New Series Alert: Jambo WWE Coming Soon To SuperSport

Starting this Thursday (28 July at 7pm), SuperSport will launch a brand new series that is made just for the WWE Universe in Africa. JAMBO WWE, a high-energy 30-minute weekly show, will be the fans’ all-access pass to all things WWE.

WWE JAMBO will deliver a unique twist to the breaking news, exclusive interviews and hottest stories in WWE that have all of Africa talking, as well as previews and recaps of Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events, including SummerSlam and Clash at the Castle.

The show is designed to showcase the goings-on in WWE from an African perspective, hence the name itself, the Swahili word for “hello”.

JAMBO WWE will take a fresh approach with regards to presenters. These include Lwazi Volsak, Rosa-Lena Mabunda Mondlane, plus Emeilio Michaels and Vasilis Argyrides. As WWE experts themselves, the presenters will carry the show with their banter and lively debate in short, sharp bursts, ensuring a show of pace and power.

The show will also showcase WWE outside of regular programming. This will include interviews with superfans and members of the WWE Universe across the continent, guest celebrities, classic archive content, community activities and giveaways of WWE merchandise.

The graphics on JAMBO WWE will be boldly African, reflecting the African continent while also including the colours of WWE’s three flagship brands.

The weekly show will be broadcast every Thursday to supplement the weekly live broadcasts of Raw, SmackDown and NXT, which continue to be hugely popular with SuperSport viewers.

BROADCAST DETAILS
WWE JAMBO launches this Thursday at 7pm on WWE Channel 128 and SuperSport Grandstand. It will also be broadcast on SS Variety 3 and 3A.

New WWE Network Series Premiering Amidst SummerSlam Weekend

WWE took to YouTube earlier today to release the trailer for their new upcoming show on the WWE Network and Peacock TV. The show is called “This is Awesome” and will focus on moments in WWE’s past that made fans shocked, totally speechless, and even brought to tears.

This is Awesome will be hosted by Greg Miller and different WWE superstars as they go back and check out moments throughout WWE history that made the WWE fans chant, “This is awesome!” Some potentially awesome moments were referenced in the trailer as we saw glimpses of Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, and Ms. Elizabeth’s wedding, TLC 2, and The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

 

This is Awesome will join shows already on the WWE Network and Peacock TV, such as WWE Evil, Ruthless Aggression, Table for 3, and Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Sessions. How many episodes we will see, how long each episode will be, etc., is unknown, as not much is known about the series beyond the premise.

For those who don’t know Greg Miller, he is an internet celebrity and voice actor, best known for his time in IGN, where he hosted some of their podcasts, most notably, Up At Noon. Miller also started his own YouTube channel, GamesOverGreggy, which he and a couple of his former IGN coworkers rebranded to Kinda Funny. Kinda Funny is also the name used for the company that Miller and his coworkers started in 2015. Miller also has voice-acted in many video games, namely the Lego games. He appeared in Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 as Howard the Duck, Lego DC Super-Villians as Polka-Dot Man, and Lego Marvel’s Avengers as the voice of Aldrich Killian. Miller has also provided voice work for Oddworld: Soulstorm and The Solitaire Conspiracy.

WWE’s “This is Awesome” debuts on Peacock TV in the US and the WWE Network everywhere else this Friday.

Marvel Reveals Phase 6 MCU Plans, Including 2 New Avengers Films

After beginning its Saturday Comic-Con panel by revealing that Phase 4 will end with this year's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios blew through Phase 5 announcements, right into its post-2024 plans with some Phase 6 updates.

Yes, that's right, we got updates on three Marvel Cinematic Universe phases from Marvel.

Similar to The Infinity Saga -- the name given at the end of Phase 3 to refer to the first phases of films -- the next trio now has a name of its own (thanks in part, we assume, to Kang!): The Multiverse Saga.

 

Just three films were shown onscreen during the Phase 6 announcement, however, including two Avengers films:
•Fantastic Four will release Nov. 8, 2024
•Avengers: The Kang Dynasty on May 2, 2025
•Avengers: Secret Wars on Nov. 7, 2025

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told Deadline after the panel that the Russo brothers aren't involved with the next Avengers project. Feige also declined to name the "thematics" of the announced phases, telling Deadline that the studio doesn't usually like to discuss each phase until it's complete, because "all of our stories are both interconnected and hopefully stand apart."

We may also get more insight into those open dates at D23 this September, but for now, we might as well bask in the possibilities. Earlier in panel, Marvel announced its Phase 5 schedule as well:
 

•Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania : Feb, 17, 2023
•Secret Invasion (Disney Plus show) : Spring 2023
•Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: May 5, 2023
•Echo (Disney Plus show) : Summer 2023
•Loki, season 2 (Disney Plus show): Summer 2023
•The Marvels: July 28, 2023
•Ironheart (Disney Plus show) : Fall 2023
•Blade: Nov. 3, 2023
•Agatha, Coven of Chaos (Disney Plus show, name changed from Agatha: House of Harkness): Winter 2023-24
•Daredevil: Born Again (Disney Plus show) : Spring 2024
•Captain America: New World Order : May 3, 2024
•Thunderbolts: July 26, 2024

We'll have a lot of Marvel to get through in the coming years.

