Could The Rumoured SABC Children's Channel Replace eToonz On MultiChoice's DStv?

The public broadcaster is set to unveil a batch new channels before the end of the current financial year. These new channels are said to be bundled on their long anticipated streaming service SABC+ alongside the existing SABC 1-3, Sport and Education.

For several months, there's been rumours going around about the supposed channels set to be unveiled soon. One of which happened to be SABC Children.

SABC Children is a brand name for the public broadcaster children's division serving up a mixture of multilingual animation and live-action both local and international currently seen on SABC 1-3's kids blocks.

 

For nearly a decade, the channel had only been exclusive to the Tuluntulu app. As seen in 2021, the public broadcaster had begun testing out the channel alongside SABC Encore and SABC Parliament.

From what was analysed, SABC Children could be one of the two entertainment channels that failed to launch on the Openview platform in 2021. As the public broadcaster had stated the two channels would have content viewed on SABC 1-3.

Last month, MultiChoice revealed in the court proceedings with eMedia Investments that they were phasing out their 4 channels in order to make room for 3 new SABC channels one of which are SABC Education.

 

As seen with eMedia's 4 channels, there was a lot of existing content or at least at launch. After 5 years on DStv, there has been improvements despite not much original productions going on there.

These 3 channels coming to DStv will likely start out the same way as the e.tv channels - existing. From what was stated by MultiChoice, the e.tv channels failed to reduce the level of repetition and lacked local content which you might gain with SABC Children.

From what was seen with SABC Children on Tuluntulu, some of YoTV's content was added to this channel and selected content from SABC Education. The international offering had been dubbed to various local languages aside from English.

SA TV Ratings: Dragonball Super Enters The Top 10 Most Watched Shows On SABC 2 And Sarafina Continues To Dominate e.tv's Lineup From June 2022

SABC 1:

Uzalo - 6 103 846
Generations the Legacy - 4 959 896
Skeem Saam - 4 279 734
Zulu News - 2 769 385
Xhosa News - 2 763 049
Roxic - 2 746 803
Ngomusa Documentary - 2 512 938
Clover Classic Celebrations - 2 439 703
Soccer Build-up - 2 312 060
Selimathunzi - 2 231 776
Uzalo Repeat - 2 197 121
Skeem Saam Repeat - 2 172 571
#Issa Vibe - 2 124 700
My First Documentary - 2 091 668
Makoti - 1 940 645 18.6
Ses Top La - 1 937 804
Siswati/Ndebele News - 1 918 286
Uzalo Omnibus - 1 848 364
Identity (Religion) - 1 845 267
Muvhango Repeat - 1 653 227

SABC 2:

Muvhango - 1 885 401
7De Laan - 990 032
Hlala Kwabafileyo - 933 299
Kwa Mamazala - 719 792
Nuus - 716 185
Ses/Tsw/Sep News - 655 202
Ubettina Wethu Repeat - 608 537
Bophelo Ke Semphekgo - 594 424
Dragon Ball Super Repeat - 585 319
Voetspore - 569 773
Dragon Ball Super - 563 609
Muvhango Omnibus - 549 904
Morning Live News - 487 763
Music - 486 955
Murder She Wrote - 452 865
Venda/Tsonga News - 439 191
Fokus - 427 742
Batman Returns Movie - 419 451
Muvhango Repeat - 399 561
Skeem Saam Repeat - 399 844

 

SABC 3:

Twilight - 596 374
Serengeti Documentary
News - 539 067
Twilight Saga: Eclipse - 536 388
Maze Runner: The Death Cure - 504 531
Britain's Got Talent: The Champions - 500 847
Birthplace of the Giants Documentary - 457 203
My Super Ex-Girlfriend - 444 322
Juno Movie - 344 666
Spiderwick Chronicles Movie - 319 132
Norin's Ark - 305 718
Inside the Bat Cave Documentary - 292 498
The Lost World (Drama) - 290 049
On Point News - 281 207
Unpacked with Relebogile Repeat - 244 703
Unpacked with Relebogile - 241 283
Meerkat Manor:Rise of Dynasty Documentary - 241 061
7De Laan Repeat - 234 814 5
The View - 231 647
Morning Glory Movie - 229 175

