Rumour: OUTtv Standalone Streaming Service To Launch In South Africa

Canadian LGBTQ+ channel and streamer OUTtv is planning a launch in South Africa as part of its ongoing expansion.

Philip Webb, chief operating officer at OUTtv, said a South Africa launch for the streamer is on the horizon, which will build on launches in the US, UK, Ireland and Australia.

 

It comes after OUTtv launched as a “pop-up channel” in South Africa in partnership with pay TV network MultiChoice for one month in 2018.

Webb said the “full-on” launch of the OUTtv streaming service would happen “shortly” in South Africa but details are yet to be confirmed.

“South Africa has moved a lot in the last few years and is opening up. We did a trial month and, on the whole, it was well received,” said Webb.

 

OUTtv claims to be the world’s first LGBTQ+ television and streaming service and features a mix of inclusive, queer-focused content from comedy to drama, documentaries, reality and movies.

Its originals include Call Me Mother, Hot Haus, Group Sext, Shine True, Boy Boy Montréal, The Villbergs Chronicles, Iconic Justice, Trixie Mattel: Skinny Legend, My Trans Journey and the documentary strand OutSpoken.

Welcome Demand Africa, The Home Of African Storytelling From Your Favourite Broadcasters

SABC, e.tv and MultiChoice have been the forefront of local entertainment for over a decade. Despite new entrants like Netflix and Disney+, these brands continue to remain relevant in the industry for soaps like House Of Zwide, Scandal, Generations and Gamora.

The best part about all this is you can view it on any device with apps like VIU (SABC), eVOD (e.tv) and Showmax (DStv) but as seen overseas not everyone can afford to access the large bulk of services available so they only divert attention to fewer services but with Demand Africa that's all about to change.

Demand Africa offers 24-7 access to the largest curated collection of Pan-African TV shows, series, soaps, movies and lifestyle entertainment direct from the continent. Demand Africa goes to Nollywood and beyond to offer a deeper connection to the continent.

 

 

Some of the content available on the platform particularly from South Africa include 5Connect, Date My Family, Isidingo, Isono and Durban Gen.

For those who haven't heard about Demand Africa might be able to familiarise themselves with The Africa Channel owned by Zimbabwe's James Makawa which serves an international distributor to content seen across Africa.

Demand Africa can be found on the App Store and new customers get a 7 day free trial thereafter you have to pay $6.99 and before anyone panics on how to cover the expenses try Payoneer which serves as a competitor to PayPal or explore the other payment alternatives available on the app.

Alternatives To e.tv's Defunct International Offering At 20:30

Since April 2022, e.tv halted distribution of weeknight international series at 20:30 in an attempt to bolster their streaming endeavours with the likes of Disney+, Netflix and Showmax all following a similar pattern.

While e.tv's new offering has seen somewhat of success, there's still various consumers that feel excluded from this shakeup having no means opted to create some distance with the channel and explore the number of alternatives out there.

It's obvious the streamers mentioned above would make a suitable candidate to this offering but as some households struggle to get the necessary means it's best to just look at alternatives that despite being phased out are still reachable to this day.

 

I managed to find a list of alternatives which I thought of dividing between pay and free as there's some that are willing to the freshest shows at a cheaper price or wait a while longer to view some of this content.

Now a look at the pay-tv alternatives

1. M-Net is a premium entertainment channel home to the very best and latest international series. While e.tv used to give you 3-5 year old repeats to their offering with M-Net you can several of their upcoming projects like Chicago Fire, Seal Team, New Amsterdam and NCIS: Los Angeles.

The biggest downfall to the brand is obvious pricing which is almost close to a R1000 monthly on DStv Premium that brings in item number 2.

2. Me is catch-up channel to M-Net infused with a bit of 1Magic. The only issue with the channel is the rollout of some of the content formerly and currently on e.tv. You have Queen Sugar airing on Sundays and stuff like Chicago PD can air as early as 17:00 while e.tv used to give you that 3 hours later. But again it can be useful and make e.tv feel like they're repeating their shows 2 or 3 years later.

