News Shorts: Warner Bros. Discovery Issues Brief Description Of Cartoonito Africa, The Rich Also Cry Debuts On Joy Prime In The Coming Weeks And WWE Channel Opened To More DStv Consumers Ahead Of WrestleMania

Boomerang is now Cartoonito

Home to fan-favourites Zig & Sharko, hilarious Mr Bean and inseparable buddies Masha and the Bear alongside new flagship Warner Bros. franchise programmes like Batwheels and Bugs Bunny Builders, Cartoonito provides a safe space for kids 3-7, along with their families, to spend some time together and enjoy trusted fun. With fan-favourites beloved by kids and adults alike, including the iconic frenemies Tom & Jerry, the famous dog detective Scooby-Doo, and the wackiest Looney Tunes, alongside other rising cartoon stars such as Lucas the Spider and Interstellar Ella, the channel offers a wide variety of programmes, bringing together laughter, adventure and friendship!

Cartoonito Africa is available in English-speaking African countries on DStv (channel 302), GOtv (channel 68) (channel 155 in Ghana and channel 357 in Uganda), AzamTV (channel 227) and Canal+ Ethiopia (Channel 127).

The Rich Also Cry to make a landing on Joy Prime

Based on the 1979 Mexican telenovela of the same name, The Rich Also Cry (Los Ricos También Lloran) follows an orphan of both father and mother. She is left alone in the world when her godmother dies, which complicates her life more than she could have ever imagined.

The Rich Also Cry series stars Sebastián Rulli as Luis Alberto Salvatierra, Claudia Martín as Mariana Villarreal, Fabiola Guajardo as Soraya Montenegro and Azela Robinson as Elena Suárez.

Serving as a fourth production of Dream Factory (Fábrica de Sueños). The series airs next Monday on Joy Prime in Ghana.

More wrestling action for DStv customers

During the week, MultiChoice in select African territories decided to give consumers access to all the wrestling action on channel 128 from 20 March to 2 April. As somewhat of a countdown to WrestleMania. Some of the content seen on the brand include Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Notsam Wrestling and archived material viewed on the WWE Network.

In other developments, the pay-tv company is gearing up for Ramadan with yet another Islamic pop-up channel but this time based in Nigeria, Mustaeina TV.

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

1. Marvel Studios Present Victoria Alonso exits post after 17 years of service
2. Fall 2 is in development
3. Good Burger Sequel is in development
4. Bel-Air renewed for third season at Peacock
5. Former child star Amanda Bynes put on psychiatric hold
6. Shazam: Fury Of The Gods becomes a box office disappointment
7. Scream VI becomes a box office success yet again
8. John Wick Star Lance Riddick has died
9. Andy Kaufman will be inducted into WWE 2023 Hall Of Fame
10. Jason Derulo confirmed as coach for The Voice Australia
11. Ted Bastien, Long-Time 'PAW Patrol' Director, Passes Away
12. Kabillion Debuts New ‘Woody Woodpecker’ Animated Shorts
13. Telemundo actress Rebecca Jones dies at 65
14. The Weeknd becomes the G.O.A.T. of music
15. Demi Lovato releases a rock version of Heart Attack
16. HGTV orders Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge
17. Nickelodeon orders King Of Corn pilot
18. Disney+ adds an anime collection
19. Vanessa Hudgens working on documentary exploring Asian roots

New Development Alert: Scandal + Imbewu + Splintered Pieces S2 + Yolanda Is Swanger Coming Soon To eVOD

In 2021, eMedia Investments unveiled they are much anticipated streamer, eVOD. What was meant to viewed as a momentous occasion for the red brand ended in chaos after Asian based streamer VIU accused the company of breaching their agreement.

VIU was launched in the market by March 2019 and at the time eMedia Investments signed a content agreement which gave the streamer exclusive rights to various content including Scandal and Imbewu through 2024 but that's not the case anymore.

As seen on various outlets yesterday, eMedia Investments reclaimed these shows so where does that leave VIU - we honestly don't know. But it wouldn't be shocking if they became another Acorn TV. For now consumers can stream these shows from April 4.

