Canal+ And SuperSport Renew Distribution Partnership With SA Rugby

SA Rugby and the CANAL+ Group have discussed and planned a continued partnership with SuperSport, Africa’s leading sports broadcaster, following fruitful and productive engagements in Johannesburg this week.

SA Rugby executives met with their CANAL+ Group counterparts at the MultiChoice offices in Randburg, Johannesburg, where both entities discussed strategic plans to bring rugby fans and viewers closer to the game through the existing broadcast partnership.

The two organisations met for a series of information-sharing sessions to better understand each entity's long-term strategy and move forward with a common purpose and goal as partners in delivering the best possible rugby viewing experience to viewers and DStv subscribers across the continent. These include the immersive experiences as well as storytelling, which brings viewers more of the sports content they desire beyond the live action.

With SA Rugby preparing to stage some of the most exciting rugby matches in history starting in 2026 – across Springbok men, women, junior teams, as well as sevens – the partnership with SuperSport – part of the CANAL+ Group, ensures that millions of rugby followers will get to participate in the excitement.

SA Rugby CEO, Rian Oberholzer, said: “SuperSport has been at our side for decades, bringing rugby fans all the action, including Rugby World Cups, and we’re excited to continue this journey with them. We had very fruitful discussions with CANAL+ leadership in Johannesburg and, along with them, we are very excited about the road ahead.”

Rendani Ramovha, CANAL+ Director for Sports Content in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa, said: “As part of CANAL+ Africa and the CANAL+ Group, we are proud to be able to enhance our existing partnership with SA Rugby.

“Rugby plays an important role in the sports package we deliver to our CANAL+ Africa SA Pay-TV audience and the partnership with SA Rugby is crucial to delivering the very best in local and international rugby.

“We are excited to engage with the rugby governing body to find ways to deliver the sport to audiences across many different touchpoints: linear television, streaming, digital and social media.

“The robust and engaging discussions were aimed at ensuring that the viewer gets the ultimate rugby viewing experience, courtesy of this SuperSport partnership. We cannot wait for the viewers and DStv subscribers to experience all that we have in store this year, leading up to the Springboks’ title defence in Australia next year.”

Ultimate Survival Test: Naked And Afraid Returns For Its Most Extreme Season Premiering On Discovery Channel Africa On Wednesday, 18 March At 20:05

Discovery Channel dives deep into one of the most audacious and high-stakes challenges on Naked and Afraid S12, premiering on Discovery Channel Africa (DStv 121) on Wednesday, 18 March at 20:05. 

 

This season, a fresh crop of intrepid survivalists will be plunged into what can only be described as hell on Earth. Stripped of every comfort and convenience without water, food, or even clothing. They face the ultimate reckoning of body, mind, and spirit. From scorching deserts to unforgiving jungles, they're abandoned in five of the planet's most brutal and diverse landscapes, armed with nothing but their raw determination.

 

The two-hour season premiere kicks off with a bang, as Naked and Afraid legend Matt Wright makes a surprise appearance. He throws a rookie and a returning challenger, desperate for redemption, into the punishing Florida Everglades. Here, intense heat, severe storms, swarming mosquitoes, and aggressive alligators conspire to turn the swampy terrain into a relentless battle for survival. As the season pushes deeper into its global challenges, the series returns to southern Africa, where survivalists face the raw wilderness of Botswana’s arid desert terrain and the dense, wildlife-rich landscapes of Zambia, two locations long known within the franchise for their extreme heat, scarce resources, and close encounters with predators.

 

In a new move for the franchise, this season features a first: expert survivalists Ky Furneaux and Dan Link face a staggering 14 days on a remote island, completely devoid of tools, firestarter, pot, or blade. It’s the most extreme test of human ingenuity and resilience ever conceived. Adding another fascinating twist, a group of five fearless social media influencers will trade their filtered feeds for raw reality, attempting to prove if their online personas can truly withstand the primal force of Mother Nature.

 

Don’t miss the drama, danger, and raw human resilience on full display.

Naked and Afraid Season 12 premieres 18 March, airing Wednesdays at 20:05, until 3 June on Discovery Channel Africa (DStv 121).

