Canal+ Rwanda And Zacu TV Promise Fresh Entertainment With New Movies, Dubbing Hollywood Blockbusters

Since its launch in 2022 by the CANAL group, the country's leading pay TV provider, Zacu TV, a 100 per cent Kinyarwanda channel, quickly become one of the country's favourite entertainment channels, by offering a mix of locally produced movies, TV series, and international shows.

At the dawn of a new chapter with a focus on delivering high-quality content in the local language, Zacu TV on Channel 3, commits to fulfilling its foundational pledge and living up to its ambitions.

During a press conference, on Friday, September 27, as part of the back-to-school season, Cédric Pierre-Louis, the Director of Programming for African fiction channels at CANAL, announced exciting plans for Zacu TV's upcoming lineup starting from next year.

These include a variety of fresh entertainment offerings such as dubbing Hollywood blockbusters in Kinyarwanda for the first time, bringing back popular local series "Seburikoko" that have been on hiatus, and introducing new dramas and comedies.

Pierre-Louis added that "there will be something for everyone," ensuring that Zacu TV continues to cater to a larger number of Rwandans.

Among the new offerings are the comedy series "Shuwa Dilu" and the romantic drama "Kaliza wa Kalisa", which promise plenty of laughter and heartwarming chaos. Additionally, Zacu TV will co-produce musicals, including the upcoming TV series "Red Flag" and the feature movie "Fame is the Enemy", offering unforgettable and catchy songs that viewers can sing along to.

Another highlight is the introduction of dubbing. For the first time, some of the most popular Hollywood blockbusters from the last two decades will be available entirely in Kinyarwanda, courtesy of a partnership with one of Hollywood's biggest studios, Universal Studios. This move aims to make international entertainment more accessible to Rwandan audiences by presenting it in their native language.

He noted: "The combination of original stories from our slate of upcoming local productions and an outstanding roster of premium Hollywood blockbusters will bring endless entertainment to our viewers in 2025."

A golden opportunity for young talent

In 2025, Zacu TV aims to push the boundaries further by nurturing young filmmakers and exploring new genres, creating a golden opportunity for youth involvement.

Wilson Misago, the Director of Production and Acquisition for Zacu TV, explained that the channel is committed to providing a platform for Rwandan youth to tell their own stories, showcase their creativity and sleep not on their talents.

Among the new productions are "Hurts Harder" and "Red Flag", both TV series that explore the love stories, challenges, and dreams of Rwandan youth.

"We have so far employed more than 300 people, with plans to increase that number to up to 1,000. We're here to nurture young talents. However, they should seize this opportunity responsibly and not act in one movie and suddenly believe they are a star. That perspective cut short many talents. They need to stay focused on their goals," he said.

Yves Mizero, the director and producer of Hurts Harder, describes the movie as a story about Kate, a 27-year-old who never had a successful relationship but still believes in true love.

She meets Tate, a 28-year-old Ugandan, through an online platform, and after two years of communication, suggests they meet in person. Unwilling to meet in person, Tate hires another man to pose as himself, leading to a complex situation when Kate uncovers the truth, leaving her emotionally disappointed once again.

"This is a golden opportunity for young people to showcase their creativity and make a contribution in the Rwandan entertainment industry," said Mizero urging aspiring filmmakers to seize the opportunity provided by Zacu TV to tell local authentic stories that feed Rwandan audiences.

Introducing musicals to Rwandan cinema

Musicals are another genre that has yet to be fully explored in Rwandan cinema, but Zacu TV is set to change that. The TV series "Red Flag" and the feature film "Fame is the Enemy", starring popular musician Juno Kizigenza, will lead this exciting chapter into musical storytelling. These projects will feature original music and choreography that bring a fresh dimension to local entertainment.

Zacu TV continues to support Rwandan talent through its subsidiary studio, Zacu Entertainment. The company has built strong relationships with some of the country's most celebrated actors, including Gratien Niyitegeka, Longin Irunga, and Antoinette Uwamahoro, as well as rising stars like Gatesi Divine and Eric Nsabimana.

