Roundups #144: ALVINNN!!! And The Chipmunks Possibly Cancelled On Nickelodeon, Die Put To Return For A Third Season This March On eVOD Ahead Of Debut On eExtra, Nikki Bella Makes A Comeback To E! Africa To Say I Do

It's farewell to Alvin, Simon, Theodore and David Seville

Just like most other instalments of the franchise, the series reflects the trials and tribulations of a single parent, David Seville, trying to raise six hyper-active Chipmunks. Like most parents, Dave's patience will be pushed to the limit, forcing him to end most sentences in "ALVINNN!!!"

The series gained a lot of popularity following its debut in 2015 on Nickelodeon (or Nicktoons) that multiple broadcasters such as e.tv acquired rights to the musical duo. So far the series has over 260+ episodes within 5 seasons with an additional two seasons possibly scrapped.

In 2019, it was announced an additional two seasons were ordered bringing ALVINNN!!! And The Chipmunks to 360+ episodes and 7 seasons through 2025 but as several sources noted Nickelodeon has removing the show or promoting them less internationally.

Coincidence, the owners of the Alvin And The Chipmunks franchise Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman were exploring a potential sale and Paramount was said to be a bidder with these developments happening in several countries it could mean they're out the running.

Regular Nick:
- Wonder Pets revival might be in the works for Nickelodeon
- Peacock greenlights two new animated series
- Boomerang to go dark on the DStv platform next month

Die Put becomes a eVOD exclusive

Ahead of its debut on eExtra in May, eVOD the digital component of the channel announced the upcoming third season of Die Put would be available to stream on the platform two months in advance. I don't know but it doesn't look like eMedia is pulling a DStv.

I mean several channels ranging from M-Net, 1Magic even the BBC are labelled as premium based channels with the second grade channels such as Me, Mzansi Magic and BBC UKTV picking up the slack now eExtra knows how it feels to be second rate.

Here's a synopsis to Die Put S3:

Koçovalı Family are faced with the biggest pain of their lives. Because of Yücel's trap, one of Yamaç or İdris Koçovalı had to kill the other. While Akın Koçovalı takes control of Çukur, where nothing will be the same as before, the step of Baykal's daughter Efsun to Çukur will cause the cards to be redistributed. While Efsun's plan, who collaborated with Yücel, Azer, and Timsah, is eagerly awaited, it will be a question mark how Akın will led the neighborhood.

Everyday Novelas:
- Zee World to add an additional 3 shows to their lineup
- Second Chance and Hart Van Goud coming soon to Zee One and eExtra respectively
- New Series Alert: eMedia Investments Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Turkish Romcom, Aşk Mantık İntikam

The Bellas are making a comeback on E!

Following the network's commitment to Total Bellas and Total Divas, E! a celebrity based lifestyle channel which since NBCUniversal had been cutting back on original programming supplies content from Bravo had announced the launch of Nikki Bella Says I Do.

Nikki Bella, a WWE Superstar, and, Artem Chingvintsev "Dancing with the Stars" champion, share all of their special moments of the ultimate decision to get married in the city of lights on their four-part special event tagging along will be Brie Bella.

The series is slated to premiere on E! from Sunday, 12 March at 19:05 CAT.

In other developments, E!'s sister channel Telemundo will be rolling out two new dramas in its repeat padded schedule, Until Money Do Us Part and Ana's Revenge in place of The Way To Paradise and The Chosen Granddaughter in the coming months.

DStv Flex:
- March on VIA
- Virtual Reality offers a new opportunity for African filmmakers
- CBS Reality acquired rights to Killer's Caught On Camera

Roundups #143: Zig & Sharko Renewed For A Fourth Season On Cartoonito, Young Rock To Make His Freemium Debut On e.tv And ITV Choice Has Been Relaunched On Samsung TV Plus

Zig and Sharko are back for more gags

Xilam Animation, an independent company for the production and distribution of animated programmes, Academy Award-nominated, has secured its first wave of deals for the upcoming fourth season of its iconic non-dialogue slapstick comedy series Zig & Sharko (78 x 7’), as the company prepares to debut the first episode to buyers at MIPCOM.

