More Broadcasters Are Reportedly Set To Lose WWE Following Shift To Netflix

Earlier in the year, it was reported that WWE had signed an exclusive deal with Netflix worth $10 billion to bring the trademark exclusively to their services. This would bring WWE's run on linear TV to an end after 31 years as it broadcasts on Netflix in 2025.

Netflix would become the exclusive home to weekly shows Raw, Smackdown and NXT alongside premium live events like WrestleMania and Crown Jewel. This would affect consumers in U.S., U.K., Canada and Latin America with international expansion underway. 

Existing broadcasters such as FOX (U.S.), SportsNet (Canada), TNT Sports (UK) and ESPN (Latin America) will need to find a replacement. Sports journalist Dave Meltzer sites AEW as one of the potential leads for international broadcasting deals. 

But there's a catch as mentioned by Dave:

"Essentially they’re all losing their wrestling, and if the stations want to keep wrestling the best option is AEW. And if AEW is able to get deals with these stations at even half of what WWE gets, or less than half of what WWE gets, that alone would make it profitable even if the WBD deal isn’t a big increase.”

If anything, could SuperSport look into snatching AEW from TNT I mean compared to when WWE was with its previous broadcaster. All events are Express From The U.S. and unlike WWE's endeavors none of the weekly live events were shortened.

Perhaps even Ring Of Honor, it is currently owned by Tony Khan who also manage All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Then lastly New-Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), they have done several events with AEW with some familiar faces like Jon Moxley, Matt Riddle and Mercedes Moné.

If anything, don't expect this content to get a standalone channel on DStv for now at least. Considering that these promotions don't have familiarity with audiences it's future is dependent on them and that would determine its growth on SuperSport.

Skydance Media Plans To Merge Their Operations With Paramount Global, Could This Have An Everlasting Affect On Nickelodeon And MTV?

As some readers are aware, Shari Redstone is looking to sell her shares in Paramount Global home to MTV and Nickelodeon. Currently, Skydance Media and Sony Pictures Television in a joint bid with Apollo Global Management are battling it out.

The Sony-Apollo deal has garnered a lot of media scrutiny as insiders report a possible dismemberment of their linear portfolio. With Paramount Studios being merged onto Sony Pictures Television current offering and studio lots auctioned off.

Skydance Media proposal is said to be favorable because unlike Sony-Apollo they wouldn't go through any regulatory hurdles for foreign ownership. Their plan would be to merge their operations with Paramount Global of course the finer details haven't been outlined. 

From what several sources uncovered, Skydance Media is planning to merge/bundle Paramount+ with another streaming service. It is no secret that Netflix and Disney+ have been edging out the competition so it's likely they're looking after Paramount’s interests. 

Skydance Media has worked with Paramount Global on several projects such as Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Top Gun, Jack Reacher and Star Trek.

If anything, we presume a possible merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global could lead to a reduction of content or at least for its linear portfolio. As mentioned, Skydance wants to merge Paramount+ with another streaming service. 

On top of that they've got several projects in development and with Paramount Pictures they'll expand on that. Prior to acquisition talks, Netflix had licensed various content from Nickelodeon like Saving Bikini Bottoms: The Sandy Cheeks Movie and Fairly OddParents: A New Wish.

Although Sony-Apollo would lead to the purging of TV channels outside of regulatory confinement. These channels could lose credibility under Skydance Media and serve as second fiddle to the endeavors licensed to Netflix or even Apple TV+.

News Shorts: The Caring Friend Circle Coming Soon To Play Room, A Rebroadcast Of The Impostor Launches On Telemundo Across Africa And WildEarth Extends Its Reach To Freeview In The UK

More Sesame Street on Play Room

Not long ago, Play Room had scooped up rights to more educational content from Sesame Workshop with Math Adventures. Now the channel will continue its investment toward the franchise with the rollout of The Caring Friends Circle.

Elmo learns something super important about himself. The Caring Friends Circle plays a game where they say something they like about themselves while passing a ball. But when it is Elmo's turn, he is not sure what to say. 

It will air daily at 06:15 from 14 June.

Telemundo hits the snooze button

Based on the Chilean telenovela Cerro Alegre, The Impostor follows a young waitress with a great ability for imitation and acting, has to pose as a millionaire investor to infiltrate a very powerful New York family in order to uncover a hidden truth.

It starred Christian Bach as Raquel Altamira, Sebastián Zurita as Eduardo Leon Altamira, Lisette Morelos as Blanca Guerrero, Manuel Landeta as Adriano Ferrer and Armando Silvestre as Don Leónidas Altamira.

The series will replace Betty In New York daily at 19:00 from 14th June.

WildEarth goes abroad 

WildEarth's live and interactive shows aim to recreate the thrilling experience of being on a safari vehicle in remote African locations. The focus is on capturing serendipitous moments of unscripted magic, rather than relying on dramatic animal behaviour, to create an emotional connection between viewers and the natural world.

Online, the platform attracts seven million global monthly unique viewers and now those daily live broadcasts are available on TV in the UK.

Emily Wallington, Co-Founder of WildEarth, expressed her excitement about the partnership with Freeview, saying: "'WildEarth' is all about connecting people to nature in a real and unscripted way – in effect we are the largest safari vehicle in the word. This helps viewers to understand nature for what it really is and to see why we need to conserve our beautiful habitats. This partnership with Freeview in the UK is a major step in achieving this as we reach British viewers who love nature and care about the planet.”

Recap To Last Month: Don't Expect Any Daytime Repeats For The Controversial "Evil Affairs" On Star Life As Titli Moves To Late Nights

Star Life is a general entertainment channel operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in India. It is home to various English dubbed productions from India including Game Of Love, Anupamaa, Imlie and Divya-Drishti.

Last month, Star Life made the dastardly deed of halting daytime repeats of Evil Affairs and Beyond Love. This had caused an uproar of angry viewers demanding for them to be reinstated with the channel only opting to move further repeats to late nights. 

As some readers are aware, Beyond Love will be replaced by Titli as reported earlier as You Have My Heart debuts at 21:30 from 8 June. Unlike the fallen Beyond Love, Titli will also have a daytime slot at 13:30 meaning Evil Affairs will be isolated from the offering.

Fans have been hindered with curiosity over the channel's sudden decision not to incorporate Evil Affairs as it brought on dramas like Divya-Drishti and The Evil Eye all of which were made available for daytime audiences. 

Unlike the latter, Evil Affairs can be compared to the likes of the FOX original Lucifer formerly seen on M-Net. Due to religious preferences, viewers aren't accustomed to the level of Satanism depicted this is what led M-Net to move Lucifer from 19:00 to 23:00.

Beyond Love was victimized in the Evil Affairs saga with daytime broadcasts still possible as the channel needed to organize their current but this came when it was already too late.

New Series Alert: Math Adventures And Barbie: Dreamtopia 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, Math Adventures and Barbie: Dreamtopia. 

Produced by Sesame Workshop, Math Adventure is an educational TV show that seeks to help children improve on numbering skills. It featured Zoe, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird.

Barbie: Dreamtopia follows Chelsea Roberts as she finds herself touring her own make-believe land known as Dreamtopia with her big sister, Barbie. There, they discover a whole new munch-able world and swim through rainbow rivers with small mermaids.

Math Adventures airs daily at 06:40 and this would be followed by Barbie: Dreamtopia at 20:10 from 11 June.

Sesame Workshop is home to shows like Abby's High Flying Fairy School, Abby's Amazing Adventures and The Big Feeling Explorer. Other shows like Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures and Barbie: Magic Touch are all owned by Mattel Television.