Insidus

New Series Alert: My Sweet Curse Coming Soon To TLNovelas Africa + Televisa And Univision Merge

MY SWEET CURSE COMING SOON TO TLNOVELAS

It looks like TLNovelas might stick around on DStv for the remainder of September as the channel is set to introduce another telenovela, My Sweet Curse.

My Sweet Curse (Mi Adorable Maldición) follows the rumors persist that young Aurora is cursed because of her dark, difficult past. When she meets dashing Rodrigo, the two fall in love and join forces to prove that their relationship can survive all obstacles - including the supposed curse. Renata Notni and Pablo Lyle star as the leads.

It is an adaptation of the 2013 Colombian story written by Julio Jiménez titled Lola Calamidades, which most recent version, Bella Calamidades, starred Danna García.

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TELEVISA AND UNIVISION SET TO MERGE

Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (“Televisa”), and Univision Holdings, Inc. (together with its wholly owned subsidiary, Univision Communications Inc., (“Univision”), announced a definitive transaction agreement in which Televisa’s content and media assets will be combined with Univision to create the largest Spanish-language media company in the world: Televisa-Univision.

The combination brings together the two leading media businesses in the two largest Spanish-speaking markets in the world: Univision in the United States, the largest Spanish-language media market by value, and Televisa in Mexico, which is the most populous Spanish-language market in the world. The resulting business will hold the largest long-form library of content in the world, a powerful portfolio of IP and global sports rights, fueled by the most prolific Spanish-language production infrastructure. The power and scope of these content assets are unmatched. In 2020, Televisa produced more than 86,000 hours of content across every genre and category, including sports and special events, dramas, newscasts, situation comedies, game shows, reality shows, children’s programs, comedy and variety programs, musical and cultural events, movies and educational programming.

Televisa will also contribute its four free-to-air channels, 27 pay-TV networks channels and stations, its Videocine movie studio and Blim TV subscription video on demand (SVOD) service; and the Televisa trademark. These media assets comprise the definitive market leader in Mexico.

The Company will further benefit from Univision’s market-leading assets in the United States which includes the Univision and UniMás broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 61 television stations and 58 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico, and prominent digital assets including its recently launched AVOD streaming service, PrendeTV.

“This strategic combination generates significant value for shareholders of both companies and will allow us to more efficiently reach all Spanish-language audiences with more of our programming,” said Emilio Azcárraga, Executive Chairman of the Televisa Board of Directors. “Together, Televisa-Univision can more aggressively pursue innovation and growth through digital platforms as the industry continues to evolve. Our new investors at the SoftBank Latin America Fund, Google and The Raine Group are just as excited about the opportunities presented by this combination.”

“This transformative combination brings together the leading network serving U.S. Spanish-language audiences with the leading media platform in Mexico powered by the most powerful Spanish-language content engine in the world,” said Univision CEO Wade Davis.

“Televisa-Univision will emerge as the leading global Spanish-language multi-media company, uniquely positioned to capture the significant market opportunity for Spanish speakers worldwide.” Davis continued, “The composition of our new investor group reflects confidence in our strategy, the progress of our digital transformation and the magnitude of the opportunity ahead of us. I would like to thank Chairman Emilio Azcárraga for his confidence in us, to continue as partners growing the incredible company he and his family have built.

“We have been deeply involved with Univision for more than two decades, and we have never enjoyed a better relationship with our partners,” said Bernardo Gómez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Televisa’s Co-Chief Executive Officers. “We are creating a company which is a leader across multi-media categories, unified over the largest territories and with the scale and focus to deliver the most compelling content experience to Spanish-language consumers around the world. We are confident that this strategic transaction will maximize the potential of our Content segment, while allowing us to strengthen our balance sheet and focus on growth opportunities at our Telecom business.”

3 Possible New Channels For DStv

This year, MultiChoice has been kind of slow on the new channel front with only 3 channels that launched within a space of 6 months and 2 of them serve as repeat channels, Maisha Magic Movies and Moja 9.9.

