New Channel Alert: MultiChoice To Add Qwest TV As New Music Channel To The DStv Platform

Quincy Jones, one of the most decorated icons of the global cultural landscape, partnered with music programmer Reza Ackbaraly in 2017 to launch a groundbreaking venture called Qwest TV.

Qwest TV is currently a video-on-demand service offers exclusive, original content including concerts, documentaries, interviews and archival footage. The service touts itself as a vast source of jazz and the many artists the genre has influenced, stating that it will explore music from “Billie Holiday to Esperanza Spalding, Sun Ra to Kamasi Washington, Bill Evans to Flying Lotus, and Ravi Shankar’s soaring sitar solos to the traditions of Cuban Santería.”

“The dream of Qwest TV is to let jazz and music lovers everywhere experience these incredibly rich and diverse musical traditions in a whole new way. At my core, I am a bebopper, and over the course of my seventy-year career in music I have witnessed firsthand the power of jazz – and all of its off-spring from the blues and R&B to pop, rock, and hip-hop, to tear down walls and bring the world together. I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles, and Dizzy, as our Mozarts, Bachs, Chopins and Tchaikovskys, and it is my hope that Qwest TV will serve to carry forth and build on the great legacy that is jazz for many generations to come,” Jones said in a statement.

As of 2021, Qwest TV was estimated to have reached 149 million homes globally and with the addition of MultiChoice's DStv they're expected to reach over 45 markets.

The news of Qwest TV coincides with the launch of the preschool brand Moonbug Kids. Both of which have a lot of loopholes in rollouts as we already got an estimation on when to expect Moonbug while as with Qwest it will launch on channel 330.

Season Six Continues To Unleash Rick And Morty’s Particular Brand Of Animated Multiverse Madness Around The World!

As the new season of Rick and Morty unleashes around the world, fans have turned out in droves to celebrate Adult Swim’s Emmy® Award-winning animated comedy.

Debuting in 112 countries in 38 languages, Rick and Morty season six captured substantial international viewership. Rick and Morty has continued to grow in the US since season six’s premiere early this month. After only three days, the first episode of Rick and Morty saw a 57% growth in delivery, bringing its overall delivery to 1 033 000 viewers.  Rick and Morty is also the best-performing animated show on HBO Max in Europe since the platform launched. And in the top 10 best-performing series on HBO Max in Europe in 2022. HBO Max in Latin America reported a Rick and Morty viewership growth of over 500% in the week following the debut of the season six premiere episode on the service.

Monday, 12 September, marked the conclusion of the global Rick and Morty #WORMAGEDDON immersive fan experience, which galvanised fans both online and in-person to partake in a special 'living episode' of their favourite show leading up to the season six premiere. Since the first build was revealed in Mexico City on 20 August, over 100 000 fans showed up in person to one or more of the 14 unique scenes spotted on six continents.

Watch the reveal of the South African immersive build here.

“It’s so satisfying to see people around the world showing up, literally in person this time, for this new season of Rick and Morty,” said Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim and Cartoon Network. “It speaks volumes about the talent and care that go into making this amazing series.”

With some fans travelling to multiple countries to visit different unique builds and nine lucky fans winning the treasure hunt to receive a coveted life-size, golden ‘Rick’ head, #WORMAGEDDON reached Rick and Morty fans in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and several cities in the United States.

Rick and Morty fan, Henning Gawrisch from Muizenberg, walked away with a golden Rick head.

The sixth Wormageddon scene appeared in South Africa. It featured the Rick and Morty character, Tiny Rick, chilling out and eating ice cream with one of the worms at the Muizenberg Beach Huts in Cape Town. The first clue for South Africa was released on Friday, 26 August, at 4pm. Only 20 minutes later, Henning Gawrisch from Muizenberg was lucky to get to the location first, say the code word, and win the golden ‘Rick’ head. The immersive build on Muizenberg beach was a special partnership with the Beach Hut Trust. The site was visited by close to 3 500 visitors.

