News Shorts: Qhayiya Phato To Debut New Book Noxolo The Bride Later In 2023, Star Life Hits A New Low With The Rebroadcast Of The Inseparables And Abafana Ababi To Make Its Linear Debut On e.tv

Qhayiya Phato to rollout Cinderella inspired novel

Noxolo The Bride follows the titular character on her journey to self discovery. She falls in love with Sandile but has to overcome the demons that prevent her and the groom to be from ever finding true happiness. Production on the novel began began back in 2022 and is anticipated to rollout later in the year.

The author Qhayiya Phato manages the blog Yeah Mzansi! and is also manages several fan accounts for eMedia Investments and MultiChoice.

Sister duo Jeevika and Maanvi are back on Star Life

The Inseparable Is a story of Jeevika Chaudhary and Maanvi Chaudhary are two orphan sisters living in Rishikesh with there grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin while Viren Singh Vadhera and Virat Singh Vadhera are two brothers hailing from an elite family of lawyers in Chandigarh. The two sisters are inseparable tho there outlook towards life are totally different. Maanvi loves and respects Jeevika as though she is her mother.

The series premieres March 23 replacing Kulfi - The Singing Star.

Robin Hood based comedy to rollout on e.tv

Abafana Ababi a brand new locally produced action comedy starring Thomas Gumede as Thebe, a comical cool cat, Matli Mohapeloa as Gift, a slick ladies’ man and Justin Strydom as Stuard Rembrand, the crime boss. Thebe and Gift are best friends from Orlando, Soweto, who grew up poor with aspirations of being rich. They take the easy road and get into a life of crime, and make it big as two bandits modelled on Robin Hood – stealing from the wealthy (who acquired their money from dirty deals in the first place), and then share their takings with the community.

The film airs Sunday at 20:00 from March 19.

HBO Max (Or Max) Will Likely Fold Under MultiChoice's Showmax Streaming Service, No Word On Discovery+ As Yet

During the month, NBCUniversal in partnership with MultiChoice are planning to rollout a revamped Showmax streaming service featuring content from the highly anticipated streamer, Peacock. Of course details about the pricing have yet to be revealed.

As some are probably unaware, NBCUniversal has done several partnerships with MultiChoice over the years aside from Universal, DreamWorks and E! and the digital component Universal+. Through their Sky service, MultiChoice was able to distribute a number of television sets.

This deal doesn't come as a shock, not that I was anticipating something like this but the reality is Peacock coming as a standalone put itself in a very risky position hence the reason SkyShowcase (a merger with Paramount+) exists in various European markets.

All of this had got me thinking about Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service.

As some consumers are aware these two are set to the last entry in Africa as we got most of the major streaming services Netflix, BritBox, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock (as mentioned) with Paramount+ gearing up for its rollout later in the year.

Last year, it was stated that HBO Max and Discovery+ would merge to form this giant streaming service which would have complicated things as the HBO side of the business was waiting till 2025 for contracts to go null therefore giving HBO Max the greenlight.

Compared to HBO Max, there was no problem in getting Discovery+ out to those regions which had a deal in place for the other streamer. If it wasn't for this restructure, we could have gotten Discovery+ or at least recieved an update about the platform in Africa.

After several months, it was revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery scrapped plans to merge these two but would rather keep Discovery+ intact as it's cheap while boost the lineup of HBO Max (soon Max) as the brand had seen a cutback of original content back in 2021.

In April, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to unveil more details about this new Max streaming service which I honestly think won't be made available to African consumers compared to Discovery+.

As mentioned, they will be the last entry to the streaming game and as above-mentioned streamers have been reeling in potential consumers. With that in mind is it possible that HBO Max will fold under Showmax?

Showmax is home to various locally produced content and they also supply a number of international content from NBC, Starz, CBS Studios, Sony Pictures Television. They also supply various titles exclusive to HBO Max alongside catalogue from Adult Swim.

MultiChoice even have various linear channels from HBO Max's parent company including TNT, Discovery Channel, TLC and Cartoon Network. Even supply various shows to M-Net such as The Flight Attendant and House Of Dragons which serves as a spinoff to Game Of Thrones.

Showmax becoming the official home to HBO Max wouldn't be far fetched as Warner Bros. Discovery in recent months had signed deals with local broadcasters in Australia and Japan which go over 2025 which boosts the possibility of the same outcome in Africa.

