Major Shakeup: eExtra Airs Rebroadcasts Of Uzozisola: Regrets, Removes Scandal, House Of Zwide And More Shows From The Lineup

During the month, e.tv reported that they would be making changes to their primetime schedule by grouping shows like Kelders Van Geheime with House Of Zwide and the now axed Scandal!. They also further isolated e.tv News and Uzozisola: Regrets.

From 1st January, eExtra will be making some adjustments to its weekday morning schedule which mainly considered of old shows and reruns to primetime. This included House Of Zwide, Scandal!, Isitha: The Enemy and Smoke & Mirrors that is now axed.

Uzozisola: Regrets will broadcast daily in Smoke & Mirror's timeslot from 09:35 which is probably their way of making up for moving the Bollywood drama to late nights at 09:30 from 19 January.

Instead of airing IThemba Alibulali perhaps eExtra removed House Of Zwide in favour of eKasi: Our Stories in the 10:00 timeslot. This will be followed by Ashes To Ashes and Gold Diggers at 11:00 and 11:30 respectively all of which here are reruns.

Maybe this is eMedia's way of trying to give eExtra some uniqueness and open the gap to prioritise it's existing shows.

Kuma: The Other Wife, a primetime show is getting burnt off at 12:50 while as retaining its late night slot 23:00. For some odd reason Viola will be taking up its afternoon timeslot at 14:40.

The only sensible thing was moving Naagin to 12:00 as that is a rerun but with eExtra being home to these shows it's likely to anger viewers as supernatural shows often get the most attention.

Viola and eKasi: Our Stories, why do they exist? I mean eExtra would have been able to accommodate Kuma: The Other Wife and Naagin with the respect they deserve. Now you have a show that will get even less viewers and another that will barely get much.

eExtra's simultaneous broadcasts with e.tv for Yosef and Kelders Van Geheime are still intact during this period at least. But Yosef and Chrysalis can also be seen at 13:50 and 15:40 respectively.

To keep up, below is schedule for the channel during this period:

09:30 Uzozisola - Regrets

10:00 eKasi: Our Stories

11:00 Ashes To Ashes

11:30 Gold Diggers

12:00 Naagin

12:50 The Other Wife

13:50 Yosef

14:40 Viola

15:40 Chrysalis

Dark Days Could Be Lurking For TNT Africa

As advised, MultiChoice will be shuttering Warner Bros. Discovery's 12 channels on the DStv platform due to pricing problems. Channels like Food Network qnd Discovery Family will cease to exist in Africa as MultiChoice was the only provider for them.

Another channel that could be joining Food Network and the other channels in a not so distant future would be TNT.

TNT is ranked as the #1 international movie channel in Africa offering action based films and various content from wrestling promotion AEW. It was only last year when StarTimes opted to discontinue carriage of the channel for similar reasons.

Unlike Cartoon Network and a fleet of channels that are packaged on StarTimes, Zuku TV and Azam TV. The only other means of viewing TNT would be through Canal+ Afrique's operations in Rwanda.

The problem part, Canal+ Afrique and MultiChoice are owned by the same company meaning TNT Africa's days in the market could be numbered. It's less likely to be revived on another platform as StarTimes and the latter already have alternatives in place.

Unlike Cartoon Network and TLC where the content can't simply be replaced with an alternative. Outside of AEW, TNT uses the same catalogue as ST Movies, Studio Universal and M-Net Movies.

How Azam TV And Canal+ Afrique In Rwanda Are Impacted By DStv's Closure Of Cartoon Network And Cartoonito?

With a few days left in 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery and MultiChoice are set to close 12 channels on DStv and GOtv platforms across Africa by 31 December. Talks between the two have stalled due to pricing and might continue into 2026.

This means DStv consumers will be losing out on shows like Teen Titans GO!, Bugs Bunny Builders and Mr. Bean. Whatever alternatives MultiChoice's new owners have in store is less likely to include these shows from Cartoon Network and Cartoonito.

Cartoon Network would be exiting DStv platform after 30 years serving as one of 15 channels alongside CNN and Travel Channel when DStv launched in the market.

As advised, the exit of Cartoon Network means the only other way consumers can view the brand would be through Azam TV which is located in East Africa and Canal+ Afrique in Rwanda.

