Insidus: Entertainment Inside Us

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Home Of Champions Looks Forward To A Blockbuster Year Of Sport

SuperSport celebrated a full house of international sport for 2022 at today’s MultiChoice Showcase, cementing the company’s reputation as the global Home of Champions. The company reaffirmed its commitment to bringing customers all the thrills of the best in action sports from the very best international sports events – live and packaged – from across the planet, on DStv & Showmax Pro.

Access to the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup takes pride of place in the SuperSport footballing line-up in December 2022. “Indeed, we’re the undisputed Home of Football, with Premier League, La Liga, the DStv Premiership, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League – and plenty of cup competitions in-between – offering an Unbeatable Football experience,” says Marc Jury, Chief Executive Officer of SuperSport.

SuperSport remains a long-term supporter of local sport, both as an investor and a broadcaster. “Our coverage of the DStv Premiership, Telkom KO, Nedbank Cup domestic rugby and cricket is unmatched, and we continue to grow to include a variety of other sport, including netball, basketball, boxing, hockey, golf and several others,” says Jury. The company will continue to broadcast key live sporting events which see South African teams competing with – and besting – opposition around the world, including giving fans the opportunity to follow the World Champion Springboks on their incoming and outgoing tours in 2022.

The company is also the largest funder of sports on the continent and broadcasts most of the major sporting events and leagues, sourcing content and producing its own thrilling programming.

2022 FIFA Football World Cup coverage will include all 64 matches, live and in prime time, supported by an array of highlights, historical footage, news updates and feature pieces. There’s also the UEFA Champions League and Europa League (until May 2022) and the FA Cup (until May 2022).

SuperSport has followed the marauding Springboks on their annual outbound tour to Europe this month and is set to bring viewers all the action from the all-new United Rugby Championship (until June 2022) and an old friend in the shape of the Six Nations will make a reappearance in February. We’ll also be following the World Sevens Series to each stop and supporting the Blitzbokke, every step of the way.

There's plenty of opportunity to catch global women’s sporting events as well: follow the Proteas Women take on the West Indies on an incoming tour; live the magic of the FIFA Women's World Cup; British Open Golf; Augusta National Women's Amateur; LPGA Weekly; Sunshine Ladies Tour; US Women's Open Golf and Solheim Cup. There's the FIG World Challenge Cup Gymnastics, FIG World Cup, FIH Pro League Hockey; DStv Schools Netball Challenge; Paarl Gim Netball Tournament and Spar Challenge International Netball Series. There’s also Women's Premier Division Rugby; Women's Six Nations; Women's Sevens and WTA 1000; WTA 250 & WTA 500 tennis. And that’s not counting mixed events like Athletics; Basketball National League, International Cycling; Absa Cape Epic; SuperSport Shootout Golf, Oxford v Cambridge rowing, PSA World Tour Squash; Super League triathlon and the World Triathlon Championship Series.

Cricket lovers can follow The Ashes and India’s tour of South Africa until January 2022, the IPL in March and the Proteas’ tour of England from July-September and Tennis & Golf fans have all their Majors needs covered, from January to July.

The best action on two and four wheels is sorted too, with coverage of the longest-ever F1 season, MotoGP, SuperBikes, and every major cycling event from May’s Giro d’Italia to October’s Absa Cape Epic and everything from the Amstel Gold Race to Challenge by la Vuelta and the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup and Paris-Roubaix to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Fight fans can get their fix with the very best big-bash boxing bouts, the entire galaxy of UFC stars and the no-holds-barred EFC. The SuperStars of WWE will continue to be a major staple of SuperSport, including headline events like the Royal Rumble in January and WrestleMania in April.

The American Indoor Track League, Diamond League, IAAF World Indoor Tour and World Athletics Continental Tour are crown jewels in their own right, but July & August see SuperSport deliver the Commonwealth Games from Birmingham.

There’s National League Basketball and all the major road running marathons from Lagos to Milan and Hamburg to New York City.

