Roundups #94: Wind In The Willows Adaptation Coming Soon To Cartoonito, Hocus Pocus Streaming September 30th On Disney+ And The Real Housewives Expands To Nairobi And Pretoria

More preschool coming soon to Cartoonito

Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA has acquired London-based HoHo Entertainment’s preschool series Toad and Friends, which is based on Kenneth Grahame’s kidlit classic The Wind in the Willows.

The CG animated series (52 x 11 minutes) spins new riverside adventures for book characters Mole, Ratty and Toad, focusing on the value of community, friendship and respect. It’s set to launch in 2023 in Warner Bros. Discovery’s Cartoonito block across the EMEA region, as well as on HBO Max’s European service.

Toad and Friends is animated by Scotland’s Wild Child Animation and directed by Tim Searle (Danger Mouse). Creative Scotland and the European Union’s MEDIA program also participated in the show’s development.

Hocus Pocus 2 streaming this month on Disney+

The trailer and teaser art for the highly anticipated Disney+ Original movie Hocus Pocus 2, reuniting Disney Legend Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, were released today. The live-action, long awaited sequel to the perennial Halloween classic, which brings back the delightfully wicked Sanderson sisters for more comedic mayhem, will debut on Disney+ on September 30.

It’s been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th century sisters, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high school students to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before dawn on All Hallow’s Eve.

Hocus Pocus 2 also stars Sam Richardson, Doug Jones, Hannah Waddingham, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lilia Buckingham, Froyan Gutierrez, and Tony Hale. The film is directed by Anne Fletcher and produced by Lynn Harris, with Ralph Winter, David Kirschner, and Adam Shankman serving as executive producers.

More housewives for DStv

Filming has begun on the first Afrikaans version of the reality show Die Real Housewives van Pretoria (RHOP), produced by Provoco, making the new 13-episode reality series the 4th South African version. The show will premiere on Thursday, 13 October on kykNET (DStv 144) and simulcast on Showmax.

Next month filming will start on The Real Housewives of Nairobi produced by Young Rich Television, reports Variety. DStv subscribers in East Africa will get their first version set in Kenya, following The Real Housewives of Lagos, which made its debut on Showmax in Nigeria earlier this year.

"We are so proud to build on the continued success of The Real Housewives franchises across Africa," says Ana Langenberg, senior vice president for format sales and productions at NBCUniversal Formats.

NCLT Directs Zee To Convene Shareholders Meeting On Its Merger With Sony On October 14

Passing an order, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT had on August 24 directed to call a meeting of the equity shareholders of Zee Entertainment to consider the merger, said a statement from the media major.

The National Company Law Tribunal has directed Zee-Entertainment Enterprises to convene a meeting of its shareholders to get approval for its proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment, formerly Sony Pictures Network. Passing an order, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT had on August 24 directed to call a meeting of the equity shareholders of Zee Entertainment to consider the merger, said a statement from the media major.

"The NCLT Mumbai bench has directed in its order, that a meeting of the Equity Shareholders of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. be convened and held on Friday, 14th October 2022 for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving the proposed merger of the Company with Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd," said a company spokesperson.

The NCLT had directed to convene the shareholders' meeting virtually through video conferencing or other audio-visual means for approving the proposed scheme.

The merger, which will create the largest entertainment network in India with a 26 per cent viewership share, is presently before the scrutiny of the fair trade regulator CCI.

According to some media reports last week, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) made some observations about the merger.

Earlier in July, Zee Entertainment had said it has received approval from stock exchanges BSE and NSE for its proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment.

Last year in December, the two media companies signed definitive agreements for the merger of ZEEL into Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) following the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which both parties conducted mutual due diligence.

When the merger deal was announced in September last year, the two networks had stated that Sony would invest USD 1.575 billion and hold a 52.93 per cent stake in the merged entity and Zee the remaining 47.07 per cent.

After closing, the new combined company will be publicly listed in India.

Zee Is In Talks With CCI To Get Approval For Merger With Sony Entertainment

As per the BARC data for the ongoing financial year (2023), the merged entity has 36 per cent TV viewership market share in the Hindi GEC segment, and 33 per cent in the Hindi movies channels.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises has written to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in order to get the latter’s permission to merge its operations with Sony Entertainment. The firm is citing the latest TV viewership data which shows that the merged entity would have lower market share and will not lead to any concentration of power.

