Development Hell: Merger Between Sony And Zee Delayed Once Again

India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is reserving its order on the controversial merger plan between Sony’s India division and Zee Enterprises.

Sony’s local business is Culver Max Entertainment and has been planning a merger with Subhash Chandra-backed Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL). NCLT is pausing so that the two parties can make further submissions to the Tribunal.

Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas representing ZEEL stated that non-creditor objectors in the matter, who are not even the company’s creditors, are holding the merger to ransom.

“Currently, 70 per cent of the equity is held by the public institutions, who are lenders, while about 25.88 per cent is held by public non-institutions, and merely 3.99 per cent is held by promoters,” argued Dwarkadas.

Dwarkadas’ reference to ‘the promotors’ is a reference to the Chandra family.

Development Hell: Merger Between Sony And Zee Delayed Once Again

India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is reserving its order on the controversial merger plan between Sony’s India division and Zee Enterprises.

Sony’s local business is Culver Max Entertainment and has been planning a merger with Subhash Chandra-backed Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL). NCLT is pausing so that the two parties can make further submissions to the Tribunal.

Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas representing ZEEL stated that non-creditor objectors in the matter, who are not even the company’s creditors, are holding the merger to ransom.

“Currently, 70 per cent of the equity is held by the public institutions, who are lenders, while about 25.88 per cent is held by public non-institutions, and merely 3.99 per cent is held by promoters,” argued Dwarkadas.

Dwarkadas’ reference to ‘the promotors’ is a reference to the Chandra family.

Development Alert: The Perfect Picture Moves From SABC 1 To e.tv For A Season 2

The Perfect Picture is a nine-part reality series where ten celebrities with a passion for photography compete against each other to show they have what it takes to step away from the spotlight and move behind the camera! Do they have the best eye for a great picture? The celebs must use their technical and creative skills to show they can take the perfect shot. 

It features Anele Zondo, Cristall Kay, Ivan Roux, Gugu Kathi, Jonathan Boynton-Lee, Lasizwe Dambuza, Luyanda Mzazi, Nomvelo Makhanya and Tshego Koke.

The YouTube original had its entire first season broadcast on SABC 1 and for some reason if not budget cuts and successors like Skeem Saam. the second season will move to e.tv with repeats on eReality. Not that I've heard of the show but this move could give it exposure.

With so much currently seen on SABC 1, it's hard for a program such as The Perfect Picture to consume much viewers I mean Uzalo and Skeem Saam are in the 5 million area while the recent addition Deal Or No Deal SA can pull almost half of that viewership.

The Perfect Picture airs every Sunday from 23 July on e.tv at 5PM and repeats on eReality everyday at 5:30PM.

New Series Alert: Living Love Coming Soon To Novela E Plus

Living Love (Amor Y Vivir) follows the lives of Irene, the mesmerizing voice of the renowned Los Milagrosos group, is about to embark on an extraordinary adventure when she encounters Joaquín, a talented mechanic who just arrived in the city.

Based on the 1988 telenovela of the same name, Living Love was produced by Fox Telecolombia (The Way To Paradise) and premiered in 2020 on Caracol Television. Ana María Estupiñán, and Carlos Torres (The Chosen Granddaughter) take up the lead roles in this love story.

Ana María Estupiñán performs the theme song also titled Amor Y Vivir. The series offers a soundtrack featuring various songs with a combined duration of 30 minutes some of which had across the show.

Netflix currently has worldwide streaming rights to all 69 episodes and it's currently unknown whether NBCUniversal International plans to pick up the show for the repeat padded Telemundo as seen with Ana's Revenge and their co-production Hidden Passions.

Living Love premieres July 16 at 21:30 on St Novelas E Plus.

Pending Development: Nurses S4 + Queen Of The South S3 + Lord Of The Skies S8 + Game Of Lies Coming Soon To Telemundo Africa

Last month, primetime had been halted on Telemundo following changing legislation in certain countries particularly Uganda and Cameroon which prohibit the promotion of homosexual content across TV channels which led to the early exit of the medical drama, Nurses.

Since then consumers had been ranting to NBCUniversal and MultiChoice with both brands issuing seperate statements over the current state of Telemundo. Consumers had since then migrated to competitors Zee World and TLNovelas while others catch-up on reruns.

After almost a month, we've recieved confirmation from NBCUniversal that Nurses would be making a comeback to the channel for a fourth season from September 11th. Weird right, it's currently unknown whether Telemundo will be censoring Alvaro or Felipe.

Better yet censoring these characters from African screens with South Africa as an exception. Either way the series would be making a comeback but again how can you censor something like Nurses if similar to Andi Mack, Batgirl and Steven Universe they have LGBTQ as a lead.

As mentioned, the channel had several attractions in the pipeline including returning shows Queen Of The South and Lord Of The Skies alongside the original series whose identity is yet to be confirmed. If I had to guess, Queen Of The South S3 replaces False Identity in September.

To add more suspense, Aurelio Casillas returns for an eighth instalment of Lord Of The Skies. Either way both shows are currently slated for 2023 even the ratings flop starring Arap Bethke and Maria Elisa Camargo, Juego De Mentiras (Games Of Lies) is also anticipated for the channel.

Details about each show

- Nurses Season 4: Follows the everyday lives of members of Santa Rosa Hospital or in this case Felix Andrade, Alex Lujan, Juan Pablo Valderrama, Sol Angie Velásquez and if he's still a priority for fans in the coming months and the reason consumers will be starting from scratch, Álvaro Rojas.

- Lord Of The Skies Season 8: The season centers on the return of Aurelio Casillas, who supposedly died at the beginning of the previous season after falling into a coma following an attempt on his life. It is only the DEA who knows that Aurelio is alive, having hidden him in the desert. In enacting his plan of revenge, Aurelio establishes connections with old allies, while also facing new romances and uncovering family mysteries. 

- Queen Of The South Season 3: After four years in prison in the United States for the deaths of three DEA agents, Teresa Mendoza escapes but will have to face a world full of conspiracy, risking her life in order to clear her name and reunite with her daughter Sofía.

- Game Of Lies: The series revolves around the disappearance of Adriana Molina. Her husband, César Ferrer, is the prime suspect in the possible murder. To avoid losing his eight-year-old daughter, César investigates his wife's disappearance on his own.