The Beach Hut Trust was established to promote, protect and preserve the Beach Huts of Cape Town. A public and private partnership that recognises the Beach Huts as arguably South Africa’s most iconic structures and the value that has to tourism and job creation. “Partnering with Rick and Morty and the Adult Swim team was an incredible opportunity for us to promote our city and country to a huge audience around the world,” says Daniel Blaauw, Trustee of the Beach Hut Trust. “Their generous sponsorship of our campaign has proven that the Beach Huts hold value not only for us but to a vast international audience. The partnership created employment and will help sustain our initiative as we grow and create more opportunities.”

Additionally, fans at home could follow along with the global adventure via a series of custom animated shorts about the origins of #WORMAGEDDON including A Citadel Secret, A Journey to Earth, Threat Level: Wormageddon, and Wormageddon: Final Showdown, alongside original videos featuring each build. The original #WORMAGEDDON video content has received over 75 million global views and counting. Several million views came from South Africa alone in partnership with five Cape Town-based social media content creators. Notable highlights from content created in South Africa include a version of the iconic Rick and Morty  'Let Me Out' song by Hanna Kuruneri and Liam Stoffberg’s hilarious take on the #WORMAGEDDON campaign. Watch the key moments of the global campaign here.

“It’s absolutely electrifying to witness the Rick and Morty fan community from different countries around the world coming together to celebrate this series,” said Tricia Melton, chief marketing officer for Warner Bros. Discovery Kids, Young Adults and Classics group. “We knew the power of the Rick and Morty fandom, but it’s still nothing short of astounding to find how many fans took the time to visit one of our 14 custom builds in person or to follow the adventure online.”

New episodes of season 6 continue to premiere throughout September in southern Africa on Mondays on Netflix, only 24 hours after the US premiere. 

 

New Channel Alert: As Expected, CoComelon Will Be Getting His On TV Channel With The Launch Of Moonbug Kids This October On DStv

MultiChoice will be adding the Moonbug Kids TV channel to DStv in October, bringing content from several well-known YouTube shows to subscribers in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa like Blippi, CoComelon, Gecko's Garage, Arpo, Morphle as well as Little Angel and Oddbods.

The Moonbug Kids channel, run by the British company Moonbug Entertainment, already launched elsewhere in the world, for instance on Sky in the United Kingdom in mid-2020 with many of the Moonbug shows available to stream for free on YouTube.

In an interview with TBI sister title DTVE, Moonbug EMEA and APAC managing director Nicolas Eglau said that the company sees a significant opportunity to launch premium advertising-free linear channels with pay-TV operators, particularly given that Hollywood studios such as Disney have shut down channels in the interests of focusing on their own streaming platforms.

“It has opened up the market because pay-TV operators are now hungry for unique content that we can provide,” he said, citing the example of Asia, where the rapid withdrawal of kids channels opened up an opportunity for Moonbug to launch its first two linear channels in the Phlippines and Malaysia.

Eglau believes that the European market will follow close behind APAC, creating space for new channel providers to fill demand from pay-TV providers.

Georginah Machiridza, MultiChoice head of content strategy and third party channels, in a statement says MultiChoice "constantly reviews its channel offering to ensure we continue to bring our customers the best quality local and international content, and we believe that Moonbug Kids is exactly what our customers have been asking for".

Moonbug Kids will broadcast in English in 45 African countries.

Prior to its launch on the DStv platform, Moonbug Entertainment had been supplying their content to MultiChoice's Showmax and several other third parties such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Even various linear channels in Europe such as Cartoonito.

The launch of Moonbug Kids coincides with DreamWorks Channel another kids channel to have rolled out earlier in year. Of course it came at an auspicious occasion which brings us to this question for the newcomer.

Could Moonbug Kids be rolling out prior to when another channel e.g. JimJam or Nicktoons get phased out as both seem out of touch with reality aside from those transponder constraints MultiChoice kept hyping about.

My estimated guess is that Moonbug will occupy channel 314 as that is the only free space left in the kiddies area with eToonz and Akili Kids taking up 311 in South Africa and Kenya with Ghana Learning and Edu TV occupying channel 315 and 316 in Ghana and Kenya.