Zee has submitted the TV viewership market share data for the financial year ending March 2022 and year-to-date data of the ongoing financial year (FY23). The data shows that the shares of four channels of the merged entity in has come down compared to the financial year ending March 2021 – the data used by the CCI to scrutinise the Zee-Sony merger.

According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for the ongoing FY23, the merged entity has a 36 per cent market share in the Hindi GEC segment, and 33 per cent in the Hindi movies channels. In the Bangla GEC, the combined TV viewership market share is 38 percent and 26 percent in the Marathi GEC, as per an industry official.

In the entire fiscal year ending March 2022, the merged entity had a market share of 39 per cent in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) segment and 38 per cent in Hindi films. In Bangla, the combined entity had a market share of 38 per cent and in Marathi, the combined entity had a market share of 31 per cent, according to BARC.

"There is no 40-per cent (market share) rule. It’s an indicative benchmark adopted by the CCI when assessing combinations. However, even where the combined market share is over 40 per cent, the CCI may ultimately decide to approve the transaction without remedies," said Abdullah Hussain, Partner, DSK Legal.

Some independent lawyers said if the merger is causing a concentration of over 40 per cent in the merged entity, then it becomes fit for scrutiny. The CCI approval for the Zee-Sony merger can go through if there are certain adjustments made to the transaction, including selling majority stake in the four channels by either Zee or Sony to get the approval, they said.

“The CCI will examine if the combined entity would reduce competition or if the other competitors could maintain sufficient pressure on the combined entity. If the combined market shares are very high and other competitors are not able to exert sufficient competitive pressure, the CCI may ask parties to give certain remedies (including divestitures) as a condition for approving the transaction. The CCI has asked parties for remedies in the past where the combined market share was as low as 30 per cent,” said Vaibhav Choukse, Partner & Head of Practice, Competition Law at JSA.

The lawyers also said the combined entity will have over 75 channels of different genres. “The CCI could ask the proposed combine to sell a part of the channels in those genres to another company to ensure there is no concentration in that market. The deal could go through if these adjustments are made," a Mumbai-based competition lawyer said.

Reuters reported that the CCI is probing the merger between Sony and Zee Entertainment saying it will potentially hurt competition by having "unparalleled bargaining power".

What To Expect On The Home Channel In October 2022?

Design For You (6)
Join Pilani Bubu on Design For You, where you can draw even more home décor and design inspiration from some of South Africa’s finest interior designers. With their help, we give you the advice you need to turn your space into a home you’ll love. So if you want to reach your interior design goals, don’t miss Design For You, only on The Home Channel.
03 October 2022 01 January 2023
Mon 16:00 Wed 20:00 Thu 08:00 Fri 12:00 Sat 15:00 & 22:00 Sun 10:30 19:00

A Place in The Sun: Summer Sun (2)
On A Place in The Sun: Summer Sun, Sara Damergi goes house- hunting in Spain, France and Portugal with couples who are looking for a holiday home where they can enjoy a little more sunshine over the summer months. She now has to challenge herself to make sure that she can find Martin and Val Parry the perfect house in the perfect location to help with Martin’s Osteoarthritis, as well as help Philip Beardsley and Faye Brown get their dream home, which will be their best wedding present ever, and she’ll be helping many more families to find their home, sweet home.
03 October 2022 17 February 2023
Mon 23:00 Tue 10:00 Wed 14:00 Fri 18:00

The Healthful Life (1)
Brand New Show
The Healthful Life will make sure you have the tools you need to create nom-worthy food filled with nothing but glow-gaining goodness. Comedian and aspiring healthy person Jahannah James will ask experts to show her how to live cleaner, and together they sort the gluten-free wheat from the chaff. And while the food’s in the oven, they’ll discuss other ways to tackle her wellness issues too, from going vegan without wasting away, to reducing stress, and getting clearer skin.
17 October 2022 13 November 2022
Mon 10:00 Tue 14:00 Thu 18:00 Fri 23:00 Sat 07:00 Sun 13:30

The Home Team (4)
The Home Team is back with crafty ideas to upgrade your space! DIY experts Anthony and Leah offer up their best home and gardening hacks each week to give you a stylish space without the designer price tag. From building a sustainable home garden to freshening up your lounge room with a bold feature wall, the team provides practical advice that you can follow along with at home. Whether you are mid-renovation or just looking for the next great DIY project, The Home Team is the ultimate source of inspiration.
18 October 2022 18 November 2022 
Tue 19:00 Wed 22:30 Thu 11:00 Fri 15:00