Beyond traditional linear television, SuperSport is available on multiple platforms, including the all-new SuperSport app, supersport.com, dstv.com and on the Catch Up service.

SuperSport is also available on Showmax Pro, the streaming service that bundles the best of African and international entertainment with a selection of live sport from SuperSport (showmax.com).

Sport is back – and there’s nowhere better to enjoy it all in one place, than with SuperSport.

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[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Homegrown Streaming Service Leads With Homegrown Content

(As indicated in the sneak peeks)

Africa-first streaming service Showmax is going big on local content for 2022 – and beyond – with a host of firsts from the four corners and many languages of the continent.

This follows a year where Showmax Originals consistently broke records as the most watched content ever on the streaming platform, from The Real Housewives of Durban in January to Uthando Lodumo in June, to Devilsdorp in July to The Wife in November 2021 - not to mention I Am Laycon setting a Nigerian record in February 2021.

“Our audiences are most engaged when watching shows that reflect their reality, their hopes and their dreams. This is why the three most popular shows on Showmax in the first half of 2021 were all local,” says Candice Fangueiro, Showmax’s head of content. “So, we’re delighted to introduce our next wave of Showmax Originals, a mix of returning favourites and groundbreaking firsts, from some of Africa’s most talented filmmakers.”

These include first seasons of the epic fantasy Blood Psalms, the reality series The Real Housewives of Lagos, docu-series Sex in Afrikaans, and the survival horror Pulse, as well as second seasons of The Real Housewives of Durban, the Kenyan police procedural and legal drama Crime and Justice and the romantic comedy Troukoors, and new seasons of the debut Showmax Original telenovela, The Wife, not to mention a three-film post-apocalyptic film slate, led by the critically acclaimed Glasshouse.

These include first seasons of the epic fantasy Blood Psalms, the reality series The Real Housewives of Lagos, docu-series Sex in Afrikaans, and the survival horror Pulse, as well as second seasons of The Real Housewives of Durban, the Kenyan police procedural and legal drama Crime and Justice. Also on the way is romantic comedy Troukoors and new seasons of the latest show that everyone’s talking about: The Wife.
New favourites, coming 2022:
The Real Housewives of Lagos | Reality series
The Real Housewives of Lagos will be the 16th international - and third African - instalment of The Real Housewives franchise.

“We’ve seen audiences across Africa devour The Real Housewives of Johannesburg and The Real Housewives of Durban,” says Fangueiro. “The Real Housewives franchise lends itself to localisation and we know our audience is going to love seeing the show reinvented, Naija- style. We can’t wait to show the continent - and the world - another side of Lagos, with all the drama, high fashion and luxury you’d expect from The Real Housewives franchise.”

Sex in Afrikaans | Docu-series
In Sex in Afrikaans, four Afrikaans couples and two singles, with the help of clinical psychologist Bradley R Daniels, will for the first time speak openly about their sex lives – and, in the process discover there is more fun to be had!

Featuring interviews with sex workers, adult shop owners, a unicorn, swingers, dominatrixes, a crossdresser, a dungeon master, people who dress up like babies, and others who prefer full body latex suits, Sex in Afrikaans will be an eye-opening tour of what your neighbours and co-workers get up to behind closed doors. The show is produced by Wie word 'n miljoenêr? host Rian van Heerden, through Provoco.

Blood Psalms | Epic fantasy
Showmax’s first epic fantasy, Blood Psalms, is set in ancient Africa, 1 100 years ago and chronicles the rise to power of a fierce teenage princess who battles a world-ending prophecy to navigate her people through ancient curses, long-standing tribal vendettas and the wrath of the gods.

Award-winning show creators Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka are joined by a heavyweight cast, which includes eight SAFTA winners – Bongile Mantsai, Hamilton Dlamini, Hlubi Mboya, Mothusi Magano, Siv Ngesi, Thishiwe Ziqubu, Warren Masemola and Zolisa Xaluva – and many more household names.

Glasshouse | Dystopian film
Showmax is developing a three-picture dystopian slate with Local Motion Pictures, in association with Crave Pictures, with Greig Buckle producing and Kelsey Egan directing and sharing story credits with associate producer Emma Lungiswa de Wet.