Special Assignment Axed After 24 Years On SABC 3

The SABC has decided to cancel the public broadcaster's long-running weekly Special Assignment investigative magazine programme on SABC3 after 24 years, blaming low TV ratings.

The last episode is set to air on 2 August.

Special Assignment's viewership drop on SABC3 is however not unique, with the majority of SABC3's programming schedule struggling in the South African TV ratings race.

SABC3 is currently the public broadcaster’s channel with the lowest ratings among its three major TV channels.

 

The channel has also felt the brunt of the impact of the South African government and Sentech's switch-off of analogue TV signal transmitters in the switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

Special Assignment's timeslot will be filled with a shortened version of the longer SABC News (DStv 404) channel's studio-based programme, It's Topical, while SABC News and SABC3 consider the option of a new investigative magazine show for the public broadcaster.

Special Assignment, which first aired in August 1998, has been competing over decades in the investigative television journalism space with e.tv's 3rd Degree hosted by Debora Patta and later Checkpoint with Nkepile Mabuse, as well as Devi fronted by Devi Sankaree Govender also on e.tv and eNCA (DStv 403); and the long-running Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) from Combined Artistic Productions.

 

The SABC used the chaotic and disorganised behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the broadcast of an episode of Special Assignment on 14 September 2021 about the towtruck-industry which should still have been held back by the broadcaster following a court interdict, as evidence to get rid of the former SABC News boss Phathiswa Magopeni, arguing that she was responsible for not preventing the episode from being aired and negligent.

Special Assignment executive producer Busisiwe Ntuli who testified in Phathiswa Magopeni's disciplinary hearing, supported her, saying the mistake of airing the episode was not the news division or Special Assignment's fault but due to an issue with the original and replacement programme codes being similar which is the responsibility of the SABC's video entertainment department.

Phathiswa Magopeni said that the SABC used the Special Assignment issue to "hound" her out of the public broadcaster.

About Special Assignment's abrupt cancellation, Moshoeshoe Monare, SABC News boss, told staff in a letter that the show is now getting axed because Special Assignment "has lost its mojo and signature influence, with the consequential effects being loss of audience".

Ndindi Cola, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to a media query made last week about the canning of Special Assignment and questions around it, including what will be happening to staff who have been working on the show.

“Rise” To Premiere On ESPN Africa This August

ESPN Africa today announced that the Disney+ original film Rise, will have its linear premiere across the continent on ESPN (DStv 218, Starsat 248) on Monday 1 August at 20:00. Directed by Akin Omotoso, Rise is based on the triumphant true-life story of the remarkable family that produced the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in the history of the league - Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and former Los Angeles Laker Kostas Antetokounmpo.

In this powerful, uplifting film, viewers will witness how one family’s vision, determination and faith lifted them out of obscurity to launch the career of two-time MVP Giannis and his brothers, Thanasis and Kostas. Last season, Giannis and Thanasis helped bring the Bucks their first NBA championship ring in 50 years, while Kostas played for the previous season champs, the Lakers.

 

After immigrating to Greece from Nigeria, Vera and Charles Antetokounmpo struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation. With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn. When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, the brothers would play basketball with a local youth team. Latecomers to the sport, they discovered their great abilities on the basketball court and worked hard to become world-class athletes. With the help of an agent, Giannis entered the NBA Draft in 2013 in a long-shot prospect that would change not only his life but the lives of his entire family.

Newcomers Uche Agada and Ral Agada - also real-life brothers - portray young Giannis and Thanasis, with Jaden Osimuwa and Elijah Sholanke as their younger two brothers, Kostas and Alexandros (“Alex”), respectively. Dayo Okeniyi (“Emperor,” “Shades of Blue”) and Yetide Badaki (“American Gods,” “This Is Us”) play their parents, Charles and Veronica (“Vera”), with Manish Dayal as Giannis’ tenacious agent, Kevin Stefanides, and Taylor Nichols as John Hammond, general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Rise is directed by Akin Omotoso (“Vaya”) and written by Arash Amel (“A Private War”), with Bernie Goldmann (“300”) producing and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Douglas S. Jones as executive producers. Co-producers are Andreas Dimitriou and Michael Foutras.

Broadcast slots
Premiere:
Monday 1 August at 20:00
Repeat broadcasts:
Tuesday 2 August at 10:45 and 18:00
Monday 8 August at 20:00
Tuesday 9 August 10:45 and 18:00

How to tune in:

ESPN: DStv 218, Starsat 248 
 
All times are stated in CAT / SAST.
Schedule subject to change