What To Expect On Curiosity Channel Across Africa In October 2023?

SUPER SCIENCE MONDAYS

Oops, I Changed the World 

Returning Series 

02 October 2023 

CAT: 20h00

Episodes: 15 x 60 mins

Oops I Changed The World! tells the fascinating stories of accidental and surprise inventions that have transformed our lives.

02/10 The Beat Goes On 

09/10 Flash of Success 

16/10 Get A Grip 

23/10 How Saran Wrap Saved D-Day 

30/10 Sleeping on the Job 

Attack of the Zombie Fungus

New Special 

Premieres 23 October 2023 

CAT: 22h00 

Episodes: 1 x 30 mins

We think of fungi as the bottom of the food chain, the recyclers in the circle of life. But fungi are predators. They feed on life. And there are more out there than we ever knew. As we spread into every corner of planet Earth, they are also discovering us –and that we might be the perfect host.

Breakthrough

New Special 

Premieres 23 October 2023 

CAT: 22h30 

Episodes: 1 x 30 mins

Breakthrough takes a deeper look at some of the recent developments in physics, astronomy and other sciences. This episode details the Sargassum seaweed invasion off the coast of Florida.

HISTORY LOVER TUESDAYS

Hitler’s Circle of Evil

New Series 

Premieres 03 October 2023 

CAT: 20h00

Episodes: 6 x 60 mins – ends 07 November 2023

This is the story of the rise and fall of the Third Reich as told by the personal relationships of its most notorious members.

Finding the Graf Zeppelin 

Docu Special - 17 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00 

Episodes: 1 x 60 mins

While exploring the Baltic Sea in 2006, a Polish oil firm stumbled upon the remains of Germany’s first –and last –aircraft carrier at 80 meters depth off the coast near Gdansk. It was a discovery that solved an enduring maritime mystery that had baffled experts for over half a century.

The Auctioneers: Profiting From the Holocaust 

New Special 

Premieres 24 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00 

Episodes: 1 x 60 mins

The systematic antisemitism of the Nazis peaked with the pogroms of 1938/39, the outcome of which was incomparable violence and despotism towards Jewish citizens. The events that culminated in the ‘Reichspogromnacht’ also led to a massive wave of expropriation.

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAYS

Life at the Limits

New Episode 

Premieres 04 October 2023 

CAT: 20h00

Episodes: 3 x 60 mins – series ends 04 October 2023

This spectacular three-part series presents extreme habitats all around the globe 

Giants

New Series 

Premieres 11 October 2023 

CAT: 20h00

Episodes: 5 x 60 mins – ends 08 November 2023

Circle the globe on this exhilarating five-part epic series that “connects the dots" between the GIANTS of the natural world, past and present.

Expedition Wallacea

New Special 

Premieres 11 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00 

Episodes: 1 x 60 mins

Marine biologist Matthias Kopfmüllerwants to know whether the Wallace Line exists underwater. We descend deep into a subterranean crevice and shine a light on a universe that has never-before been captured on film.

Nature’s Greatest Secret – The Coral Triangle 

New Special 

Premieres 18 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00

Episodes: 3 x 60 mins – ends 01 November 2023

The exploration and management of the Coral Triangle may well hold the key to the survival of marine species from all over the world.

HISTORY LOVER THURSDAYS

The Real Wild West

Series Continues 

12 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00

Episodes: 4 x 60 mins – ends 26 October 2023

The famed Wild West: where outlaws rampage and lawmen become legends. Cowboys and native Americans are eternal archetypes, but this is the real American West, filled with diverse pioneers, unprecedented opportunity, ambition and fortune, and technological marvels that change the world.

HUMAN STORIES SATURDAYS

Dangerous Waters S4

New Episodes 

Premiere from 07 October 2023 

CAT: 21h00 and 22h00

Episodes: 16 x 60 mins – ends 28 October 2023

Follow the Dangerous Waters crew members as they embark upon an epic adventure riding their JetSki personal watercraft around the world.

Development Alert: Wie Laaste Lag Currently Streaming On eVOD + Coming Soon To eExtra

During the week, eMedia Investments added the first 10 episodes to the highly anticipated Turkish romcom Wie Laaste Lag (Aşk Mantık İntikam) to the eVOD streaming service with the series slated to rollout on eExtra in the coming weeks and not 6 months as seen with past shows.

Based on the Korean drama Cunning Single Lady, Die Wie Laaste Lag follows a couple who gets divorced after several years of marriage. But things change when the man suddenly gets rich, with his ex-wife starts working with him.

