Regular Nick Shorts: SuperSport Schools To Rollout New eSports Series, Angelo Rules Currently On Boing Picked Up For A Season 6 And Nickelodeon Unveils New Series Fairly OddParents: A New Wish

SuperSport expands the eSports bonanza to Africa

SuperSport Schools, Africa’s leading broadcast platform for school sports, is proud to announce a trailblazing partnership with the African Cyber Gaming League (ACGL), a prominent South African esports company specializing in online and LAN tournament administration, management and broadcasting to produce a weekly show.

With a keen focus on interactive marketing, ACGL offers specialised channels to enhance brand awareness and advertising in the dynamic realm of esports. Committed to fostering grassroots talent is evident through the management of the largest school league in South Africa, the nitro ASL, with over 160 schools currently registered and an ever-expanding community.

With this exciting partnership, SuperSport Schools will be broadcasting the launch of GamePlay, a groundbreaking show set to debut on 16 May at 19h00. Hosted by Collins ‘Skarra’ Manyame, a Twitch streamer and ACGL’s Social Manager, the show promises to showcase the best of esports action, analysis and interviews. GamePlay will be accessible to audiences across SuperSport Schools’ platforms and on DStv channel 216, marking a significant milestone in the promotion of esports within Africa.

Angelo Rules renewed 

The animated comedy Angelo Rules has a sixth season in the works to launch in France and Germany in early 2026.

Angelo Rules is a TeamTO production in collaboration with France Télévisions, Canal+ and Super RTL. The latest season brings the total number of 11-minute episodes to 312, along with one Christmas special.

Based on a popular book series by Sylvie de Mathuisieulx and illustrated by Sébastien Diologent, Angelo Rules has aired in over 100 territories on platforms such as Cartoon Network (EMEA, Latin America, Asia), RAI (Italy), Televisió de Catalunya (Spain) and TG4 (Ireland).

Fairly OddParents is back for thirds

“The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish” follows “ten-year-old Hazel Wells [who] has just moved to the big city of Dimmadelphia because of her dad’s new job. On top of being in an unfamiliar environment, it’s the first time she’s been without her brother, Antony, who’s just left for college, leaving her lonely and unsure of herself. All that changes when the pink-and-green-haired neighbors next door reveal that they are no ordinary neighbors…they’re Cosmo and Wanda, Fairy Godparents! And they’re coming out of retirement to make all of Hazel’s wishes come true.”

Ashleigh Crystal Hairston will voice Hazel while “Fairly OddParents” alums Daran Norris and Susanne Blakeslee will reprise their roles as Cosmo and Wanda, respectively. The 20-episode series will premiere Monday, May 20 on Nickelodeon USA and will stream on Netflix internationally later this year.

New Channel Alert (Rumour): Super Screen, Another SuperSport Channel Is Coming Soon To DStv

During the day, MultiChoice had been conducting tests on another TV channel which we can confirm comes from SuperSport. This channel offers mainly football from what we've analyzed due to Serie A, La Liga and UEFA Champions League. 

From what we were able to pick up through other outlets the channel goes by the name, Super Screen. Which seems to be quite confusing on our part as the channel only offers repeat broadcasts to already seen matches on other channels. 

It basically a linear version of SuperSport Play although not necessarily as Super Screen is viewed as a separate channel. 

If anything, could it be possible that Super Screen is being curated for Easyview or Access consumers. Compared to other DStv consumers, the sports was lacking on these packages and it was only in recent months where one of the two saw improvements.

Super Screen would probably be the final peace of the puzzle to SuperSport's rivalry with the free-to-air sector should it launch on Easyview. Currently the only offering viewed on Easyview is Blitz, a news and highlights channel.

New Series Alert: The Day Henry Met And Earth To Luna Coming Soon To Play Room

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group that offers fun and learning with a mixture of locally produced content part alongside international shows is set to debut two new series, The Day Henry Met and Earth To Luna.

The Day Henry Met follows a charming, inquisitive Irish lad, meets something new like the knight or a whale, it becomes the focus of his journey of discovery and adventure, ultimately teaching viewers about real-life objects and occupations.

