eExtra, eToonz, eMovies And eMovies Extra Continues On MultiChoice's DStv As eMedia Investments Looks To Take Legal Action Over Their Pending Demise

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice have been embroiled a carriage dispute regarding eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz. These channels are also allocated on the Openview platform with eExtra that is available on StarSat in a separate agreement. 

A hearing was scheduled for this August but according to a report it has been delayed once again with a date that has to be finalized. 

eMedia Investments is looking to take legal action against MultiChoice over the impending demise of these money grabbers. These channels ranked first, fourth, seventh and tenth serve as additional revenue stream to aid in the distribution and licensing of content. 

Other disputes these two parties engaged in revolved on the 2023 Rugby World Cup where SABC and MultiChoice reached an agreement worth R57 million. Of course, this agreement restricted these matches from being allocated on Openview and StarSat as they failed to obtain free-to-air rights.

In a court ruling, MultiChoice wasn't allowed to make such restrictions forcing the SABC to have their current agreement set in place scrapped. Following SABC’s absence from these events, sports minister warned a warning to these broadcasters for their failure to come into terms with a new agreement. 

MultiChoice And Canal+'s DStv Turns 30 In 2025

DStv is a pay-tv platform which was launched in 1995 by MultiChoice was an alternative to the SABC. Initially comprising of 18 TV channels which included M-Net, TNT (series channel) and Cartoon Network became one of the leading pay-tv platforms across the African market.

For decades through the parent company MultiChoice had been known for supporting local talent across the market with shows like Isibaya and Binnelanders. They had also introduced audiences to array of content across the African market and the world including Battleground and Riona.

In recent years, this dominance has come under threat from the likes of streaming services such as Disney+ and Netflix that had been bleeding DStv dry.  It led MultiChoice to explore other avenues for survival including SuperSportBET, DStv Insurance, Namola and Showmax. 

Now left technically insolvent, it is in a position where bankruptcy or possible liquidation is on the cards. This matter won't improve overnight unless Canal+ acquisition of MultiChoice moves ahead but even then nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the fate of the DStv company.

Canal+ is like Disney and Paramount a content company and their avenues revolve on this content unlike MultiChoice. Similar to DStv Insurance, it's likely that most or these avenues could get sold off if not scrapped to its entirety. 

Before venturing to casinos and cybersecurity, MultiChoice was a content company above else through DStv and Showmax and this is what Canal+ is pivoting toward. With them being constraint to French speaking countries in Africa with MultiChoice it helps them get more exposure. 

It will be interesting to see how #DStv30 will look like with the company that brought on films like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Retribution. Especially with a brand like M-Net that too is constrained but in recent years worked with global players like Acorn TV on shows like Recipe For Love And Murder.

This two could as well fuse into one brand or M-Net jumps ship and becomes whatever is left of Showmax. Another with M-Net tons of money on the latest everything that could be minimized to again boost the endeavors of Showmax. 

What is going to be more worrisome is what awaits DStv in 2025 when a new company comes into the equation something is going to cut. Canal+ offers France24 on Openview and SPI International offering with StarSat none of which reside on DStv at the moment. 

If Canal+ was looking to include them on DStv, they'll probably cut something alongside the already scrapped offering in 2024 to save up on costs and lessen duplicate content. M-Net Movies could be traded in for Canal+ Cinema's offering or FilmBox seeing as they'll all have the same owner.

Cartoon Network's Future In Doubt As Warner Bros. Discovery Pulls The Cord On Its Website

During the week, it was announced that Warner Bros. Discovery had closed/merged Cartoon Network's websites in America with the Max streaming service. Home to clips, video games and and other content from various shows on the network had been axed without prior notice. 

According to Warner Bros. Discovery who have accumulated 40 billion dollars in debt making a sale impossible less people people were using this website. So they'll put more focus on Cartoon Network as a channel alongside its multiple social platforms including Facebook and YouTube. 

Whenever users try to access CartoonNetwork.com consumers are being directed to Max probably an attempt to get consumers to pay. What is also odd in this scenario is that all of Discovery's channels websites even Adult Swim were unaffected unlike Cartoon Network. 

Now questions amount to whether a similar fate could await consumers in Europe and other parts of the world as well. Warner Bros. Discovery is technically insolvent and the only option they have is to sell portions of the company in order to reduce their expenses if not close them.

