News Shorts: Showmax Debuts Another Original Animated Series Twende, Once Upon A Studio To Rollout On Various e.tv And Disney Platforms And Help I'm In A Secret Relationship Returns For New Episodes On MTV Across Africa

Meet ‘Twende,’ Showmax Africa’s First Original 2D Toon

Showmax has released a trailer for Twende — the first Showmax Original 2D animated series. The show follows a pangolin — an endangered species which is the slowest on the savannah and the most-trafficked type of animal in the world — who makes up for his natural lack of speed by driving a motorcycle taxi.

Twende will premiere on Showmax across Africa on December 4. New episodes will roll out on Saturdays.

Once Upon A Studio debuts in Africa

Featuring 543 characters from more than 85 Disney feature-length and short films, Once Upon a Studio welcomes heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers - in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation - to celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements.

Will be on Disney+ from 09h00, Disney Channel from 16h55 and on e.tv at 18h20.

Also on OpenView at these times:

- eExtra: 17h50

- eSeries: 18h15

- eToonz: 18h50

- eReality: 18h50

- eMovies: 19h50

- eMovies Extra: 19h50

- ePlesier: 20h00

November on MTV

Help, I'm In A Secret Relationship S2B

Monday, November 27th @20:00

Episodes 211-224

The broken hearts professionals are back in action! In season 2 of HIIASR, Travis and Rahne return to the streets to help suspicious and confused partners find out why their relationship’s being kept secret. But with the trend of hiding more prevalent than ever…they’ve got their work cut out for them this around.

On season 2 of HIIASR, our hosts are dealing with wilder stories, even crazier twists, and more jaw-dropping, shocking reveals than they’ve ever encountered before.

Channel Termination: HONEY To Go Dark On DStv From 31 October 2023

HONEY was Africa's first Pan-African lifestyle channel operated by Media24 who also manage the Afrikaans brand, Via. Catering to most parts of Africa in which MultiChoice operate would offer bold and unscripted content that could connect with Africans.

Some of the shows to have been viewed on the channel include Yes, I Have HIV, Making The Menu and What's Wrong With Me? alongside M-Net productions like Our Perfect Wedding and Date My Family.

After a 3 year run, MultiChoice decided to axe the lifestyle channel with viewers only getting word on the termination through the programme guide. They don't provide any detail regarding the sudden cancellation only that it would bow out from 31 October 2023.

The termination of HONEY coincide with Novela Magic and Maisha Magic Movies all of which were tailored to African audiences. If one had to guess, HONEY struggled to garner traction and similar to these two MultiChoice went as far as bundling these channels to Access.

It's likely that these changes will be applicable to consumers only in South Africa and overtime more markets will follow. This would have to do with the original productions produced on HONEY which we assume Mzansi Magic and Moja Love will pick up for their brands.

Although there has been no word on a replacement, MultiChoice had begun production on another local channel likely a sister channel to Zambezi Magic. Should it launch in South Africa, it might be added to the same consumers that viewed HONEY being Access consumers.

Another channel in which the pay-tv company is set to launch in the coming months is Play Room. A children's channel which looks to combine fun and learning with popular animated series like CoComelon in Zulu alongside live-action shows like Game Shakers.

News Shorts: SuperSport's WWE Channel Rolls Out A Brand New On Air Logo, Krishi Rumoured To Make Freemium Debut On Zee One And eVOD To Stream Mother Led Drama From October 17

WWE Channel is going through some changes

It started out as pop-up channel known as SuperSlam back in 2019 and since then had proven to be a popular addition to DStv customers. Featuring live events like Raw, SmackDown and NXT with other content like WrestleMania, Notsam Wrestling and Jambo WWE.

The following year, SuperSport revamped their sporting offering each of them including WWE had the "S" logo imprinted to their name. But for some reason, WWE Channel had to wait 3 years as this was part of an alignment strategy as a means to get the channels closer together.

Various content from WWE Channel has spread across various SuperSport channels and with the brand having distribution rights to their programming it sort of made sense for the channel to incorporate the company's logo as opposed to making it feel entirely owned by WWE.

Krishi to make freemium debut on Openview

Set in Bhagalpur, Bihar, it follows the story of a girl named Krishna wants to get a good education to become a block development officer and improve her family's life. However, she faces many hardships along the way.