 

Laila Harrak Joins CNN International

Laila Harrak is joining CNN International as an anchor at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta. She will anchor Europe morning editions of CNN Newsroom on Saturday and Sunday as well as weekday news programs.

Harrak comes to CNN International from Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, where she spent nine years as an anchor for the network’s Berlin-based world news broadcasts. Most recently she played a pivotal part in its extensive coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, interviewing decision-makers, activists and humanitarians while also focusing on Germany’s response to the war.

Before joining Deutsche Welle, Harrak spent 10 years with the Associated Press, covering the European Union, NATO, war crime tribunals in The Hague, and major stories across the Middle East, West Africa, and in Kosovo.

She began her career in 2001 as an intern for CNN in New York before moving to the Associated Press bureau in Paris.

Harrak studied American Studies at the University of Amsterdam and English at Leiden University. She also attended the School of Journalism at New York University and the department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia in Italy as part of the EU’s Erasmus program.

Born and raised in The Netherlands, Harrak spent part of her childhood in Tangier, Morocco. She speaks English, Dutch, Arabic, French, German and conversational Italian.

Roundups #96: Madagascar: A Little Wild Makes Its Linear Debut On e.tv, The Really Not So Loud House Makes Its Debut On Nickelodeon And First Look Into Spider-Man: Freshman Year

More animation coming to DreamWorks SA

e.tv, South Africa's free-to-air entertainment channel independently owned by eMedia Investments that is home to locally produced series is set to launch another preschool series from DreamWorks Animation on their kids block Craze titled Madagascar: A Little Wild.

Adapting to the Kamp Koral feels, the series looks into the early lives of Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, as they grow up in a rescue habitat at the Central Park Zoo.

The series ended its run earlier in the year with a combined total of 51 episodes divided between 8 seasons. It's currently streaming on Showmax and Netflix with e.tv set to join the pack on Wednesdays at 14:55 from 28 September.

Lincoln Loud enters the real world

Produced by Nickelodeon Studios, the series follows the success of the live-action movie, A Loud House Christmas, which became TV’s top kids’ entertainment telecast of 2021 when it premiered on Nickelodeon in November. The 10-episode series began filming in June in Albuquerque, N.M. The series was announced by Brian Robbins, President & Chief Executive Officer, Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon, and Chief Content Officer, Movies and Kids & Family, Paramount+, at Nickelodeon’s annual upfront presentation held at New York City’s Palladium Times Square in March.

The series is also expected to be available to stream on Paramount+.

“As one of Nick’s most beloved animated franchises, The Loud House has made its way into the hearts of millions of fans across the globe,” said Shauna Phelan, Co-Head of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action. “When we brought the animated world of Royal Woods to life with A Loud House Christmas, it instantly became a holiday favorite for both new and loyal fans alike, and I just know that they will love what our amazing creative team is preparing for this new live-action series.”

The live-action The Loud House series will follow Lincoln Loud, an 11 year-old boy with 10 sisters, as he navigates everyday life while living with such a large family. Known as the “Man with a Plan,” Lincoln enlists the help of his best friend Clyde McBride to tackle the obstacles and mayhem that they encounter during their daily adventures.

Spidey is coming to Disney+

Disney Plus animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year will be released in 2024, Marvel revealed during its animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. The show follows a young Peter Parker in his earliest days as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man, and it's set before his live-action debut in Captain America: Civil War.

It'll get a second season titled Spider-Man: Sophomore Year.

The show should answer some of our questions about the web slinger's early days, like the circumstances of the spider bite that gave him his powers and the existence of MCU Uncle Ben. It'll also see him encountering villains like Chameleon, Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, Rhino, Speed Demon and Tarantula. The show will also introduce the MCU versions of Norman and Harry Osborn.

Doc Ock, Norman and Scorpion are fascinating inclusions, since Spidey ran into an alternate universe's Ock and Norman in No Way Home, and Scorpion's comic book alter ego Mac Gargan showed up in Homecoming. Our hero will also team up with Daredevil, who'll be voiced by Charlie Cox, much earlier in the timeline than their civilian identities' encounter.