MultiChoice Updates: Dr Phil To End After 21 Years On CBS And Mzansi Magic, Showmax Greenlights Two New Series From Tshedza Pictures And Mzansi Wethu To Launch Nguni News Bulletin, Lindaba Zethu

Another syndicate is out for the count

America's Dr. Phil talk show is ending after 21 seasons with Dr. Phil McGraw who decided that he wanted to stop doing his daytime show at the end of the current season.

The Oprah spin-off talk show was seen on South African television - first SABC2 where it ran from its beginning for several seasons, after switching to pay-TV with M-Net picking it up for the Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel for a few further seasons.

Dr. Phil McGraw started out with appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, also seen in South Africa, in the late 1990s, before he transitioned to his own tough-talking talk show in 2002.

"I have been blessed with over 25 wonderful years in daytime television. With this show, we have helped thousands of guests and millions of viewers through everything from addiction and marriage to mental wellness and raising children," Phil McGraw (72) says in a statement announcing the end of the show.

African VOD Showmax Inks Slate Deal With South Africa’s Emmy-Nominated Tshedza Pictures

African streaming service Showmax has inked a two-series slate deal with Tshedza Pictures, the South African production company behind the International Emmy-nominated telenovela “The River,” the company announced Tuesday at the start of the Joburg Film Festival.

“Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions — a bond the show’s creators describe as “the bromance of the decade.”

Tshedza’s second Showmax Original, “Outlaws,” (40 episodes) is a cross-cultural love story that plays out in the dangerous world of cattle-theft syndicates in the lawless land on the border between Lesotho and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region.

Both slated for a 2023 debut.

DStv Flex:
- What to expect this February on TNT?
- Big Cat Sunday this February on National Geographic Wild
- CBS Reality acquired rights to Killer's Caught On Camera
- Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller returns for a third season on National Geographic
- Brand new seasons of your favourite shows coming to History

Newzroom Afrika rolls out a news bulletin on Mzansi Wethu

Since induction, Newzroom Afrika has proven to be the BET in news following its launch in 2019 to replace the controversial Afro Worldview. The brand has been excelling so much so they've made several content deals with Mpuma Kapa TV and 1KZN.

Now they'll be expanding their expertise to more outlets as Mzansi Wethu plans to roll out an Nguni based news bulletin from 27 February at 19:00 which will serve as the very first competitor to the news block seen on SABC 1 with eNuus on kykNET competing with Afrikaans news on SABC 2.

The former SABC News TV anchor Thabile Mbhele will be the isiZulu news anchor on Mzansi Wethu, while Dicksy Mdlalose who is also known to SABC viewers, is the weather presenter. Khethukuthula Makoatsane is the sign language interpreter.

For the isiXhosa bulletin Lisakhanya Pepe who was on the SABC will be the anchor, with the SABC weather presenter Thabile Makapela who will appear on Mzansi Wethu. Pumza Sikumba is the sign language interpreter.

Da Vinci Kids Plans Co-Viewing Future With A Slate Of Content

UK-based broadcaster Da Vinci Media had entered the FAST channel market as part of a broader move to grow its US audience, appeal to families, and hone in on the topics kids care about most. At launch, the channel’s offering boasts hundreds of hours of content, and the goal is to add another 400-plus hours in 2023.

Da Vinci is looking to commission and acquire animated and live-action content for its linear channel, OTT platform and now the new FAST channel. The company is particularly interested in concepts with a focus on financial and digital literacy, sustainability and female representation in engineering, says Estelle Lloyd, co-founder and COO of edtech company Macademia (formerly Azoomee), which owns and operates Da Vinci.

Insidus Games:
- Buzz Lightyear Star Command
- Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit
- Spider-Man Toxic City
- Baby Felix Halloween

The broadcaster’s major aim is to stretch beyond its current preschool focus and reach kids ages eight and up in a big way. It’s working to meet a demand for educational content for tweens, as well as providing programming that touches on kids’ interests and that appeals to a co-viewing audience, adds Luca Fiore, Macadamia’s head of content.