Joining the lineup is the second season to Splintered Pieces of which eMedia Investments has yet to make available on their linear platforms. The series follows.

On top of that the streamer has a new production titled Yolanda Is Swanger around the time, e.tv is set to unveil Nikiwe in the coming months.

Synopsis for Yolanda Is Swanger:

Yolanda (Lindsey Cele) has a secret – she might be pregnant. This is a huge problem for her as she lives in a small, coloured community known as Toekies near Randfontein, where everyone knows everyone's business. Her conservative and deeply religious family attend the local Dutch Reformed Church where her mechanic father, Pieter (Theo Jantjies), is a deacon. Her mother, Karen (Megan Carelse), receives weekly prayers from the church because of her chronic illness, and news of her daughter’s pregnancy might be a nail in her coffin. What will happen if they find out?

The series stars Lindsey Cele, Adrien Steyn, Loi Duplessis and Roderick Jaftha. Yolanda Is Swanger will be available to stream on the platform from April 18.

New Series Alert: Cabo Coming Soon To ZAP Novelas

Zap Novelas, a telenovela channel promoting the best of Turkey and Latin America will be joining a list of broadcasters in East Africa in sourcing content that has yet to be seen on the African feed of TLNovelas with Cabo.

Based on the 1985 Mexican telenovela Tú o nadie created by María Zarattini, Sofía and Alejandro get married in a dream wedding, but when Alejandro dies in a plane crash and Sofia travels to Cabo to meet his new family, she realizes that Alejandro is alive and that his real name is Eduardo.

The series stars Bárbara de Regil as Sofía Chávez, Matías Novoa as Alejandro Noriega, Eva Cedeño as Isabela Escalante, Diego Amozurrutia as Eduardo Torres, Rebecca Jones as Lucía de Noriega and Rafael Inclán as Alfonso "Poncho" Chávez.

It debuted last year on Las Estrellas pulling 3 million viewers at launch with its final episode drawing another million. The series currently has 85 episodes each consisting of 42-45 minutes.

Cabo will debut on Zap Novelas across Angola and Mozambique in April. There's no confirmation as to whether the series will be viewable in English but for now it's likely to only be viewable in Portuguese as seen with most of the content on the channel.

Recap To Last Year: Housewives + Splintered Pieces + uMbali Have Yet To Be Seen On e.tv And eXposed

Last year, eMedia Investments scrapped most of the international offering formerly viewed through weeknights on e.tv as they try to bolster their original portfolio with the likes of The Black Door, Daryn's Gym, Is'phindiselo and Christmas Without Gogo.

As seen since eVOD's rollout, eMedia Investments has been distributing content from the platform across their channels but there's still some portions of the content that have yet to find a home which includes shows like Splintered Pieces and uMbali.

e.tv amidst this reshuffle in 2022 had sourced selected content from the streamer which include various films such as An Eye For An Eye, Surviving Gaza and Atlantis with the first notable program, Is'phindiselo.

Is'phindiselo was actually the only drama on eVOD to air it's full run on the channel and it was meant to be used for the above-mentioned shows but after films struggled in their new timeslots. eMedia Investments backtracked on the plan for these shows.

Durban Gen, Imbewu and Isono are set to be ending on the network and it doesn't seem like eMedia Investments intends to use the above-mentioned shows to supplement this timeslot as they've begun filming replacements apparently.

If I had to guess, these shows will probably be allocated in the 10pm timeslot on e.tv which just like most of their schedule comes with a lot of conflict. But most of the timeslots are used for doccies so I can see them cutting back to accomodate these shows.

Besides that, if eMedia Investments wants these shows to succeed in terms of viewership an earlier timeslot would very much be needed. But by looking at the schedule this is probably the only way to get the shows onboard the brand.

Another brand, I wouldn't be shocked to see these shows on eXposed. They are more edgy or adult oriented with their offering I mean they offer rebroadcasts to The Black Door and have a lot of short-form series that fit their description.

Would it be shocking if these shows were Openview exclusives I mean most of eReality's offering unlike eExtra haven't been viewed on e.tv as yet. Most of the time you'd be lucky to view them if a certain program leaves the lineup which is kind of depressing.