The problem part is that majority of Cartoon Network and Cartoonito's consumers were on DStv meaning most of their revenue resided with MultiChoice. If that space is closed, Warner Bros. Discovery will most definitely scale back on its operations.

Cartoon Network had been dubbing Teen Titans GO! and The Wonderfully Weird Of Gumball to Zulu that could as well get the boot. They had produced local series like Woola for Cartoonito which too is at risk of cancellation.

MultiChoice's cancellation of these brands could impact Canal+ Rwanda's existing agreement seeing as they're both divisions of Canal+. Warner Bros. Discovery might not deem Africa as viable for these networks with only Azam TV.

If Warner Bros. Discovery were to charge more to Azam TV, they may follow the same strategy as MultiChoice and severe its ties.

This is why the new management at MultiChoice doesn't feel threatened by their possible exit as the only other means for Regular Show would be streaming. Compared to South Africa, there's a lot of constraints to that in other parts of Africa.

Four Channels Facing Bigger Risk Of Extinction Within MultiChoice And Warner Bros. Discovery Dispute

With only a few days left in 2025, MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery have yet to come into an agreement over the fate of its 12 channels. These include Discovery Channel, TLC, TNT, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, CNN, Travel Channel and HGTV.

If these channels were to go dark for instance, consumers in South Africa would have no other means of viewing them. As opposed to other markets with StarTimes, Zuku TV and Azam TV supplying some of these channels in a separate agreement.

For Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery, CNN, TNT, TLC, Real Time and Cartoon Network and Cartoonito. With them being on other platforms within Africa means normal viewing is expected to resume once they go dark on DStv.

As opposed to Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel and Discovery Family that will have to see Warner Bros. Discovery reshuffle their portfolio and reschedule/delay shows. This is because MultiChoice was the only provider willing to bundle them despite the costs.

Most other providers rely on Discovery Channel and Real Time for the batch of shows on these channels including Ugliest House In America, Harry Potter: Wizards Of Baking and The Kitchen.

MultiChoice now under French management has been scaling back on costs with the cancellation of Philly's Games and World Darts Championship on SuperSport. It's likely that the ongoing talks with Warner Bros. Discovery will see their linear operations reduced.

Canal+ following its acquisition of MultiChoice had lost another million subscribers between March 2024 to March 2025 which is where part of their income reside. With fewer subscribers, MultiChoice won't be able to maintain the current DStv structure.

If these two parties do come to an agreement expect a streamlined portfolio which could as well result in the closure of Travel Channel and Discovery Family. In regards to the fate of Dead Files that may not be a priority if the viewership doesn't justify the means.

DStv Blackout Seems More Imminent As Renewal Talks Between MultiChoice And Warner Bros. Discovery Are Underway

With only a few days left into 2025, MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery have yet to reach an agreement regarding Cartoon Network and TLC. Consumers would have spotted this message informing them these channels might go dark soon.

Canal+ following its acquisition of MultiChoice had been scaling back on costs and at this point consumers shouldn't be remotely shocked if we were to see a total blackout of these 12 channels.

These channels are bundled so even if MultiChoice wanted to retain a few channels that's not possible at this stage. So letting these brands die out would give them an open window to negotiate a new agreement where a few channels get reinstated.

MultiChoice had already planned their next step as talks ensue this includes fliekNET and various pop-up channels. DStv Upsize special which was scheduled to end on 31 December 2025 had been pushed up a month later to 31 January 2026.

Cartoon Network and Cartoonito have a 49% market share for kids viewing on DStv making them stronger candidates to get revived. Followed by TNT and TLC as they rank #1 in their current fields being international movies and lifestyle.

News isn't as big of a trailblazer in pay-tv circuit but CNN has massive following I can only assume it would be the fifth channel.

Paramount is closing CBS Justice by the end of December in its joint venture with AMC Networks International alongside CBS Reality. Maybe Discovery Channel and Investigation Discovery could come in sixth and seventh place.

But what is clear here is that MultiChoice is one of Warner's largest investors in Africa. With a Netflix sale and potential spinoff, the company housing these brands faces a lot of uncertainty so they would need a MultiChoice deal to avoid low revenue.

MultiChoice has been losing subscribers in recent years and they'll need to continue offering Beat Bobby Flay and Tiny Toons Looniversity to avoid a massive downfall to their pay-tv business.