Why eToonz Now Offers Shows Like MasterChef Junior?

eToonz is South Africa's first free-to-air children's channel operated by eMedia Investments. It broadcasts daily at 6am with preschool shows like Peppa Pig, Postman Pat and Bob The Builder alongside with other content like Trollstopia, All Hail King Julien and Ninjago.

Launched in 2013, eToonz initially served as a preschool filtered brand and to date remains as the only youth brand on Openview to feature animated and live-action shows. Despite the rise in competiton with MultiChoice ramping up a duplicate offering on Play Room.

There was a lot of commotion pertaining to its performance regardless eMedia Investments had continued to bolster the entertainment. The channel now offers its own slate of live-action something formerly offered on Craze on top getting more first run programs.

As seen in recent months, eMedia Investments opted to add MasterChef Junior from eReality to eToonz current line-up. The inclusion of MasterChef Junior would further expand its line-up.

Openview launched in 2013 and as mentioned eMedia Investments remains hush hush on eToonz performance. There's been rumours that not much consumption is being poured on the brand as sources site Openview's demographic for the low numbers.

If anything, the inclusion of MasterChef Junior helps draw in numbers as well as more mature content like The Thundermans, Hank Zipzer and Backstage. Such content is relatable with fiction cast aside viewers are able to envision themselves within these characters.

Canal+ Forced To Acquire Remaining Shares In MultiChoice

The Groupe Canal+ approach to MultiChoice Group has taken a dramatic turn: the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) has ruled that the French broadcaster must make a “mandatory offer” to the JSE-listed firm’s shareholders.

MultiChoice had earlier spurned the Canal+ offer and told its shareholders that they no longer had to exercise caution in trading in the group’s shares.

“Shareholders are advised that the TRP issued a ruling on 27 February to the effect that Canal+ has acquired 35.01% of the voting rights in MultiChoice and, accordingly, a mandatory offer in terms of section 123 of the [Companies Act] has been triggered,” MultiChoice said in a statement to shareholders on Wednesday.

Canal+ is required to make the mandatory offer immediately, in line with the requirements of the act

“Canal+ is therefore required to make the mandatory offer immediately, in line with the requirements of the act and the regulations,” the parent of DStv and Showmax said.

On 6 February, the TRP said it was investigating the offer made by Canal+ after MultiChoice ended potential buying talks with its largest shareholder.

On 1 February, Canal+ said it had offered R105/share for every MultiChoice share it did not already own. It said the offer — worth an estimated R31.7-billion, and representing a 40% premium to MultiChoice’s closing share price of R75 on 31 January.

The offer price was rejected by the continent’s biggest pay-TV company, saying it significantly undervalued the group. MultiChoice said, however, it was open to talk to anyone about any deal provided it was at a fair price.

Threshold

By buying a stake beyond 35%, Canal+ had exceeded the threshold at which South African law requires a company to make a mandatory offer to shareholders. However, MultiChoice asked the TRP to make a ruling on whether such an offer was required.

“The TRP contended that the publication of…the announcement without the approval of the TRP was unlawful, being in contravention of the act and the regulations, and issued a compliance notice against MultiChoice,” the broadcaster said in its statement on Wednesday.  

Development Alert: YouTube Kids Currently Seen On DStv Explora Ultra Is Being Discontinued On Various Platforms

Google integrated YouTube Kids directly inside the main YouTube app for TVs last year. However, the company has continued up until now to run the standalone YouTube Kids app on smart TVs, streaming devices, and gaming consoles.

In July, though, Google will pull the plug on the standalone YouTube Kids app on those devices. According to 9to5Google, the outlet confirmed with the company that the YouTube kids app will be pulled from smart TVs as well as streaming devices and game consoles.

YouTube Kids will continue to exist as a standalone app on iOS and Android devices. 

Google's move to remove the YouTube Kids app from those platforms comes shortly after other big changeups in kids-oriented platforms and apps. 

Earlier this year, Paramount completely killed off its standalone Nickelodeon app, where kids were able to watch clips and full episodes of their favorite Nick Jr. and Nicktoons shows. A pop-up message told users that they would need to go directly to the Nickelodeon website to continue to access their content. Following that move, Paramount also shut down the standalone subscription platform for Noggin, a Nickelodeon-affiliated brand that provided content for preschool-aged children, earlier this month.

Unlike those platforms, YouTube Kids is not going away entirely. Parents will be able to set YouTube Kids profiles in the main YouTube app and then select that profile in the "Who's watching" section in order to access the YouTube Kids platform. Parental control settings and other YouTube Kids features will still be available within those profiles.

News Shorts: MultiChoice Rumoured To Be Adding Crown TV To The DStv Platform And Dora To Premiere On Nick Jr. Channels Globally By April 15th

Crown TV to rollout on DStv

Crown Television is Zambian based TV channel operated by Crown Communications that is female managed and consists of young journalists. Since it's inception by February 2021, the channel is currently packaged on TopStar and the StarTimes app.

The channel is more familiar with their impartial, authentic and independent news slots Truth To Be Told and Grand News. It also features reality and drama series like Four Doors, Uwauma Nafyala, Rhumba Show, The Royal Breakfast Show and Valor Woman.

This past week, several consumers had spotted Crown TV under the test card for CBC on DStv leading some to believe that a partnership could be brewing between Crown Communications and MultiChoice.

Dora makes a landing

Paramount+ celebrates the triumphant return of iconic Latina heroine Dora the Explorer with the reveal of the official trailer and key art for the upcoming original preschool series DORA. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation and featuring 26 CG-animated 11-minute episodes, DORA will premiere on Friday, April 12, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Twenty episodes will be available to stream in all Paramount+ international markets outside of France and Japan on April 12. The series will also air on Nick Jr. internationally.

With all-new CG animation and imaginative character-driven storylines, the upcoming DORA series follows everyone’s favorite bilingual explorer, Dora (Diana Zermeño), and her best monkey friend, Boots (Asher Colton Spence), as they embark on epic adventures in a fantastical rainforest. Guided by trustworthy Map (Anairis Quiñones), Dora and her friends must work together to overcome many obstacles while being challenged by the sneakiest fox, Swiper (Marc Weiner). Kathleen Herles, the original voice of Dora the Explorer, returns to the new series as Mami, and Mike Smith Rivera joins the cast as Papi.

As Expected, Warner Bros. Discovery Ends Merger Negotiations With Paramount

Warner Bros. Discovery has gone "pencils down" on a potential acquisition of Paramount Global, halting talks after several months of kicking the tires on merging the media companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Skydance Media, the film and TV studio run by David Ellison, is still performing due diligence on a potential transaction, two of the people said.

Paramount Global has set up a special committee, which has hired its own financial advisor, to sift through potential bids for the whole company or certain assets. Media mogul Byron Allen offered $14 billion for the company last month, though he has a history of bidding on and not buying large media assets.

Comcast, the owner of CNBC parent NBCUniversal, isn't interested in acquiring Paramount Global assets, one of the people said. Comcast has been working with house bankers to explore a potential commercial partnership with Paramount Global, according to people familiar with the matter.

That could include bundling or merging streaming services Peacock and Paramount+, as previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, or a different arrangement. Still, it's unclear if Paramount Global would have interest in this as it explores sale scenarios.

Spokespeople for Comcast, Paramount Global, Skydance Media and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.