Viacom 18's Voot Streaming Service Is Said To Be The New Home Of Glow TV

By the end of today, Glow TV currently owned by Nismedia is expected to not only exit StarSat and Openview but it will also be exiting linear television with its future lurking around the corner we recieved word that Voot will be the new home for the channel.

Voot is an Indian based streaming service owned by Viacom18 which is a joint venture between Paramount Global and Network18 Group. It launched back in 2016 and serves a multilingual platform for both original and third party entertainment.

Some of the content available on the platform include Chinese Bhasad, Soadies, Sinskaari, Badman, It's Not That Simple, Badman and Marzi.

As mentioned already, Glow TV will be folded under Voot and I can't say I was expecting this but the owners in question Viacom18 are also in charge of several linear channels including one which Glow TV supplies most of its soaps, Colors TV.

In a way, this is sort of a good thing for the brand, Glow TV has produced a number of original content and this offering will probably help VOOT connect more with the African market.

The sad part about the whole thing is that Voot doesn't work as a freemium service as seen with Showmax, SABC+ and eVOD or at least from what several consumers had mentioned as they're being asked to cough up R49 per week or R7 everyday.

Despite the outcome to all this, Voot actually makes as a more suitable platform for the channel considering its available in other parts of the world perhaps we'll see some of the channel's content reach more audiences even further than Openview.

It's good to see that my suggestion about finding the right platform although this one too is overcrowded actually panned out as Glow TV is a local channel on top of everything else.

 

SHOCKER!!! (NOT REALLY), Glow TV Will Also Be Going Dark On StarSat By The End Of February

In the past week, StarSat had to bid farewell to Russia Today at the last minute similar to MultiChoice's DStv in 2022 as European Union (EU) in charge of distributing the channel within the African market opted to cut transmission for the channel.

After the removal of Russia Today, it was shortly announced by the pay-tv platform that their contract with Nismedia for the Glow TV channel would be coming to an end in the same period as eMedia Investments current contract with the brand - 28 February.

Meaning just like OnseTV, there's no way of viewing further content on your current platform but Nismedia had mentioned wanting to find other means for the channel and might address it by tomorrow or at later stage who knows.

But the news of Glow TV's demise on the platform doesn't surprise me the least bit. Last year, StarSat launched a dubbing studio where various international content is being dubbed in local languages similar to eExtra's Kuiertyd and kykNET.

MultiChoice had opted not to keep eExtra on their platforms but instead to supplement a similar selection on kykNET & Kie and the idea of StarSat going down a similar route with the channel alongside Glow TV didn't seem like a far fetched idea at this point.

Glow TV was repetitive and a bit outdated but it wasn't telenovela centric but an entertainment channel featuring reality, news and other programming. Unfortunately the likes of Zee TV and Star Life on top of the current situation with the offering edged them out.

Honestly, StarSat presents itself with alternatives for Glow TV such as Star Life, Zee Bollymovies, Colors TV, Zee Cinema and Vijay TV. Kind of lost as to why they're looking for a replacement with this existing offering the only other channel I can think of is Zee One.

As for Glow TV, I do think it has potential to do even greater things but neither DStv, Openview or StarSat are the right platforms for the job perhaps SABC's DTT could do the job hopefully they don't undergo a similar route another would be PremiumFree.

The last option although not savvy like Openview would be switching to OTT. As of this moment, the channel is in hot water a lot of cutbacks to staff and programming will likely be applied in order for them to remain afloat or face possible extinction in the market.

Update: Glow TV will be available on VOOT which looks like an entertainment website but it will cost you R7 per day or R49 per week from what I read.

What To Expect On TNT Africa In March 2023?

NEVER GIVE UP
To celebrate South Africa’s world-leading establishment of Human Rights Day on 21 March, TNT presents a curated marathon of films championing freedom and justice. Even if Leonardo Di Caprio’s South African accent in Blood Diamond is a topic of debate, it’s a worthy hit to lead a lineup including Battle in Seattle, Captain Phillips, and Tears of the Sun.

TUNE IN DETAILS (channel premieres)
Tuesday, 21 March
12:30   –   Hurricane Season (2009)
14:10   –   Captain Phillips (2013)
16:25   –   Blood Diamond (2006)
18:50   –   Battle in Seattle (2007)
20:30   –   Tears of the Sun (2003)
22:30   –   The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

TNT HIT
One of Marvel’s most epic characters, Venom, is coming to TNT on Sunday, 4 March at 20:00. Starring Academy Award® Nominated actor Tom Hardy as reporter Eddie Brock, who gains superpowers after becoming the host of an alien symbiote named Venom.  Despite being designed to invade Earth – he embraces the role of lethal protector.

