New Series Alert: Archibald's Next Big Thing Coming Soon To eToonz

Following the launch of eXposed, it seems as if eMedia Investments is trying to restore eToonz to its former glory by expanding the live-action and also reducing repeat padded tendencies as the channel rolls out Archibald's Next Big Thing from DreamWorks.

Tony Hale produced and voiced the lead character Archibald Strutter, a positive chicken who often goes astray from home, but eventually always finds his way back home. Other characters tagging along the ride are his siblings Sage, Loy and Finly, and best friend Bea.

 

 

The series debuted on Netflix with a total of 26 episodes between 2 seasons which eToonz will likely air altogether as 1 season while the other instalments titled Archibald's Next Big Thing Is Here from Peacock will air at a later stage.

 

Unlike most premieres, Archibald's Next Big Thing Is Here is the first new series in eToonz history to air on weekdays replacing Trolls: The Beat Goes On from May 2nd at 15:00.

Until Further Notice
Earlier it was reported that the channel would go off-air by the end of May alongside eMovies, eMovies Extra and eExtra but according to recent documents the channels will stay onboard for another month.

DStv Updates: New Channels Ranging From Pop-Ups To Permanent, Terminations And Other Rumours

MultiChoice has lost several channels over the years with more closures expected in the near future. The pay-tv company has been exploring other means of entertainment by strengthening the bond with third parties and increasing local investment.

They've also experienced a decline in consumers particularly on top tier packages. Point being made even if there's a growth in the lower masses the costs won't be able to cover the premium entertainment on M-Net and SuperSport.

Evidently, I can see them lose consumers in that smaller area which kind of brings the new channels into the mix.

As some have noticed, there hasn't been much international on DStv as most of their suppliers like Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, NBCUniversal and Disney+ are saving them for their streaming service which they plan to introduce in the market.

 

 

MultiChoice is trying to build their programming slate with local content and sports. They're trying to be niche Disney+ is family and Discovery+ is factual so their only options are the reasons anyone would stay onboard at this point which brings us to the new channels.

Pop-Up Channels:

1. Woordfees
Unlike Afrocinema, the theatrical pop-up repeats the same content for the third time but to more DStv customers. The brand is expected to host some live event later in the year with the pop-up possibly fortunate to get the content in 2023.

2. Afrocinema
The channel gained massive success for its local movies when it was introduced last year in Africa Day so the brand is expected to make a return with a new movie titled Dark September.

Terminations:

1. Lifetime
As seen in other parts of Europe, Lifetime will cease transmission on DStv across Africa leaving A+E Networks to operate History for the time being. The channel closes by the end of May which coincides with the possible fate of the e.tv channels.

 

2. Discovery Family (rumour)
Its counterpart in France closed down earlier in the year as part of a decision made by the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery and although not much reasons were shared with the sudden closure the feed on DStv has been on autopilot.

3. Boomerang (rumour)
Cartoonito launched as a programming block on the channel with plans to get content under this new branding and Cartoon Network shifting their focus to families and girls there's not much purpose for Boomerang.

4. eMedia channels - eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz (pending)
eMedia Investments and MultiChoice are currently battling out the potential outcome for these channels which were scheduled to close in March only for it to be extended through June.

New Channels:

1. Upcoming movie channel
Interpreted as a replacement to eMovies, MultiChoice plans to add another movie channel later in the year not only to South Africans but the rest of Africa. The channel is speculated to be a mashup of the two eMovies kind of like how DreamWorks became eToonz+.

 

2. Untitled Via duplicate
The norm for most local channels or at least the ones on top tier brands. The channel will exist to rehash programs seen on the main channel and will likely be exclusive to Access customers as the content is currently available on the main channel.

3. Existing channels (partially rumoured)
MultiChoice was set to add KIX as a replacement to eMovies on Access as they prep another movie channel with PBS Kids added to Easyview as a suitor for eToonz all of which are pending due to the e.tv channels. On another rumoured note, Access customers are said to get the African lifestyle channel, HONEY.

 

 

4. tvN (rumour)
The #1 Korean entertainment channel offering drama series and reality shows ran as a pop-up on DStv. After its closure, its social platforms remain active as they seek a platform to continue their operations.

5. SABC Education
Launched in 2020, the channel was created amidst a pandemic and negotiations were underway for the past two years to package it on DStv. The reason for the long wait may have to do with the other 2 channels.