Sarah Beeny’s New Life in The Country (2)
New Season
Sarah Beeny’s New Life in The Country follows Property developer Sarah Beeny as she risks it all to craft a new life in the country for her family. The Beeny’s will be fitting out a brand-new stately home on a 220 acre Somerset farm. Starting with Sarah and her family deciding the type of interior design they desire we’ll see how they create their theoretical dining room, transform their boys’ bedroom and follow them step by step as they create and build their dream country home.
18 October 2022 17 December 2022 (Priority slots in red)
Tue 20:00 Wed 08:00 Thu 12:00 Fri 16:00

Grand Designs New Zealand (4)
Grand Designs New Zealand is back with popular host, Kiwi architect Chris Moller. This season shares more stories of creative and enterprising New Zealanders who are taking on the challenge of building their own unique and inspirational homes. The series follows the process of these incredible design projects, as well as the personal journeys of those building them – from the initial blueprints, through to the long and often arduous task of turning the plans into practical living spaces. Using both modern and traditional building techniques and materials, Grand Designs New Zealand features houses with locations ranging from remote forests to the busy inner city, private island escapes and tree-canopy hideaways.
24 October 2022 18 December 2022
Mon 13:00 Tue 17:00 Thu 21:00 Fri 09:00 Sat 11:00 & 18:00 Sun 15:00 & 22:00

Luxury Homes Revealed (4)
New Season
On Luxury Homes Revealed you will be joining hosts Gary, Nadia, Cindy and Anita with an all-access pass through the most luxurious properties in Australia and the USA. From an apartment to a 7,000 square foot estate, viewers of Luxury Homes Revealed get to see the in’s and out’s of some of the country’s most extravagant homes. Along the way, they meet real estate agents, builders and designers. This show has it all and is guaranteed to make your jaw drop.
24 October 2022 30 December 2022
Mon 14:30 Wed 18:30 Thu 23:30 Fri 10:30

Real Health (12)
Real Health is a lifestyle show featuring holistic health solutions in an easy to absorb and palatable manner. It explores how these solutions, when practiced correctly, lead to a physically, emotionally and mentally healthier body, mind and soul. The series is hosted by Michael Porter, a wellness enthusiast, with a natural passion for holistic living. Michael transfers this passion and insights to viewers by chatting to inspirational guests from various holistic health disciplines about their journeys towards a healthier lifestyle. We also explore how these experts live out their life’s purpose by helping others understand how to actively be the custodian of their own overall wellbeing.
31 October 2022 30 January 2023
Mon 18:00 Tue 23:00 Wed 10:00 Thu 14:00 Sat 09:30 Sun 08:00

Million Pound Properties
From Scottish castles and central London shoeboxes to rundown council houses, a record number of British properties are valued at a million pounds plus. Filmed over one of the most unpredictable years the property market’s ever known, Million Pound Properties reveals what a million pounds actually buys across the UK, finds out what the country’s wealthiest buyers demand for their money and uncovers a council house millionaire.
31 October 2022 25 November 2022
Mon 22:00 Tue 11:00 Wed 15:00 Fri 19:00

Could BBC Kids Likely Be Bundled Under MultiChoice's DStv Explora Ultra And If Possible eMedia Investments' eVOD Streaming Service?

BBC Kids is an international kids channel owned by BBC Studios that supplies content to children aged 6-11. Just like it's British counterpart, it also comes in the form of a linear channel which is very much accessible in Australia and offers content from its preschool counterpart CBeebies.

During the year, BBC Studios unveiled plans to make CBBC a digital brand of course it hasn't been stated whether this will have an effect on the linear counterpart in Australia but as seen in various territories such as United States and South Africa they're very much viewable digitally.

This past week, MTN unveiled BBC Kids a mobile app carrying 100 hours of content featuring shows such as JoJo & Gran Gran (44 x 11 minutes) and Studio AKA’s Hey Duggee (142 x seven minutes), as well as older skewing shows such as 2D-animated comedy The Bagel and Becky Show and live-action sketch comedy Horrible Histories.

Of course, BBC Kids isn't available to the likes of MultiChoice's DStv Explora Ultra, or eMedia Investments' eVOD streaming service and might not be added to these platforms for the foreseeable future.

MTN already formed a partnership with eMedia Investments' eVOD streaming service when it rolled out within the market while as MultiChoice supplies a hand of channels from BBC Studios including BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC World News, BBC Earth and CBeebies.

But as the deal stipulates BBC Kids can only be viewed on Switch Media through MTN but that could change at any given moment. Although, they have digital brands to BBC Kids that doesn't include the linear version of course chances of that seem highly unlikely with the pricing of the brand.