 

e.tv:

Scandal - 5 152 960
House of Zwide - 4 653 752
Sarafina Movie - 3 968 144
Durban Gen - 2 947 572
Just for Laughs Gags Filler - 2 693 328
Imbewu - 2 522 840
Isono - 2 322 415
The Powerball Draw Quiz - 2 301 328
The Black Door - 2 292 277
White Wedding Movie - 2 117 780
E.TV News - 1 907 831
Is'phindiselo - 1 849 328
Date My Family - 1 817 186
Imbewu Repeat - 1 789 464
The Millennium Menace - 1 776 638
Transporter 3 Movie - 1 754 599
Droomverlore - 1 746 976
Transporter 2 Movie - 1 670 417
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Movie - 1 620 936
Durban Gen Repeat - 1 561 737

DStv:

MZAN Gomora - 1 189 324 & 1 486 970
MZAN Gomora Repeat - 1 032 714 & 1 233 343
MZAN The Queen - 785 625 & 938 326
MZAN The River Repeat - 683 860 & 838 260
MZAN Our Perfect Wedding - 614 625 & 801 200
MZAN Epk:Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice Documentary - 613 302 & 795 639
MOJA Umndeni Documentary - 605 374 & 734 455
MZAN The River - 605 555 & 780 669
MZAN Diep City - 572 881 & 725 835
MZAN Umbuso - 555 404 & 697 882
MWET Lingashoni Repeat - 535 886 & 598 371
MZAN Date My Family - 532 628 & 658 772
MWET Sengkhathele - 520 208 & 595 737
MBIO Ubukhosi Namakhosana - 503 317 & 648 679
MOJA Mamazala - 501 804 & 608 672
MOJA Isencane Lengane - 488 679 & 566 975
MBIO Indodakazi Yami - 484 555 & 564 059
MBIO Istina Dram - 481 313 & 622 314
MBIO One Time Pin - 468 871 & 623 483
MBIO Bonus - 457 070 & 579 832
MZAN Twice as Bold - 450 935 & 549 622
MWET Mnakwethu Happily Ever After - 448 892 & 544 445
MOJA Ukungenwa - 442 347 & 546 464
MWET The Queen Repeat - 430 345 & 491 084
MBIO Tshenyeho Masisa Pelo - 427 014 & 498 121
MZAN Abandoned Movie - 423 705 & 501 206
MBIO Idlozi - 416 740 & 495 085
MZAN Housekeepers - 412 898 & 488 221
MWET The Queen Repeat - 408 068 & 499 714
MBIO Gwababa - 400 192 & 528 475

New Series Alert: Powerbirds And Robin Hood Currently Airing On eToonz

eToonz is a fun destination for children aged 2 - 12 where they can discover and spend some time with their favourite characters whether you're playing in muddy puddles with Peppa Pig or fighting Nihloks on Power Rangers. eToonz has got so much to keep the little ones at bay.

For preschoolers Powerbirds follows pet parakeets Ace and Polly that transform into the superhero Powerbirds to save the neighbourhood from animal villains.

 

The show was picked by NBCUniversal back in 2015/6 under the banner Sprout and went through development hell before

For kids Robin Hood is back for more adventures as a teenage Robin of Locksley and his outlaw friends fight back against the tyrannical plots of a young Prince John.

 

The show ran originally ran for 2 seasons before being revived for more seasons in 2021. Reruns of the first 2 seasons have since then been viewable amongst eMedia's brands.

Powerbirds airs daily at 2:30pm while Robin Hood comes an hour later at 3:30pm on eToonz.

More Channel Changes Coming Soon To MultiChoice's DStv

According to industry sources, MultiChoice’s DStv has implemented several changes to its channel line-up for 2022 and will be making announcements around the new channels “in due course”.

The pay-TV operator regularly adds and drops channels based on their performance and commercial negotiations with channel providers.

According to BMA sources, the broadcaster does not, at present, have abundant space for channels on its platform, as the satellites it uses have a limited amount of available spectrum for carrying the channels to subscribers.

As a result, the broadcaster must assess which channels attract viewers and are worth paying for to justify their availability on a DStv package.

