New Series Alert: New English/Afrikaans Dubbed Telenovela "Innocence" Debuts This April On SABC 3

After KykNET & Kie debuted a 2 hour timeslot for Turkish dramas as a rival offering to eExtra's Kuiertyd. The public broadcaster is next to join in the war of Istanbul with the addition of a new daily drama from the 1st April at 16:30 titled Innocence.

Synopsis for Innocence:

The life of Bahar, who leads an ordinary life, will change forever when her daughter becomes a victim of violence. On the night of February 24, a young girl is found who was thought to be dead. Ela Yüksel turned 19 that day. Her mother accuses businessman İlker Ilgaz. İlker is about to marry İrem. With the mother's accusations, İlker and Ela's forbidden love, the bloody truths of all three families will come to light.

Innocence (also known as Masumiyet) starred Hülya Avşar as Hale Ilgaz, Deniz Çakır as Bahar Yüksel, Mehmet Aslantuğ as Harun Orhun, İlayda Alişan as Ela Yüksel and Serkay Tütüncü as İlker Ilgaz. 

It premiered on 24 February 2021 and concluded on 24 May 2021 with a total of 13 episodes on NOW. Formerly known as FOX, the channel is home to shows such as Om Elke Draai (Her Yerde Sen), Dokter Ali (Mucize Doctor), Doodsondes (Yasak Elma).

The news of the channel's first ever Afrikaans dubbed telenovela comes after the public broadcaster had moved further Afrikaans shows to SABC 3. As they look to restructure SABC 3 as a multilingual brand as seen with sister networks SABC 1 and SABC 2.

“We are very excited to launch this slot, and we couldn’t have done it with more apt drama. The story in INNOCENCE is aligned to the times of our modern society as it explores the unfortunate realities of transactional relationships, fame/popularity, cyber bullying, and gender-based violence that plague our modern society. We have seen the staggering increase in popularity of Turkish drama the world over, and South Africa is no exception. We have selected the most recently produced and compelling drama titles to ensure our viewers will be highly entertained on a daily basis”- Sane Zondi, S3 Head of Channel.

Reminder: The Second Season Of High-Stakes Medical Drama, SkyMed, Premieres Exclusively On Universal TV In Africa On 1 April

NBCUniversal International Networks & Direct-to-Consumer today announced the territory premiere of the second season of high-stakes medical drama, SkyMed, on Universal TV in Africa. The young medics and pilots flying air ambulances return for more life, death, and drama in the skies of remote Northern Canada. The new season will air every Monday at 20:00 CAT from April 1, exclusively on Universal TV in Africa, with episodes available on Universal+ immediately thereafter.

SkyMed’s second season promises new hookups, heartbreaks, and challenges on the job as the medevac service expands into new territory, throwing the flight crew into intense new emergencies at work and in their personal lives.

The series was inspired by creator Julie Puckrin’s sister and brother-in-law who met flying air ambulances. Returning to SkyMed is Natasha Calis (The Possession, The Firm) as Nurse Hayley Roberts, Morgan Holmstrom (Day of the Dead, I Still See You) as no-nonsense Nurse Crystal Highway, Praneet Akilla (Nancy Drew, October Faction) as First Officer Chopper, “Ace” Aason Nadjiwon (Step Up All In, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce) as golden boy pilot Captain Austen Bodie, Mercedes Morris (Between, Slasher) as First Officer Lexi Martine, Thomas Elms (I Still See You, Timeless) as icy-cool pilot Captain Nowak, and Kheon Clarke (The Magicians, Supermans & Lois) as Nurse Tristan Green. Braeden Clarke (Impulse, Run Woman Run) reprises his recurring role as Crystal’s charming on-again-off-again love interest, Jeremy Wood, Emilia McCarthy (Zombies) returns as Madison and Aaron Ashmore (Ginny & Georgia, Veronica Mars, The Thaw) returns as Wheezer, the wise-cracking big brother that everyone looks up to.

Cast joining the second season includes Sydney Kuhne (Ginny & Georgia) as fiery new flight medic Stef, Ryan Ali (The Hummingbird Project) as handsome young pilot Reese, and Nadine Whiteman-Roden (Faith Heist) as Dr. Yana Noah.

SkyMed is produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster, and CBS Studios. The series is created by Julie Puckrin, who also serves as executive producer along with Vanessa Piazza and Gillian Hormel. Outside of Canada, SkyMed is distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Season 2 of SkyMed premieres on April 1 at 20:00 CAT, exclusively on Universal TV in Africa, with new episodes every Monday. The episodes will also be available on Universal+.