Besides, the long awaited Mozambique entertainment channel it looks like MultiChoice might be rolling out more channels such as GH One TV, SuperSport Maxìmo Direct 2 and Maisha Magic Plus.

GH One TV is a Ghana-based entertainment TV channel, whose content includes lifestyle, music, fashion, series, children's programs, comedy, and tourism. It is now owned by Excellence In Broadcasting (EIB) Networks. According to a survey conducted by GeoPoll, GH One is the 5th most watched TV station in Ghana.

SuperSport Maxìmo Direct 2 serves as the English version of the current SuperSport Maxìmo channel available on Premium which mashes sports from other channels. This channel would have joined Telemundo as the only station with a duplicate channel in another language.

Maisha Magic Plus serves as Kenyan version of Mzansi Wethu offering series and movies in both English and Swahili. This one would kind of serve as a complimentary to the movie channel and it would be interesting if MultiChoice were to create a seperate feed which not only took from Kenya but Uganda and Tanzania as well.

For now, there's no confirmation from either MultiChoice or the service provider but these 3 channels do raise questions on whether this will be the only thing viewers will be getting for the years to come or whether there's hope for something out of your comfort zone.

September 2021 On Curiosity Channel Africa | History Lovers Tuesdays | Curious Thursdays | Travel & Adventure Fridays | Best Of Curiosity | Human Story Saturdays | Best Of Curiosity Sundays

HISTORY LOVER TUESDAYS

SECRETS OF THE THIRD REICH
Brand New Episodes – premieres 31 August 2021 CAT: 21:00
Episodes: 4x 30 mins - ends 28 September 2021
What happened to trainloads worth of Nazi-gold at the end of WW2?

CURIOUS THURSDAYS

THE SECRET OF MONA LISA
Brand New Documentary Special – premieres 09 September 2021 CAT: Thursday at 22:00
Episodes: 1x 60 mins
The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Her real name according to art history is “La Gioconda”. For many years though, there have been doubts: why did Leonardo not hand the portrait on to the commissioner if it was a picture of his wife?

THE VIKINGS
Brand New Documentary Series – premieres 23 September 2021
CAT: Thursday at 21:00
Episodes: 4 x 60 mins (stacked back-to-back premieres)
Their ships plied the seas and rivers of half the globe. They were bloodthirsty warriors and fine craftsmen. They were the Vikings.

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE FRIDAYS

TRAVEL MAN
Brand New Episodes –premieres 03 September 2021 CAT: 20:00
Episodes: 10 x 30mins (back-to-back) ends 24 September 2021
Travel Man is Richard Ayoade's chance to show us where we're going wrong by having the most culturally efficient holiday possible.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, PARTS UNKNOWN
Brand New Episodes – premieres 03 September 2021 CAT: 21:00
Episodes: 8x 60mins – ends 22 October 2021
Anthony Bourdain travels the world uncovering lesser-known places and exploring their cultures and cuisine.

BEST OF CURIOSITY

FACE TO FACE: Mandela vs De Klerk Heritage Day Special - 24 September 2021 CAT: 19:00
Episodes: 1x 60 mins
Would Nelson Mandela have gone down in history without Frederik de Klerk? And vice versa? The question is more than pertinent in view of the extent to which the destinies of South Africa’s first black president and the last leader of the apartheid regime are linked.

HUMAN STORY SATURDAYS

4TH and FOREVER ALCOA
Brand New Episodes - premieres 04 September 2021 CAT: 23:00
Episodes: 5x 30 mins – ends 02 October 2021
In the shadows of the Smoky Mountains lives a football dynasty. Alcoa High School is southern Appalachia's true football powerhouse..

BEST OF CURIOSITY SUNDAYS

VERTIGO YEARS
Brand New Series - premieres 12 September 2021 CAT: 19:00
Episodes: 3x 30 mins (stacked back-to-back premieres)
A social, creative and scientific explosion that would define the horizons of life in the West up to our day.

