MultiChoice To Add SuperSport Schools As Second Youth Oriented Channel In 2023 To DStv Customers

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During the month, it was reported SuperSport was looking to bolster the amount of linear channels currently residing on the DStv platform with the launch of South Africa's and possibly the world's first ever youth oriented sports channel, SuperSport Schools.

SuperSport Schools came out of an online brand known as School Sports Live and after SuperSport acquired majority stake expanded the presence of the brand with the launch of a dedicated app on top of hosting several content across its stations.

As spotted by several consumers yesterday, MultiChoice is gearing up to rollout a dedicated channel for the highly anticipated SuperSport Schools (also known as SuperSport Variety SS Schools/SS Schools) from March 1st at 8AM.

As mentioned, SuperSport on top of stacking up original programming has licenced several shows for the upcoming channel including 50+ Years Of Sports, Spirit Of Yachting, The Outdoor Sports Show, The Greatest Of All Time and Arena Sports.

Just like SuperSport Action, they sort of treat it as an overflow channel with La Liga my guess has to do with the fact that there's not much original content hence the licensing and also the fact that SuperSport Schools is also looking to source content people would watch.

As for other details, MultiChoice is expected to share all that in the coming week my guess is that it will be available to all DStv customers not sure if that includes Easyview and unlike WWE will be grouped with the other SuperSport brands on channel 216.

SuperSport Schools is set to be the second or third new channel to rollout on the DStv platform following Qwest TV which launched in January and Cartoonito which will rollout later in the month in place of Boomerang. It is also set to be the first additional channel.

Update: Turns out, SuperSport Schools will be available on Access going up on channel 216. Press release may be attached soon.

Breaking News From Across The World In The Last 7 Days Dated 24 February

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For several months, here at Insidus we've been conducting several tests to see sticks and what doesn't and after doing some analysis. We feel that it's best to recommend a couple of stories as to boost the original portfolio and also give readers time to catch-up on some of the stories on our site.

Meaning it could be a while before some sections are well catered for and others like Cartoon Network which would announce show cancellations and renewals will fold under here as we embrace our roots.

Hence the segment, Breaking News which from the looks of it kills off roundups after a year or so. We had fun grouping the content but we feel this works better some parts of roundups probably felt forced will finally get some air to breath.

In this section, we cover several aspects that interest the readers as well as some personal faves from music to possibly even books. Anyways we hope you like it, just to let anyone know there's no ranking so it's all out basically.

1. Teletoon, basically a monopoly in kids entertainment in Canada is shutting down
2. Head Over Heels premiered earlier in the week in NTV Kenya (more details on the show)
3. The Weeknd to release yet another remix with Ariana Grande, Die For You
4. Jansen Panettiere has passed away at the age of 28
5. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Big Shot has been cancelled on Disney+
6. 100 hours of free anime is available to watch on YouTube thanks to Viz Media
7. Overcoming The Past makes way to UTV (more details on the show)
8. TNT Sports to launch in the UK later in the year
9. BBC lands Red Seam drama debut; BritBox & ITV land Quay Street mystery; Global Screen & Stillman prep ‘Splendid Affinities’
10. Legal concerns over MultiChoice being bought up by French media giant
11. AEW to rollout new reality show, All Access
12. Nicki Minaj to return next month with new single Red Ruby Da Sleeze
13. The Goldbergs to end after 10 seasons on ABC

DStv Easyview Vs. Openview: The Best Alternative To Affordable Entertainment

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DStv Easyview priced at a monthly rate of R29 is operated by MultiChoice and serves as the cheaper attire to the current Premium package while as Openview which is operated by eMedia Investments comes with a once off fee then it's free entertainment forever.

Since last year, MultiChoice has been strengthening the Easyview offering following the additions of Magic Showcase and CineMagic alongside BBC UKTV which failed to launch on the freemium competition prior to the addition of these channels.

Other entertainment residing on the platform range from reality, movies, news, religion, provincial, music (or audio) and kiddies.

Now available in 3 million households, Openview is proving to be a worthy competitor for DStv as more consumers are looking to fill their pockets. Some of the channels residing on the platform include the most popular brands eReality and SABC Sport.

Other entertainment residing on the platform range from reality, dramas, movies, kiddies shows, sports and music.

If you're looking to watch a variety of sports and telenovelas then Easyview is not your guy and the same goes to Openview if you're looking to view news from a local and global perspective on top of grooving to a variety of tunes on your music platforms.