MultiChoice Africa To Make UFC Available 24 Hours A Day To DStv Compact With The Inclusion Of SuperSport Action, Also Planning To Replace SuperSport Variety 2-4 With SuperSport Africa 1 & 2

After MultiChoice and SuperSport announced plans to revamp its sporting lineup from September 2020 which saw sporting events PSL and La Liga alongside other sports like tennis and cricket get its own branded TV channel. The broadcaster is said to be making some adjustments to this offering by October 9th particularly with SuperSport Variety.

SuperSport Variety comprised of 4 overflow channels served featuring various sporting events from other SuperSport channels alongside other content that don't have a channel of its own like swimming and hockey. These were the only brands of SuperSport that followed that previous iterations and retained the numbering system.

The pay-tv company had already lost 12 channels including PBS Kids, People's Weather, WildEarth, Ginx TV, B4U Movies and Emmanuel TV. By adding SuperSport Variety 2-4 should it include South Africa would skyrocket to 15 making it the biggest loss they've experienced throughout its existence.

According to various consumers, they received a notification on their decoders alerting them to the cancellation of SuperSport Variety 2-4 as these would be replaced by SuperSport Africa 1 and Africa 2 (SS Africa 1 & 2). This changes will also be reflected on GOtv's SuperSport Select channels.

• SuperSport Africa 1 (formerly SuperSport Variety 4) will be available to GOtv Lite packages going up 

• SuperSport Africa 2 (formerly SuperSport Variety 3) will be available to Family packages going up

SuperSport Action will also be allocated to DStv Compact with a major revamp after being made available to Compact+ and Premium meaning 1 more channel for them and 1 less for those paying more. DStv's lower mass market aren't getting much here either except for a new fur coat.

So I think the bigger question is why SuperSport Variety 1 is not part of this restructure as it leans towards the same path as it's other comrades (repeats). Theoretically, we believe similar to what M-Net did when merging Me and 1Magic to form 1Max a similar outcome awaits Variety 1 and Variety 2.

SuperSport had commissioned content for Variety 3 and 4 so maybe they'll string those along to what's left of SuperSport Variety 1 and Variety 2. In the end, it's the lesser paying customers that are losing out.

As for the demise of Variety and Select, SuperSport is likely streamlining their operations and trying to reduce duplications for which these brands had a lot of especially during live WWE events. They probably feel that by doing this, the remnants of these channels will get more exposure plus a channel like WWE doesn't have much live content.

Weekly Roundups #3: Harry Potter Actress Maggie Smith And Days Of Our Lives Actor Drake Hogestyn Dies + My Desire Currently Seen On Star Life Has Come To An End In India + RoboCop TV Series In Development At Amazon + More

• Lionsgate looking to reduce workforce by incorporating AI into their animated content

• My Journey To You launches on 21 October on Zee World outside of Southern Africa 

• New episodes of Unfortunate Love returns on 10 October for Zee World consumers outside of South Africa

• My Desire currently seen on Star Life comes to an end in India and will conclude in Africa by 2025

• Drake Hogestyn, Days Of Our Lives actor has died at the age of 70

• Maggie Smith, Harry Potter actress has died at the age of 89

• Via (DStv 147) to debut new series Roei Vir Liefde premieres 12 October at 21:00 which consists of 6 episodes.

In this dating show, a single female celebrity head off on a glamping adventure to a popular river-rafting destination. Here, they will date a pool of men out in nature by embarking on a range of outdoor activities like river-rafting and hiking. Will stepping away from the dating apps and the chaos of everyday life really help them find true love?

Returning shows include Hier sit die manne Season 6 which premieres 5 October 2024 at 17:00, Wie was dit? Season 6 premieres 5 October 2024 at 18:00 and My plek of joune? Season 12 premieres 31 October 2024 at 17:30.

