e.TV Acquires Broadcasting Rights To Open Season: Call Of Nature And Unveils Release Date

 e.tv currently ranks as the most watched channel in South Africa during primetime as seen in their annual results dated 30 September 2024. This contributed to further launches of Isiphetho: Destiny and the broadcaster's first Afrikaans soap Kelders Van Gehieme with the channel slated to air a new animated series titled Open Season: Call Of Nature.

Produced by 9 Story Media Group and Brown Bag Films with Sony Pictures Animation, Open Season: Call of Nature is created for kids 6-11, and follows best friends Boog, a lovable, risk-averse grizzly bear, and Elliot, a fast-talking, ‘act-first, think-later’ deer. When they discover an abandoned summer camp in the middle of nowhere, they embark on a brave and hilarious adventure to create a new place to live where animals get to embrace their inner wild.

9 Story Distribution International has worldwide distribution rights for the series and 9 Story Brands has worldwide merchandising rights. Aside from e.tv, other broadcasters to have licensed the show include DRTV (Denmark), RTS (Switzerland), AMC Networks (CEE), Canal Panda (Portugal), Paramount Media Networks (U.K., Italy), Roku (U.S.), XUMO (US), and PCCW (Hong Kong and Macau).

The series broadcasts on Monday 9 December at 14:55.

Open Season: Call Of Nature would serve as the fourth additional the broadcaster has introduced to their platforms. Other shows also slated to rollout in the month include Magic Adventures: The Crystal Of Dark, ChiChi Pingping and Pororo The Little Penguin for eToonz all of which reside in Asia unlike Open Season which is filmed in Canada.

Goodbye To Disney Channel: It Will Stop Broadcasting In Spain At The Beginning Of 2025 After 27 Years

An era in television for the little ones in the house is coming to an end as Disney Channel, a historic channel for children and young people's content, will end its broadcasts in Spain on January 7, 2025 after 27 years on our TV, as Tele has learned exclusively.

With platforms on the rise, The Walt Disney Company is betting on promoting its paid service Disney+ and will stop offering a free-to-air channel, Disney Channel, which for almost three decades has been the spearhead of its immersion in the Spanish market and a benchmark in children's television .

It will be next January 7 , after the Day of Kings, when it will disappear from DTT permanently. All the content that made up Disney Channel's linear programming will be available on the Disney+ platform, as confirmed by the company to verTele.

In an official statement to this portal, The Walt Disney Company Spain “thanks the support of its fans in Spain” and assures that they will continue “investing in both direct-to-consumer (OTT) distribution and linear businesses with the aim of offering our viewers multiple entry points to our content and our brand.”

The end of Disney Channel as a channel will not mean the end of its 'little brother' Disney Junior , a more child-oriented channel, which will continue to be available through pay operators such as Movistar Plus+, Orange TV and Vodafone TV, among others. It is confirmed as the last 'survivor' of a group of channels from which Disney Cinemagic (2008-2015) and Disney XD (2009-2020) have already disappeared, and now Disney Channel (1998-2025).

In addition to Disney Junior, the company's other brands will also be maintained in the subscription television services in Spain: "Disney is committed to continuing to drive the growth of Disney+ and maintaining a solid portfolio of channels , with leading brands in the general, factual and family entertainment segments in Spain: STAR, Disney JR, Baby TV, National Geographic, and National Geographic Wild ," the company details.

It is also important to note that Canal+'s current deal with Disney is set to expire on 31 December 2024 meaning this would be the second Disney Channel to exit international feeds. Unlike Spain, it had been reported that the batch of channels will exit France leaving questions as to what awaits the feeds in French Overseas.

Part of this article was published by verTele!

Celebrate The Holidays With Disney Channels Festive Programming

As part of their biggest festive campaign to date, Disney is continuing to Spark Joy This Holiday, with a festive feast of programming for young and the young at heart this December and January, exclusively on Disney Channel (DStv Channel 303) and Disney Junior (DStv Channel 309).