Comedy Central And Adult Swim Could Benefit From The Warner Bros. Discovery And Paramount Merger

Paramount is in process of trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery home to brands like CNN, Cartoon Network and OWN. This merger would mean that Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, CBS News and CNN, and BET and OWN will operate under one roof.

The biggest gainer within this M&A would be Comedy Central and Adult Swim.

Comedy Central's content slate has been reliant on reruns of sitcoms like Becker, Hot In Cleveland, The Nanny and Rules Of Engagement. The only thing basically carrying the channel would be South Park and The Daily Show.

Adult Swim has been regarded as destination hub for adult animation with shows like Rick And Morty, Robot Chicken, Primal and Final Space. Unlike Comedy Central, it lacks in scale with it's linear operations residing mainly in Canada.

With this merger, Comedy Central stands to benefit with an increased slate of content. The channel is no stranger to animation with Beavis And Butthead and it's spinoff Daria as well as Drawn Together, The Ren And Stumpy Show and Ugly Americans.

Canada is the only known market to offer a 24 hour channel for Adult Swim maybe this merger will even lead more feeds for the brand perhaps under Comedy Central. 

Paramount Buys Out Tyler Perry’s Stake in BET+, Plans To Fold It Under Paramount+

Paramount Skydance has acquired Tyler Perry’s stake in BET+ and will fold it into Paramount+ at the beginning of June.

Perry had held a 25 percent stake in BET’s streaming service since 2019. Now, the more than 1,000 hours of content on BET+ will move to Paramount+.

Perry is still under an overall deal with BET Media Group that will run through 2028. He will continue delivering content to BET and now Paramount+.

In an internal memo, Louis Carr, president of BET Networks, said, “As we continue to drive BET’s growth, our stories have to live in more places. Beginning in June, we are expanding our reach by making Paramount+ the new home for BET+ content. This powerful next step ensures the stories we champion, the creators we support and the culture we represent go further than ever before.

“Paramount+ will bring global fans over 1,000 hours of iconic series, films, originals and cultural touchstones that reflect the full spectrum of the Black experience, including hits like The Ms. Pat Show, All The Queen’s Men, Zatima, Average Joe and Diarra from Detroit. Our celebrated Black storytelling will live alongside Paramount’s premium series, sports, specials and films, where it will be clearly branded, prominently featured and easy to find in the BET Hub.”

More Details Regarding The Possible Expansion Of SuperSport Play On DStv

During the month, it was reported that MultiChoice might be looking to add SuperSport Play to its DStv decoders. For sometime, MultiChoice limited the channel's reach to its Free-To-View subscribers on the soon to be revamped DStv Stream app.

We assume due to Canal+'s takeover in 2025, they're basically cleaning house and assessing some of the poor decisions made by MultiChoice. In this case, it could as well be the availability of SuperSport Play.

SuperSport Play is basically a mashup of SuperSport Grandstand and Variety 4 as it sources mainly highlights and local content from SuperSport's premium sports channels. It tends to air replays to certain sporting events.

Unlike Variety 4, SuperSport Play doesn't have any live or first run content which made it the ideal channel for DStv Stream's Easyview customers.

Not long ago, MultiChoice had begun work on another SuperSport channel for DStv consumers. Initially, they used the feed for one of the Variety channels but overtime it had been replaced with a separate feed not accessible on their website.

For any future additions, usually there's some programme guide but for this one it's not the case.

From what I could gather, Reel Africa and World Of Freesports are on the lineup alongside highlights to NASCAR and International Cricket. It should be noted that none of these are seen on SuperSport Play's programme guide during that time.

But what led us to believe that it could have something to do with the channel mainly had to deal with the lineup. 

As mentioned, SuperSport Play very much like Variety 4 revolves on highlights and local content which is the case for this channel. We can only assume that maybe a linear version is starting to take shape as it's now spotted on Lyngsat.

SuperSport Play also took some of its content from SuperSport Blitz and Schools and maybe this version would have that content omitted. Seeing as Blitz and Schools are already available on Easyview.

But again this channel is in its early stages and more could be added overtime and who knows it could be a pop-up. I have doubts cause no pop-up would be airing Reel Africa as MultiChoice has its Variety channels for that.