Da Vinci has made a start on this goal in recent months, inking a two-part deal with Seattle-based YouTube-first prodco HiHo Kids (5.1 million subscribers) for short-form shows Kids Meet (52 episodes), in which children talk to people with interesting backgrounds, such as a teen mom and a Holocaust survivor; and Kids Try (32 episodes), which is all about discovering foods from different cultures and eras.

Regular Nick:
- PBS Kids still hasn't rolled out new logo in other countries
- Disney renews 3 adult animated series through 2025
- CoComelon to get yet another spinoff
- Moonbug Kids To Distribute New STEAM Focused Series, Ocean Explorers

The partnership will also see the companies create a co-branded miniseries called For Our Planet, which gives both Kids Meet and Kids Try an environmental twist with segments like “For Our Planet: Kids Try Sustainable Foods”. 

For Our Planet is a good example of Da Vinci’s s new focus on reaching older kids by going beyond science- and math-focused content to address topics of interest to families, says Fiore.

“Personal development, wellbeing and mental health are what we’re hearing from families is important, and we’re looking for these new ways to engage the audiences and places we can grow,” he says. “During the pandemic, we almost doubled our traffic, and we aim to retain that by creating fun and educational content for co-viewing, because there isn’t enough of that for kids.”

SABC+ Vs. eVOD: The Consequence Of Free-To-View Television

SABC+ and eVOD are both South African based streaming services functioned respectively by the SABC and eMedia Investments. They both offer a limited selection of content part of which can be viewed on their linear counterparts while others remain unseen.

SABC+ is all about celebrating South Africa's rich heritage with offerings such as Generations: The Legacy, Isidingo, Makoti and Noot Vir Noot. Basically a carbon copy of SABC 1-3 and to some extent BBC iPlayer as they bundle various channels and incorporate variety.

They also offer a mixture of international and mostly local content ranging from sports, news, current affairs, reality, wildlife, education, movies and lifestyle.

SABC:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- TelkomOne's transition into SABC+
- SABC 1 title card registered for Openview
- SABC Children appears to have wrapped production

eVOD at the moment appears to be the more edgier and modern side to the current SABC+ if you take to locals like Housewives, Splintered Pieces, uMbali and An Eye For An Eye alongside others like Chrysalis, Soete Wraak and Die Vertroueling.

Kind of like SABC+, they also a mixture of content ranging from telenovelas, reality, movies, kids shows and doccies.

eMedia Investments:
- MultiChoice and eMedia Investments plan to combat load shedding get a lot of attention
- Ultraview Pride and Ultraview Indian coming soon to Openview
- Could SABC be unveiling another two channels for Openview Ultra?
- Glow TV to stop airing on the Openview platform from next month

The only downside to SABC+ is the lack of first run content basically anything on the platform is viewable elsewhere. As for eVOD, there's not much in terms of reality shows, international dramas and kids shows I mean some content is duplicated in other areas.

In short, eVOD puts themselves in a competitive position if you're browsing for telenovelas and films while as SABC+ excels in other fields such as live TV, sports, wildlife, news, children's programming etc.

Recap: PBS Kids Has Yet To Rollout The New Logo In Other Countries

PBS Kids is a brand name in which the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) gives to their children's content. Trusted as the #1 educational brand, it offers content to help improve children's creative thinking while as engaging in the maths and science.

Some of the programming offered by the brand include Wild Kratts, Pinkalicious And Peterrific, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Nature Cat, Cyberchase, Elinor Wonders Why, Hero Elementary and Donkey Hodie.

As of 2019, the 24/7 version of PBS Kids can be seen across Africa and Australia while as other regions might as well be viewing various content. Prior to that it was merely a programming block which you could stream on YouTube or the app of the same name.

Last year, PBS Kids retired their mascot Dash in their official logo and opted for something more bland and simple kind of close to the current adult PBS logo. As the company seems to be onboard with the streaming wave which has changed the media landscape.