Moonbug Entertainment To Rollout New Children's Channel Blippi & Friends In MENA With More International Territories To Be Added Soon

Candle Media-owned kids’ entertainment outfit Moonbug Entertainment has launched its second linear channel, Blippi & Friends, catering to young audiences across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Distributed by Intigral on Jawwy TV and stc tv, Blippi & Friends is a 24/7 linear channel named after Moonbug’s live-action pre-school brand, targeting children aged four to eight years old. It includes a daily segment tailored to younger pre-schoolers.

The channel’s lineup boasts a diverse array of Blippi shows such as Blippi Visits, Blippi Draws, and the Blippi Game Show, alongside other popular franchises like Meekah and the feature-length special Big Dino Adventure. The daily segment for pre-schoolers showcases beloved shows including CoComelon, Little Angel, and Arpo.

Intigral’s streaming platforms Jawwy TV and stc tv extend the reach of Blippi & Friends across Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Nicolas Eglau, Managing Director of EMEA, APAC and Global Distribution at Moonbug Entertainment, said: “Following the successful launch of our Moonbug linear channel, which is now available in 83 countries across the globe, we are delighted to announce the launch of the brand new 24/7 Blippi & Friends channel in the Middle East and North Africa.

“Designed to enrich families and their daily routines, this channel has been curated with the local market in mind, with Blippi not only sharing bespoke messages but celebrating regional holidays and moments too. The launch of this channel marks our next step in bringing great entertainment to children across the world.”

Moonbug, known for its success on YouTube, previously introduced its first linear pay TV channel in South Africa in 2022, with MultiChoice incorporating the Moonbug Kids channel into its lineup.

Patrice MotsepeIs In Talks To Join Canal+ In A Bid To Acquire MultiChoice Group

Billionaire Patrice Motsepe is in talks with Groupe Canal+ to join the French broadcaster’s multibillion-dollar bid for broadcaster MultiChoice Group, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bringing South Africa’s richest black man into the deal would likely help the French media conglomerate meet the country’s stringent black ownership requirements, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is still private.

Representatives for both Canal+ and Motsepe’s investment company, African Rainbow Capital, declined to comment. Discussions are at an early stage and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached, said the people.

Canal+ has built up a holding above 35% in MultiChoice, South Africa’s biggest pay-TV group, triggering a mandatory takeover offer. If the Vivendi Group-owned French broadcaster can navigate the country’s limits on foreign media ownership, it will gain greater access to African markets, home to the world’s fastest-growing and youngest population.

Canal+ is expected to make a formal offer for MultiChoice at R125/share, valuing the company at about R55-billion, before 8 April for consideration by the board’s independent members, said the people. The French company had pushback from MultiChoice on its earlier offer of R105/share.

Formed in South Africa in 1985, MultiChoice expanded across Africa in the early 1990s with packages including live English football matches and local shows. The company was spun off from Naspers in 2019. It also owns Showmax, the popular video streaming service and Netflix rival.

Vivendi aims to combine its local Canal+ operations with MultiChoice, creating a group with almost 50 million subscribers and resources to invest more in local content and sports.  

Credits: Bloomberg and TechCentral

BOMBSHELL. WildEarth Goes On A Rant And Exposes Lucrative Business Deal With MultiChoice's DStv

During the week, it was mentioned by WildEarth's CEO that they have made numerous attempts to in securing carriage fees for their channel on DStv. Following unsuccessful attempts, the company is looking to take their channel off DStv by the end of April.

The only way WildEarth can remain on the DStv platform would be for MultiChoice to pay for the channel and not vice versa.

Earlier the company had mentioned that MultiChoice would rather pay for National Geographic and National Geographic Wild. But through ongoing interaction with viewers some minor details had been revealed about their agreement with DStv.

Here’s a little David and Goliath story - although at this point, it is difficult to see how David is not going to get...

Posted by Wildearth on Tuesday, March 26, 2024

On top of their financial woes, WildEarth has been paying MultiChoice to keep the channel on air. For 4 straight years, WildEarth on top of generating some ad revenue had to split part of those earnings to keep their space on DStv and cover other expenses. 

Taking to account such deals are not unlawful but haven't proven to be favorable either. It's like running your own website where the publisher (DStv) offers ad platforms (WildEarth) a space to promote in exchange for money with ad platforms getting exposure.

Based on circumstances, it's "likely" WildEarth approached MultiChoice and only agreed to this as they were hoping to salvage more out of this. Not a lot of people were familiar with the brand as seen with flagship show SafariLIVE it seems like the only logical conclusion. 

Another would be that MultiChoice positioned WildEarth as a business type channel as seen with former channels VOOV and TV Mall.

MultiChoice had agreed to carry WildEarth as a pop-up channel initially under those terms. Based on figures opted to continue this agreement while WildEarth running on the platform was hoping to join the league of Warner Bros. Discovery and BBC Studios. 

Donate to WildEarth: click here 

Petition to keep WildEarth on DStv: click here