Other aspects that are lacking on Openview would be community channels like Tshwane TV and Soweto TV alongside religious channels like TBN and Daystar depending on the type of audience same as kiddies offering.

As for Easyview, they got more channels than Openview but only a selected amount are worth the extra pocket money e.g. SABC News, Real Time and TNT as opposed to Openview where almost all the channels are watchable by viewers.

In conclusion, if you want sports and telenovelas then head over to Openview and if you want more alternatives to SABC 1-3 alongside news and religion head over to DStv Easyview. As for other aspects it's more or less depending on what you choose.

New Development Alert: Da Vinci Kids Shortens Its Name To Just Da Vinci, Planning Co-Viewing Future

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In 2022, MultiChoice as part of an attempt in reviewing their offering was planning to remove the educational brand, Da Vinci Kids from both DStv and GOtv platforms across Africa but due to a growing demand for their content amongst parents the channel was reinstated.

Prior to that, the channel was formerly available on the South African based platform Openview currently owned by eMedia Investments as Da Vinci Learning before the switch to Da Vinci Kids offering shows such as History Hunters, When I Grow Up? and Operation Ouch.

During the week, Da Vinci Kids rebranded for the fourth time in a row within 11 years now known simply as Da Vinci. Interesting fact, this switch happened back in 2018 but their owners for some reason were on limbo when it came to an actual brand name.

The Da Vinci Kids brand name was the most used amongst all as Da Vinci was used for the night owl offering which consists mainly of documentaries and short films. Weird thing about this was how Da Vinci Learning was revived and thereafter buried again.

The likely reason for the switch had to do with an alignment strategy and also another way to reflect back on their offering. They wanted something that would look good on your tablet and the previous logo worked better on a newspaper.

As for the revised name Da Vinci, how is anyone sure this will be the last time cause all that makeup doesn't really convince me this is it. Despite the simplicity of the new logo and graphic designs.

Aside from brand name problems, Tinizine Limited has two kids brands, the first is Macademia a platform carrying educational and factual material for preschoolers with Da Vinci supplying selected content from Macademia and catering to older audiences.

Both brands also have an app and Macademia has more variety than the Da Vinci app supplying most if not all the content which leads to this question in fact. Could it be possible that Macamedia and Da Vinci will perhaps unify under one brand perhaps?

Macamedia has the programming as their app serves as a digital library with thousand hours of programming but lacks accessibility. As for Da Vinci, they got the audience in their back pocket I mean Macamedia's programming has grown popular after its arrival on Da Vinci.

Unifying both these brands could equal to another powerhouse in children and family entertainment joining other brands like JimJam and CBeebies which are all based in the UK/Europe.

Recap To Last Year: WWE Channel Wasn't Mentioned In SuperSport's Contract Renewal With WWE

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Last year, WWE and MultiChoice announced a major broadcast partnership that will see Showmax – the leading streaming service available in the region – become the new home of WWE Network in Africa.

The partnership incorporates all WWE Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, as well as WWE Network’s vast library of original and archived programming available to stream on-demand.

Additionally, SuperSport, the sport broadcasting subsidiary of video entertainment platform MultiChoice, will continue to broadcast live weekly episodes of Raw, SmackDown and NXT as well as all of WWE’s Premium Live Events in a multi-year extension.

Of course, WWE Channel wasn't mentioned in this multi-year extension. In a media enquiry, as to whether the channel could be slam dunked from DStv consumers across Africa. MultiChoice responded to say the channel would remain aboard the platform.

But questions amount to why this wasn't mentioned by neither SuperSport or WWE in press statements. Could it be that WWE Channel will be getting chopped possibly when this multi-year extension reaches its expiration date.

I mean the only thing premium or relevant within WWE is Raw, SmackDown, NXT and live PPVs. Everything else is basically a hit miss and mostly rebroadcast and a channel which is managed by SuperSport they're favourable in terms of rebroadcasts.

The idea of SuperSport phasing out the channel doesn't seem far fetched. My guess as to why they're probably keeping it on air could be popularity which journeys back to e.tv and another SuperSport could be looking at ways to supplement WWE.

Now I don't how they plan to supplement something like WWE but from what I've seen you got a selected number of SuperSport channels offering live or rebroadcasts to selected content or as mentioned in their agreement Jambo, Raw, SmackDown, NXT and live PPVs.

Additionally, there's SuperSport Action which is home to extreme sports like UFC and EFC mixed martial arts programming. Basically a fight sports channel kind of fitting the bar set to up by WWE perhaps eliminating the rugby and soccer would make it the ideal candidate.