Launching in September 2023, season four has been acquired by longstanding partner Gulli (France), which has also renewed its partnership across the previous three seasons. Additionally, Xilam has sold the new instalment to existing partners, VRT (Belgium), Discovery (Italy), DeA (Italy), Nickelodeon (India) and Nova (Israel).

Zig & Sharko continues to generate impressive ratings internationally, particularly in India where the series resulted in Nickelodeon becoming the leading children’s channel in its evening slot, across all demos. In Q2 2022, Zig & Sharko was also the fourth best performing series among children aged 2-14 years and outperformed its lead in and lead out shows in all demos in terms of ratings.

The series is currently seen on Boomerang (soon to be Cartoonito). Apparently, the channel wasn't mentioned when news came it meaning the show could have ended after 3 seasons on the channel or they're just taking long to pick it up in any case further episodes are on Boing.

Regular Nick:
- Wonder Pets revival might be in the works for Nickelodeon
- Peacock greenlights two new animated series
- Boomerang to go dark on the DStv platform next month

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson expresses his charm in new sitcom

e.tv, South Africa's most reliable and free source for English entertainment at the moment home to various local and international productions has acquired rights to NBC's Young Rock currently viewed on M-Net and sister channel, Me.

The sitcom is set in a frame story where Johnson is running as a candidate in the 2032 United States presidential election. Each episode involves Johnson participating in an interview or other conversation which leads him to flashback to a story from one of three periods of Johnson's life (with occasional episodes where all three periods are shown).

In the first season, Johnson is depicted as a ten-year-old in Hawaii; as a high school student in Pennsylvania; and as a college student and football player at the University of Miami.

The series stars Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Ana Tuisila, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu and Matthew Willig. It is expected to air Saturdays at 19:30 replacing Superstore from March 4th - no update on Grown-ish yet.

Openview Plus:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC: early 2023 edition
- Imbewu has been cancelled on e.tv after 5 seasons
- A look at former NBC soap, Passions

ITV Studios and Samsung TV Plus collaborate to launch a number of projects across Europe

ITV Studios had announced a raft of sales and pre-sales deals across its catalogue of scripted and non-scripted content. One of which, Samsung TV Plus launched ITV Choice showcasing the best of ITV Studios including Hell’s Kitchen, Four Weddings and Come Dine With Me.

During the week, ITV Studios expanded their partnership to include a bouquet of channels.

One of the channels is a ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ channel, which will air episodes round-the-clock from the popular U.S. Gordon Ramsay show. The other channel – Storylands – will “become the home for the best European drama” according to ITV Studios. Shows on the channel will be produced by labels which are part of ITV Studios and include dramas such as Norwegian legal series Aber Bergen, the period drama Un Village Français, and the procedural crime drama from the producers of Gomorrah, called Masantonio.

The move follows ITV Studios’ launch of four non-scripted YouTube channels last year – Our World, Our Life, Our Stories and Our Histories. The agreement will see Samsung TV Plus –  Samsung’s free ad-supported app – broadcast content from the ITV Studios catalogue 24/7 across all Samsung Smart TVs made in 2016 and onwards, as well as select Galaxy devices.

Ruth Berry, Managing Director at ITV Studios Global Distribution, commented: “We are very excited to partner with Samsung TV Plus to launch FAST channels in EMEA. We have an amazing library of 90,000+ hours of IP and the FAST/AVOD space is a key strategic focus for ITV Studios as we look to provide global audiences with new ways to access some of our best-known scripted brands, formats and non-scripted entertainment content.”

Video Entertainment:
- BBC to close linear channels and focus on digital future
- HBO Max no longer produces live-action programs for kids and family
- Triggerfish working with Disney+ on a Star Wars project

Roundups #142: Barney The Dinosaur Reboot Is Giving People Nightmares, TLNovelas Dumps The Pink And Dye Their Hair Blue And eMedia Investments And BBC Studios Remain Silent On Any Developments Regarding BBC UKTV

Barney is set to make his comeback by 2024

Mattel announced that they would be relaunching the Barney the Dinosaur franchise and now we have a look at the titular dino’s redesign. And, unsurprisingly, people on social media sure hate it.

