Could VIU Be The Next Streaming Service To Shut Down In South Africa?

Three years ago, South African viewers were introduced to VIU a brand new streaming service and also PCCW's second attempt at in the streaming game following the termination of OnTapTV.

For those who weren't present at the time, the brand failed to give the media specific details on the content viewed on the platform but ramped up partnerships with eMedia Investments and the SABC for some of its content part of which led to its relevancy.

Last year, the brand got into a brawl with eMedia Investments regarding the agreement for various local productions seen on e.tv such as Scandal and Imbewu as eMedia failed to hold their end of the bargain.

According to VIU at the time, consumers were alarmed to see that the content wasn't available on the platform as the e.tv productions had a following for which impacted their subscriber base with the brand set to lose the content to eVOD by 2024.

During the month, SABC viewers were alarmed to see that the public broadcaster recently launched SABC+ is missing several ties as their packaged exclusively by VIU with consumers having to wait until a certain timeframe to get access to the remaining content.

VIU was a bridge between both these parties and as seen now both of them now offer their own OTT platforms which puts the streamer in the very precarious position as most of the consumer base are big fans of the local providers.

Sure, VIU has a lot to offer outside these two with various content from BBC Studios alongside Crime + Investigation from A+E Networks. But is that enough to guarantee success for the platform I honestly doubt it.

South Africa had a various streamers such as A+E Networks' Acorn TV, Cell C's Black, Vodacom's Red and Telkom's TelkomOne streaming service all of which had a similar trait to VIU which includes bundling a lot of third party content and less to no original content - all of which have been dusted.

Now questions amount to how the future of the streamer as they keep sourcing out more and more content kind of like how abovementioned did before closing down.

Acorn TV Closing Down By The End Of The Year In South Africa, Still No Clue If AMC+ Will Launch In The Market

A few months ago, AMC International unveiled plans to rollout AMC+ in Central Eastern Europe by the coming year with the brand joining the likes of NBCUniversal's Peacock and Warner Bros Discovery's soon to be merged HBO Max and Discovery+ that have yet to launch in the market.

AMC International already supply various channels in the market including CBS Reality and CBS Justice in partnership with Paramount Global which are said to be up for renewal by early 2023 on MultiChoice's DStv alongside JimJam.

Now their AMC+ streaming service kind of like Peacock's effect on the NBCUniversal's channels, there's not much clashing going between them as both are one of the few companies to balance their portfolio as the streamer comes with content from AMC, Sundance Now, IFC and Shudder.

Just recently, Acorn TV announced on all their platforms that they would be inactive by the end of the year which leads me to wonder as to why this may be taking effect. I mean my guess has to do with BritBox offering most of their content.

On the other, could AMC+ have some involvement I mean the little original offering would make a perfect fit for the brand's existing offering.

As of right now, Acorn TV is scheduled to close by the end of the year which joins another streaming service TelkomOne which was acquired and rebranded into SABC+ during the month of November.

New Series Alert: Laxmi And 4 Other Series Still Awaiting On Star Life (Drafted Version)

During the week, various sources shared posters to Star Life's upcoming show Laxmi and just like Family Secrets on S3, they mistook the show for the one produced by the SABC. So we composed a demo of what's to come on the channel.

Trust me when I say the final list is WAY TOO BIG and this is only a draft of it due to sources mislabeling content as we are planning to publish this alongside Zee World by next month unfortunately that's not entirely the case.

Here's a recap errors committed by DStv in regard to the launch of Moonbug Kids and INX Prime (before and after).

Now, the list of shows supposedly airing on the channel are:

Laxmi (Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki) - 26 December
Lakshmi, a middle-class young girl aims at earning money as her mom died of pneumonia and they failed to afford her treatment. Aged 9, she has a crush on and wishes to marry Arjun Agnihotri but he moves to London for 10 years to complete his studies.

Unforeseen Love (Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali)
The story revolves around a hardworking widowed woman named Pallavi who loves her law family very much and sacrifices everything to fulfill all their needs.

Pandya Store
The Pandyas are a middle-class family residing in Somnath. Their daily life is dependent on their beloved store and only source to income, Pandya Store. Dhara is married to Gautam, the eldest brother of the Pandya family. Her young brothers-in-law consider her like their mother. After facing several tribulations, Dhara is finally accepted by her mother-in-law.

Stand By Me, My Beloved (Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2)
The Modi family is seen to be heading their way to Surat, to visit Kokila Modi's long lost brother Praful Desai and his family. Gehna works there at the Desai house as a househelper. Gopi learns that her first husband Ahem, who died 5 years ago, was actually alive as Gehna saved him. The Modis retrieve and unite with Ahem, and head back to Rajkot.