• Pretty Little Liars reboot currently seen on M-Net has been cancelled by Max

• Disney Channel to unveil a new on air look by the end of September 

• TikTok Music will be shutting down by the end of November 

• SABC is proposing a new household levy this time wants MultiChoice and SARS to also help recover debt 

• Lady Gaga releases new album in preparation of Joker: Folie à Deux 

• Play Room Live airs an hour later from 1 October with new episodes on at 16:00 and also Total Dramarama returns with a second season at 18:00 on Play Room from 7 October.

• RoboCop TV series in development for Amazon Prime Video

• Chucky TV series cancelled after 3 seasons 

How DStv Will Be Impacted By Canal+?

Canal+ is currently finalizing a new structure after obtaining a 45% stake of MultiChoice making them one of company's largest shareholders. After their initial bid of R29 billion was turned down earlier in the year the French broadcaster had up it's bid to R32 billion with an interim board deeming it "fair and reasonable".

Something that various readers had asked me in the past months is how this impacts DStv and whether they could be any content changes once the takeover concludes by April 2025. Although, there's not much details about their plans with that platform even GOtv there is some differences between MultiChoice and Canal+.

Firstly, MultiChoice is content oriented this was seen when eNCA made less money than the former Gupta owned news channel ANN7 despite having more viewers. Then there's BBC Lifestyle, Food Network and HGTV all of which come with their own set of content for viewers.

Then you turn to Canal+ which operates in bulk or in large quantities as seen with Canal+ Sport and Foot alongside international brands Eurosport and DAZN. If you turn to their services within Africa similar to France and Europe, a large portion of their international offering isn't American so neither MultiChoice or viewers are familiar with the content there. 

There's FilmBox which is based in Netherlands alongside DocuBox followed by India's TravelXP, Asia's A+ Kids and Belgium's W-Sport.

Imagine once this takeover concludes what could as well transpire is some of these efforts Canal+ has built within Europe and France ends up being splashed onto DStv. Before any of that could enter fruition, Canal+ will look into making MultiChoice close a couple of channels as a means to increase profitability and reduce redundancy.

Take for instance the movie offering which has the most repeats amongst channels what MultiChoice could do here is focus more on IPs and that would be TNT, Studio Universal and Movie Room. With M-Net streamlining, they could as well scrap their remaining movie offering from M-Net Movies particularly M-Net Movies 3 and 4.

Then there's CineMagic and Magic Showcase with them being constrained to Easyview consumers in South Africa and Access and GOtv Lite consumers in other countries there's probably not much viewers meaning little to no income is being generated so what could transpire is a possible merger of this offering to enhance viewer's experience.

How MultiChoice Benefits From The Hostile Takeover By Canal+?

Canal+ has managed to have upped its stake in MultiChoice to 45% home to brands like SuperSport, M-Net, DStv and GOtv which is awaiting regulatory approval. With both parties that will be spending the rest of 2024 looking to assess a possible structure as Canal+ being a foreigner has to navigate the restrictions to foreign ownership.

The likely scenario here is that MultiChoice Africa will be managed by Canal+ with existing shareholders voting rights being reduced as they will be in charge of the services within South Africa. Residing within Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria, MultiChoice Africa offers brands such as Africa Magic, Zambezi Magic and Maisha Magic.

With Canal+ obtaining a 20% stake in MultiChoice South Africa which is the maximum amount a foreigner can get of a local company. It's possible that shareholders may look to increase Canal+ influence over MultiChoice Africa by 80% or at least on the content side.

Canal+ had outlined that they don't believe in the diversity of MultiChoice which consists of brands like Namola, Irdeto and BetKing. So with them handling the content portion of MultiChoice could free up some potential income for other shareholders to manage those other fields MultiChoice is hoping to cash on e.g. Showmax.

MultiChoice had been pumping funds onto SuperSport and with Canal+ still viewing linear TV as an asset we could see them manage part of the expenses giving them as much ownership of the brand. This was likely the most stressful of subsidiaries by MultiChoice and Canal+ would save them money. 

If anything, the burning question is how many of these subsidiaries MultiChoice will continue to operate under their wing cause with them complying with BEE those partners may not want to support some of these ventures leading some to potentially close if not getting sold off.