The most noticeable change is that they’re going from a live-action Barney the Dinosaur to an animated version. It also appears that his colors have brightened up a bit. Other than being animated, the most noticeable change is definitely Barney’s face.

As some pointed out, it sort of looks like Barney the Dinosaur went under the knife for some plastic surgery. Buccal fat removal is a procedure that thins out the cheeks. It definitely looks like the new Barney has had a little bit of work done.

In short, if this Barney redesign isn’t for you, you could simply not watch it. According to Mattel, the series is specifically being made to teach lessons to preschool-aged kids. Maybe in another three decades when they redesign Barney the Dinosaur again, the kids who watch this new series will be complaining about how their Barney is ruined.

Regular Nick:
- Wonder Pets revival might be in the works for Nickelodeon
- Peacock greenlights two new animated series
- Boomerang to go dark on the DStv platform next month

TLNovelas debuts a new look in Latin America and several countries

As part of this new image, for its 30th anniversary, the TLNovelas channel in the regions will re-release "ACAPULCO, CUERPO Y ALMA" and "TE SIGO AMANDO" two super successful soap operas back in the 90s. Both will be remastered and in high definition.

The channel has unique and exclusive content to enjoy as a family the successful melodramas that are part of more than 500 productions of the TelevisaUnivisión group. Ranging from classic and stellar to youth and children with a presence in Mexico, Latin America, the United States, Africa and Europe.

This change responds to the interests and expectations of the new pay television audiences, mainly the 04-44 segment, which makes up more than 50% of the total audience that follows the Tlnovelas signal. The channel's programming bar, which also broadcasts original programs and content focused on the world of melodrama, is aimed at an increasingly heterogeneous audience, to which young audiences from Mexico and Latin America have joined.

Everyday Novelas:
- Rubi coming soon to TLNovelas
- Until Money Do Us Part coming soon to Telemundo
- Second Chance and Hart Van Goud coming soon to Zee One and eExtra respectively

BBC UKTV still not available on the Openview platform

Last year, eMedia Investments and BBC Studios were gearing up for the rollout of BBC's sixth channel BBC UKTV to the market joining existing brands like BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC News and CBeebies currently seen on the DStv platform.

As of January 2023, BBC UKTV is currently available on the DStv platform offering rebroadcasts to several shows from above-mentioned channels to Access, Family and Easyview customers including Doctors, Top Gear and Come Dine With Me.

It has since then led to a clash amongst Openview consumers some even speculating that MultiChoice ripped the channel away from eMedia Investments in an exclusive deal with the BBC.

In a media enquiry with both BBC and eMedia Investments, they both remain very much silent regarding details about BBC UKTV. At the moment, eMedia Investments is gearing up for the rollout of Ultraview. What are the chances BBC UKTV will rollout thereafter?

eMedia Investments:
- SABC+ Vs. eVOD: The Consequence Of Free-To-View Television
- MultiChoice and eMedia Investments plan to combat load shedding get a lot of attention
- Could SABC be unveiling another two channels for Openview Ultra?

DStv Easyview To Remain At R29 Per Month For An 8th Consecutive Year

During the week, MultiChoice announced yet another fee hike for their Premium to Access bouquets from the 1st of April with DStv AddMovies consumers expected to pay R20 less with Easyview customers enjoying more entertainment at the same price.

DStv Easyview was a heavily disregarded amongst consumers before you had brands like BlackBelt TV, KidsCo and MagicWorld. Basically, something that would give the package some life aside from the usual SABC 1-3, religion and provincial channels.

Close to the rollout of South Africa's free-to-view Openview that value plummeted over the years leading some consumers to explore a number of alternatives as the package lacked a decent entertainment offering, some sports and lastly a watchable offering.

