Recap To The Month: Stay Connected To DStv Access This Festive And Stand A Chance To Win!, Also Adds Some Holiday For Compact

Whether it’s TV marathons, family gatherings or much-needed solo time, there’s plenty to do in December.

 

Add reconnecting to – or signing up for – DStv Access to your to-do list and stand a chance to win one of 100 shopping vouchers valued at R5000. Be sure to pay your subscription before 17 December and add some pizzazz to your festive budget.

 

But that’s not the only reason to stay connected this festive: from shows to keep the little ones occupied, to the most heart-stopping of sports documentaries, we’re making sure that entertainment is one less thing for you to worry about.

 

“This year we have continually aimed to delight our customers on Access. They have enjoyed the launch of the PlayRoom channel for kids, key matches during the Rugby and Cricket World Cups and so much more. We’ll keep rewarding our customers on Access this festive season, as we are through bringing ESPN1,” says Yatish Narsi, Chief Marketing Officer at MultiChoice South Africa.

“For even more ways to keep the family entertained, BoxOffice continues to provide amazing access to the latest blockbusters from only R40, which is a lot cheaper than going to the movies! Add popcorn and you’re sorted,” he concludes.

 

Some of the highlights DStv Access customers can indulge in during the holiday season include:

 

Philly’s Games: The iconic grassroots soccer tournament taking place in Tembisa will be televised live on SuperSport PSL and SuperSport Variety 4.

Shaka Ilembe: The acclaimed megahit show is the coming-of-age story of Shaka Zulu, king, warrior, conqueror. Coming on 15 December.

Pulse of a Nation: A compelling four-part documentary series that charts the journey of South Africa and its relationship with football.

PlayRoom: A uniquely local education and entertainment channel carrying original South African and popular international content, including favourite animated titles dubbed into isiZulu.

TRACE Urban: The hip 24-hour music channel has your festive playlist on lock.

ESPN1: The best of American sporting leagues and international sports, including a selection of European soccer leagues.

 

Adding to your holiday viewing are the latest local shows including In the Dock, Isiphiwo, and Sibongile and the Dlaminis. Don’t miss out on an incredible selection of sport documentaries on SuperSport 3, including The Fall, The Last Rider, Citizen Ashe, and Bobby Robson.

 

Stay connected or sign up to DStv Access for R199 (this includes an HD Decoder, subscription and installation). Remember to pay before 17 December to stand a chance to win a R5000 shopping voucher.

 

For an additional R270 per month, you can also Add Indian – our range of Indian channels bringing you original Indian serials (express from India), Bollywood blockbusters and the best of Southern. It comes with full access to SuperSport Cricket until 10 May – so you can enjoy a Summer of Cricket, on us!

 

It’s more rewarding with DStv Access, your home of the best local entertainment and sports. Consider your festive viewing sorted – the only thing we can’t do is the cooking!

 

 

DStv Compact

 

DStv is leaving no one behind this season, as DStv Compact customers can indulge in some exciting content including:

 

Nick Jr and Nicktoons (mistaken for Nickelodeon): The channels will be available to Compact customers from 14 December 2023 to 7 January 2024.

Philly’s Games: The iconic grassroots soccer tournament taking place in Tembisa will be televised live on SuperSport PSL and SuperSport Variety 4. 

Her Story: A four-part docuseries spotlighting local female musicians and their incredible stories.

Uthanda Bani?: This emotive show assists couples looking to remedy their addiction issues by offering therapy and intervention.

PlayRoom: A uniquely local edutainment channel carrying original South African and popular international content, including favourite animated titles dubbed into isiZulu.

TRACE Urban: The hip 24-hour music channel recently returned to DStv, just in time to have your festive playlist on lock.

 

Adding to your holiday viewing are the latest local shows including My Brother’s Keeper, In the Dock, and Sibongile and the Dlamini’s.

Don’t miss out on an incredible selection of sport documentaries on SuperSport 3, including The Fall, The Last Rider, Citizen Ashe, and Bobby Robson.

 

Stay connected or sign up to DStv Compact for R599 (this includes an Explora Ultra, subscription and smart installation). Remember to pay before 17 December to stand a chance to win a R5000 shopping voucher.

