Roundups #81: The Doodlebops And Fast And The Furious Spy Racers Has Been Uploaded Onto eToonz, Reeva Steenkamp Documentary Coming Soon To M-Net And The Flash Cancelled After 9 Seasons By The CW

Home is where the happy is

eToonz, South Africa's only free-to-air kids channel on Openview and soon on DStv as eMedia had been granted rights to reinstate the channels following pending investigation which could take up to 6 months welcomed two series Doodlebops and Fast And The Furious: Spy Racers.

Doodlebops follows Deedee, Rooney and Moe Doodle a rock and roll band as they hang out and practice their song and dance routines in the coolest rehearsal space imaginable. The series features music, dance, comedy and pro-social educational issues.

Fast And Furious: Spy Racers based on the popular franchise Fast And The Furious follows the adventures abound as a group of teenagers infiltrates an elite racing league controlled by a nefarious organization that is bent on world domination.

M-Net is bringing Reeva Steenkamp to life with a three-part docuseries

It has been nine years since Steenkamp was brutally shot and killed by her world-famous paralympic athlete boyfriend Oscar Pistorius - a murder still deeply embedded in the minds of millions worldwide.

M-Net announced that it would be airing #MyNameIsReeva on #MNet101 on 25 August at 20:30. The docuseries seeks to depict the untimely passing of a beautiful, intelligent, and loved woman in her prime.

The CW continues to get chopped

It’s official: The upcoming ninth season of The Flash on the CW will be its last. It will debut in 2023 and consist of 13 episodes, making this the shortest season of its run.

The 13-episode midseason order would put The Flash series finale just weeks ahead of the planned June 23 release of Warner Bros.’ The Flash movie starring Ezra Miller as the title character. Coincidentally, the long-delayed film originally was announced just a week after The Flash series’ October 7 premiere on the CW. The series’ ending is expected to wrap its own storyline and not set up the movie in any way, sources said.

The CW brass has been diligent about giving its signature series a proper ending, when possible. The Flash is one of two legacy shows whose next seasons will be last, along with Riverdale.

Rumour: MultiChoice To Upgrade 3 Channels To High Definition

This year, MultiChoice had made several changes to their entertainment offering while as sourcing out new content for its consumers while some of the older offerings get a boost which is the case for these 3 channels as an HD feed is currently underway on the DStv platform.

As outlined but MultiChoice on HD channels:

"It depends on whether at that specific moment we have capacity - satellite capacity in the sky - and depending on where we launch."

"Sometimes we might have capacity on IS20 - which is a satellite that sits over Southern Africa - but we don't have over Eutelsat 36B which sits over the rest of sub-Saharan Africa - that's the complication of it."

"Secondly, but actually most importantly, does the content lend itself to display HD in the best possible way?...," explained Aletta Alberts.
"Sometimes when we launch a regional channel it probably won't be in HD. It depends on the channel."

Which is the case for these trio that are rumoured to take that leap into the digital world.

Only available in Zambia and the only regional channel on the list is Power TV Zambia's youth entertainment channel which features mainly music and reality shows is the first on the list go to high definition.

The Home Channel, South Africa's first in command to offer reality programming based on real estate and home improvement will be the second channel to join the HD trio. This comes after eMedia Investments launched the duplicate, The Home Channel+ on the Openview platform.

Last but not least, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) the 24 hour commercial-free channel that offers inspirational programming that appeal to people in a wide variety of Protestant, Catholic and Messianic Jewish denominations will be the first religious channel on DStv to recieve HD capability.

DStv Updates: The Future Of eAfrica, The Launches Of INX Prime and Movie Room + More For Neighbouring Countries

South Africa has been seeing some love this past week following the launches of INX Prime and Movie Room on the DStv platform alongside the return of e.tv's 4 channels. In this section, we'll be not only discussing some of the aspects but recapping to the developments occurred.

South African consumers lost an estimated amount of 9 channels of which 4 were restored for the time being reducing it to 5 while as the rest of Africa from what I understand lost between 5-7 channels including Russia Today, Lifetime, fliekNET and Tellytrack.

MultiChoice had boasted about having transponder constraints but I don't want to discuss that but look at some brands that are known globally but unfortunately not in South Africa, China Movie Channel (CMC) and Zhejiang TV apparently they were axed with viewers directed to CCTV and KIX for similar content.

