Recommendations To Those Using StarSat In South Africa

StarSat is a satellite based pay-tv service that StarTimes managed to acquire a 20% stake for those using their services in South Africa with On Digital Media being majority shareholder. As reported sometime ago, the pay-tv operator has been operating illegally in South Africa for over a year and now ICASA is looking to action.

Since StarSat's inception into the market, they've managed to accumulate over half a million subscribers in South Africa alone which is baffling considering how long Openview had been operational in the market. They also have over 6000 workers whose jobs are as well at stake as they roam around their offices aimlessly.

StarSat is insuring consumers that they won't shut down by all means and it's comes as somewhat of a shock that they've been operating without a license for this long. But there's no guarantees that they'll be able to keep up with their word as ICASA could as well look to have their signals getting shut off making it difficult for them to offer their services.

Although employees may say they will continue to sell and distribute StarSat in South Africa what could happen overtime is that Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company and various other parties may look to having their channels revoked or at least for the audiences in South Africa leaving only the local channels curated by the company.

To put matters into simple terms, don't risk what little you have left on these guys as there's no guarantee how long they could remain active and if ESPN and National Geographic will remain intact during this period. Have a Plan B which could be Openview or DStv just until the dust settles between ICASA and StarSat.

Should it shut down it will have a difficult time trying to recover that lost income and consumer base even the workforce would be constraint as the pay-tv market has been under siege in recent years. So much so that they might as well look into closing their services or deem themselves unfit for the South African market.

In the end, the one who would be most affected is the license holder On Digital Media as StarTimes has a local following in other parts of Africa which amounts to over 10 million subscribers.

Rumour: eMedia Investments Acquires Broadcasting Rights To Supernatural Drama "Suhagan Chudail"

In this supernatural saga, a malevolent Chudail named Nishigandha is on an obsessive quest for Suhaag ki Nishaniyan, ‘Solah Shringars’ – 16 mystical adornments that will bestow upon her unparalleled beauty and the ultimate prize of immortality. With each ‘Shringar’ she collects by sacrificing her husbands, her dark powers grow stronger.

Now, she has set her sinister sights on ensnaring her 16th and final target, Moksh, to unlock the final ‘Shringar’. However, Nishigandha faces an unexpected challenge from Deeya, a courageous woman determined to protect her beloved Moksh from the enchantment of the Suhagan Chudail.

Deeya must wage a desperate battle to break Nishigandha’s enchantment before it’s too late. With Moksh’s life hanging in the balance, will Deeya’s love triumph over Nishigandha’s dark magic?

The series cast Nia Sharma as Nishigandha, Zayn Ibad Khan as Moksh, Debchandrima Singha Roy as Deeya, Aradhana Sharma as Rachna, Jyoti Mukherji as Moksh’s Mother as Sachin Khurana as Moksh’s Father and Pooja Tiwari as Juri. Colors TV serves as the official broadcaster to Suhagan Chudail and consumers would be familiar with the channel through the series Naagin.

eMedia Investments is rumoured to be rolling out the show in the coming months or by next year with another program viewed on Zee World also said to rolling out on their stable. If one had to guess this will likely be allocated on eExtra alongside other Bollywood shows like Broken Bonds and Twist Of Fate.

HARI Greenlights New CG Preschool Series ‘Baby Lemmings’ Which Is Set To Debut On Cartoonito By 2025/6

Paris-based global IP company HARI, announces it has greenlit a brand new series starring baby lemmings from its global hit series Grizzy & The Lemmings. Described as a “genlte-slapstick” CG-animated show aimed at preschoolers and families, the 78 x 7′ series will deliver throughout 2025/26.

For the Baby Lemmings, the whole world is a playground, and there’s nothing better than sharing this life philosophy with their little animal neighbors in the Canadian forest. When you see life from the Baby Lemmings’ side, you can overcome any difficulty and have a whole lot of fun while doing so!

“At first glance, blending the craziness of slapstick with the gentle nature of preschool content seemed an impossible task,” said Josselin Charier, Executive Producer, HARI. “However, it’s in the core DNA of the lemmings to be playful. And it’s through this boundless playfulness that we discovered the perfect formula for a preschool audience: stories where any challenge can be overcome through games.”

France Televisions commissioned the series for Okoo and France 4, while Warner Bros. Discovery secured the rights for Cartoonito and Max in EMEA, Cartoonito in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as Cartoon Network in South Asia. Super RTL licensed the rights in Germany for Toggo.

