Recap To The Month: SABC Delays The Expansion Of Further New Channels On DTT

During the year, SABC was gearing up for the rollout of a second news channel only known as SABC eKhaya. After failing to rollout the news channel, the public broadcaster had a soft launch for the brand on their DTT platform featuring content already viewed on their linear platforms and archived material.

Similar to SABC Sport, the plan was to feature a "fresh offering" once the channel managed to garner traction and the public broadcaster was looking to negotiate with other broadcasters in the hopes that they could distribute the channel onto their platforms.

But as seen in recent months, consumers had been affected by load shedding that some went as far as cutting back on their DStv subscription and other expenses as the outcome of these blackouts had left people jobless and led some entrepreneurs to lose their businesses.

The SABC blames Eskom on why their revenue continues to drop in recent months and also the reduction of analogue frequencies and streamers like Netflix for why SABC+ is struggling. It was also stated that the public broadcaster had to delay the rollout of new channels due to the blackouts impact on viewership.

For almost two years, consumers had been awaiting on an update from SABC on the status of two yet-to-be-launched channels on Openview alongside SABC Education's expansion to pay-tv outlets. Since SABC hasn't been able to meet up with any of its deadlines and with these outlets rolling out new channels, consumers will just lose interest.

Unlike SABC, Multichoice and eMedia Investments continue to expand their content and portfolio of linear channels. Despite the decrease in consumption, there's still consumers viewing these brands and rolling out those "new channels" could have helped reduce their financial constraints as opposed to pausing/scrapping shows like The Estate and uBettina Wethu.

Recap To The Week: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Returns To South African Screens For New Episodes On PBS Kids

South African families are in for a “Grr-ific” treat as the beloved children's series, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, returns -- airing weekdays at 4pm on DStv Channel 313 this month.

A study conducted by researchers at Texas Tech University revealed that the combination of watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood and engaging in parent-child conversations about its content significantly enhances children's social skills, including empathy, recognising emotions, and social confidence.

Produced by The Fred Rogers Company and 9 Story Media Group, this acclaimed series is an engaging and educational experience for preschoolers, drawing on the legacy of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

About Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is an animated series tailored for preschoolers aged 2 to 4. It continues the tradition of the groundbreaking PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood using musical strategies inspired by Fred Rogers' social-emotional curriculum. Through the lens of imagination, creativity, and music, the show follows the life of 4-year-old Daniel Tiger and his friends as they learn essential social skills for school and life.

Meet Daniel Tiger

The heart of the series is 4-year-old Daniel Tiger, the son of the beloved puppet Daniel Striped Tiger from the original program. Daniel engages young viewers directly, inviting them into his world and making them feel like part of his neighbourhood. By closely following Daniel's everyday adventures, preschoolers and their families gain valuable insights and practical skills necessary for growth and learning.

September Episode Themes

Each Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episode features two captivating stories that revolve around common early learning themes, such as dealing with disappointment. What sets this series apart is its innovative use of catchy musical strategies that reinforce these themes, providing preschoolers and parents with memorable tools they can use daily.

This month's new episodes include:

Daniel Finds Something to Do/Daniel's Royal Good Time: Daniel tries to find something to do by himself. Daniel and his friends play at a castle.

Daniel's Lunch/Daniel's Toy: Daniel is excited to eat his special lunch. Daniel goes to the park to play with Ducky.

Margaret's Birthday Buddy/Margaret's Birthday Party: The Tiger Family is preparing for Margaret's birthday party, but Daniel feels left out.

Curriculum-based viewing

The stories in the series have been crafted with extensive input from early learning specialists, incorporating formative research with children. Drawing from over 40 years of Fred Rogers' work, the show is a powerful resource for parents, offering an entertaining and thoughtful guide that integrates music, interactivity, and a research-based curriculum.

Broadcast Details

South African families can tune in to catch the new episodes of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood on DStv Channel 313

Could Discovery Family And Real Time Also Be Going Dark Following The Termination Of Discovery Science And Discovery Turbo Xtra?

During the week, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery would be ending Discovery Science and also Discovery Turbo Xtra across various international markets (including Africa) meaning similar to the remaining Disney Channels in Asia they won't live through 2024.

Prior to these Discovery channels demise, Warner Bros. Discovery had quietly removed any mentions of "Brand New" from their promos with Discovery Family and Real Time both of which are residing on Zuku and MultiChoice's DStv across Africa had undergone a similar route.

Unlike Discovery Science, Discovery Family and Real Time continue to update their offering. I would be lying if I didn't say Warner had made changes to the channel that would question their very existence.

Few years back, Warner would licence content exclusively for these channels particularly The Carbonaro Effect and The Marilyn Denis Show but now both channels exist to rehash content from Discovery Channel, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery and HGTV.

On top of that, there's no marketing going towards these brands particularly content viewed on them. Considering these channels are a priority to both Warner and the viewers, you'd expect consistency. Although the latter is just repeats they are consumers actually viewing the content.

Some of these viewers may get attached to some of the content and would want to keep tabs. Warner's failure to just promote these shows would further distance viewers from the channel or better yet affect the performance as mentioning these shows would keep viewers onboard.