Everyday Novelas Shorts: Skeem Saam Undergoing Timeslot Changes On SABC 1, Ratings Flop Nikiwe To End With 1 Season On e.tv, eExtra And Star Life To Hit A New Low With Respective Rebroadcast Of Weaving A Tale Of Love And The Evil Eye

Skeem Saam is being repositioned

Entertainment commentator, Mlu reports that the SABC1 soapie, Skeem Saam will be changed from 18:30 slot to 19:30 from 2024.

The soapie will be competing with e.tv’s most-watched soapie Scandal!, and Mzansi Magic’s latest telenovela, My Brother’s Keeper.

Viewers of the youth soapie are concerned the show will lose viewers as Scandal! owns the timeslot with an average of 5 million viewers per month and continuously changes storylines.

A fan-favourite is coming back to Star Life

The Evil Eye follows Mohana, a 250-year-old Daayan, lives off of humans' life-force to stay young. However, when she sets her evil eye on the Rathod family, trouble and misfortune follow them everywhere. It dwells on family, drama, romance, supernatural and horror.

It will broadcast on 18 December replacing Mismatched.

Nikiwe is getting canned on e.tv

"The show launched in April 2023 and filled the 18:30 slot. Unfortunately, the show has not continued to deliver anticipated ratings. The channel continually reviews programmes and storylines to ensure we give our viewers the best local entertainment. Further information regarding the replacement show will be shared soon."

It lost 500,000 viewers just a month after its debut.

Nikiwe which will end sometime in early 2024 on e.tv and its streaming service eVOD also starred Muzi Mthabela, Clementine Mosimane, Kenneth Nkosi and Israel Matseke Zulu.

eExtra is cutting down on new programs

A few months ago, eExtra in a bizarre twist added a primetime repeat of Annekan Die Swa Kry at 17:05 which comes 5 minute after it airs on e.tv. Now it will be airing a rebroadcast to one of their most recent shows Weaving A Tale Of Love from Wednesday 20 December.

The last time this happened was with the Zee TV line-up viewed on weekday afternoons and this lasted about a year before adding new episodes of Surrender In Love and Twist Of Fate. Now the channel appears to be following a similar route with the Asian line-up.

Development Alert: Play Room Acquired Broadcasting Rights To The Canadian Animated Series Total Dramarama, Undergoes Timeslot Changes

During the week, Play Room broadcast the first season to Total Dramarama currently viewed on Teletoon in Canada and various Cartoon Network feeds in other countries. It sets as another prequel to the Total Drama franchise and also crosses over to 6teen.

Total Dramarama re-introduces some of the original "Total Drama" characters in an alternate universe where they are aged down from teenagers to toddlers, being taken care of by Chef Hatchet. Each episode features dream sequences, visual jokes, confessionals, and flashbacks.

Produced by Corus Entertainment and Fresh TV Inc., it debuted by September 2018 and spawned over 3 seasons with a total of 152 episodes each consisting of 11 minutes. Play Room will distribute them as half hour episodes basically making it only 76 episodes.

Total Dramarama airs on weekdays at 17:00 a timeslot that was once reserved for Nickelodeon's live-action series Henry Danger moves to 16:30 while Game Shakers' will only air at 16:00 with Sanjay And Craig serving as a complimentary retaining its 17:30 timeslot.

Although, this came last minute Play Room was initially meant to distribute Game Shakers in a 30 minute timeslot and Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures and Enchantimals was meant to compliment Sanjay And Craig but for some reason the latter was moved to weekday mornings.

New Channel Alert: Zambezi Reloaded And SuperSport Reloaded To Be Allocated On The DStv And Possible GOtv Platforms

A few months ago, it was reported that MultiChoice might be looking to add Zambezi Reloaded to the DStv platform. It served as Zambezi Magic's first ever spinoff channel which similar to Maisha Magic POA and kykNET Lekker would rehash existing content.

From what my earlier prediction suggested, it would be accessible on channel 165 but unlike the above-mentioned brands. This will serve as a catch-up channel until 31 December 2023 in Malawi following DStv's exit in the market consumers had missed out on content.