It starred Mitali Nag as Krishna Raj, Kinshuk Mahajan as Pintu Singh, Shahbaz Khan as Tuntun Singh, Yash Sinha as Babloo Singh and Shivshakti Sachdev as Priyanka ‘‘Pinky’’ Raj.

The drama is slated to rollout on weekdays at 10PM.

eVOD is getting into mama drama

eVOD continues to boost their local offering in the region as the streamer unveiled another production set to rollout on the platform from October 17, Mother Of All.

Ex-cop Nolwazi "Nono" Mathebula (Zenande Mfenyana), walks out of prison resolving to be an exemplary daughter to her religious mother. She is also determined to be an amazing mother to her celebrity daughter and become a model citizen through gainful employment. 

Other attractions to rollout on eMedia's platforms include the second season of Roekeloos Dade. After being yanked away from e.tv, Roekeloos Dade is set to replace Winter Son from October 18.

GoQuest Media Will Now Handle Distribution Of Disney Star Across Africa

Indian broadcaster Disney Star, which operates the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service, has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Mumbai-based distributor GoQuest Media.

The pact sees GoQuest becoming the sole distributor for Disney Star’s content portfolio across Africa, including content dubbed in both English and Hindi and encompassing TV and OTT rights to Disney Star’s linear programming catalogue.

Across a TV network that the company claims reaches more than 700 million viewers in nine languages every month and its successful streaming platform, Disney Star generates more than 20,000 hours of original content every year, including general entertainment, sports, films, infotainment, kids and lifestyle content.

The catalogue GoQuest will be shopping in Africa includes Anupamaa, Imlie, Kasauti Zindagii Kay, Yeh Jaadu Hai Jinn Ka and Chandra Nandini, under an agreement that “represents a strategic move to bring popular Indian content to a wider African audience,” according to the two parties.

The move comes after GoQuest has introduced foreign-language titles to Africa over the past 10 years. GoQuest MD Vivek Lath said: “Our track record, strong partnerships and knowledge of the region and local audiences have positioned us as the ideal team to introduce Disney Star’s Indian collection to this market.”

Sudhir Nagpal, head of international business at Disney Star, added: “Africa has a strong viewer base for our content, especially for our series across languages. We continuously seek opportunities to connect with our audience and this collaboration with GoQuest Media is another step in that direction.”

Sneak Peek: What To Expect On DStv's Newest Addition Play Room?

Play Room is a children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group which will combine education and entertainment through a mix of South African and international content, together with popular animated shows dubbed in Zulu. The channel is set to go live on November 6 to all DStv packages.

Below is a list of confirmed shows for the channel

Preschool

• Akili And Me: Currently seen on Akili Kids in East Africa, Akili is a four-year-old who lives in the Savannah highlands in Kilimanjaro. Every time she goes to sleep, she finds herself in a magic world called Lala Land where she goes on adventures and learns new things. 

• Jabu's Jungle: It follows a young and intrepid nine-year-old from Masiphumelele: Cape Town, and his Magic Talking Drum, explore the jungle and help animals in need, set to Afro-pop music.

• Noah's Park: After leaving Noah's Ark, some of the animals found the perfect place to start life again in Noah's Park! But starting over in a brand new world also means there are a lot of lessons to be learned. 

• Animal Time: JJ's best animal pals are back and sillier than ever! Sing along with JJ and his friends on their wild and hilarious adventures featuring fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes, and so much more.

• Cocoland: This educational series teaches little ones values like empathy, solidarity and respect, as well as the importance of cooperation to build community.

Kids

• Play Room Live: It brings back a tried and trusted format that audiences love which combine the world of television with social media to create an interactive, always-on world of fun and entertainment for teens and tweens".

• Game Shakers: Formerly seen on Nickelodeon, Babe and Kenzie create a popular application named Sky Whale. However, rapper Double G threatens to ruin their business because he finds out they have been using his song without permission.

• Enchantimals: Meet the Enchantimals! A group of lovable girls who are somewhere between human and animal. With their animal besties, they share an unbreakable bond of friendship.

• Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures: Barbie embarks on adventures with friends and family -- including next-door neighbor Ken -- in this animated vlog of adventures filmed inside her family's new dreamhouse.

• Henry Danger: Henry Hart, a thirteen-year-old boy, works secretly as Kid Danger, a sidekick to superhero Captain Man. He must protect his own exploits from being discovered by his family and friends.