6. Two untitled SABC channels
The channels were said to replace the 4 e.tv channels currently seen on DStv. Not much details were mentioned about the two but SABC did register 3 channels 2 of which might be the same ones eMedia Investments and the SABC failed to launch on Openview in 2021.

More M-Net Repeats Launch On Universal Africa Starting With The First Season Of S.W.A.T And Second Season Of Chicago Med - May 2022 Highlights

PRIVATE EYES
Season 3 - Channel Premiere
Double bills on Fridays at 8pm from May 6th
Season three of Private Eyes arrives on Universal TV in May, with Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson returning as ex-hockey star Matt Shade and his PI partner Angie Everett. The season opener sees Angie behind bars, where she meets an intimidating inmate, but it’s not long before she and Shade are being hired by a professional basketball player to find out who’s leaking compromising pictures to the press, while Angie's mother's new boyfriend has his clinic's customer database hacked.

S.W.A.T.
Season 1 - Channel Premiere Thursdays at 8pm from May 26th
Shemar Moore stars as Sgt Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson in this explosive reboot of the hit ’70s series, which sees former Marine Hondo tapped to take charge of a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit. A Los Angeles native, Hondo is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to fellow officers, but aims to build trust between the LAPD and the local community. Soon, the S.W.A.T. team is called on to track down four convicts before a rival team does, but Hondo finds his leadership being questioned.

 

 

TRANSPLANT
Season 2 - Territory Premiere Mondays at 8pm
Hamza Haq stars as Dr Bashir ‘Bash’ Hamed as season two of the Canadian medical drama continues with Theo trying to work out what's ailing a patient, while a friend of Bash is detained at the Canadian border. Bishop learns some troubling news, and Mags helps out another member of staff at the hospital. The medics disagree on how to treat a seriously ill young woman, and Bishop confides in Bash about a professional dilemma. Plus, with his future on the line, Bash must try to suppress his instincts in an attempt to avoid any chance of risk.

LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION
Season 1 - Territory Premiere Tuesdays at 8pm
Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf and Noah Wyle return as Leverage: Redemption continues. This month, a legendary grifter (guest star Joanna Cassidy) needs help navigating her failing memory to try and find her greatest score before her abusive guardian can get his hands on it. Then, when an old friend visits, Harry finds an unlikely client on the links at his exclusive golf club, before Eliot and Parker aim to stop a group of corrupt cops who have taken over a hotel during a massive hurricane.

 

 

LAW & ORDER: SVU
Season 23 - Territory Premiere Wednesdays at 8pm
Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish and the SVU team are back to crack more cases on the mean streets of New York. Crime doesn’t stop for the holidays, with Christmas Eve seeing the squad being called on to help investigate a wave of hate crimes. A young boy vanishes after agreeing to meet an online gamer, while Benson starts to suspect her son is being bullied. Rollins and Velasco investigate when a popular boxer doesn't show up for the biggest fight of the year, and a young woman trying to trace her birth parents asks for help.

CHICAGO MED
Season 2 - Channel Premiere Wednesdays at 8:50pm. Season finale May 25th
Season two of Chicago Med comes to an emotional conclusion in May. The month kicks off with things getting personal for Dr Halstead when his father is admitted to hospital, while Dr Manning feels the impact of being a working mum. Rhodes fights to save a mother who's determined to help her daughter beat cancer and Dr Charles asks Sarah to conduct his daughter's psych evaluation. In the season finale, Robin is admitted to hospital with more complications, while Rhodes faces competition from a hotshot new doctor.

Jackie Chan Will Be Making A Cameo In Action Weekends Alongside Two Former WWE Wrestlers On Studio Universal Africa

ACTION WEEKENDS - “THIS MAY HURT”
Fri-Sun @ 8pm x4 weekends (starting 6th May)
Saturday night’s alright for fighting - as are Friday and Sunday - in May’s knuckle-cracking, bone-crunching, nose-flattening action weekends!

DAMAGE
6th May at 20:00
Wrestling icon ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin stars in this brutal drama set in the tough world of bare-knuckle boxing. Austin plays ex-con John Brickner who, after being released on parole after serving seven years for manslaughter, plans to turn his back on violence. But when the daughter of the man he killed in self-defence needs money for a heart transplant, John is persuaded to enter the hard-hitting world of underground fights. Walton Goggins co-stars as a shady promoter with some secrets of his own.