Showmax in general supplies content various content from BritBox and Paramount+. With those deals set to expire, it's possible these streamers would want to keep the content abroad their platforms and distribute them across linear stations.

HBO Max benefits Showmax in the long run as it would help build their international portfolio and help them serve as a strong contender to Netflix and Disney+ which too have a lot of international content in the pipeline. I'm just so lost with with plans for Discovery+.

I mean the platform has too much content that I feel not everything would fit under Showmax so maybe Discovery+ being the only standalone platform wouldn't be a bad idea and MultiChoice distributing a freemium version also wouldn't be a bad thing for DStv consumers.

Before the merger, Discovery Inc. wasn't expecting Discovery+ to be Disney+ big or to compete with other streaming services mentioned here so far.  So all I'm saying is HBO Max being apart of Showmax isn't a bad thing as consumers can't pay for all these platforms.

Discovery+ could as well serve as both a freemium and pay-tv type service. Showmax could bundle selected content particularly premium or first run content perhaps.

Recap To Last Year: The Disappearance Of BBC UKTV On The Openview Platform

Last year, eMedia Investments in partnership with BBC Studios unveiled South Africa's first free-to-air entertainment channel, BBC UKTV. A general entertainment channel featuring a selection of content ranging from doccies, lifestyle, dramas and kids shows.

Some of the content in question includes Top Gear, Live At The Apollo, Midsomer Murders, Come Dine With Me, Wild Africa, Planet Earth and Yakka Dee.

As of 2023, the channel has yet to materialize on the Openview platform with eMedia Investments and BBC Studios remaining on any developments about the channel with the latter added to MultiChoice's DStv as a cheapo on the Easyview bouquet.

It has led to an onslaught of angry Openview consumers some pointing the finger at MultiChoice as eMedia Investments rolls out the pay-tv version to the current free-to-view Openview platform, Ultraview.

Before any word about what the offering or how the bouquet would be priced. They were several Openview consumers who believed that BBC UKTV will form part of Ultraview technically not a DStv problem but a DStv effect as it seems.

If this turned out to be a reality, eMedia Investments alongside BBC UKTV would have deceived several media outlets alongside current Openview consumers with BBC Studios serving as an accomplice I mean the channel comes with a fee on DStv.

But the idea of BBC UKTV being a pay-tv channel wouldn't be the most shocking for Openview I can imagine them reviving ITV Choice or sourcing another DStv channel e.g. BBC News to tag along in this new setup.

All that is known at the moment is that eMedia Investments has yet to rollout a new channel to the free component of Openview. If the supposed channel isn't BBC UKTV then it could mean that plans for the channel were likely scrapped at this point.

New Series Alert (Rumour): Presenting The Second Batch Of Turkish Shows Expected To Rollout In South Africa

Last year, we drafted a batch of content expected for several brands covered through Everyday Novelas without specifying the channel. Now we welcome another batch of content under the same scenario and note no timeframe has been provided for the following:

1. Sadakatsiz (Unfaithful): Doctor Asya lives a peaceful and happy life with her husband Volkan and their son Ali. This situation changes when she finds out that her husband has been having an affair with a young woman named Derin for two years.
2. The Prosecutor (Mahkum): Successful prosecutor Firat, who does not remember anything, is accused of murdering his wife and daughter. He has to escape from prison to reveal the truth.
3. All About Marriage (Evlilik Hakkinda Her Sey): Azra Günay, a successful divorce lawyer, has been dealing with the cases of well-known and influential people of Istanbul for many years together with her mother, Çolpan Cevher, who is the doyen of her job, and her hard-headed brother, Sanem Cevher.
4. Wounded Love (Vatanim Sensin): In an occupied Turkish city, a Turkish soldier starts to work for the enemy. But he is not really on the side of the enemy. He must keep this secret at the cost of losing his family.
5. Meryem: In the aftermath of an accident, a naive girl finds herself torn between an unscrupulous prosecutor and a vindictive plaintiff.
6. Our Story (Bizim Hikaye): This is the adaptation of the famous series Shameless. Filiz, a protagonist who has been struggling to survive in one of the poor neighborhoods of the city is the oldest child of the family.
7. Love Doesn't Understand Words (Ask Laftan Anlamaz): Hayat is a country girl with strict parents. She is in a love hate relationship with her boss Murat. Hayat is full of secrets that can ruin her career and relationship.
8. Yargi: A lawyer and a prosecutor, whose paths cross with a murder case, will have to work together to find the murderer, and this will create an irreversible breaking point in their lives.
9. The Ambassador's Daughter (Sefirin Kizi): Sancar has always & Nare has always yearned for love. When they meet and fall in love as children, they know they are meant to be. On the night of their wedding, a startling revelation by Nare forever changes their lives and puts their love on hold until the night of another wedding many years later.
10. Innocence (Masumiyet): The life of Bahar, a married mother of two, changes when her 19-year-old daughter falls in love with the wrong guy. Her daughter Ela's first love is not a college student her age, but her father's 35-year-old boss, who is about to marry his ex-girlfriend.
11. The Teacher (Ögretmen): Akif Erdem takes the 12A class of Kücükkapi High School hostage and uses a bomb to tear the class apart from the rest of the school. There is only one way for young people taken hostage to get out of this situation telling the truth.
12. A Fairy Tale (Bir Peri Masali): Alina Boz gives life to a babysitter named "Zeynep". Zeynep, who grew up facing many challenges, partly due to her useless father, will face the biggest test when she stumbles upon a bag of cash.

