"Beating A Dead...": Why SpongeBob SquarePants Graveyard Channel Still Serves A Purpose In Africa?

Nicktoons is an international brand operated by Paramount Global and also serves as a sister station to both Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. It was basically a nickname given for the latter's animated productions as the linear channel exists to air archived material.

The channel launched in Africa by September 2014 after NBCUniversal and Corus Entertainment had shuttered KidsCo. It served as the most popular international adaptation of the channel airing animated shows from the 90s to early 00s.

But in recent years this had all changed as the channel was often functioning on autopilot as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Casagrandes takeover the channel. The magic had just vanished as the brand follows a similar pursuit as other international feeds.

As some readers are aware, similar to MTV both Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. are being streamlined at this point using a more unified feed in other countries. This has prevented/minimized the number of local variations to hit consumer's screens.

There are still a few of these feeds available some due to local quotas which expand further to include children's channels.

In Africa, these local investments had been splashed onto Paramount’s remaining set of channels. For instance, MTV Base it has been seen airing MTV's Shuga despite being positioned as a music channel while others like Have Faith air on BET.

Nicktoons was also a result of these endeavors as it currently offers the Nick Jr. block which would often air content that hasn't been seen on the Nick Jr. channel like Munki And Trunk. Same goes with local dubbings of animated shows and NickMusic.

South Africa’s Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) Has Granted MultiChoice And Canal+ An Extension To The Period They Have To Finalise An Agreement To Be Put To Shareholders

On April 8, the French pay TV operator and the South African service provider agreed to post a ‘combined circular’ to shareholders by May 7, some 20 business days later. This would have marked the point at which Canal+’s offer was open to shareholders to accept.

The pair have now secured an extension until June 4.

MultiChoice said the extension was necessary to give its independent expert and the independent board enough set up to examine the deal  time to properly fulfil their responsibilities.

Canal+ and MultiChoice agreed the terms of the French pay TV operator’s proposed mandatory offer to acquire 100% control of the South African company on April 8, with MultiChoice shareholders to receive ZAR125 per ordinary share.

The price was well above the ZAR105 regulatory minimum threshold and represents a 67% premium on MultiChoice shares’ closing price on February 1. When Canal+ made its initial offer for the company.

MultiChoice set up an independent board to consider the offer and appointed Standard Bank of South Africa to advise it.

If Canal+ succeeds in securing 90% of MultiChoice shares during the offer period, it then has the right to acquire any remaining shares and delist MultiChoice.

Since the outline agreement, Canal+ has acquired further shares in MultiChoice, taking its stake to above 40%.

June 2024 On Nickelodeon And Nick Jr. Global | New Movie Alert: No Time To Spy: A Loud House Movie | Returning Shows Including Paw Patrol | More

Nickelodeon 

THE LOUD HOUSE

• New episodes: 714-716, 718-720

• 03/06 – 14/06

• Monday-Friday

• Time: 16:30

Lincoln Loud is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with ten sisters. With the help of his right-hand man Clyde, Lincoln finds new ways to survive in such a large family everyday. 

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS 

• New eps: 111-120

• 17/06 - 28/06

• Monday-Friday

• Time: 16:00

Rock, Paper and Scissors are three best friends who share an apartment together and compete over everything. Week to week, they have tiny problems that always get out of hand.

NO TIME TO SPY: A LOUD HOUSE MOVIE

• Sunday June 23rd

• Time: 12:00/16:15

Lincoln and the Louds are ecstatic to welcome their new Gran-Gran, Myrtle, into the family with a tropical wedding celebration; but the festivities are cut short when an old nemesis from Myrtle's secret agent past appears on the island.

Nick Jr.

BARBAPAPA

NEW SEASON

• Episodes: #201-213

• 27/05/2024 - 14/06/2024

• Monday-Friday

• 11:20am/pm, 02:00am/pm, 06:30pm

The dazzling return to the world's screens of the most pop family of them all! BARBAPAPA - One big happy family! Routine does not exist for the Barbapapas: each day is a merry adventure full of surprises!

PAW PATROL

NEW EPISODES

• Episodes: #1018-1022

• 17/06/2024 – 28/06/2024

• Monday-Friday

• 06:50am, 12:45am/pm, 05:00am/pm, 07:05pm

PAW PATROL follows the adventures of 10-year old Ryder and his pack of 6 uniquely talented, well-equipped and very lovable rescue puppies. In the Lookout on a hill above Adventure Bay, Ryder and the Paw Patrol live, play and frequently save the day!