THE HUNTED
8th May at 20:00
Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro head the cast of this tense drama from William Friedkin, the Oscar- winning director of The French Connection and The Exorcist. Deep in the woods of Oregon, FBI tracker L.T. Bonham (Jones) searches for ex-Delta Force Sgt Aaron Hallam (Del Toro), a former student of Bonham’s who’s gone rogue and started using his survival skills to hunt humans. Bonham and an FBI task force are sent in, but they have no idea just how brutal Hallam is willing to be.

DRUNKEN MASTER II
13th May at 20:00
Jackie Chan brings his show-stopping kung fu skills to this classic action comedy. The sequel to the landmark 1978 original sees Chan starring as the legendary folk hero Wong Fei-hung, who’s torn between respecting his pacifist father and stopping some priceless ancient artefacts from being stolen by a group of disrespectful foreign interlopers. Perhaps the unique style of fighting he’s been studying, ‘drunken boxing,’ will be able to help? Ho-Sung Pak, Lung Ti and Anita Mui also feature amidst some spectacular stunts.

 

THE HUNTER’S PRAYER
22nd May at 20:00
A lone assassin is hired to kill a young woman, but when push comes to shove he’s unable to pull the trigger, setting in motion a tense game of cat and mouse as killer and quarry form an uneasy alliance to stay alive and remain one step ahead of those who originally ordered the hit. As the unlikely duo get to know each other, they hatch a plan of their own: to avenge the murder of the girl’s family. Avatar’s Sam Worthington heads the cast of this explosive thriller.

CRIME AFTER DARK
Mon – Fri @ 9:45pm (starts 9th May)
Sometimes it’s difficult to know who to run to and who to run from... Who are the good guys and who are the bad…?

RIVER RUNS RED
9th May at 21:45
Hard-hitting vigilante thriller starring Taye Diggs, John Cusack and Luke Hemsworth. When the son of respected African-American judge Charles Coleman is murdered during a routine traffic stop and the police officers responsible subsequently walk free, Coleman finds crucial evidence on the dirty cops and teams up with a veteran detective to take the law into his own hands on a mission to deliver his own kind of justice - by any means necessary. George Lopez co-stars.

 

 

DEATH SENTENCE
10th May at 21:45
James Wan, co-creator of the wildly popular Saw and Insidious films, steps away from horror to direct this vigilante thriller. Kevin Bacon is mild-mannered Nick Hume, who lives a seemingly perfect life with his wife Helen (Kelly Preston) and their kids. When Nick’s son is brutally killed in an unprovoked attack, his desire for revenge on the gang responsible soon spirals out of control, with neither side willing to back down. John Goodman and Aisha Tyler co-star.

NEVER DIE ALONE
12th May at 21:45
Rap star DMX, who tragically passed away last year, headlines this noir-tinged crime drama as drug kingpin ‘King David,’ who returns home to the East Coast seeking redemption for past mistakes and to make amends with a fellow drug lord, but instead finds himself in the middle of a violent turf war that is destined to have bloody consequences for all involved. David Arquette also stars as a wannabe journalist who finds himself caught up in the biggest story of his life.

12 ROUNDS 3: LOCKDOWN
13th May at 21:45
WWE wrestler Dean Ambrose (aka Jon Moxley, or Jonathan Good to his family) makes his film debut in the final instalment of the 12 Rounds trilogy, which also stars Roger Cross and Lochlyn Monroe. Returning to work after recovering from a gunshot wound, a police officer uncovers incriminating evidence involving his fellow officers. Hunted by cops who’ll stop at nothing to get away with their crimes, can he survive long enough to reveal the truth?

 

COMEDY AFTER DARK
Mon – Fri @ 9:45pm (starts 23rd May) Some films are better with the lights turned low…!

EPIC MOVIE
24th May at 21:45
The Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Harry Potter series are just some of the films targeted in this spoof of the epic adventure genre, which sees four orphans (Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Faune Chambers and Jayma Mays) embark on a remarkable journey, where they meet some familiar characters along the way! Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard, Crispin Glover and Carmen Electra are just some of the famous faces putting in an appearance.

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
25th May at 21:45
Raunchy romantic comedy, starring Emile Hirsch as high school senior Matthew, who’s struggling to afford the tuition fees to get into his ideal college. Life for Matthew suddenly gets a lot more interesting when Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) moves in next door, but their flirtations get a whole lot more awkward when Danielle’s past as a star of adult films comes to light! Timothy Olyphant co-stars as Danielle’s menacing film producer ex.