September 2021 On CBS Reality And Justice Africa | 6 New Series Alerts Including Framed By The Killer | 3 Returning Series Including Homicide's Elite

CBS Reality:

EXTREME SALVAGE SQUAD
Season 2
Channel Premiere
Weekdays at 09:30, 18:40 and 22:50 from 6th to 17th September. Repeated on weekends at 07:50 and 18:40 from 11th September to 10th October.
Any job, any time...Enter the high-stakes world of marine recovery and rescue with Extreme Salvage Squad. Based in the Whitsunday region of North Queensland in Australia, the team tackle time-critical, dangerous salvage missions where one mistake could mean serious injury or ﬁnancial disaster. Filled with true Aussie grit and a determination to see the job done, the team meet every challenge head-on - and know how to have a little fun along the way. Stuﬀed with tension, excitement and camaraderie, this series is all about overcoming adversity to help keep one of the world's most beautiful coastlines in the best possible condition.

GRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Season 1 & 2.
Channel Premiere
Weekdays at 09:30, 18:40 and 22:50 from 20th September to 25th October. Repeated on weekends at 07:50 and 18:40 from 16th October to 9th January 2022.
Modern Britain is drowning in rubbish. The once green and pleasant land has become swamped with waste and infested with ﬁlth. But there’s a hidden army waging a war against grime. This series follows 7 days on the frontline with the enforcement teams and inspectors out to nail the litter louts, and the fearless cleaners and sewage warriors clearing up the mess. It’s dirty work and we meet the brave people doing it.
In episode 1, we follow a dynamic enforcement duo Wayne and Dan in Wales as they wade through ﬂy-tipped rubbish to ﬁnd out who dumped it; Environmental Health Oﬃcer Eamon as he digs through the dirt in restaurants and takeaways, and Don the cleaner facing a bathroom covered ﬂoor to ceiling in ﬁlth.

CBS Justice:

AN UNEXPECTED KILLER
Season 1. Channel premiere.
Weeknights at 19:00.
From 27th September until 6th October.
Expect the unexpected in this gripping true crime series that delves into shocking murder investigations in which the identity of the killer comes as a complete surprise. Each standalone episode takes viewers through the twists and turns of a captivating homicide investigation, combining compelling interviews with dramatic re-enactments. Just when detectives think they’ve cracked the case, new evidence turns the investigation on its head and ultimately leads to a suspect no one anticipated.

ACCIDENT, SUICIDE OR MURDER
Season 1 & 2. Channel premiere.
Weeknights at 20:00.
From 6th September until 5th October.
This riveting series takes viewers through the stunning twists and turns of real-life cases involving suspicious deaths. At the heart of each case is a pressing question: was the victim's demise the result of an accident, suicide, or possibly murder? Each hour-long episode traces the evolution of the investigation, from the discovery of the victim to the gathering of evidence to the eﬀorts of detectives and family members determined to expose the truth, once and for all.

FRAMED BY THE KILLER
Season 1. Channel premiere.
Sundays at 20:00.
From 5th until 19th September.
Executive produced by Ice-T ("In Ice Cold Blood"), this true crime series untangles twisted murder mysteries in which the killers tried to frame innocent people for the crimes they committed. Each episode delves into a murder case that appears to have a clear perpetrator until evidence reveals that the initial suspect was actually set up by the real murderer.

THE GOOD COP
Season 1. Channel premiere.
Sundays at 19:00.
From 5th September until 10th October.
Based on the bestselling book “The Good Cop” by Justine Ford. The best Homicide detective Australia has ever seen. This is the story of an old-school cop who is tough, inventive and incorruptible. A man who solved the unsolvable with his head and his heart. For many years, television companies have dreamt of doing a series with Ron Iddles. Ron has just retired ... and is ready to tell his story.
How did this intuitive cop put more murderers behind bars than any other homicide detective in Australia? Each episode will take us behind the scenes of one of Ron’s most challenging murder cases. Ron’s voice will be the backbone of the episode - his stories illustrated with compelling drama scenes, ﬁlmed in a modern crime-noir style. Complementing Ron’s story will be powerful insights from the victims’ families, his homicide colleagues, journalists and even Ron’s informers and suspects. Many of these people have never told their story on television.
The Good Cop is more than a crime show. It is a master class in detective work from Australia’s ﬁnest cop.