The series was allocated on Nick Jr. by September 2017 and since then has won numerous awards the first for Best European Work at Cartoons at The Pulcinella Award. This was followed by Best Animation award at the Irish TV Gala Awards. 

Earth To Luna follows the adventures of Luna, a young girl who is in love with science, her little brother Jupiter and their pet ferret Clyde. Unlike The Day Henry Met the series targets a wider spectrum between the ages of 4-9 year olds.

The series debuted in the United States by 2014 on Universal Kids and Discovery Kids. Since then over 200 episodes had been filmed across eight seasons each with a duration of 15 episodes.

The Day Henry Met airs daily at 11:00 on Play from 14 May and Earth To Luna airs daily at 17:15 from 20 May.

"Analyzing Kuiertyd": Why e.tv's Kelders Van Geheime And Annekan Die Swa Kry Have Simultaneous Broadcasts On eExtra?

During the week, eMedia Investments unveiled their first local Afrikaans soap, Kelders Van Geheime. After SABC had shuttered 7de Laan back in 2023 and moved further Afrikaans content to SABC 3, eMedia had continued to bolster the entertainment. 

Initially being reduced to merely dubbed content from Turkey, eMedia Investments expanded the lineup to include local productions Ouma Sarie and Die Fakulteit. Both of which currently have exclusive runs on eExtra serving a minority of e.tv's viewers.

As some readers aware, Annekan Die Swa Kry is currently being transmitted on both e.tv and eExtra in the same timeslot. Kelders Van Geheime was also anticipated to follow the same route with eExtra doing weekly repeats on Saturday nights.

From what was understood about eMedia's decision to get Kelders Van Geheime at 18:00 on eExtra. It was to give consumers on the channel time to view this new soap without it getting in the way of Elif which now comes on 30 minutes later.

But Annekan Die Swa Kry's inclusion still remains very much a mystery to date.

From what we've hypothesized is that eMedia Investments is positioning eExtra as their go to destination for Afrikaans content like KykNET. Getting Annekan Die Swa Kry and Kelders Van Geheime was probably an alignment on eExtra and with e.tv exposure.

Reducing the Guilty Pleasures a name given to the non-Kuiertyd stuff was probably a means to reduce their focus in that area. Not that consumers weren't watching Naagin or Rebel Princess but similar to Judge Judy on e.tv exist as overflows.

When a channel doesn't have much content on their plate they either reduce their duration or increase the airtime for their content. Overflow is what you consider Kuiertyd's daily repeats on e.tv or Eternal Love or Naagin on eExtra - additional content. 

You just don't prioritize these areas you would find new episodes and rebroadcasts of Naagin in the same timeslot. Then you have Kuiertyd's primetime block on eExtra where a current TV program is phased out for another with repeats loaded on ePleiser. 

Disney & ESPN Reportedly In Talks To Acquire The NFL

Back in July 2023 it was reported that Disney is in talks with the NFL, NBA, and MLB to have them take joint ownership of ESPN along with Disney. Now it is being reported that Disney is close to a deal that would see ESPN take over the NFL Network in a deal with the NFL.

Exact details of the deal are unknown but earlier reports said that the NFL would offer their games to be aired on ESPN in exchange for a small share of ESPN. Exactly how much the NFL would own of ESPN is unknown. It is also unknown if this deal will still include the NFL taking part ownership of ESPN.

According to CNBC, theNFL could include Disney taking a stake in the NFL Network, NFL.com, and RedZone. With ESPN taking over production of all three. This could help both sides benefit by giving the NFL access to ESPN productions and Disney access to NFL money. The Wall Street Journal also added that the NFL+ service could be a part of this deal with Disney.

Disney currently owns 80% of ESPN, and Hearst owns 20%. Disney could easily sell part of ESPN to the NFL and NBA and still own a controlling majority of ESPN.

For now, we will have to wait and see what happens. Now that ESPN is building its own direct-to-consumer streaming service, it clearly is looking for partners to help make that a reality.