 

GUESS WHO
26th May at 21:45
In this contemporary version of the Sidney Poitier classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Theresa Jones (Zoe Saldana) is bringing her boyfriend Simon (Ashton Kutcher) home to meet her parents (Bernie Mac and Judith Scott). Theresa is planning to break the news that she and Simon are engaged. There’s just one small problem: she hasn’t thought to mention the fact that Simon is white! And it’s not long before Simon’s attempts to win over her dad start to backfire in spectacular - and hilarious – style.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
27th May at 21:45
Ashton Kutcher is embroiled in yet more romantic mishaps, this time in Las Vegas. He stars as Jack, a laid-back carpenter who embarks on a trip to Vegas after being sacked and meets just-dumped businesswoman Joy (Cameron Diaz). One drunken marriage and a $3 million jackpot later, Jack and Joy sober up and decide to get an equally quick divorce and split the cash. Unfortunately for them, the judge has other ideas and tells them they’ll have to live together for six months before he’ll grant the divorce.

New Series For M-Net, 1Magic And Showmax (Rumour #4): "Would I Lie To You", "61st Street", "The Garcias", "Come Dance With Me", "The Man Who Fell To Earth" And More

Would I Lie To You (American Remake)
In all rounds, the scoring system is the same: teams gain a point for correctly guessing whether a statement is true or not, but if they guess incorrectly the opposing team gets a point. Prior to the sixth series, it was impossible for viewers to follow the scores until they were read out at the end of each round, as some questions are edited out. However, from the sixth series the scores were re-recorded to reflect what had made the edit and not the whole recording.

61st Street
Moses Johnson, a promising, black high school athlete, is swept up into the infamously corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. Taken by the police as a supposed gang member, Johnson finds himself and his lawyer Franklin Roberts in the eye of the storm as police and prosecutors seek revenge for the death of an officer during a drug bust gone wrong.

 

 

The Garcias
'The Garcias' chronicles an American family based in San Antonio, Texas who are gathered for a summer vacation in their fancy beach house in Mexico. 'The Garcias' is a groundbreaking reboot of The Brothers Garcia, which was the first English-language sitcom to have an all-Latino cast and creative team.

Come Dance With Me
The show pairs young dancers with a family member that has supported their training, and the pair perform a dance together for a panel of judges before the determining who continues to the next round. The show was created by LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell.

The Man Who Fell To Earth
Based on the novel of the same name, the series follows an extraterrestrial who lands on Earth seeking a way to ferry his people to Earth from his home planet, which is suffering from a severe drought.

The First Lady
A revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House.

The Baby
When 38-year-old Natasha is unexpectedly landed with a baby, her life of doing what she wants, when she wants, dramatically implodes. Controlling, manipulative and with violent powers, the baby twists Natasha's life into a horror show. Where does it come from? What does it want? And what lengths will Natasha have to go to in order to get her life back? She doesn't want a baby. The baby wants her.

 

I Love That For You
Joanna Gold, an aspiring host for shopping channel SVN, who lies that her childhood cancer has returned in order to keep her job; the story is inspired by Bayer's personal experience with childhood leukemia.

Tokyo Vice
In 1999, American student Jake Adelstein has relocated to Tokyo and must pass a written exam in Japanese to have the chance to join the staff of a major Japanese newspaper. He succeeds in becoming their first foreign-born journalist and starts at the very bottom. Taken under the wing of a veteran detective in the vice squad, he starts to explore the dark and dangerous world of the Japanese yakuza.

Gaslit
The series is about the Watergate scandal and focuses on several untold stories, including Richard Nixon's subordinates, deranged zealots, and the whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole enterprise crashing down. The story will center on Martha Mitchell, a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John N. Mitchell. Despite her party affiliation, she is the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon's involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. As attorney general, Mitchell is forced to choose between Martha and the president.

 

 

We Own This City
The miniseries details the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption surrounding it.

The Offer
Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy 's never-before-revealed experiences of making The Godfather (1972).

The Thief, His Wife And Canoe
The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe explores John Darwin's big scam and how it was carry out. It also shows how his wife Anne became complicit in her husband’s bizarre deception to avoid bankruptcy, as she played the grieving widow and tried to convince the world, their friends, the police and insurance companies that John had gone missing while canoeing off the North East coast.

 

Whitney, A Look Back
Lost performances and rare moments with Whitney, featuring new details about the days leading up to and following Whitney's death.

Bill Maher: Adulting
From the stage of Miami's Fillmore Theater, Bill Maher returns for a scathing hour of his signature commentary on hot-button issues, bringing his no-holds-barred perspective to cancel culture, quarantine, Q-Anon and everything in-between.