How MultiChoice Could Save The Disney Channel From Possible Extinction?

As part of a global effort to prioritise Disney+, the Mouse company had been shuttering several Disney Channels across the world with most notable territories residing in the UK, Australia and Asia. More channel closures are currently underway in Asia with more territories expected to follow.

MultiChoice has kept their remaining linear offering under warps for another two years while Disney continued to close about 18 channels in Asia as the goal was to close 100 international channels over the 30 channels in the previous year with more closures expected in the remaining regions.

Disney Channel is kind of put in that spot as it was basically M-Net in kids entertainment featuring animation like The Owl House, Gravity Falls and Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil to live-action like That's So Raven, High School Musical, Teen Beach and Camp Rock.

To see that all fold under a tile on Disney+ doesn't sit well with some viewers. As some struggle to cover most of their monthly expenses and those using the app often run into some technical difficulties. Also taking to the fact that South Africa is the only known region aside from Northern parts of Africa to have the streamer.

It is not available in other parts of Southern Africa much less the rest of Western and Eastern parts of the region.

The best way for MultiChoice to potentially phase out the Disney Channel would be to undergo a possible rebrand similar to Boomerang's transition to the preschool market with Cartoonito or as mentioned sometime ago by Disney's CEO, a potential sell/spinoff of the linear channel.

Sure most Disney Channels never resulted in a rebrand/spinoff but the outcome to their demise was proven unfavourable for cable providers particularly in Asia where they had their alternatives cutoff due to poor reception.

Disney Channel has become repetitive I mean Lab Rats has taken over their remaining live-action slate while their only primetime offering residing within animation is dominated by Miraculous with a bit of hiccups from The Ghost And Molly McGee and Hamster & Gretel.

And I feel that this revamped channel would try to give these remaining shows much exposure not only Miraculous. Considering that a majority of the channel is reruns as seen in the past months perhaps some minor exceptions like Lab Rats would fall under the new brand.

Disney Channel is something you can't duplicate and having a random channel like Nickelodeon would only make matters worse. Sure viewers may explore a similar lineup but the only reason would tune into the channel is for the actual. If this follow-up has any shot in survival it's through the content that made Disney Channel.

Disney Junior Remains As The Only Disney Branded Television Channel In Turkey, Could This Be The Future For The Disney Channels In Africa?

Disney is set to close their remaining linear offering in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Korea before the current financial year ends with more channels seen in Europe set to join with rumours swirling about the potential demise of the Disney Junior channel seen in Turkey.

As mentioned sometime ago, the preschool brand home to shows like Alice's Wonderland Bakery, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Sofia The First and PJ Masks remains as the only Disney branded channel in the region likely due to the ongoing demand for preschool content.

Disney Channel and Disney XD were sacrificed years prior with further content folded under Disney+. Although, there's not much confirmation on if Disney Junior would join the other Disney branded channels, several feeds for the brand had been closed down in other countries.

This is part of a global effort which has taken sometime for Disney to transition into particularly in parts of Europe where most of their linear offering reside at the moment.

Should Disney Junior remain on for another year what fate should await the feed in Africa as both are managed in the EMEA should Disney Channel get the boot as seen in most parts of the world including Turkey.

Similar to Turkey, Disney Junior has garnered a lot of popularity in Africa so much so that it happens to be the leading preschool brand with such content also in demand. Compared to Disney Channel, it covers more households in Africa as opposed to being catered to a premium audience.

Unlike the Disney Channel, the channel's lineup isn't bombarded with reruns or being used a hub to promote further content from Disney+. Much less had their shows and films taken away from them amidst a season finale as seen with another former channel, FOX.

But I can't say it's in the best position to live on for another couple of years as Bluey took over the channel kind of like how a group of superheroes took over a children's channel. I mean these are popular brands but with Warner streamlining some would think this is the end.  

New Channel Alert: Zee Zonke Coming This September To DStv

During the week, it was reported that MultiChoice had begun tests on another channel which was believed to be another duplicate to Moja Love. But in recent developments, we got to discover that the channel belongs to the makers of Zee TV, Zee World and Zee One.

Zee Zonke operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises is a South African adaptation to the current Zee TV importing content seen on Zee TV (mostly Zee Marathi) and dubbing them in local languages as seen with rival brand eExtra's Kuiertyd operated by eMedia Investments.

This will be the second region based channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises with Zee Alem currently situated in Ethiopia dubbing various content from Zee World.

As for the channel number, it will likely be allocated in the 160 section (likely 169) which is where Zee World resides and also it's the same area currently harvested by other Southern Africa brands including Mzansi Magic, Mzansi Wethu and Mzansi Bioskop

When it comes to the package, impressed guess would be Access and probably Easyview seeing as consumers on these packages don't have Zee World like the rest of Africa. It would also be added to consumers on Compact, Compact+ and Premium.

Zee Zonke might be applicable to only South Africa.

Considering that all of this will be locally dubbed, the channel will most likely take up the format used on TLNovelas when distributing content. It's currently unknown whether movies will reside on the soon to be launched channel but it wouldn't be shocking if it were only dramas.