“We’re very excited to continue our partnership with Hari for this brand-new animated series, Baby Lemmings,” said Aurélie Wack, Warner Bros. Discovery, Kids EMEA, Acquisitions & Co-Productions Sr. Manager. “It is perfect for our Cartoonito and Max upper-preschool audiences who can count on the playful baby lemmings to bring endless fun and heart-warming moments!”

Baby Lemmings follows the global success of Grizzy & The Lemmings, now broadcast in 200 territories globally. It is the number one most watched animated kids show (for six plus) on Netflix worldwide, and is consistently in the top three animated series on France TV’s Okoo, the U.K.’s CBBC and Toggo in Germany (Super RTL). The show delivers outstanding ratings on TV channels around the world and generates 1.3 billion views per year on YouTube (with 9 million subscribers).

October 2024 On Cartoon Network And Cartoonito Across Africa (Drafted Version) | Channel Premiere: Barney's World | Returning Shows Including Lego Ninjago | More

• As reported sometime ago, Barney's World will airing on Cartoonito across Europe, Middle East and Africa from October 14th (not 18th) prior to this the show will debut on the channel in the US and UK. Based on the Barney And Friends franchise, this will serve as a rebooted format as seen with Thomas And Friends: All Engines Go!.

For the full press release on the premiere: click here

• Jessica's Big Little World returns for new episodes on Cartoonito and this is the few other premieres coming to the channel in the month alongside Zig & Sharko.

• Supa Strikas and Lego Ninjago: Ninja's Rising return to the channel in the month of October while Pokémon Horizons: The Series continues with new episodes on Cartoon Network with these serving as the only premieres on the channel.

• With Halloween around the corner, Cartoon Network will host thematic episodes of Teen Titans GO!, We Baby Bears, The Amazing World Of Gumball, Craig Of The Creek and Apple And Onion. Cartoonito on the other hand will celebrating Halloween with Cocomelon, Thomas And Friends: All Engines Go! with Bugs Bunny Builders making its return to the channel.

Update

• Cartoon Network will debut a new series Totally Spies after Nickelodeon owned rights to the first 6 seasons the channel will be offering the 7th season. This would be the third show Cartoon Network snatched from Nickelodeon with Pokémon and Power Rangers added to the list.

For more details on the series: click here 

• Grizzy And The Lemmings and Bugs Bunny Builders return for new episodes on Cartoonito with Teen Titans GO! returning on Cartoonito.

"The Bigger Picture": ICASA's Anger With StarSat Explained

Earlier in the week, it was reported that StarSat was set for closure in the South African market by 18 September but this never happened as they mention an active presence by on social media and continue selling their decoders. ICASA made the call for On Digital Media who serve as license holders in South Africa to shut their services.

So corporates at StarSat would rather resolve their matter in court which again didn't work out with the company that is engaging themselves in an another ongoing case with ICASA. This whole thing with retrenchment and also loss in consumers to some appears to be desperate attempt at them antagonising the situation.

With the affects of COVID-19 and the current economic climate StarSat was facing financial constraints or as they would put it "owing to challenges in securing new investment in a competitive market". So where was StarTimes in all this as they got TopTV out of financial turmoil and also was ICASA aware of this.

Regardless of how StarSat wants consumers and the media to perceive this they were operating illegally for over a year as their license expired by July 2023 and a new application was filed by November of that year. What might have got ICASA infuriated by all this was the fact they were promoting and distributing a service without a license.

If you drive on the road without supervision or a license you get penalised for that and imagine if you had caused fatal accident the punishment is more severe for the unlicensed vigilante. What's more baffling about this is employees are being left in the dark and blindly serving as accomplices to this whole ordeal.

If StarSat had shuttered its doors by July 2023 and applied for a new license it's likely that ICASA would have granted them a new license. But these things tend to take time which is what StarSat didn't have and by the time they would have gotten one they would have to build their consumer base again which similar to DStv has been under siege.

Another scenario would be the local content viewed on ST Rise and One Freestate Televisual how would the latter survive if ICASA manages to shut down the pay-tv platform while TLC and Discovery Channel can be accessed on DStv. StarSat would most likely have to start these local endeavours from scratch and compared to other players they've been invisible.

Openview launched several years down the line and are close to hitting the 4 million milestone while StarSat has a half a million subscribers. If they are given the greenlit to continue operations one would imagine ICASA fining them millions another with them still operational they could have their signals cut off and imagine how many angry consumers would fold their socials.