The first film, Glasshouse, is set after The Shred, an airborne dementia, has left humanity roaming like lost and dangerous animals, unable to remember who they are. Confined to their airtight glasshouse, a family does what they must to survive - until the sisters are seduced by a stranger who upsets the family’s rituals, unearthing a past they have tried to bury.

The film had its world premiere at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada in August 2021, receiving multiple five-star reviews and an 89% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Film Threat’s Lorry Kitka singled out Glasshouse as her “favourite film of the year so far” and Exclaim proclaimed, “Kelsey Egan is a filmmaker to keep an eye on.”

Pulse is a six-part survival horror series about game developers who find themselves trapped in the game of their own creation. The survival horror story is directed by multi-award-winner Salmon de Jager and produced by Primetime Emmy winner Steve Lanning.

Returning favourites, coming 2022
The Wife S2 and S3 | Telenovela
When it launched in November 2021, Showmax’s first telenovela, The Wife, outperformed the launch of any film or series on the streaming platform ever. Inspired by Dudu Busani- Dube’s bestseller Hlomu The Wife, the 40-episode first season tells the story of a journalist (Mbalenhle Mavimbela from Skeem Saam) who falls in love with a taxi driver, Mqhele (Bonko Khoza from Neckie Youth), not realising that when you marry a man, you marry his secrets.

Showmax has commissioned three seasons of 40 episodes each, inspired by Dudu’s books Hlomu the Wife, Zandile the Resolute, and Naledi His Love, respectively. The books follow the lives of the eight Zulu brothers, a formidable crime family, through the eyes of the wives they marry.

Crime and Justice S2 | police procedural and legal drama
Crime and Justice, which is Kenya’s first Showmax Original and the first co-production with global broadcaster CANAL+, follows detective duo Makena (Sarah Hassan, Famous, Just In Time) and Silas (Alfred Munyua, Nafsi, The First Grader) as they investigate one-ripped-from-the-headlines case per episode.
Crime and Justice was nominated for three Kalasha awards across all the 2021 TV Drama categories: Best TV Drama, Best Lead Actor (Munyua) and Best Lead Actress (Hassan).

KenyaBuzz hailed it as “the perfect Kenyan Original… intensely satisfying” while Quartz credited it with “keeping real-life crimes from being buried… reviving debate and discussion around controversies that might have otherwise faded from the news.”

The Real Housewives of Durban S2 | Reality series
The Real Housewives of Durban (RHOD) set a new first day overall views record when it launched on Showmax at the end of January 2021. The show built on the popularity of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg, which was one of the 10 most-streamed local series on Showmax in 2019.

RHOD has since launched on hayu in 27 territories internationally, including Canada, UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the Philippines.

Troukoors S2 | Romantic comedy
Premiering on 13 December 2021, Troukoors follows wedding planner Jessica who’s surrounded by love but struggling to find it for herself.

“Troukoors is a light, sexy and bubbly romcom, like Younger meets The Bold Type meets Emily in Paris but set against the splendour and romance of the Cape wedding industry,” says Fanguiero.

Troukoors is created by SAFTA winner Louis Pretorius and SAFTA nominee Albert Snyman, the creators of critically acclaimed and much-loved shows like Die Boekklub and Fynskrif, with regular collaborator Nina Swart directing.
Showmax has already renewed Troukoors for a second season – before the first has even premiered.

In addition to this feast of local content, Showmax also offers first, and exclusive international series, premium documentaries, and the best kids’ shows. Showmax Pro adds music, news and live sport from SuperSport.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

SNEAK PEEK: Some Of The Content Coming To MultiChoice Showcase Including Reality, Lifestyle, Movies, Series And Kid Shows

Showmax/M-Net:

Crime And Justice - Detectives Makena and Silas from Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations investigate different crimes, some dealing with social or political impact.

