Has eMedia Investments Killed Off Primetime For eExtra's Kuiertyd As It Becomes An Import For eVOD?

Since last year, the only notable show on the show on eExtra was Elif as everything from Annekan Die Swa Kry (also on e.tv), Doodsondes and Op Dun Ys were all picked up for eVOD ahead of time. Those who had a subscription (and subscribed to Openview or DStv) weren't missing on much.

Elif concluded back in February after being on the air for the past 5 years and has been replaced by another program from the streamer, Gelukbringers. To top it off, primetime on eExtra had been reduced to just 3 shows (minus Annekan) as Voelvry takes up another repeat's timeslot, Vierspel Vuurspel.

With e.tv's Skemertyd having a simultaneous broadcast with eExtra between the 17:30 to 19:00 timeslot. One has to wonder whether similar to 18:30 (Isiphetho's former slot) on e.tv whether 22:00 had also gotten restructured of some sort to cater for the channel's older late night shows as if ePlesier didn't exist.

My guess not really some insiders at eMedia had mentioned that eExtra's former 18:30 to 20:30 which became 19:00 to 21:00 is where the channel had gotten the most of its viewers. This means 22:00 wouldn't be viewed as much of a priority if repeats were to suddenly take over.

As for the overflow of eVOD programs, it's likely similar to what MultiChoice is attempting to do with Showmax since partnering up with Comcast. With Netflix being a giant in streaming era, eMedia Investments is hoping to reach that scale in South Africa even if it comes to expense of Kuiertyd.

With eExtra's Kuiertyd being an eVOD graveyard this would only leave Asian and Bollywood shows as the sole survivor to the streaming purge. For some apparent reason, this part of the channel is no longer a priority at times they will license the shows but it won't be simultaneous offering.

May 2025 On Studio Universal Across Africa | Mother's Day Stunt With Taxi | Monster Mayhem Stunt With Godzilla | More

MOTHER’S DAY
11th May from 3pm
Studio has a selection of strong mothers and women to celebrate this special day.
Forgot the flowers? Maybe this bouquet of movies can make up!

Good Deeds
11th May at 15:00
Tyler Perry and Thandie Newton head the cast of this romantic drama. He is Wesley Deeds III, a rich
businessman on the cusp of marriage, who has
spent his life doing what his family wants. That
changes after he meets Lindsey, a single mother and office cleaner who has been evicted from her home. Deeds helps her get back on her feet and it’s not long before Cupid’s arrows start to fly. Will Deeds pursue the life that he wants for the first time ever?

Taxi
11th May at 16:55
Queen Latifah shows her comedy chops in this
fast-paced odd-couple caper. She plays Belle, a taxi
driver with a need for speed, who meets down-on-his-luck cop Andy Washburn (Jimmy Fallon). His poor skills behind the wheel have made him the
butt of his precinct’s jokes, but he’s determined to
track down a gang of Brazilian bank robbers and their alluring leader, played by Gisele Bündchen. Washburn makes Belle’s day when he tells her to break every rule of the road so he can get his woman.

The Woman King
11th May at 18:40
Oscar-winner Viola Davis brings every ounce of her
screen presence to this astonishing drama, based on a true story, about a 19th-century group of female
warriors called the Agojie. They were charged with
guarding the African Kingdom of Dahomey. General
Nanisca (Davis) as she prepares the next wave of
recruits for a fight against those who would wipe out their culture forever. The supporting cast includes Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, Thuso Mbedu and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 
11th May at 21:00
Linda Hamilton reprises her role as Sarah Connor in
James Cameron’s sequel to his 1984 hit. Connor is
being held in a mental institution while her
ten-year-old son, John, is in foster care. When a more advanced, much more lethal terminator is sent back from the future to kill the boy, Sarah is horrified to discover that an old face has also returned, but this time with a very different mission. Arnold Schwarzenegger co-stars alongside Edward Furlong and Robert Patrick.

ACTION WEEKENDS
17th – 25th from 6pm
Wham! Bam! Two weekends of Jackie Chan, double-billed for double the fist-flying fun!

Thunderbolt
17th May at 18:00
In the first of a Jackie Chan double bill he plays Foh,
a small businessman who also happens to be an
expert mechanic. His quiet life is violently disrupted
after he halts maniac street racer Warner
Krugerman, known as Cougar (Thorsten Nickel),
who is thrown in jail. But it’s not long before he
breaks out and exacts his revenge. Left with no
choice, Foh faces the race of his life in Japan to put
Cougar down. Michael Wong and Anita Yuen also
feature.