The Regular Nick Effect: Breaking News From Across The World From In The Last 7 Days Dated March 11

1. Scooby-Doo And The Mystery Pups no longer moving forward at HBO Max
2. Totally Spies! Season 7 has been delayed to 2024
3. Adam Sandler was honoured with the King Of Comedy Award at the 2023 KCAs
4. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will return with new season after 4 year hiatus
5. Veteran radio and TV presenter Mark Pilgrim, 53, has died
6. Tom Sizemore, ‘Heat’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Actor, Dead at 61
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem features an A-List including Seth Rogen and John Cena
8. Nicki Minaj is launching her own record label
9. Genius Brands double down on Al with new shorts
10. Poltergeist rumoured to getting revived by MGM
11. FutureLife and SuperSport Schools sign three year deal to provide nutrition for children
12. Nick Cannon working on new show Celebrity Prank Wars hosted by Kevin Hart
13. Velma Season 2 is in development
14. Kesha and AEW superstar MJF make a cameo appearance in Impractical Jokers
15. Batman: The Caped Crusader is coming to Amazon Prime Video for 2 seasons
16. ITV Studios shuts down their children's channel CITV
17. Peppa Pig to launch on Disney+ in 19 countries with more territories to follow
18. Disney to start selling their content to broadcasters again
19. Beetlejuice 2 is in development with original cast and Jenny Ortega
20. Miley Cyrus unveils new album, ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION
21. Tame Impala returns in 2023 with first new single, Wings Of Time from the film Dungeons And Dragons: Honors Among Thieves

Newsflash: CCTV-4 To Continue Broadcast On The DStv Platform Through The IS-20 Satellite

During the month, it was reported by various outlets that MultiChoice was removing CCTV-4 by the end of March. A free-to-air channel which features documentaries reality shows, drama series, news, movies and kids shows on the Easyview package.

As seen in a press statement by MultiChoice:

“All channel and programme relationships are contractual and have an intended end-date which is then open for the parties to review,” MultiChoice explained.

“This is part of the ongoing review of our products and services. Often channels are removed from the platform due to low viewership and performance on some packages.”

“In this instance, the parties have agreed to not renew based on commercial viability and viewership of the channels.”

The channel would be terminated on all DStv platforms from 31 March 2023 at 23:59. Right???

After doing some digging around it was revealed by their PR that CCTV-4 would continue on the IS-20 platform as mentioned below:

"Following additional contractual reviews, a decision was made to continue airing CCTV4 on our IS20 satellite, which includes South Africa. – MultiChoice"

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but is it possible that MultiChoice is feeding the press half baked goods. Just the other day, QWEST TV was announced as a channel for all DStv consumers but that wasn't the case as it was allocated on Premium and Compact+.

This is the same MultiChoice which held an unannounced Showcase in 2022. So all I'm saying is could it be possible that MultiChoice was feeding the press such details as if it affected the region cause I wouldn't be shocked if that was the case here.

CCTV-4 is still going dark but in neighbouring countries while South Africa will continue supplying the channel.

But such discrepancies reminds me of when INX Prime was slated to rollout in the beginning of August only to launch closer to the end of that month. The other incident was KIX and PBS Kids brands MultiChoice used as collateral damage for e.tv's 4 channels.

They were promised by the end of March of last year, MultiChoice stood by it even when e.tv's channels got a stay of execution for another 2 months and waited for those channels to go dark before anyone could get any update on the supposed channels.