Glasshouse (movie) - confined to their glasshouse, a family survives The Shred, a toxin that erases memory. Until the sisters are seduced by a Stranger who shatters their peace and stirs a past best left buried.

Gossip Girl - eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teenagers are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl.

Palm Springs (movie) - stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.

Succession S1 - S3 - the Logan family is known for controlling the biggest media and entertainment company in the world. However, their world changes when their father steps down from the company.

Ghana Jollof - is the first Showmax Original comedy series in West Africa and is shot in Lagos and Accra.

Via:

Sjefhuis - take eight young, ambitious chefs hungry for their big break and set them up in a villa where they will duke it out to land an apprenticeship with the master chef Bertus Basson — and just let the cameras roll around the clock.

HONEY:

Pastors’ Wives
Season 2
TX: Thursday 13 January 2022 – 7 April 2022
WAT 21:00 | CAT 22:00 | EAT 23:00
13 Episodes
PG13
60 minutes
Genre: Reality
Pastors are often in the spotlight, but in this show, we meet the charismatic women holding it all together in their religious households. We follow them and get to see how unconventionally they live their lives. We also get to witness the dramatic situations they may find themselves in when the pastors’ wives clash.

Kids Kitchen Relay
Season 1
TX: Monday 10 January 2022 – 4 April 2022
WAT 15:30 | CAT 16:30 | EAT 18:30
13 Episodes
PG13
30 minutes
Genre: Reality
Two teams of three kids each, go head-to-head in a relay cooking competition. The teams are given a theme and must cook one dish as a team in three rounds without any communication between team members. They must overcome various challenges, ingredients and cooking requirements to be crowned as the winner and walk away with a prize. Hlonela Mrwetyana and Thato Rampedi host the show, with Chef Zanele Van Zyl as the judge.

Cartoon Network:

Big Blue - sibling adventurers Lettie and Lemo lead a quirky submarine crew to unravel the mysterious secrets of an underwater universe. Along with a magical fairy stowaway named Bacon Berry they must explore and protect their vast ocean-covered planet.

Coach Me If You Can - Daniel Sissou has a secret: his soccer ball is none other than the world's greatest soccer player Erico Platana, transformed by a mad sorcerer. In order to change back, Erico has to deflate his ego and help Daniel become a champ.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Could National Geographic Be On The Chopping Block Following The UK Alignment To Disney EMEA Production Hub?

The Nat Geo UK-based commissioning and production team has been restructured and now feeds into Disney’s EMEA production hub, reporting to Liam Keelan.

The move is understood to have taken place several weeks ago, with the Nat Geo London-based team now focusing on international productions, regional European and local market productions. The team is also working closely with London-based Sean Doyle, Disney’s Director of Original Production, Unscripted General Entertainment for Europe and Africa, it is understood.

The Nat Geo team, which comprises the likes of Commissioning Editors Carolyn Payne and Simon Raikes, Associate Producer, Development and Production Alexander Lawson and Production and Development Coordinator Daisy Bryant, now reports into Keelan, Disney’s Vice President Original Content, Europe and Africa, whose main focus is Disney+. Keelan, a former BBC Studios scripted exec and BBC commissioner who joined 18 months ago, reports into Diego Londono, EMEA EVP, Media Networks and Content.

'The Outlaws' Producer Big Talk Lands UKTV Alien Drama From 'Ghosts' Stars Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond
Disney, which owns Nat Geo, is looking to prioritize two-year-old streamer Disney+ and, alongside adult-skewing vertical Star, the Nat Geo vertical sits on the platform, consisting of high-end shows such as Limitless With Chris Hemsworth.

The Nat Geo UK team previously reported straight to Nat Geo US and commissions a number of international and US shows per year including the likes of Buried Secrets Of The Bible, Drain the Oceans and Mars: One Day on the Red Planet.

Given Disney’s desire to drive international subs to Disney+, one UK indie sector source familiar with the team said integrating the two “makes perfect sense.”
Another countered that Nat Geo UK has lost a degree of autonomy that came with pitching ideas straight to the US.

“This feels like a return to an older model where there are more regional commissions and to fund them well they need to get buy-in from other regions,” added the second source.