Who Am I?
18th May at 20:05
This weekend’s Jackie Chan double-bill concludes
with this dark action comedy, co-directed and
co-written by as well as starring Chan. He plays a
soldier whose memory is wiped after a helicopter
crash in South Africa. Dubbed ‘Who Am I’ by the
locals, he sets out to answer that question: a
journey that takes him all the way to Rotterdam.
There, he gets to the bottom of several mysteries,
including why he was helping a shadowy
organisation kidnap three scientists.

Rush Hour 3
25th May at 18:00
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are back as Lee and
Carter, thrown together after an assassination
attempt at the Los Angeles Criminal Court. The hunt
for the culprit leads the duo to Paris, where they
meet Geneviève, who has a secret so big that Triad
leaders will kill her to ensure it never gets out. As
Carter and Lee are drawn deeper into the case, one
of them must deal with a face from their past. The
cast also includes Roman Polanski, Max Von
Sydow, Dana Ivey and Noémie Lenoir.

The Legend of Drunken Master
25th May at 19:40
The second weekend of Jackie Chan double bills
concludes with this action comedy, set in China in the early 20th century. Chan plays Huang Fei-hung, a
master of so-called ‘drunken boxing’. His fast and
furious skills are increasingly useful after a plot by
the British consul to steal precious Chinese artefacts is uncovered. Unfortunately for Fei-hung, he must battle the criminals and his father, who objects to violence in all its forms. Support comes from Andy Lau and Anita Mui.

MONSTER MAYHEM: SCALES & TAILS
26th – 30th May @ 6pm
A week of family action movies featuring kaiju, crocodiles and all manner of scaly creatures!

Godzilla
27th May at 18:00
Director Roland Emmerich’s creature feature sees the population of New York City threatened by the giant monster, which has already wreaked havoc in the South Pacific Ocean. Scientist Niko Tatopoulos
(Matthew Broderick) joins forces with a cryptic
insurance agent, a reporter and her cameraman to
stop the rampaging beast before the Big Apple is
flattened. Can the quartet also find out why Godzilla
has targeted the city in the first place? Jean Reno,
Hank Azaria and Maria Pitillo co-star.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
28th May at 18:00
The Primm family moves to New York City, but son
Josh has a hard time adjusting. Luckily, he meets Lyle, a crocodile who loves to sing, take baths and slurp caviar. He and Josh become firm friends, and when Hector, Lyle’s former owner, returns, life couldn’t be sweeter. However, neighbour Mr Grumps is determined to spoil their fun and put Lyle where he belongs: in the zoo. Winslow Fegley, Javier Bardem and Brett Gelman star, while Shawn Mendes provides Lyle’s singing voice.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
29th May at 18:00
Just as the world reels from the news that monsters
are real, a new threat emerges in the form of Titans
Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah. The experts at
crypto-zoological agency Monarch are forced to pull
out all the stops to enable Godzilla to take on the
giant creatures and save humankind from a terrible
fate. But is the situation as clear-cut as it appears?
Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown head the cast,
alongside Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler and Ken
Watanabe.

The Amazing Spider-Man
30th May at 18:00
Andrew Garfield’s first outing as the web-slinging
superhero begins as misfit teenager Peter Parker
tries to find out more about his parents’ strange
disappearance. After sneaking into the Oscorp
laboratory, he is bitten by a spider and gains
astonishing new abilities. Besides getting to grips
with his powers and having a crush on Gwen Stacy
(Emma Stone), Peter also goes toe-to-toe with the
Lizard: a scientist (Rhys Ifans) who has been
transformed into a monstrous reptile.

May 2025 On Universal TV And E! Across Africa | Channel Premiere: 61st Street | Live Events: Met Gala 2025 | More

Universal TV 

61ST STREET
Season 1 – Territory Premiere
Thursdays at 8pm from 1st May
Accused of murdering a police officer, secondary school athlete Moses Johnson is defended by veteran lawyer Franklin Roberts. Gripping legal drama exploring the Chicago criminal justice system.

WHITSTABLE PEARL
Season 3 – Territory Premiere
Tuesdays at 8pm from 27th May
Culinary delights and intriguing mysteries intertwine in the beautiful coastal town of Whitstable, where restaurateur Pearl Nolan mixes her passion for cooking with a talent for private detection.