The idea of Zee Zonke might have come out after Zee World debuted Jodha And Akbar with a Zulu soundtrack. It garnered popularity with consumers that it wasn't long till they got other programming got into the local mix in South Africa and the rest of Africa.

But it's kind of surprising how Jodha And Akbar isn't part of Zee Zonke's lineup as the only confirmed series at the time include Umakwapheni, Imfihlo, We Mamezala, and Onesipho.

CONFIRMED SERIES:

• Umakwapheni (Majhya Navaryachi Bayko): The drama revolves around Gurunath who is happily married to Radhika until he falls in love with Shanaya, a colleague. What would happen when Radhika learns about this affair and what will be her move to save the marriage?

• Imfihlo (Tula Pahate Re): Vikram Saranjame is a rich and lonely businessman. He gets attracted towards Esha one of his employee whose half his age. Esha two falls in love with him after he shows kindness towards her family as they are not doing financially well. Vikrant and Esha finally get married. But Vikrant has a secret to hide behind a closed door in his mansion.

• We Mamezala (Aggabai Sunbai): A strong bond develops as Asavari, a level-headed businesswoman, tries to help her daughter-in-law, Shubhra, navigate the harsh realities of motherhood and family life.

• Onesipho (Nayan - Jo Vekhe Unvekha): Nayan, a simple small town girl, experiences the boon and bane of her power of premonition. She goes on to marry Devansh under unusual circumstances and turns out to be his saviour. 

News Shorts: Nicktoons Becomes The Last Channel To Enter The Splat Zone, Lord Of The Skies Returns For An 8th Instalment On Telemundo Across Africa This September And MultiChoice Is Rumoured To Be Taking A Playout Test With A Dedicated Channel

Nicktoons gets the splat

During the year, Paramount unveiled a brand new retrofied on air look for Nickelodeon which reached international shores earlier in the month but of course questions amounted to when the rest of their channels like Nick Jr., Nicktoons and TeenNick would integrate with Splat.

So far only Nick Jr. got a new on air look which has yet to hit international shores while the others remain as quo. Not that the rest of their offering wouldn't integrate but it hasn't taken quite sometime for them to make the switch considering that Nickelodeon came in March.

We were only able to get the new Nick Jr. logo through several images shared on the web and a similar outcome awaited the other Nick brands or in this case Nicktoons.

As seen above the official logo, various areas have the "toons" green.

Aurelio also slated to make a comeback on Telemundo this fall

During the week, it was reported that Telemundo would be joining the likes of eExtra, kykNET, StarTimes and Timeless Dizi Channel in the distribution of Turkish dramas with their first series Cennet: The Power Of Destiny which had been scooped up by the channel internationally years prior.

Also confirmed for the channel in the coming months is the revival of Aurelio Casillas in the 8th instalment of Lord Of The Skies with the 9th currently in production and rumoured to debut by the fall of next year.

The 8th 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. 

It starred Rafael Amaya as Aurelio Casillas, Rubén Cortada as Fernando Aguirre, Carmen Aub as Rutila Casillas, Iván Arana as Ismael Casillas, África Zavala as Mecha de la Cruz, Isabella Castillo as Diana Ahumada, Yuri Vargas as Tracy Lobo and Alejandro López as El Súper Javi.

Playout Test Channel reportedly loading on DStv

During the week, it was learnt that MultiChoice was working on a third TV channel for Siyaya TV, owners of Moja Love. Of course, details of the reported channel have yet to be confirmed as tests are still underway but it is believed to be at the moment a second duplicate of Moja Love also in high definition.

Now the pay-tv company seems to have begun work on a second TV channel titled Playout. Similar to the yet to be announced channel from Siyaya TV, there's not much details available about the channel and most of our search has redirected us to WildEarth so maybe these two are linked.

Interesting enough, WildEarth is also being experimented on but this one is a carbon copy of the current feed already viewable on DStv. It's likely a duplicate but it doesn't explain the name Playout so maybe this could be a seperate channel also under the same name and too in the early stages of development.

What To Expect On Comedy Central Across Africa In September 2023?

PRETTY STONED

MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER @ 21:30

A stoner with no commitments and a type-A over-achiever join forces when they find themselves in trouble after one of them disposes of $20,000 worth of pot from a drug queen pin and her henchwomen.

CHAPELLE’S SHOW

SEASON 1 & 2

WEEKDAYS 4 SEPTEMBER @ 22:30

Renowned comedian Dave Chappelle hosts a comedy sketch which parodies various topics like race, entertainment industry, violence and culture.

KEY & PEELE

SEASON 1 & 2

WEEKENDS 9 SEPTEMBER @ 23:45

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, two comics, use sketches and live segments to perform jokes and entertain the audience.

EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS

SEASON 1 - 3

WEEKDAYS 4 SEPTEMBER @ 16:00

The show is a family sitcom, patterned on Chris Rock's recollection of his teenage years growing up in the 1980s with a wholesome, tight-knit, African-American family, while living in drug-and-gang infested neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York , also attending a cross-town, racist-dominated, public high school.

THE DAILY SHOW

SEASON 28

TUESDAYS – FRIDAY @ MIDNIGHT

The Daily Show (TDS) is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program.