"The Mighty Have Fallen": Beyond Love Will Also Lose Daytime Repeats With Evil Affairs As Game Of Love And The Evil Eye Take Center Stage From May 6th On Star Life

Last month, it was reported that Evil Affairs will no longer get daytime repeats and zero mentions by the channel. This comes due to onslaught of complaints from several consumers about the show's dark nature and depiction of religious norms and values.

At the time of publishing, not much was known about how Star Life will fill up the timeslot for Evil Affairs or the rippling effect it would have to its other shows. But through an updated programme guide we've got to see the harsh realities of these changes.

From May 6th, Evil Affairs will only air daily at 22:00 with repeats of Game Of Love at 09:00 followed by The Evil Eye at 13:00. The channel had failed to mention Beyond Love had been caught in the crossfire as it too will be losing daytime repeats.

From our understanding, Star Life's schedule follows a particular format ABC-123 and breaking that would cause disruption. Seeing as Game Of Love And The Evil Eye didn't get that much airtime in its current state slotting them in minimized the problem.

Instead of Beyond Love getting double bill repeats the channel probably wants to give all their other shows a fair amount of airtime. Of course, the decision to remove Beyond Love and Evil Affairs from the daytime had only stirred up criticism amongst consumers.

Some are led to wonder if more censorship could be instilled from this point on. If StarPlus had a another program like Evil Affairs it could be excluded another instance is that Star Life follows Telemundo and makes 22:00 their "Super Series" slot.

But then there comes issues with Star Life in this matter, Telemundo is willing to repeat these shows throughout the night until no later than 5am. Star Life to make 15 shows look bloated at this point offers zero repeats for the affected shows in the night. 

It's more of a you snooze you lose type of scenario here as some consumers would probably have to wait a couple of months or years for a rebroadcast of Beyond Love. Unlike Evil Affairs, it is more of a victim and that is due to its current timeslot. 

Notes

• Evil Affairs airs daily at 22:00 followed by Beyond Love at 22:30 from May 6th.

• Repeats of Game Of Love airs daily at 09:00 and The Evil Eye at 13:00 also from May 6th.

• The schedule remains the same for other shows.

Development Alert: By Public Demand, Star Life Will No Longer Air Daytime Repeats Of Evil Affairs

During the week, it was reported that Star Life will be rolling out a new series Jhanak replacing Faltu once it comes to an end in May. But that's not the only surprise set to hit viewer's screens later in the month as another deals with their current show, Evil Affairs.

The supernatural drama alongside Beyond Love debuted earlier in the month replacing Divya-Drishti. It was met with an onslaught of complaints from viewers about its dark themes and depiction of Hinduism with some viewing it as scary. 

Last minute notice, the channel published on their Facebook page plans to halt daytime repeats of Evil Affairs. Not only that further alienate it from other shows in terms of promos meaning consumers can only enjoy at 22:00 and possibly anytime in the night. 

👻📺 Big news! You shared, we heard! Starting TOMORROW, "Evil Affairs" won't haunt your daytime screens anymore. No...

Posted by Star Life Africa on Tuesday, April 30, 2024

It also means that consumers who had been catching up to Evil Affairs in the daytime will miss out meaning the show would have lost an audience and also not much advertising would be expected for that show as the audience would be limited. 

Since then consumers have gone to the page to express their displeasure with the decision including: 

Faith Choolwe Maambo who said some of us we only manage to watch evil affairs during the day why removing it Star Life Africa watching it at night is very scary

Lesego Lesh Gaitsiwe who said some of us work night shifts nd the only time we got is during the day star life nonono

Euphemia Mwema who said now what is going to be airing on the time of their repeat??this is not fair for us who don’t manage watching at night we prefer watching repeats so please spare us and we are tired of ANUPAMA,My Desire and Lost in Love.🙏And that 30 minutes or 25 is too little

Several consumers had since then asked the channel what program will occupy the repeat slot at the time of publishing. From what we can presume, Beyond Love could as well air double repeats or the existing lineup could take up its timeslot. 

But the channel also lagging around 15 shows as seen with sister channels StarPlus and Star Bharat. Competitive channels Zee World is following a similar route in terms of content by focusing more on fresher releases.