Insidus Games:
- Buzz Lightyear Star Command
- Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit
- Spider-Man Toxic City
- Baby Felix Halloween

Although, we have yet to see any of these changes surfacing in other countries. It is very much known at this point that the current international feeds are very much behind which isn't entirely a bad thing if you take certain matters to account.

Firstly, not a lot of people are familiar with PBS Kids, the other is the 24 hour component in the main market is repetitive and lastly the inability to catch-up kind of helps to build up the channel's lineup in these regions although it's a dumpster fire in that regard.

Regular Nick:
- Disney renews 3 adult animated series through 2025
- CoComelon to get yet another spinoff
- Moonbug Kids To Distribute New STEAM Focused Series, Ocean Explorers
- New Bear Grylls series is coming soon to Da Vinci Kids

Last year, Nature Cat and Martha Speaks latter seasons rolled out before it's previous seasons on PBS Kids. I mean Wild Kratts and Daniel Tiger are on the channel and are very behind to date all of this pointing to a reshuffle in their offering.

Maybe the reason PBS Kids hasn't updated their lineup has to do with the changes in the main market. Maybe, they're looking to introduce a more modern version where shows like WordWorld and Peg + Cat are probably phased out for more Daniel and Pinkalicious.

Recap: eVOD Has Yet To Offer Live TV Channels As Promised In 2021

During eVOD's launch party in 2021, eMedia Investments unveiled plans to build up on their local offering. On top of that, they were planning to stream several linear channels and so far only their rival SABC were fortunate enough to offer such following their acquisition of TelkomOne.

From what was understood prior to the time TelkomOne was still around, SABC 3 wasn't part of their initial offering and this was due to the number of international shows currently bundled and most of eMedia's channels lurk around that corner or at least from what it seemed.

Since 2023, the only channels to skew less in foreign shows and put themselves in a position to be bundled onto the streamer is e.tv, eExtra and ePlesier but I can clearly see why neither of them particularly e.tv and eExtra aren't seen on eVOD.

Firstly it may have to do with the programming, most if not all SABC 1-3 programs can be streamed anytime of the day while as eVOD offers selected content from e.tv and eExtra. If these channels were to be included most people would expect a catch-up section to each program.

Taking to account, the mess currently seen with eMedia's streaming service I'm not going to say it's impossible for them not to offer something similar to these channels. If anything, only ePlesier appears to be in a position to be streamed here.

eMedia Investments:
- MultiChoice and eMedia Investments plan to combat load shedding get a lot of attention
- Ultraview Pride and Ultraview Indian coming soon to Openview
- Could SABC be unveiling another two channels for Openview Ultra?
- Glow TV to stop airing on the Openview platform from next month

ePlesier mostly consists of Kuiertyd rebroadcasts as opposed to eExtra which has shows like Rebel Princess and Orphan Of A Nation. Live TV could be another way to get consumers to browse other sections they'd never explore.

Several streamers like Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video offer such channels that only promote their existing offering (repeats), so why can't eVOD?

If getting some of the programs onboard is a problem, maybe creating seperate counterparts to e.tv and eExtra wouldn't be a such a bad idea same goes for their other brands.

The first channel ePlesier as discussed consists of rebroadcasts. Basically there's nothing stopping it from having a tile on eVOD.

The second channel could be a local infused channel featuring shows like The Black Door and House Of Zwide while as leveraging several local programs from eReality's eKasi block as well as eVOD's archives.

The third possibly fourth channel could be a movie channel carrying similar formats to the current eMovies and eMovies Extra.

As for eToonz, kids corner doesn't have that much to be carried on its own channel so it will probably serve as a complimentary to the second channel in an attempt to build their offering.

Another channel that comes to mind would be an international skewed channel. It doesn't carry any local content I mean it could cater to the kiddies lineup, the movie section is already packed and the little variety and drama series would do good for the brand.

Perhaps having some exclusive run content I mean content that would never be made available to Openview consumers. SABC+, which serves as a rival offers content from Curiosity and Da Vinci so maybe something similar to that wouldn't be such a bad idea.