 

It is worth noting that MultiChoice’s decoders can measure how many people watch specific programmes or channels at any given moment, gauging the appeal of certain content.

At the beginning of 2022, DStv had 156 channels on offer on its top-end Premium package. However, on 2 March 2022, the RT (Russia Today) channel stopped airing. This was due in the main, to the state-controlled Russian television news channel being pulled by its previous upstream provider following claims that the channel carried propaganda supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The pat-TV operator added the Dreamworks and KIX channels later in March 2022, which indicated a net gain of 1 channel. However, the operator has since dropped six channels and announced plans to shut down another in mid-July.

The cancelled channels included Walt Disney-owned Lifetime, community Islamic channel iTV, and four E-tv channels.

 

Overall, the pay-TV operator has only managed to add two channels while it has lost seven in 2022.

Once the FliekNET channel is closed on 15 July, the dropped channels will increase to eight.

In a statement, the pay-TV operator said it constantly reviewed its channel offering to ensure it delivered the best local and international content.

“MultiChoice continue to look for fresh content that speaks to our viewers. This commitment to delivering only the best content indicates that some channels will be dropped to make room for fresh, more popular channels,” the statement read.

Credit: BMA

‘Iyanu: Child of Wonder’ Animated Series Greenlit At HBO Max And Cartoon Network

HBO Max and Cartoon Network announced a 2D animated adaptation of “ Iyanu: Child of Wonder ,” a Dark Horse Comics/YouNeek Studios graphic novel series heavily influenced by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The project will be financed and overseen by Black-owned animation studio Lion Forge Animation.

“Iyanu: Child of Wonder” is a superhero tale set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, which draws from Nigerian culture, music and mythology. The series follows Iyanu, a teenage orphan who spends her days studying Yoruba history and ancient arts but yearns for a normal life. One day, responding to danger, she unknowingly triggers her divine powers, the likes of which have not been seen since the Age of Wonders. With newly discovered superpowers, Iyanu joins forces with two other teenagers as they embark on a remarkable journey to discover the truth about the evil lurking in her homeland. Throughout her adventure, she’ll uncover the truth about her past, her parents, and her ultimate destiny to save the world.

 

The series is created by Roye Okupe, who will also write and direct multiple episodes. Lion Forge head of production Saxton Moore serves as supervising director. The writers room is led by Brandon Easton. Executive producers include Okupe, Doug Schwalbe, Carl Reed, Lion Forge’s David Steward II and Matt Heath, Impact X Capital’s Erica Dupuis and Forefront Media Group’s Ryan Haidarian.

The greenlight of “Iyanu: Child of Wonder” is notable as it continues signaling the emergence of Africa as a player in global streaming. Much of this growth begins in the kids and family space — for example, Lupita Nyong’o became an equity partner in Nairobi, Kenya-based production company Kukua in 2021 and stars in its YouTube Originals animated series "Super Sema.” African titles made for older audiences are also beginning to cross over, such as Netflix’s South African drama “Blood & Water,” which debuted in 2020 and made Netflix’s Top 10 list in the U.S. Netflix also recently released “Blood Sisters,” the streamer’s first original series from Nigeria.

“‘Iyanu: Child of Wonder’ has it all – vast world-building, authentic characters, a strong, African female hero at the center, and a first-class team of stellar creators and producers,” said ​​Amy Friedman, head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros. “While created for kids, the series will resonate with anyone looking for an adventure filled with surprise, magic, lore and legend. We feel so lucky to be the home of ‘Iyanu’ and partnering with this team.”

 

“The authenticity of the ‘Iyanu’ story means everything to us and aligns perfectly with our mission to create and deliver inclusive content to global audiences,” said Steward, founder of Lion Forge. “A powerful means of accomplishing and sustaining this is through franchise building, and the depth and layers of the Iyanu world allow us to explore and create a beautiful universe on-screen alongside tremendous partners.”

“When I set out to create ‘Iyanu’ for a global audience, I wanted to develop a world that combined everything I love about the fantasy genre with the majesty and awe that is ancient West Africa,” said Roye Okupe. “On top of that, working with Godwin Akpan, who illustrated the books, as our art director and collaborating with a thoughtful studio like Lion Forge Animation that prioritizes authenticity and diversity, is beyond belief.”