 

Whether you're snuggling up for a holiday classic, enjoying brand-new episodes, or discovering exciting new shows, there's something for everyone. Gather your loved ones, relax, and let the holiday cheer come to life with a mix of heartwarming specials, exciting series, and plenty of holiday cheer.

 

Festive movies and specials galore on Disney Channel

 

Kick off the summer break with the stunning comedy adventures Frozen and Frozen 2 on Disney Channel. The films, telling of epic adventures and unforgettable characters like Anna, Elsa, Olaf and Sven, will premiere on Thursday 28 November at 17:50 CAT and Friday 29 November at 17:00 CAT, with a back-to-back marathon on Saturday, 30 November at 17:50 CAT

 

From 16 December, Disney Channel kicks off a movie marathon at 11:05 CAT, starting with ZOMBIES – a music- and dance-filled story set in the fictitious world of Seabrook, a cookie-cutter community brimming with perky conformity 50 years after a zombie apocalypse. Round off the full trilogy with ZOMBIES 2 on 17 December and ZOMBIES 3 on 18 December.

 

On 19 December, don’t miss Big City Greens: Spacecation, where the Green family’s cosmic vacation goes hilariously wrong when Cricket drags them on a space adventure. Then, on 20 December, join Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie, and the gang in Lego Star Wars Holiday Special for a festive adventure full of laughs and holiday spirit on Life Day. Rey sets off on a new adventure with BB-8 to gain a deeper knowledge of the Force.

 

 

On 21 December at 10:15 CAT, Home Sweet Home Alone brings Max Mercer, the ultimate trickster, into action. Left home alone while his family is away, Max must outsmart burglars trying to steal a valuable heirloom.

 

The Naughty Nine airs on Christmas Eve, 24 December at 17:00 CAT, where Andy, feeling slighted after landing himself on Santa’s naughty list, teams up with a group of fellow “naughty listers” to execute an elaborate heist in Santa’s Village at the North Pole to get the presents they feel they deserve.

 

Miraculous World: London - At The Edge of Time brings Ladybug and Cat Noir fans an exciting new adventure on 27 December at 17:00 CAT. Marinette becomes Chronobug and teams up with Bunnyx to defeat a mysterious opponent who travels through time, to save the future from a terrible fate.

 

The gang’s all together this Holiday on Disney Junior

 

From 14-25 December, Disney Junior is spreading more holiday cheer with festive episodes of SuperKitties, Pupstruction, Marvel Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Ariel, Firebuds, and Alice's Wonderland Bakery - airing at 09:30 CAT.

 

Plus, get ready for fresh, new episodes of Firebuds and Marvel Spidey and His Amazing Friends! From 7-15 December, tune in for Firebuds weekends at 09:30 CAT, where the team faces a forest fire while attending a family summer camp. Then, from 9-23 December, Spidey and the gang transform into dinosaurs to chase down baddies, protect nature and defend their amazing new Dino-Web Tree House, with the help of Reptile and their special new Dino-Web Suits.

 

The new year kicks off with brand-new episodes of SuperKitties starting 1 January at 10:25 CAT. And then, be sure not to miss the cutest little shorts Me & Winnie the Pooh - based on A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories – that follow Winnie the Pooh and his friends as they play, paint, and explore the Hundred Acre Wood. Watch them in batches on 18 January at 11:15 CAT and again at 12:45 CAT.  

 

More to win!

 

Be sure to tune in to both Disney Channel and Disney Junior this festive season, not only for the holiday programming, but a chance to win too! Together with FNB, PEP and Lego, Disney are giving away 10 festive hampers worth R10 000 each until 14 December, and all you have to do is spot the tree on the channel, snap a picture and send it to 31120*. Follow the prompts to enter your picture into the lucky draw to win a hamper of including a Christmas tree with decorations, Lego® goodies, a PEP Voucher, as well as exclusive Moana, Mufasa and Encanto merchandise.