Slowly but surely the value was being revived following the rollout of Real Time which offers the best of HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet. I wouldn't say Easyview was at its prime during that moment but things were shaping up.

Since last year, Easyview has put themselves in a competitive position with the SABC and e.tv following the rollout of Magic Showcase which comprises of Mzansi Magic OGs while as supplying selected content from Africa Magic, Zambezi Magic and kykNET.

DStv:
- SuperSport might be rolling out a new channel
- Boomerang is the first channel to exit the DStv platform in 2023
- MultiChoice to hike DStv fees from April 2023
- CBS Reality is the only brand to retain its identity in the UK from Paramount and AMC International

All in all, there's more variety going onto that package as opposed to alternatives as seen with eMedia's Openview platform but as seen this past week MultiChoice opted to keep their monthly expenses at R29.

The likely reason as mentioned by them in 2014/5/6, they attempted to hike the subscription and consumers quickly fled the package resulting in the R29 monthly fee. The other had to do with rising competitors such as Openview offering premium entertainment.

But from what I've seen these past years, there has been a growth in Easyview customers although MultiChoice hasn't elaborated on how many consumers reside on the package yearly the likely conclusion is that it's not in high demand.

I mean packages like Access never got this much attention when Premium was still at it's prime now that the package serves as a suitable alternative consumers pay more yearly which is likely the possible outcome for Easyview once it's in high demand.

Roundups #141: Peppa Pig's Glasses Show Has Been Deemed Inappropriate For Facebook's Guidelines, Marvel Studios Reportedly Set To Debut Two Series Within 2023 And Telemundo Set To Debut First Original Series In March 2023, Game Of Lies

Peppa Pig has become a laughing stock

During the week, Peppa Pig got some much needed attention after a Facebook user called Daily Nick uploaded a clip to one of the episodes titled Glasses Show and the Facebook rodents swooped in and deemed it sexually inappropriate.

Taking to account that Facebook has become an absolute joke and if there's one thing Elon can save it's Facebook. It's currently a trainwreck waiting to happen if Peppa Pig glasses is inappropriate then posting about the weather is deemed violent.

Peppa Pig has been having a run since 2004 and has been a part of gags, jokes and has even made various appearances take for instance Family Guy where she has killed in a car accident or Robot Chicken where she was deemed a criminal to society.

All of this makes me feel as if she was being targeted about Facebook's latest rant with the character is something to laugh about.

Regular Nick:
- Wonder Pets revival might be in the works for Nickelodeon
- Peacock greenlights two new animated series
- Boomerang to go dark on the DStv platform next month
- Disney Junior and Disney+ to debut new Star Wars series in May

Marvel might be putting the breaks on new content

Marvel's big MCU Phase 5 reveal at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 revealed six shows would likely be arriving on Disney+ in 2023, that number allegedly may drop to only two with Loki Season 2 and Secret Invasion being the only "sure bets" for this year.

As reported by THR, this news follows comments by Disney CEO Bob Iger, in which he said the company needs to be "better at curating" franchise content that is "extraordinarily expensive.

Marvel content obviously doesn't come cheap, and Disney was planning on potentially releasing Loki's second season, Secret Invasion, What If... ?'s second season, Ironheart, Echo, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos in 2023. If these changes are to go through, sources say Loki and Secret Invasion may be the only ones to make it out, even though shows like Echo and Ironheart have wrapped their productions months ago.

“There is going to be a level of rigor on Marvel and across the entire company,” one company insider says. “Numbers matter now, and costs are going to be outlined and enforced.”

Telemundo still lagging behind schedule

For several months, Telemundo has been lagging behind in terms of original programming leading repeat padded African feed of the channel seen on MultiChoice's platforms to sought content from Colombian broadcasters Caracol Television and RCN Television.

Caracol Television had worked with the channel on Hidden Passions including the second season and is supplying the upcoming Ana's Revenge while RCN Television has Nurses and The Scent Of Passion with Until Money Do Us Part rolling out in the coming month.

