adventures Of Puss In Boots (eToonz) and The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants (e.tv).

Both series consists of 11 minute episodes with only 1 airing for 30 minutes. Both shows are catered to an even smaller audience aka preschoolers.

44 Cats airs at 15:00 on e.tv from Wednesday 15 July

Noddy, Toyland Detective airs at 14:00 on eToonz from Monday 27 July

BayTV Is Now Known As Mpuma Kapa TV

After 7 years, Bay TV has been scrapped for a more stronger and at close at home branding, Mpuma Kapa TV.

Bay TV launched as a free-to-air community television channel in Port Elizabeth and surrounding areas in Eastern Cape before making its way to DStv. It features local news, sport, youth, children, women's issues, current affairs, education, music and local culture.

The channel lost their analogue licence years back that's why it can only be found on DStv besides that they also need the funds to stay open.

Before it's rebrand, the channel was mostly carrying pastor and church based programming like a few other community channels on DStv. This new brand has opened up their doors for content proposals.

Mpuma Kapa TV will more likely be no different to Bay TV at launch. The channel will still be representing Eastern Cape hopefully with more variety and not only church shows.

e.tv Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Elif

South Africa's first and only privately owned free-to-air television station e.tv acquired broadcasting rights to another Turkish telenovela called Elif.

Elif, a pretty and kind 6-year-old girl, is in danger of being sold to pay the gambling debts of her stepfather, Veysel Şimşek. Her mother Melek escapes, but finds out that she is very sick. She leaves Elif in the protection of her best friend, Ayşe Doğan, a maid in a wealthy family's household. Ayşe tries to get permission from the Emiroğlu family to raise Elif in the mansion. However, she is holding a well-hidden secret: Elif is the biological child of Kenan, the beloved eldest son of the wealthy family. Kenan is unaware that Elif is his child from a past love his family forced him to leave. He is now married to Arzu Karapınar. They have a daughter, Tuğçe Emiroğlu, who is a very spoiled girl known for her bad temper. Elif is forced to live at the luxurious estate, away from her beloved mother, and unaware of her proximity to her biological father.

Mrs Petite Universe's Zinnia Rose Petersen will be the voice-over artist for the character, Tugçe Emiroglu. The Turkish telenovela series will be dubbed in Afrikaans. The production which has 5 seasons and over 800 episodes at the moment.

The series will be broadcast on e.tv and eExtra, which is on OpenView, DStv and StarSat later this year.

Zinnia, 9, said it felt "absolutely wonderful" to be in Elif."This is by far one of the biggest and happiest moments. I'm hoping to gain loads of experience and skills to help me into my acting career," she said.

The Grade 4 Pupil will also be at Somerset House will also take part in Van Adamse season two, where she plays Emily. She is also an ambassador for three organisations - Angels United Helping Hands, Spirit Of Hope and Faith - and a motivational speaker with a focus on children.

Brave And Beautiful Coming Soon To Star Life

Star Life, is set to introduce a new fantasy telenovela next month to join the existing lineup of shows. This will be the channel's first fantasy show.

Brave And Beautiful (Divya Drishti), separated at childhood, Divya and Drishti attain super powers - to not only see the future, but also manipulate it. However, their own future lies in the hands of an evil Pishachini. Sana Sayyad and Nyra Banerjee take up the titular character's roles.

The series consists of 106 episodes each consuming at least 45 minutes meaning that this will be the second drama series on the channel that doesn't consist of 30 minutes with the first being Crime Alert. It made its debut last year on StarPlus and ended earlier in the year on that channel.

Star Life was set to air two other telenovelas earlier in the year but due to the lockdown regulations implemented in Africa and India months back these shows were delayed indefinitely. The channel hasn't made a statement with regards to the shows but they are likely to air them at some point.

The series makes it debut at 18:00 WAT/19:00 CAT/20:00 EAT from August 18th

StarLife can be found on MultiChoice's DStv, eMedia Investments' OpenView (SA Only) and StarSat (South Africa) with StarTimes (ROA).

MultiChoice South Africa On The Catholic Channel, EWTN

EWTN offers family-oriented, spiritually-enriching programming from a Catholic point of view. The Networks’ diverse programs include live talk shows, news programs, original series and documentaries, teaching series with noted theologians, children’s shows, live coverage of the Pope, a live daily Mass, and much more.

The channel launched 9 years ago for the rest of Africa on MultiChoice's DStv excluding South Africa. EWTN is also available on StarTimes (ROA) and StarSat (South Africa).

During those nine years, A lot of angry DStv customers approached MultiChoice over the possibility of adding EWTN to DStv's South African platform and as always we'll forward your suggestion to a relevant department.

They even created a petition and page to help get the channel to the market seeing as StarSat which is located in South Africa also packages the channel.

Two years ago, I contacted someone with regards to the channel and this is what DStv told them and what they're trying to do:
DStv: Currently it is VERY expensive to get
EWTN on DSTV
The Individual: I have made contact with a representative from EWTN in USA to see how we can get this going, he is currently meeting with the powers that may be to see how we can get the funds available and if it is viable to do so in South Africa.

And two years have passed and EWTN is only available on StarSat. Do you believe MultiChoice South Africa will get this channel they were able to get Da Vinci Kids and AfricaNews on board so anything is possible.