New 24/7 Movie Channel On DStv Offers A Ticket To Couch Potato Paradise

Cinema buffs, action afficionados and casual viewers alike will be spoilt with choice when a new, creatively curated movie channel goes live on August 27. Launching to all DStv Premium, Compact+, Compact, Family and Access customers on channel 113, Movie Room is the brainchild of Ngwato Nkosi Group, known as the founders of the disruptive, audience-centric and highly successful Newzroom Afrika news and information service.

The company, which is a partnership between entrepreneurs Thabile Ngwato and Thokozani Nkosi, is building on the strong platform created by Newzroom Afrika to expand its entertainment business with the launch of Movie Room.

"This channel will offer entertaining local and international movies 24/7 from big blockbuster hits to unforgettable cinema classics." said Nkosi.

“We’ll be carefully curating the line-up to cater for every mood – whether it’s edge-of-your-seat action you’re after, or the comfort of an old favourite. Of course, we’ll also apply the unique perspective that we’ve become known for,” Nkosi says.

Ngwato says the company had a bold ambition to build an African news and entertainment platform for the future.

“This is an exciting next step in our journey. Newzroom Afrika has been successful beyond all expectations, and we will use the experience of setting up the channel from scratch to make smart decisions in our approach with Movie Room.

“Our team is entrepreneurial by nature and we have a core group of seasoned and creative talent that sets us apart,” Ngwato said.

Georginah Machiridza, executive head content strategy & 3rd party channels at MultiChoice says, Movie Room would give viewers even more options in their selection of entertainment for every viewing occasion.

“We’re excited to bring subscribers the widest possible choice of fine movies to satisfy all tastes and seasons,” says Machiridza.

New Channel Alert (Rumour): Could Movie Room Be The Exciting New Movie Channel Set To Replace eMovies And eMovies Extra On DStv?

Update: Movie Room will launch on the 27th of August on channel 113 which comes from the makers of Newsroom Afrika. The channel will feature a mix of local (80%) and international movies (20%).

MultiChoice scrapped e.tv's 4 channels several months back and promised consumers an exciting movie channel in the near future and after two months we finally get a look into the possible channel set to launch on DStv later in the month.

Movie Room from the looks of the offering is another Mzansi Bioskop as the lineup consists of a ton of local productions outside of the Bioskop banner most of which have been seen on the DStv platform like Beyond The River, Herb & Moon, Popbus, Season's Feelings and Pop, Lock & Roll.

This is only a portion of the lineup as they're still working on the rest of the schedule but from what's already seen on Movie Room. The channel serves as a competitor to Mzansi Wethu with a set of existing local content from M-Net Movies.

Again, this is just speculation as it could be another pop-up but from what's seen from most M-Net channels. They're usually labelled under M-Net Movies which just leads me to believe that this channel might have alterior motives.

In the court case with eMedia Investments, they boasted about how eMovies alongside eMedia's other 3 channels rebroadcast a lot of DStv content only for Movie Room to make the same mistake I mean if that wanted less repeats why not opt for ShortsTV or Christian channel, Positiv.

Movie Room just looks like another cheap addition that few customers primarily Access and possible Easyview will take a looking into should it be a permanent addition and not a pop-up like most M-Net Movie channels reserved on Premium and AddMovies.

Upcoming DStv Channel's Website Has Surfaced The Net

As reported later last month, INX Prime is an upcoming Islamic entertainment channel offering daily preaching and live sessions as seen with Hilaal TV alongside various content produced by their studios and sourced internationally.

As seen by readers, the only reliable source for INX Prime at the moment happens to be the promo uploaded onto their YouTube channel with MultiChoice being a potential distributor as the channel was first spotted on their platform.

Something we didn't mention when at the time which is best to bring up now is their media house aka production studio located in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg where most if not all the content will be produced.

Not long ago, a website under the banner INX Prime had surfaced the web which from the looks of it appears to be the official website for the channel which is still under construction and I mean major construction.

Most of the links to the options available on the website link you to either another construction page or refreshes the website. Even the YouTube and Facebook are of no use although the accounts are very much active to some extent.

For those trying to find the YouTube channel will be directed to the INX Prime Show Reel promo within the link comes the YouTube channel and for the Facebook page it is very much a complicated process for users without Facebook luckily the link has been inserted: click here.

I'm no illusionist but from what these developments suggest it may be a while till we get the greenlight on INX Prime but with the website onboard and all the necessary functions put in place it may not be too long till we get an official update.

Conspiracy Theory: The Real Reason CBS Reality Remains In The UK

In the summer of 2019, AMC International and Paramount made a loss of £8,024,000 before tax £4,000 and a year later amidst the pandemic witnessed a small increase in an impairment charge of £8,643,000 with net assets worth £4,069,000.

Earlier in the month, CBS Reality remained onboard their stable while other CBS brands like CBS Justice, CBS Drama and Horror Channel were axed for Legend, Reality Xtra and Horror Xtra as rumours swirl about the dismemberment of their partnership.

As seen in their financial records in the summer of 2020, AMC International is in a loss making position with a net current liabilities of £7,178,641 (2019: £7,162,843) and negative equity of £7,178641 (2019: £905,317) with Paramount offering funding until for the rest of 2021 and discussing future prospects by the end of 2022.

Taking that to account, the name change could have something to do with the reported losses and the changes could spell the dismemberment of Paramount and AMC International after 10 years.

CBS Reality as mentioned is the only channel to not have been affected by the change but what if the reason behind that wasn't Warner Bros. Discovery's Really channel which has a similar coat of paint to the Reality portion of the name but something bigger.

Reality Xtra which is seen as a spin-off to CBS Reality even though that's not the case with the programming was once the name used on the main channel. Is it possible that CBS Reality will close and merge onto Reality Xtra? If so why not do it sooner?

CBS Reality has a lot of decent and mature content compared to MTV and E! on top of various cable providers so maybe they're fulfilling agreements with some suppliers before axing the channel with content moving over to Reality Xtra.

Why Openview Has Been Excluded From Delayed SABC Channel Expansion?

eMedia Investments and the SABC finalised their deal for 3 additional channels one of which were SABC Sport alongside 19 radio stations in 2021. As consumers wait over a year for the two channels which are set to carry a lot of existing content there's been some speculation one of which was cleared up is SABC Education.

SABC Education is a DTT channel currently seen on TelkomOne and soon on the likes of DStv and StarSat is based on the educational division formed by the SABC which is home to shows like Takalani Sesame, Matric Reloaded, Ispani, Uzalo, Geleza Nathi and 90 Plain Street.

The channel has remained active as of May 2020 and used as a catch-up channel to programs currently viewed on SABC 1-3 with plans to roll out the brand onto more platforms still underway.

As seen through several consumers on the Openview platform is SABC 1-3, SABC Sport alongside the 19 radio stations but SABC Education doesn't form part of the bouquet with SABC News being exclusive to DStv and DTT consumers.

So the question would have to be is eMedia Investments waiting on SABC Education like DStv?

Probably not as MultiChoice is waiting on two other channels to roll out on the DStv platform and SABC Education alongside SABC Sport and the 19 radio stations did form part of TelkomOne's initial offering when it launched in October 2020.

There could be a number of reasons SABC Education won't form part of the offering. The first has to do with costs, second would have to do with their rivalry perhaps they don't want to invest too much and last may have to do with the existing educational offering on Openview being DBE TV and Mindset.