Amidst these terminations, MultiChoice has been increasing their focus in the African market with the launches of Hilaal TV and Racing240 which are said to be surpassing predecessors ITV Networks and Tellytrack in terms of viewership.

Other additions that have also managed to rollout in the year include the news station News Central, local channels ZTN Prime and 3Ktv, kids brand DreamWorks Channel and news station NHK World-Japan.

In regard to the recent additions to the DStv platform, INX Prime and Movie Room the channels are rumoured to launch exclusively in South Africa thereafter rollout in the rest of Africa as they go through a trial in the region before negotiations can occur.

This is a norm with MultiChoice not adding channels at the same time as other regions point being made these channels will be added. They're likely looking at viewer's feedback on the channel before taking any action but from my perspective I wouldn't be shocked if it launched regardless.

eMedia Investments had a deal with MultiChoice Africa for eAfrica and as seen earlier in the year. They took the pay-tv company to court now this wasn't for eAfrica but it's sister channels residing in South Africa so in regard to whether they'll return, MultiChoice stated diligently that it's not coming back so viewers will have to find other means to view their shows.

Recap: The State Of Warner Bros Discovery Including Series Cancellations, Merger Of HBO Max And Discovery+ And Cartoon Network's Dismal Offering

During the week, Warner Bros. Discovery cancelled several original productions like Scoob: Holiday Haunt, Batgirl and Little Ellen but here's the thing out of three two had finished production all that was left was distribution with the last being Little Ellen which was renewed ahead of time but recent changes suffered the same effects as the others.

Later today, Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to address these changes alongside unveil more details in regard to the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+.

News broke out about the merger started around the time prior to the time WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. functioned seperately and were on the verge of becoming Warner Bros. Discovery as seen with these recent cancellations the streamer is said to hold more Discovery than HBO.

The news has seen immense backlash for not only HBO Max fans but also Discovery has not a lot of consumers are accustomed to Cake Boss or Dr. Pimple Popper.

But if you look at the cutbacks from a clearer perspective, it actually helps a streamer like Disney+ which has been lacking in adult entertainment overseas.

HBO Max and Discovery+ have their 50% but if you look on Discovery there's reality, lifestyle, wildlife, factual, decor, motor, food and homegrown programming which is a lot you can do with a measly 50% while HBO had mostly dramas and movies before I can expand further some of Discovery+ content can be slotted under general entertainment which is where HBO Max sits.

Not that I'm happy about the downfall of HBO Max but if you kind of look at this merger just evens out the content as seen on Netflix the only brand I'm more curious about at this point is Cartoon Network alongside Cartoonito which has established linear presence internationally.

As it is there has been I wouldn't say cutbacks as seen with TNT, TBS and The CW but production is very slow as most shows have gone through development hell while others are ending soon and I wouldn't be shocked if Adult Swim got caught into the mix following the cancellation of Close Enough.

Is Boomerang Becoming Another Disney XD?

Boomerang is a subscription kids based channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery. At the time, it served as a complimentary channel to Cartoon Network's preschool and family offering and since the existence of Cartoonito things haven't been going so well for the iconic brand.

In 2021, Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled some original productions for their brands and Boomerang wasn't mentioned in this list of developments as Cartoonito was hogging most of the spotlight with Cartoon Network's revamped offering.

Four years prior, The Walt Disney Company took the same path with Disney XD by cancelling most of their original productions while moving remaining shows to Disney Channel and Disney+ with the brand being used as a catch-up as carriage for the channel declines internationally.

There may not any immediate plans to close the family brand but there's indicators hinting to its demise. Take for instance, the load of existing content from Cartoon Network such as Looney Tunes Cartoons and Lamput while remaining shows are classified as Cartoonito.

Although these development aren't applicable to Africa (yet), Boomerang hasn't gotten any new programs aside from what's introduced by Cartoonito and I know some would be say Akissi and Legend Of Spark but that's considered Cartoonito elsewhere.

Cartoonito has been speculated to replace the channel for a while now and I'm not sure if this is gonna be the case now as there's been a lot of changes within Warner Bros. Discovery that has even led me to even believe Boomerang could close before any of this could even take affect.

With these cancellations of shows you just have to wonder if they'll be any left for for more than one channel.