Although the linear part of Cartoon Network remains intact in other countries whose to say that this will be like that for the foreseeable future. Look at Paramount for starters before Skydance made its bid to acquire the company a lot of feeds within Europe for the MTV and Nickelodeon channels had merged.

On top of that, Nickelodeon Africa's Facebook page had a regional block (for some weird reason) and consumers were redirected to one used by America while the page continued adding new content. Whose to say that Cartoon Network may not as well undergo a similar fate as Nickelodeon. 

There's a lot of fear amongst consumers of Cartoon Network potentially shuttering its doors or for Adult Swim to someday takeover its operations. It has more hours on the channel in America than Cartoon Network itself on top of that there hasn't been much content coming to the channel. 

That's exactly what happened with Boomerang before becoming Cartoonito in other parts of the world. It started out as a block on the channel before gaining more hours and taking whatever content was left of Boomerang while others like Mr. Magoo reverted to Cartoon Network. 

Developing Story: A Rebroadcast Of Family Secrets Launches On Star Life With Evil Affairs Rebroadcasts Scrapped Due To Timeslot Changes

Sometime ago, it was revealed that You Have My Heart would be moving to 22:30 once Soulmates debuts on Star Life but it turns out to not be the case. With You Have My Heart that will instead air 22:00 where the controversial supernatural drama Evil Affairs currently resides as it moves to 23:00.

Due to some themes illustrated on Evil Affairs, Star Life was forced to pull the series from daytime and restricted its broadcast to late nights as seen with Telemundo's Super Series. This affected former series Beyond Love that shared a portion of its timeslot to get the same restriction.

Consumers took their socials to express their dissatisfaction and pleaded to reinstate Evil Affairs daytime repeats. Due to restrictions, the channel was only able to offer Evil Affairs in the later hours of the night were there's less viewers with repeats allocated at 00:30.

With Soulmates rolling out in the coming weeks, daily rebroadcasts of Bitter Sweet Love will now take up Evil Affairs repeats at 00:30 as the supernatural show airs an hour later at 23:00 from 20 August. Similar to the endeavors occurred a few months ago Evil Affairs has only 1 timeslot meaning no repeats. 

In other developments, Titli will be coming to an end and drama bomb a rebroadcast of Family Secrets replaces it once it ends. Instead of Evil Affairs, they'd rather give a rebroadcast a much earlier timeslot as opposed to grouping the primetime altogether with repeats in the other corner. 

Family Secrets is a story of a seventeen-year-old Anami, who was abandoned at birth and adopted by a pandit family in Banaras. She returns to her mother as the sole yet reluctant heir to a royal family in Laal Mahal, Bihar where she faces secrets and scandals in the family.

America's TruTV Becomes TNT Sports In October

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has announced that it will rebrand TruTV’s primetime lineup as “TNT Sports” beginning this October, which could be a seismic shift for sports broadcasting and wrestling entertainment.

The news came from WBD CEO David Zaslav during the company’s Q2 earnings call. This move is seen as a potential win for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) amid ongoing talks about its future on WBD networks. Media analyst Brian Steinberg tweeted details of the rebranding strategy, noting that TruTV will transition to become a home for sports under the TNT banner.

According to sources, this new programming block will operate similarly to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, which functions as its brand despite sharing channel space.

Strategic Sports Expansion

The focus on sports is timely for WBD after NBA broadcasting rights recently shifted to Amazon Prime.

With AEW potentially joining Ring of Honor (ROH) whose importance within AEW Khan said has not been overstated but was not yet confirmed for TV on WBD airwaves at some point soon, it would appear the company wants more hours of live sports content under its belt.

In fact, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp pointed out earlier today that AEW talents are being featured prominently in early promotions for “TNT Overdrive,” suggesting Khan’s team will play a key role in the new TNT Sports lineup that night -- and grow more influential within the broader sphere of televised athletics-entertainment.

At present, though, these are only good signs; Khan himself called talks with WBD “complicated," but recently expressed optimism following a meeting with Zaslav during the Olympics when reached by @SeanRossSapp. The exclusive negotiating window between parties expired yesterday, allowing AEW to engage with other networks unless/until WBD closes a deal.

Regardless of whether or not anything comes from current conversations between AEW and WBD, the ripples from this news could fundamentally change how wrestling is presented to audiences, aligning AEW with WBD’s rekindled focus on sports and entertainment.

Such an alliance would be expected to ensure All Elite Wrestling continues growing as a major player in the increasingly crowded field of televised athletics entertainment.