TUNE IN DETAILS (channel premiere)
Sunday, 4 March
20:00   –   Venom (2018)

AND THE WINNER IS...
Everyone in Hollywood goes crazy for the gold-plated statuette officially known as the ‘Academy Award of Merit’, but you might know him better as ‘Oscar’. TNT celebrates the 95th Academy Awards with a list of films that have won at least one of the iconic awards. All hits, no misses, every prime time from Monday, 6 March – with an Oscar-tastic binge of all films on Sunday, 12 March.

TUNE IN DETAILS (channel premiere)
Monday, 6 March
20:30   –   The Hurt Locker (2008)
Tuesday, 7 March
20:30   –   Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Wednesday, 8 March
20:30   –   The Fugitive (1993)
Thursday, 9 March
20:30   –   Django Unchained (2012)
Friday, 10 March
20:30   –   Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Saturday, 11 March
20:30   –   Suicide Squad (2016)
Sunday, 12 March
11:35   –   The Fugitive (1993)
13:45   –   Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
15:45   –   Suicide Squad (2016)
17:50   –   Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
20:05   –   The Hurt Locker (2008)
22:15   –   Django Unchained (2012)

MAD MAX WEEKEND
One of the original post-apocalyptic action film series, the Mad Max franchise takes audiences on a rollercoaster through dystopian Australia. From launching Mel Gibson’s career to having Charlize Theron shave her head – the Mad Max effect is no joke. Spend the weekend in this fictional wasteland with the first four instalments on TNT.

TUNE IN DETAILS
Friday, 17 March
20:30   –   Mad Max (1979)
Saturday, 18 March
20:00   –   Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Sunday, 19 March
20:00   –   Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
21:50   –   Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

SABC 1-3, e.tv And DStv TV Ratings For January 2023

SABC 1:
- Aka's final project The Braai Show debuts in the Top 5
- The channel continues to dominate the youth viewership with Matric Results alongside the ongoing Uzalo and Skeem Saam.
- Skeem Saam rebroadcasts has more viewers than Uzalo with the most popular show on the channel occupying more slots.

SABC 2:
- Afrikaans news bulletins has more viewers than Sespedi, Xhosa and Setswana news.
- Muvhango occupies the most slots this month.
- On top of Muvhango, repeats dominate their top 20 portfolio featuring Skeem Saam and The Estate.

SABC 3:
- On Point is currently the most watched program on the channel.
- Marvel's Spider-Man occupies the most slots on the channel.
- Despite being repeats, The Estate occupies the top spot as the most watched soap on the channel ahead of 7de Laan and Generations.

e.tv:
- Mr Bones and Just For Laughs Fillers has more viewers than The Black Door and Durban Gen.
- Imbewu is the most watched repeat on the channel.
- Inhlawulo: Damages despite being a limited run series on the channel debuts in the Top 20.

DStv:
- Epk of Spy Kids 2 The Island Of Lost Dreams is currently most watched documentary and international offering this month.
- Moja Love occupies the most spots within the Top 5.
- The Wife and The River has more viewers on Mzansi Wethu.

Other developments:
- Big Brother Titans is nowhere to be seen.
- Gomora's viewership is down by 130000 viewers.

TNT Vs. DStv Movies: Another Example Of MultiChoice's Failed Attempts At Cutting Back On Repeats

TNT is general entertainment channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery that offers mainly films and also the home to wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling. It is also ranked as the most popular movie channel in South Africa reaching 10 million households.

It also makes itself an easier target for MultiChoice if they want to scale back on the volume of redundancy seen across their movie brands. Even after the attempted removal of eMovies and eMovies Extra, not much has changed in the content recieved.

If there's one thing I can agree on, TNT has got a lot of potential and for several years has proven to be a worthy opponent to the likes of M-Net Movies and Studio Universal. But so much has changed in the world that you got to wonder if MultiChoice sees value for money.

To be honest, TNT kind of resembles eMovies in a way as they were very much popular and also snatched films that the lower tiered M-Net Movies channels took longer in sourcing with some never making it to the channels giving MultiChoice more reasons to pull the plug.

To some it would probably be seen as MultiChoice's way of reducing the competition but if you're one with AddMovies you could see where they'd be getting at in eliminating the channel as there's a lot of content aside from AEW that viewers had already explored.

If you tune into well scripted but low budget Movie Room, M-Net Movies 4-in-1 channel Studio Universal and the Kung Fu oriented KIX all that put together kind of makes TNT I swear most if not all the films are already available on other channels just not All Elite Wrestling.

Considering that this is the only liable source for movies on Easyview not that joke called CineMagic. It makes sense for MultiChoice to source a replacement for these consumers if not improve the offering on the other liable source, CineMagic.