Best part this is all available for as little as R309p/m on DStv Family formerly R420 on DStv Compact when it was M-Net City.

3. Universal, if you've viewed e.tv's 20:30 slot that's basically what the channel is about. You had variations like Rizzoli and Isles, Bones and Leverage Redemption but the lot winds up being e.tv's lineup. You have the latest seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles and The Librarians and you find them catching up with the Chicago franchise and S.W.A.T.

In the end, Universal has more value with e.tv opting to cancel these shows from their lineup and is far better than option number 2 and valued at the same amount as them.

 

Now a look at the free-to-view alternatives

1. SABC 3, stylised as S3 is currently a must have for those on pay platforms following the loss of several premium International channels like Sundance TV and FOX. Viewers on those platforms like to browse shows like Kim's Convenience, Killing Eve and Narcos. Although most of it is repeats they're not following the same pattern as e.tv as the content can be outdated or probably never before seen on the pay alternatives. The disadvantage is that viewers would probably want Chicago PD and all S3 would do is air NCIS.

The channel is accessible anywhere just don't use an aerial as those will be thrown in the recycle bin.

2. eXposed

Although the lineup of shows are dead, eXposed is the reruns graveyard to the international offering. You find stuff like Empire, Shades Of Blue, Hawaii Five-O and even Blackish. Compared to all others this could be the new home of 20:30 or the reincarnate.

Downfall of Xposed is the resumes at 8am not everyone will be around to binge whatever content comes onto the channel which is why one would need the extra 7 hours. The channel is available on Openview.

Roundups #68: The Smurfs To Get An Animated Musical, Sylvester Stallone Stars In Drug Fused Crime Drama Tulsa King And The Real Housewives Are Coming To Cape Town

Paramount+ and Nickelodeon tagged on another project

Chris Miller is set to direct Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation’s untitled Smurfs musical movie. The announcement will be made during the Paramount and Nick presentation at Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

South Park‘s Pam is writing the LAFIG Belgium and IMPS production which is set for release on Dec. 20, 2024.

 

 

More Paramount+ for viewers

Sylvester Stallone is making the jump to streaming. Paramount+ has released the first teaser for “Tulsa King,” the new crime drama from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, featuring Stallone in the central role.

Stallone, in the first regular TV role of his career, plays Dwight Manfredi, a New York Mafia head who finally gets out of jail after a 25-year sentence. Upon his release, he’s unceremoniously relocated by his boss to Tulsa, Okla. to establish criminal operations there. Stuck in a new location with zero existing connections and with no support from his Mafia family, Manfredi slowly builds a crew of unlikely allies to establish his own criminal empire.

 

“Tulsa King” premieres with its first two episodes Nov. 13, followed by weekly episode drops.

The Real Housewives is expanding to Cape Town

 

It began over 16 years ago in the affluent Californian enclave of Orange County, and since then, The Real Housewives franchise has gone on to achieve global success with 21 series internationally.

Locally, we've been introduced to wealthy wives and their lavish lifestyles in the RHOD (Real Housewives of Durban) and the RHOJ (Real Housewives of Johannesburg).

So it's really no surprise that The Real Housewives of Cape Town would follow.

From 10 July on Mzansi Magic fans of the show will be introduced to the seven 'housewives' who front the Cape Town series.

eToonz Repeat Is Coming To DStv With The Latest Season On Openview

Last month, eToonz launched the DreamWorks original series Archibald's Next Big Thing which served to be the last new program on the channel for DStv customers leaving the outdated DreamWorks Channel to pick up its own slack from rival stations.

 

As seen on e.tv, some of the content from this station as well as other defunct brands on DStv including eMovies, eMovies Extra and eExtra eventually surface on the main station as repeats.

Good news for eToonz fans on DStv is that the first instalment to Archibald will make way to e.tv from June 27th at 15:20.

 

Tony Hale produces and voices 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.

Since its departure from the DStv platform, eToonz has already begun airing the second instalment to Archibald's Next Big Thing with the extension 'Is Here!' which consists of 4 seasons that will be divided into two seasons.