Disney+ has so far commissioned 21 international series, of which 16 are scripted and five non-scripted, most recently unveiling Spanish drama original Balenciaga (working title) at Disney+ Day, as the team targets 60 by 2024.

Non-scripted offerings include David Beckham competition Save Our Squad.

Keelan has spent the last couple of years building up his team and it now features two ex-Channel 4 commissioners, Sean Doyle and Lee Mason, who oversee non-scripted and scripted respectively, while Johanna Devereaux is also Director, Scripted Content, EMEA.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- A+ possibly coming to DStv
- More Africa Magic channels on DStv???
- Could G4 launch in Africa perhaps to replace Ginx TV?
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could SuperSport pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Travel Channel going off air on DStv???
- Could SABC Encore and Children be in development?
- Warner TV might be replacing TNT
- tvN working on becoming permanent in Africa

Another One Bites The Dust: Love Nature Reportedly The Next Victim To Get Culled By StarSat

A month after The Smithsonian Channel, the Canadian-based Love Nature featuring documentaries related to wildlife and nature goes off air on StarSat across Africa by the end of November.

Love Nature launched 2 years ago alongside The Smithsonian Channel as replacements to National Geographic and National Geographic Wild as StarSat had been going through a contractual dispute with The Walt Disney Company.

The demise of Love Nature leaves a big gap in the viewership as so many channels were culled from the platform including FOX, SA Music, SA Playlist, St Eyethu and a range of Discovery Channels.

Just like Smithsonian, fans of Love Nature will have rely on National Geographic to give viewers the best in factual and educational programming, and hope that doesn't get culled as well.

2021 has proven to be weak year on the basis of new channels. So far the platform launched MUTV, Zimbabwe's Jit TV, the ANC inspired C12 TV, Fashion TV, Roots TV and 3 Zee TV channels.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Read Also:
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could StarSat pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Could SABC Encore and Children make their way to StarSat?
- African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
- Warner TV might be replacing TNT
- Canal+ acquires majority stake at SPI International
- Timeless Dizi Channel got a streaming service

Cartoonito Launching As A Linear Channel!!! Did Kidscreen Let The Cat Out Of The Bag?

As WarnerMedia in Europe, Middle East and Africa gear up for the return of Cartoonito. WarnerMedia sourced out several content with the recent addition Spookies as reported by Kidscreen greenlit for the "linear channel" in 2023.

Cartoonito launched in several markets either as a programming block or linear channel and viewers feeling agitated wonder the possible implications it will have to their viewing.

In Latin America, the brand is set to replace Boomerang by the end of November with several shows being phased out except for Tom And Jerry and Scooby-Doo which are considered preschool for that market.

If this format is duplicated, Boomerang's death will be less painful for everyone. Cartoonito might be stocking them up to increase their success rate and eventually dump them.

November is almost up with Bionic Max and Dino Ranch nowhere in site on Cartoon Network and Boomerang respectively. The possible delay could have something to do with the rollout of Cartoonito.

WarnerMedia plans to offer over 50 preschool series within the next 3 years and such amount can't be confined to mere block.

Streamlining forms part of WarnerMedia's vision for the market seeing that HBO Max will arrive in 2025. We could be looking at another Tom And Jerry where the mouse eventually gets caught.

Insidus: Entertainment Inside Us

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Home Of Champions Looks Forward To A Blockbuster Year Of Sport

[PRESS RELEASE ON MULTICHOICE SHOWCASE]: Homegrown Streaming Service Leads With Homegrown Content

SNEAK PEEK: Some Of The Content Coming To MultiChoice Showcase Including Reality, Lifestyle, Movies, Series And Kid Shows

Could National Geographic Be On The Chopping Block Following The UK Alignment To Disney EMEA Production Hub?

Another One Bites The Dust: Love Nature Reportedly The Next Victim To Get Culled By StarSat

Cartoonito Launching As A Linear Channel!!! Did Kidscreen Let The Cat Out Of The Bag?

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