 

This holiday season, Disney Channel and Disney Junior invite families to relax, enjoy some quality time together, and create lasting memories with a festive lineup that’s full of fun and heart. So, gather around, share the joy, and let the magic of the season fill your home with laughter and love.

MultiChoice And SABC Settle Dispute With eMedia Investments Regarding Sports

As some have already read, eExtra alongside eMedia's other Openview channels such as eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz won't be exiting DStv anytime soon as MultiChoice and eMedia Investments have come to an agreement. Although, the finer details of this transaction have yet to be known by the media.

Another topic that was addressed within eMedia Investments annual results for 30 September 2024 was the matter of the Rugby World Cup. This was something eMedia Investments had been battling to get onto Openview after MultiChoice denied other platforms aside from that of SABC's DTT the right to view the content.

This led SABC to change transmission for these channels once these games come on through platforms outside SABC's DTT and DStv which is what prompted this battle. MultiChoice accused eMedia Investments of free riding and wanting to broadcast the content without paying a cent.

eMedia Investments had pitched a sum in which MultiChoice deemed too low and from what other sources mention SABC's bid was a lot higher. It took local legislation to pressure these broadcasters into reaching an agreement which saw these games getting reduced even further.

When MultiChoice blocked other platforms from getting rugby it was so that SABC could pay less and get the bulk of content associated with a free-to-air broadcaster. Then after eMedia Investments came into the picture it has been theorised that MultiChoice had to reduce the amount of games given to the SABC.

Now all three parties have settled the matter of course it's not really known how they managed to settle the matter but it isn't something that they can keep secretive forever. MultiChoice has been in such disputes with both parties several times and this isn't something you'd expect to go away that easily.

eMedia Investments And MultiChoice Silently Settle Dispute Over e.TV's 4 Channels On DStv

As some readers may have remembered from the last time we had posted eMedia Investments' 4 TV channels namely eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz were all slated to be removed from DStv by August 2024. Several months had already passed and these channels continue to distributed on DStv.

MultiChoice made the decision by March 2022 that they didn't want to include these channels on any of their platforms which led to the discontinuation of e.tv's African feed eAfrica. At the time, eMedia Investments had stated that they're changing their distribution strategy for these consumers while in South Africa they took the matter to court.

According to MultiChoice, eMedia Investments 4 TV channels had a lot of duplicate content and also the matter of transponder constraints led to the decision to terminate these services. The free-to-air broadcaster stated otherwise as they showed 2 out of the 4 channels had local content and that MultiChoice had plenty of space for more channels.

To top it off, MultiChoice forged ahead and allocated several placeholders on each DStv package: Movie Room (Access), DreamWorks (Compact), PBS KIDS (discontinued, Easyview) and KIX (Access). They even ramped up a rival offering to eExtra's Kuiertyd with the addition of Turkish dramas on KykNet & Kie.

In the financial year results ending 30 September of this year, eMedia Investments had confirmed that they've reached a settlement with MultiChoice after two and a half years. This means eExtra, eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra will remain on DStv but what's odd about this is the lack of engagement by both parties.

eMedia Investments didn't want these channels removed now they're getting what they asked for but still you'd think they'd be a celebratory mood. But questions amount to what prompted MultiChoice to suddenly join hands as eMedia Investments mentioned paying significant costs in legal fees.

In a couple of days, MultiChoice will be reinstating WildEarth to their platforms which served as one of the 12 TV channels to exit the company's platforms in the year. If one had to guess maybe the transaction to have Sanlam acquire majority stake in NMIS Insurance Services helped them build up their capital.

Another could as well be the onslaught of TV channels to have exited their platforms during the year with One Freestate Televisual, NWTV and People's Planet being based in South Africa. Maybe eMedia's 4 channels are being used as leverage for the fallen either that or the drastic takeover by Canal+ which is awaiting approval.