Continuing shows include WILD CARDS on Mondays at 8pm, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT on Wednesdays at 8pm and MAGNUM P.I. on Fridays at 8pm.

E!

E! Live from the Red Carpet: Met Gala 2025
Tuesday 6th May at 19:00
Join E! on the red carpet for ‘fashion’s biggest night out’, the 2025 Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Continuing shows include Below Deck Sailing Yacht on Sundays at 18:10, E! News on Tuesdays to Fridays at 22:00 and Watch What Happens Live on Monday - Friday at 22:30.

Ashes Of Love, eExtra Unveils It's Second Asian Drama For The Year

Following eExtra's restructure in 2024 which saw its Asian offering get further reduced to a single timeslot will once again get additional timeslot with Phoenix taking up the 13:45 timeslot. This will be accompanied by Ashes Of Love at 16:15 replacing Empresses In The Palace from 28 April.

Synopsis for Ashes Of Love 

Zi Fen, the Flower Deity, dies after giving birth to a daughter, Jin Mi. Before her death, Zi Fen foresaw that Jin Mi would encounter a fatal love trial and fed her daughter an 'Unfeeling Pill' to prevent her from developing any romantic feelings. Zi Fen also instructed the leaders of the Flower Realm to keep Jin Mi's identity a secret and had her kept locked in a water boundary within the Flower Realm.

Several thousand years later, Jin Mi has grown up into an innocent and naive sprite who longs to see the world outside of the Flower Realm. When Xu Feng, the Fire Deity and second son of the Heavenly Emperor, accidentally lands in the Flower Realm after being attacked during his phoenix rebirth process, Jin Mi nurses Xu Feng back to health and demands that he takes her along with him when he leaves the Flower Realm. This is where Jin Mi's adventure and love trial begins as she explores the realms and meets various immortals & demons.

It starred Yang Zi as Jin Mi, Deng Lun as Xu Feng/Phoenix/Fire Deity, Luo Yun Xi as Run Yu/Night Deity, Wang Yi Fei as Sui He, Chen Yu Qi as Liu Ying, Zou Ting Wei and Mu Ci/Qi Yuan.

Ashes Of Love was broadcast on Chinese broadcaster iQiyi from 2 August to 4 September 2018 with 63 episodes having being filmed each with a duration of 45 minutes. A second season had also been commissioned with eExtra airing the first from 28 April at 16:15.

Yosef (Yusuf), A Brand New Family Drama Launches On e.tv (And eExtra) In May


After filling up its schedule with eVOD imports, eMedia Investments will finally be adding some new blood to the lineup with the launch of Yosef: A Family Legacy. Known in Turkey as Emanet, this is one of the first confirmed shows as Annekan Die Swa Kry, Op Dun Ys and Vierspel Vuurspel are set to conclude in May.

Synopsis for Yosef

Kevser, from a poor neighborhood, marries into the wealthy Kırımlı family, causing her father to cut ties with her. After her husband's death, Kevser is trapped in the loveless Kırımlı mansion with her 5-year-old son, Yusuf. Tragedy strikes when Kevser dies in an accident, leaving Yusuf in a mansion filled with uncaring people. His uncle Yaman, a powerful and cold-hearted businessman, provides protection but no affection.

On her deathbed, Kevser begs her sister Seher to care for Yusuf. Feeling obligated to honor her sister's wish, Seher moves into the Kırımlı mansion. Despite Yaman’s initial suspicion of the humble Seher, he can't ignore the bond between her and Yusuf. As an unlikely but deep, undeniable romance blossoms, they begin to build a new family for Yusuf. 

It starred Nik Celilay as Poyraz, Nana Stambolishvili as Nana, Berat Rüzgar Özkan as Yusuf, Halil Ibrahim Ceyhan as Yaman and Sıla Türkoğlu as Seher.

Eccho Rights serves as the production for Yusuf and is also responsible for the series Blink Kant Bo (Yalı Çapkını, streaming on eVOD) which ranked as the most watched Turkish drama in 2022/3. They've even handled the distribution of Chrysalis (Camdaki Kiz) with the third season rolling out on eMedia's platforms soon.

Annekan Die Swa Kry will end on Friday, May 2nd with Yosef: A Family Legacy set to follow on Monday, May 5th at 17:30.