SABC Looking To Produce And License Content To Netflix And MultiChoice

SABC is technically insolvent meaning they've been unable to pay off most of their expenses after the government opted to no longer loan them the cash. This had led to them cancelling various content seen on SABC 2 and 3 including 7de Laan, The Estate and soon Muvhango.

In a turnaround plan, SABC is planning to curate exclusive content for the streamer SABC+ after garnering over 800,000 registered users. This may lead to some restructuring for SABC 2 and 3 as seen with Cartoon Network whose content slate is being optimised for streaming.

With SABC not having much cash to cover the expenses of its cast and crew there's a moderate to high chance that this content for SABC+ will not be fully funded by them. Similar to eVOD and Amazon Prime Video, SABC will likely give this partner an exclusive open window before making available to SABC+.

SABC had stated they would like to work with Netflix and MultiChoice on new content as they have already preexisting deals in place with the latter. Some years back, they had expressed interest in potentially reviving SABC 3's former shows Isidingo and Top Billing.

SABC 3 has been loss maker for sometime and MultiChoice and Netflix have the reach and cash to help these shows garner more scale. Maybe this partnership could lead SABC to revive more content like Soul City as some of their older library of shows are doing well streaming wise.

Reviving the latter on SABC 3 wouldn't really do much revenue wise as seen with Warner Bros. Discovery's animation slate. Internationally, this content is garnering traction while it's viewers in the main market would rather view this content online.

Cartoon Network International Unveils Teaser Trailer And Logo For The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball

Cartoon Network International has released a teaser trailer and logo for The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, a continuation of the BAFTA Children’s, International Emmy, and Annie multi-award-winning series, The Amazing World of Gumball. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball is set to launch later this year on Cartoon Network Africa and will stream on Hulu in the United States. 

 

Welcome back to Elmore, where the laws of reality are a joke, and family life is anything but ordinary. Whether he’s battling an evil fast-food empire, facing off against a sentient AI in love with his mom, or trying to stop Banana Joe from wearing pants — Gumball Watterson drags his brother Darwin, sister Anais, and the rest of the town of Elmore along for the ride. With even wilder stories, bigger twists, and surreal humor, the show is so amazing that they had to rename it! 

 

Created and executive produced by Ben Bocquelet,

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball is a quarter-hour animated comedy series that blends an eclectic mix of media styles – including 2D & 3D animation, CGI, puppetry, photorealism and live action – into a wildly imaginative world defined by its vibrant visual style and sharp meta humour. Matt Layzell and Erik Fountain serve as Executive Producers and Series Directors. The Composer for the series is Xav Clarke and Joe Sparrow serves as Art Director. The stellar voice cast includes Alkaio Thiele as Gumball, Hero Hunter as Gumball’s younger brother Darwin, Kinza Syed Khan as younger sister Anais, Teresa Gallagher as his mother Nicole, and Dan Russell as his father Richard, and many more. 

 

Creator and Executive Producers Ben Bocquelet, Matt Layzell and Erik Fountain say:

“What an amazing opportunity to play with these characters again! Fans can look forward to plenty more antics and misadventures in Elmore because Gumball and Darwin haven’t grown up much since we last saw them…we haven’t either.” 

 

Vanessa Brookman, Warner Bros Discovery, GM, International Kids, Animation and Franchise says: “We thought it was about time that Gumball and the rest of the gang woke up from their catnap, to do what they do best, and delight more fans with more distinctive humour, visual inventiveness and wild adventures. Guided by the immense talents of Ben, Matt, Erik and team, the new series continues Gumball’s legacy as one of the most iconic, groundbreaking and beloved Cartoon Network shows of all time.” 

Disney Channel Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Miraculous Chibi, Scheduled For 2026

Miraculous Corp has locked down a launch plan for Miraculous Chibi that will see its new take on flagship series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir roll out on YouTube first in Q4, and then on Disney Branded TV platforms and France’s TF1 in 2026. 

Aimed at five to 11s, this 52 x three-minute spinoff (pictured) is banking on “wildly expressive” non-verbal humor to drive the action for a set of superhero protagonists who have been reimagined in a distinctive Japanese art style called chibi, which gives characters smaller features and exaggerated cuteness. 

The new treatment—which was teased by Miraculous Corp CEO Andy Yeatman at a MIP Junior presentation last fall—is a longer-form expansion of a previous miniseries called Miraculous Zag Chibi that launched in 2018. It featured 90-second chibi-style clips that have since generated more than 650 million YouTube views. With a similarly snackable format and digital-first rollout, Miraculous Chibi is positioning itself to reach the same online audience first before making its way onto linear platforms.  

Miraculous Corp’s strategy borrows a page from Disney, which has given many of its legacy TV characters the chibi treatment in recent years. Disney TV Animation launched a Chibi Tiny Tales shorts series in 2020 that went on to spawn long-form spinoff The Chibiverse two years later.

Could Canal+ Be The End Of DStv?

Canal+ is hoping to finalize it's acquisition of DStv's parent company MultiChoice by the fall of 2025. The deal is expected to bring in cash flow to help them invest in more sporting events and local content but for every action there's always consequences in this case with DStv.

As some consumers have already seen MultiChoice is bleeding DStv customers for sometime with its consumer base that plummeted from 22 million by 2020 to 16 million by 2024. Canal+ should it consume MultiChoice won't sit idly and watch these numbers deteriorate even further.

With MultiChoice operating at a loss, Canal+ could seek to make the acquired company reduce its operational expenses or DStv's case rationalise on things like channels if it means getting potential profit.

MultiChoice could for instance look at how much money is being invested into the BBC to see if it meets up to standards. Even opt to downscale DMX and Trace Urban as Spotify, JOOX and Apple Music have been snatching these consumers from those platforms.

They could also look to integrate/streamline more channels with M-Net Movies 3 and 4 dissolved with the focus shifted onto its premium offering. 

As for DStv, Canal+ could use it as an import for Zacu Entertainment and Marodi TV brands based in Francophone Africa with SPI International in Europe. In general, MultiChoice needed Disney, Paramount and BBC to compete on a global scale with Canal+ that dependence had reduced.

It does lead some to wonder if M-Net will undergo further restructuring now that it's operations would be combined with the legends that brought Paddington, Back To Black and Bridget Jones.

Rumour: Disney Channel To Debut A Bold New Look Across Europe And Africa In June

During the month of April, MultiChoice had announced the addition of Disney Channel to DStv Family consumers. It is home to animated shows like Phineas And Ferb and Marvel's Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur alongside live-action series Coop And Cami Ask The World and Raven's Home.

Prior to this, there was reports of a potential HD feed of the channel in development for consumers in South Africa. Now it appears that alongside an HD feed, Disney Channel may be debuting a bold new look soon following its rollout across the United States in 2024.

Kind of strange really as Disney Channel updated its bumpers in March with "up next" and the logo's color was filtered to resonate with the program. Why go through all that hassle if the plan was to align this part of the brand as seen with Disney Jr.

But then again this is Disney Channel, they have been out of touch with reality for sometime promoting shows that were taken off air. To make it worse, they'll continue promoting content as channel premieres days or weeks after it had been aired.

Info on the rebrand

The new visual language blends gradients and negative space to create depth and a sleek, modern feel, while the repetition of iconic Disney elements like the "D," Mickey ears, and script reinforces the brand in fresh, unexpected ways.

 

This collaboration is a testament to our long-standing partnership with the incredible Disney Channel team—a team that continuously embraces innovation and trusts us to bring their vision to life.