Disney XD Is Closing Down In Netherlands, To Be Replaced By Disney Junior
It also means shows like Big City Greens, Marvel's Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur and Kiff will be exclusively on Disney Channel.
Disney hasn't stated the reason for this reshuffle but with this brand residing in Europe it was likely due to an alignment strategy. For several years, Disney had been closing their linear platforms outside the United States with Disney Junior maintaining some presence within the regions.
Prior to Disney Junior's launch in Netherlands, the company once offered a Dutch feed to the brand so this would technically be a re-entry of the channel to the region. It's currently unknown if the brand will use the feed taken up by the channel in Africa or opt for a localised feed.
Disney Junior serves as a preschool counterpart for the Disney Channel offering shows like PJ Masks, Spidey And His Amazing Friends and Little Mermaid. Unlike Disney XD, the company continues to invest in its preschool offering although it's been in a repetitive slope.
Clarification About TLC Africa And TLC South Africa (Formerly Discovery TLC) On DStv
For sometime, TLC has become one of the few TV channels on DStv alongside Nickelodeon to distribute localised feeds in Africa. Since last year, MultiChoice had picked up and launched TLC Africa for its consumers in Southern Africa (excluding South Africa) on channel 125.
Currently seen in the West and Eastern parts of Africa, TLC Africa was a lightweight version to TLC South Africa often featuring older shows from the channel. Unlike TLC South Africa, the channel has had resorted to censorship by even isolating shows like I Am Jazz as the lead is transgender.
Last week, a DStv consumer in South Africa had noticed that TLC Africa is not seen on channel 125 and with Southern African consumers sharing a transponder can see the frequencies of the mentioned channels. Since then, a notice was sent to the relevant team and we had finally gotten feedback.
This DStv subscriber had asked whether TLC Africa was removed from channel 125 or merged with channel 135 and the answer was as follows:
TLC Africa and TLC South Africa have not merged. Viewers will now only see the TLC channel feed available to their region—so South African audiences should only access the localised TLC feed on channel 135, and audiences across the rest of Africa will only have access to TLC Africa on channel 125
To dive deeper into this, the sudden disappearance of TLC Africa on channel 125 in South Africa was a MultiChoice thing as they can configure with the settings of their decoders. One example would be SuperSport while South Africa groups them on channels 200-220 these regions group them by 220-240.
Another question was pertaining to Discovery TLC now being referred to as TLC South Africa:
The channel formerly listed as “Discovery TLC” on DStv channel 135 has been updated to reflect its correct brand name, TLC South Africa, aligning with how we refer to it across our PR and marketing platforms.
BBC First Rebrands To BBC NL In Netherlands
Bram Husken, SVP & General Manager Benelux & Nordics at BBC Studios, commented: “We have had a fantastic response to BBC First over the past decade, consistently ranking as a top 10 channel. We believe that there is an opportunity to bring our world class storytelling to an even wider audience. Evolving to BBC NL articulates to audiences that this is a service curated specifically for the Dutch audience, with a bespoke programming line-up of some of BBC Studios’ most popular and well-nurtured brands, available with Dutch subtitles. There’s never been a better time to come to us and see the best of your British neighbours.”
To mark the launch of BBC NL, audiences can tune into the premiere of popular light crime period drama Miss Scarlet. Seasom five, which begins on May 15th, sees the Victorian detective Eliza Scarlet tasked with solving mysterious crimes alongside brand-new Detective Inspector, Alexander Blake. Audiences can also enjoy the return of the Yorkshire-based trio of vets operating against the backdrop of World War II in season 5 of All Creatures Great and Small, which airs on May 21st.
Throughout May other new premieres audiences can enjoy on BBC NL include the popular Death in Paradise spin-off Beyond Paradise season 3 which follows DI Humphrey Goodman in the sleepy town of Shipton Abbott near the Devon Coast. Further fan-favourite returners include Murdoch Mysteries season 17, Call The Midwife season 14, The Chelsea Detective season 3, Darby and Joan season 2 and the BBC’s longest running crime series, Silent Witness, returns for season 28.
Viaplay, Another Cash Strapped Pay-TV Operator Canal+ May Look To Snatch Soon
Very much like MultiChoice, Viaplay is a Swedish pay-tv provider with roughly 6 million subscribers and has been a dominant force in Nordic market. Canal+ initially started it's bid at 12% before hiking it to 29% following a restructure which led it to exit US, UK and Baltics.
Under Swedish laws and the surrounding regions in which Viaplay operates, when a company reaches the 30% to 33% threshold they are required by law to acquire remaining shares (including minorities). Very much like South African laws where the threshold sits at 35%.
Unlike South Africa's strict foreign regulations which caps Canal+ at 20% there's no hurdles for them to obtain full ownership except for let's say PPF, a Czech Republic investment firm. They also have a 29% stake and could as well serve as an obstacle in their pursuit.
Similar to when Disney attempted to acquire Comcast's 30% stake in Hulu from time and time again. PPF may not make it easy for Canal+ they could retain their stake in the hopes for more money as Canal+ buys other shareholders or serve as a possible bidder with them also gobbling 29%.
If one had to guess when Canal+ will look to acquire Viaplay perhaps by the fall of 2025 to early 2026 as they set their sights on MultiChoice. It's likely that shareholders want Canal+ to finish it's MultiChoice acquisition before pursuing any other corporate takeovers.
As of September 2024, MultiChoice's foothold in Africa has been under siege with its consumer base that plummeted to 19 million. Initially residing in 24 million, combining it's reach with Canal+ would have the broadcaster reach its 50 million markup but a tie-up to Viaplay is the final piece they need right now.
Viaplay very much like MultiChoice has been in financial distress and have been reliant on investors (particularly Canal+) for stability. A takeover would help them minimise operation costs and bulk up against giants like Netflix who despite reaching 300 million households have its consumer base minimised in mentioned regions.
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