BBC UKTV Vs. ITV Choice: Another Attempt At Boosting The BBC On DStv

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ITV Choice was an international entertainment channel operated by ITV PLC was home to shows such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, The Jonathan Ross Show, Doc Martin, Tipping Point among others.

Two years ago, MultiChoice decided to scrap the channel as it faced an uphill with the Brit channels from BBC Studios and opted to distribute selected content amongst various channels as part of their never ending streamlining attempts which led to a bloodbath of DStv customers.

Sure audiences get to see Tipping Point on BBC Brit and Coronation Street on M-Net. But one out of the two aren't even a full-time option while the other funnels their schedule with the same 2-4 shows on a daily basis.

Now comes BBC UKTV, a channel from the forever dominating BBC Studios which seeks to show the advantage they have over DStv with content from BBC Brit and other Brit channels among them include Casualty, Deadly 60, The Great British Bake Off and Yakka Dee.

Taking to account that if this channel happens to be another Mzansi Wethu or Me channel and is accessible to audiences on the premium package perhaps on channel 123. Viewers would be under the impression that the pay-tv reason for removing ITV had to with BBC.

Several others would have another reason to avoid BBC Brit although UKTV kind of play second fiddle in terms of rebroadcasts. Adding another channel to increase the amount of Top Gears would just put a dent in their money bin.

Could Openview+ Lead To 24 Hour Capability For These Channels?

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Openview has been active in the market for almost 10 years and has generated 3 million subscribers on top of that seen success with the likes of e.tv's additional channels eMovies, eReality and eExtra on top of third party channels like SABC Sport.

But as some disgruntled consumers would say the channels are boring, the movies repeat for almost a year and so forth. Not that any of this isn't happening already with MultiChoice's DStv but not everyone is glued to a screen 24/7 which is where you get these channels.

eReality a mashup of Food Network, ID and MTV, eToonz a kids channel balancing between X and Y, ePlesier a channel carved through scraps and lastly eXposed an edgier version of the current eReality but with a twist - drama.

As several consumers are eMedia Investments had given these brands a curfew and I remember what was said about eToonz it's a kids channel but how do you explain how the likes of Cartoon Network even the preschool oriented Disney Junior have 24 hour capability.

From what was established from my perspective, the only reason most brands packaged by eMedia Investments had been put on a curfew is the costs taken to supply the content whether it's #DisComplicated or the usual Leon Schuster in Oh Schuks or Mr. Bones everything comes with a price tag.

Of course with Openview+ especially with the pricing, there's a lot of expectations coming from this DStv competitor one of which include more channels and as seen with MultiChoice ones with 24 hour capability.

Imagine paying close to R200 only to see most of the channels resume at 8am. It gets really irritating as if you're a toddler that could cry all night and be fast sleep during the daytime.

One of my expectations for these upcoming platform would be an adjustment to some of the current channels seen on the freemium version being Openview one of which include 24 hour capability to all eMedia channels particularly eReality.

Cause let's face it compared to the 3 other channels most of the money is going onto eReality and just like e.tv and eExtra there's plenty of local investment going onto the channel so why not make it the first channel to get 24 hour capability.

DStv Compact Cup Scoops Prestigious Competition Sponsorship Of The Year Award

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It was a moment worth capturing and etching on the walls of history, when the DStv Compact Cup won the prestigious Event or Competition Sponsorship of the Year award, at the Hollard Sports Industry Awards 2022; a platform recognised as South Africa’s most notable awards ceremony - honouring pioneers and innovators in the sports industry.

The DStv Compact Cup was nominated in two categories namely, Event or Competition Sponsorship of the Year and Fan Engagement.

The awards which were held in Newtown on Thursday evening, 24 November, hosted ground breakers in the sports and business industry.

In the Audio-Visual Content of the Year category, the Longform Content of the Year Award was bagged by Makazole Mapimpi for his self-titled documentary which premiered in March 2022.

“We’re incredibly proud of this win, as this award is a confirmation of how powerful it is to engage and interact with our DStv consumers across various touchpoints. The DStv Compact Cup was an innovative way for DStv Compact customers to fully engage with the brand, by using their voting power to participate in the tournament,” said Tshepiso Sathekge – Senior Manager of Sponsorships at DStv

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

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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

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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.