 

Why Impact Wrestling Is No Longer A Major Promotion?

Originally founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, then named TNA (Total Nonstop Action) came onto the wrestling scene fresh off of WCW and ECW’s demise. Still, promotions like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling existed; however, there was something that TNA had that those two companies didn’t: mainstream stars. Well, maybe not stars on the level of The Rock or Stone Cold, but recognizable names like Ken Shamrock, Jerry Lynn, Konnan, and yes, even Jeff Jarrett. TNA was presented as an edgier product than its wrestling counterpart, WWE, just out of the period when the biggest wrestling promotion in the world was transitioning out of the Attitude Era. One of the pioneers of that era was Vince Russo, who was head creative of the newly formed TNA Wrestling.

The pros of TNA is that it presented something fresh for fans who were tired of the WWE product. However, it also had something familiar, as Russo’s chaotic crash writing style was ever so present in TNA. The company also had some hot acts like LAX or Team Canada, and even the X-Division was miles better than WWE’s cruiserweight division. TNA would gain popularity as time went on and though there were a lot of questionable booking decisions made within the company, it still reached its peak with viewers who were happy with the WWE alternative. However, questionable booking decisions started to plague the company overall. Whether it was the over pushing of Jeff Jarrett as a top star. Ridiculous gimmick matches such as the reverse battle royal, electrified steel cage, or the king of the mountain match that the company continuously pushed as the Slammiversary main event during their early years.

However, when the likes of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan came into the promotion, that was the beginning of the end. Hulk Hogan was certainly a draw for the company and given his big money contract status, Hulk Hogan was definitely going to be used to the best of his abilities. However, this wasn’t the man that main evented WrestleMania’s in the 80s or even NWO Hulk Hogan. At this point, Hogan could barely move. Eric Bishchoff was not a professional wrestler. Yet, the company was booked and centered around these two. There was the unwarranted push of Bischoff’s son Garrett, who pretty much disappeared from the wrestling scene once his time in the company was over. Hogan was at the center of TNA’s biggest angle, Aces & Eights, another terrible story that dominated the promotion. More importantly, veterans like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall (Rest in Peace Mr. Hall), Sting, or Booker T were clouding the main event scene. For the longest time, TNA focused more on WCW and WWE castoffs more than their own talent, which would ultimately come back and bite the company in butt.

That talent didn’t bring enough drawing power to warrant the dominance at the main event and worst yet, the stories and booking decisions weren’t getting any better in the promotion. Eric Bischoff effectively killed whatever career The Young Bucks had in TNA by beating the AEW stars in a tag team match. There was a rat on a pole match. The Lockbox Challenge set the knockouts back 100 years. The questionable booking only got worse as time went on, especially since most of the shows were focused on Hogan and Bischoff. When the two tried to recreate the Monday Night Wars in 2010 it did give TNA more viewers, but it was ultimately a massive failure. TNA wasn’t ready for the war because their own house wasn’t in order. The promotion was in a dire creative mess and there didn’t seem to be any indication that things would change.

For years, fans complained about Vince Russo and Dixie Carter, but the company moved on as there were no issues whatsoever. Hogan, Bischoff, Sting, Dixie, and Vince Russo leaving didn’t matter one bit. TNA had an opportunity to course correct by signing Paul Heyman as head creative control, but that never came into fruition and the company sunk into lower depths since then. The funny thing is that TNA, now Impact Wrestling, was miles ahead better than it was during the Bischoff/Hogan reign. One of the most buzzed out moments about the product was the Broken Matt Hardy stuff. Of course, when the promotion had the likes of LAX (Santana & Ortiz) The Lucha Brothers, and Johnny Impact, that was when the company as at its best, consistently delivering top notch shows. However, Impact killed the trust of fans completely by then. It wasn’t the fact that they kept moving from station to station, it was because the interest just wasn’t there.

TNA/Impact Wrestling tried so hard to compete against WWE that it became WWE lite for a lengthy period of time. The promotion lost any sense of identity that helped put them on the map, and Impact hasn’t really been able to lock down the type of company it wants to be. Plus, the booking decisions were REALLY bad. Impact is now a blimp on the wrestling radar, especially with AEW around. The company now draws ratings in the range of 89,000 to 150,000, a far cry from 1.0 million viewers. The company has managed to survive this long, but it’s highly doubtful that it will reach the highs that it did in its early years.

Credits: TVOM