As to whether Real Time and Discovery Family could be going dark in the region as seen with Disney's offering in Asia and Warner's offering in Europe - that's kind of quo.

After what happened to Boomerang, Warner may look at ways of trying to keep the content intact without negatively impacting the viewers. Perhaps a merger/rebranding of the channels is what awaits for them in future or if a closure is inevitable perhaps a substitute like Discovery Channel and TLC.

In all honesty, Real Time looks more lively and upbeat than Discovery Family (with its large chunk of Discovery Channel) as it inherits content from Food Network, HGTV and Investigation Discovery with very little investment coming from TLC and Animal Planet.

Warner Bros. Discovery To Close Discovery Science And Discovery Turbo Xtra Worldwide By The End Of 2023

According to Paginamedia.ro, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to retract/close Discoivery Science and Discovery Turbo Xtra from various territories across Europe by the end of 2023. The decision comes as a result of the company's strategy to optimize their content and portfolio of linear channels seen in the region.

Countries affected include Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Israel, Latvia, Luthuania, Estonia, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Discovery Science (also known as The Science Channel) is a factual and educational channel that was once packaged by StarTimes and On Digital Media's Starsat and SABC+. It featured shows currently viewed on Discovery Family including as How Its Made, Mythbusters, Extreme Engineering and How The Universe works.

Discovery Turbo Xtra (also known as MotorTrend) was a cars and motorsport channel that featured shows such as Chasing Classic Cars, FourWheeler, Iron Resurrection and Texas Metal. Although the channel wasn't viewable in Africa, select shows were distributed on Discovery Channel.

Warner Bros. Discovery offers a variety of brands including Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Food Network and Animal Planet. These brands were said to substitute Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo Xtra once it shuts down by the end of 2023.

During the year, Robert Blair left Warner. Bros. Discovery as head of international TV distribution with speculation growing on a possible streamline to their portfolio. As the company is looking to sell less content to brands like M-Net and Showmax and also reduce content spend on brands like Cartoon Network and Cartoonito.

Discussion: Could SABC Look Into Closing A Few Channels??? As Plans Are Underway To Cut Back On Costs + 7de Laan Could Go Dark By Next Month Abruptly As SABC Is Cash Strapped

Could SABC look into reducing their portfolio?

During the week, it was learnt that 7de Laan would pause production and this was after SABC had been piling up its debt for the soon-to-be-axed Afrikaans drama. The public broadcaster not struggling to obtain income through load shedding and the reduction of analogue is looking to axe more content.

Not long ago, it was discovered that uBettina Wethu would be next victim. Unlike 7de Laan, uBettina Wethu has seen a decline in viewership that eMedia Investments was able to rescue the drama with a fourth season awaiting release on their linear platforms.

Another would be sporting rights in which the public broadcaster failed to obtain rights to the T-20 and also couldn't come to an agreement with SuperSport for the Rugby World Cup.

With the public broadcaster relying on peanuts to get on by at this point perhaps a restructure to their local portfolio is needed. For several decades, they had been producing content for SABC 1-3 while as supplying SABC Sport and Education perhaps a reduction to their local offering would do them good.

Instead of prioritising 3 channels, maybe the public broadcaster could put all their money on SABC 1 and use SABC+ to substitute the other two channels. SABC 1 remains as the most watched free-to-view channel in the market while the other had seen major declines.

The public broadcaster is anticipated to lose viewers once 7de Laan departs on SABC 2. Perhaps a merger between SABC 2 and SABC 3 would do them good. One thing I've seen from their competitors is the growth in dubs you barely get that much with the SABC.

I'm not saying SABC 2 would be exactly like Telemundo/Zee World but something similar to eXposed/eExtra which too has its lineup of international dramas with local elements such as Die Kontrak, SterStatus and Ouma Sarie all of which are folded under the Kuiertyd block.

SABC 3 despite not getting as much viewers as SABC 1 or 2 has more viewers than most of the public broadcaster's DTT offering such as SABC Education, SABC eKhaya and SABC News. Maybe the channel could serve as an Encore station for their past programming.

Another could be exploring a potential sell of their channels, the idea would be similar to Disney that the public broadcaster maintains majority stake and this other party manage the content with the public broadcaster in charge of marketing this content to consumers.

7de Laan is under hot water

As mentioned earlier, SABC had decided to axe the longest running Afrikaans soap on SABC 2 as they can't afford the expenses supplied to the production crew for further episodes. With the last episode initially set for December 26, 2023 the series is likely to go off air much earlier.

According to sources, the SABC only contracted Danie Odendaal Productions to produce 7de Laan episodes until 24 October, although plans were to keep the show running until 26 December as mentioned. The soap faces a chance of being cancelled by next month and not December as advised.

That is unless SABC doesn't find the necessary funds to keep the show on air and crew involved in production of the show were informed about this and had since then gone on to film other projects so should the SABC find something it would be impossible to film these episodes.

Leading to further speculation that the SABC may not get the remaining 45 episodes of the show but something far less than that if none at all. Ideally, 7de Laan could as well end with a two part feature film which broadcast for an hour or two and not the usual 21 minutes as seen with the finale of Showtime's Ray Donovan.