TUNE IN DETAILS (channel premieres)
Friday, 16 December
16:15   –   Last Action Hero (1993)
18:30   –   Bad Boys (1995)
20:30   –   Bad Boys II (2003)
22:55   –   Bad Boys For Life (2020)

Christmas Special
Relax, recharge, and get the feel-good spirit flowing in the lead-up to Christmas with four fun, family-friendly movies every day! There’s nostalgia from Big Fish, romance with Click, and humour with The Animal.

TUNE IN DETAILS (channel premieres)

Friday, 23 December
15:00   –   The Karate Kid (1984)
17:10   –   Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
18:50   –   Mr. Deeds (2002)
20:30   –   Click (2006)
Saturday, 24 December
14:40   –   Hero Mode (2021)
16:10   –   Last Action Hero (1993)
18:25   –   Rush Hour 2 (2001)
20:30   –   Big Fish (2003)
Sunday, 25 December
14:55   –   Groundhog Day (1993)
16:35   –   The Animal (2001)
18:00   –   Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
20:00   –   Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Roundups #114: Spider-Man Spin-Off Silk: Spider-Society Greenlit By MGM+ And Amazon Prime Video, Ultra Violet And Black Scorpion Cancelled On Disney Channel After One Season And Looney Tunes Cartoons Cancelled On Cartoon Network And HBO Max

The Spiderverse continues its expansion

Superheros are taking the television world by storm, and Amazon Prime Video is taking this opportunity to get in on all the action. The first confirmed Spider-Man spinoff will be Silk: Spider Society, but it won't be the only one according to Sony.

For those who remember, Sony and Disney didn't see eye to eye when it came to the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies. After the second installment, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Sony and Disney had a hard time coming to a financial deal, leaving many to wonder if the third film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, was going to happen. However, the two companies came to terms with the fact that Sony will hold the screen rights to all of the Spider-Man films and characters, which is now allowing Sony to jump in on creating spin-offs of its own.

Amazon Studios and Sony will introduce audiences to Cindy Moon, a.k.a. Silk. While no one is sure how many shows fans are getting, one is Silk: Spider Society, which will be the first to kick off the new Spider-Man universe when it debuts on MGM Plus domestically before launching globally on Prime Video. There is no word on how exactly the series will portray Moon's backstory, but there should be some excitement around The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang, who will also be heading Silk: Spider Society. Kang will also serve as executive producer alongside Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with whom she developed the series.

Ultra Violet And Black Scorpion Cancelled

Unfortunately, it’s not all confetti and cake. Villains of Valley View may live to fight another day, but its superhero block mate, Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion is heading to early retirement. Disney Channel decided to end the series after only 1 season. It’s a disappointing ending for yet another Latina superhero this year. First Leslie Grace’s Batgirl, now Scarlett Estevez’s Violet? This year has actually been marked by a concerning amount of Hispanic-led series cancelled too soon.

First announced way back in January 2020, it was intended to star professional wrestler Blue Demon Jr. and have a heavier luchadore / profesional wrestling influence. The pandemic and other behind the scenes issues resulted in a long road to get the show off the ground. The first major issue is that the pandemic left the series from receiving full greenlight until January 2021, one year later. At that time, Scarlett Estevez joined the series as Ultra Violet.

For reasons unknown, Blue Demon Jr. departed the series along with the original producer and it was retooled as Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion. In August 2021, J.R. Villarreal tagged in as Black Scorpion to replace Blue Demon and the series finally filmed. Disney could have aired a special sneak peek of the pilot during Hispanic Heritage month in 2021, but did not. When it finally premiered this past June, it seemed that they’d been holding it back for a few months already. Then, it felt like they were burning it off when they dropped the entire summer’s set of 10 episodes on Disney+ right away. The television ratings certainly suffered from this decision.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is officially on its way out, this is the version of the series that premiered on HBO Max

Developed by Pete Brown (Creator of Uncle Grandpa), he wanted Looney Tunes Cartoons to go back to the basics. These didn't go out of the way to reinvent Bugs Bunny and everyone else. Instead, it was more of an update to the 1940s Looney Tunes era which isn't a bad thing.

These characters are timeless, thrown in any time period and setting and maybe change a few things here and there it's still fun to watch.

While the reception of this show is positive, Pete revealed something on Instagram:

Today was a final mix of the 209 Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts we created. Congratulations to all involved. That's all folks.

The end of this version doesn't mean the end of the franchise as Looney Tunes has got a ton of upcoming projects such as Bugs Bunny Builders, Tiny Toons Looniversity, Tweety Mysteries and The Day The Earth Blew Up.