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It starred Burcu Özberk, İlhan Şen, Zeynep Kankonde, Günay Karacaoğlu, Süleyman Atanısev, Mehmet Korhan Fırat, Ceren Koç, Emir Güler, Sevda Baş, Mehmet Yilmaz, Burak Yörük and Melisa Döngel.

The series was broadcast between 2021/2 with total of 42 episodes each consisting of 2 hours. It joins other programs from the FOX brand including Dokter Ali (Mucize Doctor), Doodsondes (Yasak Elma), Om Elke Draai (Her Yerde Sen) and Daai Crazy Somer (Son Yaz).

Wie Laaste Lag is slated to rollout on eExtra from October 4 replacing Chrysalis at 20:00. Prior to its debut, Roekeloos Dade returns to the channel for a new episodes after being ripped away from e.tv after 68 episodes from October 18 replacing Winter Son at 19:00.

Recap To Last Month: Play Room Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Nickelodeon's Paw Patrol And Game Shakers

Play Room offers a world of learning and fun combining education and entertainment in a uniquely local package carrying original South African and international content, including favourite animation titles dubbed in Zulu. 

The channel is operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group who also manage other brands on the DStv platform including news channel Newzroom Afrika and movie channel Movie Room which launched a year ago.

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Play Room is set to go live on DStv channel 300 from November 6 featuring educational content which promote physical movement and creative thinking for viewers aged 4-6 in the morning and live-action shows for tweens in the afternoon.

Game Shakers and Paw Patrol both of which hail from Nickelodeon were the first confirmed titles set to join Play Room's line-up at launch.

Game Shakers revolves around two seventh graders, Babe and Kenzie who create a video game app called "Sky Whale" for their school science project. When the game proves to be wildly successful, they form a gaming company called Game Shakers, and hire their friend, Hudson.

Paw Patrol focuses on a young boy named Ryder who leads a crew of search and rescue dogs that call themselves the PAW Patrol. They work together on missions to protect the shoreside community of Adventure Bay and surrounding areas.

eLocal: Could eMedia Investments Revive The eKasi Concept Onto A New Channel?

eKasi+ (now eExtra) was a general entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments that distributed various archived alongside first run local productions like eKasi: Our Stories, Backstage, I Love South Africa and Tropika Island Of Treasure.

Part of the reason this brand never worked out had to with viability as Openview wasn't profitable at the time for eMedia Investments. Another would be the lack of new content as eKasi+ local offering was very repetitive to a point where eMedia had to build an international portfolio.

Now serving as eExtra, it had seen a lot of success with consumers particularly for their local infused international dramas which was spun off onto a standalone network ePlesier and folded under a tile for the eVOD streaming service.

In the last years, eMedia Investments had been building their original portfolio to better take on brands like SABC and MultiChoice which had seen success with those endeavours for decades. Before all of this content was consolidated on e.tv now the brand serves as a catch-up platform for part of this offering.

Similar to ePlesier and SABC Encore, eMedia Investments has managed to build as much local content for their brands that the idea of them possibly converting this into a standalone service where you can relive some of these moments wouldn't seem far fetched.

Before they had problems sustaining the lineup but as seen in 2021, e.tv has become a large chunk of SABC that they gave brands like eReality and eXposed the chance to expand on what could have been e.tv should they have kept the offering and that included Botched, Catfish, The Walking Dead and House Of Cards.

On top of eReality running a 2 hour block for local reality shows like Pay Back The Money, Date My Family and Beef with other programming from eExtra such as SterStatus and Die Kontrak could help sustain this brand and not burn it to the ground like eKasi+.

Could A Zulu Dubbed Version To Ethiopia's SuperSport Liyu Be In Development?

During the month, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and MultiChoice unveiled South Africa's first Zulu dubbed Bollywood channel, Zee Zonke. Amidst that period, the pay-tv company was rumoured to have more multilingual projects in development with Play Room slatted for November.

Although, not much details is shared on the number of projects said to be in development for the pay-tv company one project that wouldn't come as a shock to some consumers would be a Zulu adaptation to the current SuperSport Liyu which is applicable to consumers in Ethiopia.

SuperSport Liyu since March 2022 has been regarded as the foray to football with the Ethiopian Premier League with select matches from La Liga, Serie A, Premier League, Europa League UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Conference League.

In keeping with the packed football calendar, the channel supplemented football with occasional marathons and athletics, none of which clash with live football broadcasts.

A Zulu dubbed version to SuperSport Liyu would be one way for SuperSport to compete with the likes of SABC whose sports channel has seen a rise in viewership on Openview and puts them at a disadvantage seeing as Access consumers lack a decent sports channel.