After a long while since the channel struggled to obtain original programming, it was announced from the main feed that Telemundo will be rolling out a new show from March 7th 2023 titled Game Of Lies (Juego De Mentiras) starring Arap Bethke and Altair Jarabo.

The story is set in the city of Los Angeles and San Clemente, California, Game Of Lies follows the footsteps of César Ferrer, a hard working man who always dreamed of having his own family and who gives his life for his own daughter Noelia.

Everyday Novelas:
- Zee World to add an additional 3 shows to their lineup
- Second Chance and Hart Van Goud coming soon to Zee One and eExtra respectively
- Queen Of The Night and How Do I Say This? coming respectively to Timeless Dizi Channel and Zee World
- New Series Alert: eMedia Investments Acquired Broadcasting Rights To Turkish Romcom, Aşk Mantık İntikam

Paramount+ Updates: Sylvester Stallone To Make His Reality TV Debut, Paramount+ Removes Several Content From The Platform Following Showtime Merger And Paramount+ To Rollout In South Africa Later In The Year

Sylvester's Stallone’s Family To Star In Docuseries For Paramount+

Sylvester Stallone is expanding his footprint at Paramount+. The streamer has picked up The Family Stallone, a new docuseries featuring the star of Tulsa King, along with his real-life wife Jennifer Flavin Stallone and their daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.

The eight-part series will premiere exclusively on the service later in the year. In the new series, Paramount+ promises to “offer a seat at the table of one of Hollywood’s most famous families” by showing how the Oscar-winning actor is simply Dad at home.

The Family Stallone is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, with Benjamin Hurvitz, Jessica Zalkind and Nadim Amiry as executive producers. Julie Pizzi, Farnaz Farjam and Jonathan Singer serve as executive producers for Bunim-Murray Productions, with Lauren Goldstein, Valana Hunn, Chris Ray and Jason Williams as co-executive producers.

Video Entertainment:
- Rumour: SuperSport Schools to get a dedicated channel on the DStv platform
- Disney Junior and Disney+ to debut new Star Wars series in May
- Paramount+ set to merge with Showtime
- eVOD has yet to offer linear channels as promised in 2021

The Warner Bros. effect reigns on another company

During the month, Paramount+ became the latest streaming service to remove original titles from its platform. The streamer has removed a raft of titles including Real World: Homecoming.

Other titles include Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone, which ran for two seasons between 2019 and 2020, Peter Sarsgaard-fronted true-crime drama Interrogation, Michael Chiklis’ Coyote, comedy series No Activity, Kate Beckinsale’s dark comedy Guilty Party and animated series The Harper House.

It comes days after sister company Showtime, which is in the process of being rebranded and merged with Paramount+, removed a slew of titles including Kidding, Super Pumped, On Becoming A God In Central Florida and American Rust.

It joins with streamers such as HBO Max, which removed titles such as FBoy Island and Westworld.

Paramount+ might miss their early debut in South Africa

Paramount+ will join the existing streaming services already present in South Africa, all battling to grow their market share and to scale their subscribers bases like Disney+, Netflix SA, Amazon Prime Video, MultiChoice's Showmax, Apple TV+, eMedia's eVOD, SABC+, VIU  and Britbox.

The South African launch of Paramount+ will be as a stand-alone app and through connected TV sets, but will very likely also be in partnership with the MultiChoice Group, which has existing deals to carry Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as apps on its DStv Explora Ultra decoder.

Paramount, already has so-called "hard bundle" deals in place with pay-TV operators like Comcast's Sky in the United Kingdom carrying Paramount+, and Sky Showtime as a joint venture in Europe with Comcast and Vivendi's Canal+.

Paramount+ made several consumers sign up through email for more updates on the streamer in South Africa and as we're close to the end of the first quarter of 2023. There hasn't been any updates not even a glimpse of what we already know about the platform.

Video Entertainment:
- BBC to close linear channels and focus on digital future
- HBO Max no longer produces live-action programs for kids and family
- Triggerfish working with Disney+ on a Star Wars project
- Virtual reality opportunities for African filmmakers