MURDER AND JUSTICE:
THE CASE OF MARTHA MOXLEY
Season 1. Channel premiere.
Sundays at 20:00.
From 26th September until 10th October.
Hosted by former federal prosecutor and on-air legal analyst Laura Coates, "Murder and Justice: The Case of Martha Moxley" re-explores the infamous murder of Martha Moxley by taking a 360-degree look at the case’s original evidence, testing new theories that examine potentially overlooked clues with help from some of the world’s preeminent crime experts. Presenting new and exclusive interviews with those connected to the case, including former LAPD Homicide Detective Mark Fuhrman, trial defense attorney Mickey Sherman and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as conversations with Martha’s loved ones, Coates revisits the investigation and its aftermath in an attempt to understand the question that remains: Why has justice been so elusive for the Moxley family after so many years?

EVIDENCE OF EVIL
Season 3. Episodes 17-26.
Channel premiere.
ORIGINAL TRUE CRIME SERIES
Weeknights at 21:00. From 6th until 17th September.
Season 3 of the original true crime series “Evidence of Evil” explores and reconstructs some of the most intriguing and startling criminal cases of the past two decades, where technology changed the course of the investigations and brought the guilty to justice. Featuring key witness testimony, new interviews, reconstructed sequences and archive footage, the series showcases the hard work and dedication of investigators, police, scientists, and other experts in their ﬁelds.

HOMICIDE’S ELITE
Season 3. Episodes 6-15.
Channel premiere.
Weeknights at 21:00. From 6th until 17th September.
Detectives David Quinn and Vince Velazquez have worked hundreds of homicides together – if these two are on the case, the bad guys are going to prison!
In epsiode 6, Vince and Quinn will hop back in time to the year 1988 to help one young man ﬁnd justice in his father’s cold case murder. While the detectives pour through the case ﬁle in the hopes to ﬁnd a lead, they discover that their victim’s killer may be closer to home than they originally expected.

Could Paramount+ And Peacock Be Folded Under One Streaming Service In South Africa?

America's Comcast pay-TV operator that owns Sky in the United Kingdom, and ViacomCBS announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will be launching SkyShowtime as a new video streaming service across Europe as a new joint venture.

SkyShowtime will launch in 2022 in more than 20 European countries, including Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, reaching around 90 million homes.

"SkyShowtime will bring together decades of direct-to-consumer experience and the very best entertainment, movies, and original series from the NBCUniversal, Sky and ViacomCBS portfolio of brands, including titles from Showtime, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ Originals, Sky Studios, Universal Pictures, and Peacock," Comcast,Sky Group and ViacomCBS said in a joint statement.

"The service's vast slate will span all genres and audience categories, including scripted dramas, kids and family, key franchises, premiere movies, local programming, documentaries/factual content and more."

"SkyShowtime will be home to 10 000+ hours of entertainment from some of the top creators and most beloved content from around the world. Raffaele Annecchino, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International, in the statement says "With the launch of SkyShowtime we are well-positioned to utilise our global content engine to create a compelling streaming offering, quickly and at scale, with a smart strategic phased investment".

"As a complement to our recently announced Paramount+ partnership with Sky in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany, SkyShowtime represents a huge opportunity to accelerate our market expansion and build a leadership position in SVOD in Europe." Dana Strong, Sky CEO, says "Our new streaming service, SkyShowtime, will combine the best of the United States and Europe with iconic brands and world-class entertainment for millions of consumers in more than 20 new markets in Europe".

"On the heels of Peacock coming to Sky, this partnership provides an innovative approach to quickly scale internationally and monetise content across Europe."

"Drawing on the strength of the incredible programming from NBCUniversal, Sky and ViacomCBS, and powered by Peacock's platform technology, SkyShowtime will provide a truly compelling lineup for the whole family and strong brand recognition across these regions."