Another channel which is set to join the list later this month is SuperSport Reloaded. It would serve as the second sports channel to be allocated on the DStv platform during the year following SuperSport Schools linear debut in March following its acquisition years prior.

Similar to the long-awaited reloaded channel, SuperSport will only be using this brand for repeats of sporting events like the Fast5 World Netball Series, Berlin Sports Running Marathon and even the UEFA Champions League.

If one had to guess this could be a rebranded (or temporary) version of the current SuperSport Play channel that was only exclusive to DStv Easyview consumers on DStv Stream. It's currently unknown whether it would be made available to the same consumers or move up to Access.

New Channel Alert: MultiChoice To Add Trace Brasil To The DStv Platform In Angola And Mozambique

Launched In 2019, TRACE Brasil is the one and only channel dedicated to Brazilian urban music serving 200 million Portuguese speakers in the world. Also known as Trace Brazuca apparently, it covers covers all genres of urban music including Funk, Rap, Samba, Pagode.

Weird enough, MultiChoice seems to have acquired rights to the channel for its consumers in Angola and Mozambique under the name, Trace Brasil. So we assume that either Trace Brazuca will be undergoing a rebrand or a localised version of the channel will be rolling out.

Some content confirmed for the soon-to-be-launched music channel include from what appears to be a localised version of FOCUS alongside other content like De Volta, Gospel Vibes and Tecendo A Liberdade.

The channel might arrive later in the month if not early 2024 on channel 592 which will accompany existing brands like Trace Toca, Trace Jama, Trace Urban, Trace Musika, Trace Naija and Trace Gospel therefore boosting MultiChoice number of trace channels to 6.

In other developments, MultiChoice and Disney extended the reach of ESPN 1 to DStv Family and Access consumers in Southern Africa alongside GOtv Lite consumers in ROA. Weird enough, a few markets had opted to make this an open window which ends 31 December 2023.

Development Alert: FOX And FOX Life Will Become FX And FX Life Across Baltics And CIS By January 2024, More International Disney Channels Are Expected To Close

FX returns to the Nordic and Baltics region

The Nordic and Baltic branches of The Walt Disney Company will adopt a new name and a striking visual identity on January 24, 2024, when FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life. FX and FX Life continue to deliver familiar and beloved content, bringing premium entertainment, including the best international series, to local audiences. 

“When FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life, our overall entertainment content will align with the Disney+ streaming platform while continuing to offer fans their favorite stories. This includes global hit series such as Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, This is Us, Castle, 9-1-1 and more. 

We look forward to bringing new shows and high-quality entertainment to our Estonian audience next year," said Hans van Rijn, SVP and Head of The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic. He added, "Linear television remains a priority for us, enabling our audiences to experience exciting content from the many world-class studios in the Disney family." 

The FX brand has been refined and adapted to meet the needs of local television, while maintaining the bold and confident legacy created by FOX.

Disney is pulling the cord of more TV channels

Since Disney+ inception back in 2019, Disney has closed various Disney Channels across the UK, Asia and Italy while a majority of channels still reside within Europe and Africa. Part of which still have no access to Disney+ and are therefore just losing out on content.

Theoretically, it was estimated that Disney could close their remaining linear offering by 2025 but Disney+ is still not sustainable in some of the areas launched. The linear offering is one way to help sustain the streamer and if possible lure potential audiences.

Despite the setback, Disney was still able to close it's remaining linear offering in Asia who also handle operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Since then a majority of international feeds are aligned/managed within Southern Africa (also known as Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Although there's no official confirmation, National Geographic People (Nat Geo People) and FOX Action Movies are anticipated to go dark by 2024 across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seeing as these were handled in Asia whose offering is being migrated to Disney+. 

As mentioned, most international territories (including MENA) are being handled by Disney EMEA who only supply children brands Disney Channel and Disney Junior alongside factual brands National Geographic and National Geographic Wild.

In Portugal, all the FOX channels are being folded under the Star brand by 2024 (i.e. FOX Life becomes Star Life). This includes consumers in Angola and Mozambique for which MultiChoice operates their service and also supply the affected brands like FOX, FOX Life and FOX Comedy.