Fine Living Stops Airing Across Africa Through StarTimes (Starsat) And What Does It Imply?

Without notice Fine Living which is owned by Discovery Inc. (the company that handles channels such as Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, Real Time, Discovery Family and ID) has been removed from StarTimes across Africa.

This decision wasn't made by StarTimes but by Discovery Inc. themselves due to a "strategic alignment" meaning there could be more channels fading away from their portfolio.

In 2021, they'll be rolling out a new streaming service called Discovery+ carrying exclusive content while airing content from their other brands so this may be the cause for their decision.

My guess would be that Discovery will invest in less channels so if you had to look at their next victim(s) is likely going to be Travel Channel since the U.S. counterpart uses it for paranormal activity for which Discovery Channel/Family can manage or Food Network in an attempt to boost TLC and possibly Discovery Family lineup.

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January 2021 On Zoomoo Africa | OFFF | NAU | P: AAA

OWL’S FABULOUS FEATHERS FRIENDS
Premieres 05 January 2021
Every Tuesday at 11:00am (PH)
In conjuction with Bird Day
Join Owl and Lemur as they explore the bird world and meet some fabulous feather friends!

NUTS ABOUT YOU!
Premieres 21 January 2021
Every Thursday at 12:00pm (PH)
In conjuction with Squirrel Appreciation Day
Did you know that there are over 200 different species of squirrels? The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, flying squirrels and prairie dogs amongst otehr rodents. Find out more about these cute and cuddly tree dwellers on ZooMoo this January!

PIGLET’S AWESOME AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE
Premieres 26 January 2021
Every Tuesday at 12:00pm (PH)
In conjuction with Australia Day

ZooMoo is available on DStv channel 314 and Zuku TV channel 630

January 2021 On Disney Channel Africa | Upside Down Magic | DCOM

UPSIDE-DOWN MAGIC
Movie premiere
Friday 29th January at 17:00

There is exciting news for Disney Channel viewers in the New Year: we are premiering a brand-new Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), Upside-Down Magic, on Friday 29th January at 17:00.

When 13-year-old Nory discovers she can flux into animals, and her best friend Reina can manipulate flames, together they enter the Sage Academy for Magical Studies. Reina's expert ability to harness the power of fire lands her at the top of her class of "Flares," but Nory's wonky magic and proclivity for turning into a "Dritten" (a half-kitten, half-dragon)-lands her in a class for those with Upside-Down Magic, otherwise known as UDM. While Headmaster Knightslinger believes the UDM's unconventional powers leave them vulnerable to dangerous and evil "shadow magic," Nory and her fellow UDM classmates set out to prove that Upside-Down Magic beats right side up!

Brand-new DCOM Upside-Down Magic premieres on Friday 29th January at 17:00, as part of our Friday Movie Nights, on Disney Channel. Happy New Year!

DISNEY CHANNEL FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIES
Programming event
Fridays throughout January 2021 at 17:00

Disney Channel’s Friday treat for film fans continues into the New Year, with some great entertainment to celebrate the start of each weekend. There’s a marvellous movie every Friday at 17:00, repeated on Saturday at 10:40.

The fun starts with Cheetah Girls on New Year’s Day, (Friday 1st January), followed by Cheetah Girls 2 (Friday 8th January), Cloud 9 (Friday 15th January), The Swap (Friday 22nd January) and last of all our fabulous new DCOM Upside-Down Magic (Friday 29th January), all at 17:00.

In The Cheetah Girls (Friday 1st January at 17:00) four New York teens face the challenges of growing up as they dance and sing their way towards that elusive record deal. Raven stars alongside Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan.

Viewers can see these great Disney movies on Fridays throughout January 2021 at 17:00, repeated on the following Saturday at 10:40, on Disney Channel.

Disney Channel is available on DStv channel 303

Read Also:

- January on Disney Junior

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Disney Junior Africa Starts The New Year With A New Season Of Vampirina

Vampirina, Disney Junior viewers’ favourite young monster, is back to share even more of her monster-self with her human friends, inviting them on spooktacular adventures in her magical haunted house and throughout Transylvania. Season three of her adventures launches on the channel on Monday 11th January 2021 at 07:00, and continues with more premiere episodes on weekdays at the same time until Friday 22nd January.

In the two stories which make up the season launch episode, Weekly Normalness/Vampire's Luck (Monday 11th January at 07:00) when Edgar struggles with his new blog for the world wide cobweb, Vee, Gregoria and Demi help him come up with an idea. Then Nan gives Vee a good luck charm for her ballet performance.

Great news for fans of this “fang-tastic” show is that they have a second chance to see these brand new episodes back-to-back in a marathon block, on Saturday 16th and Sunday 24th January from 11:00 to 14:00.

Season three of Vampirina launches on Disney Junior on Monday 11th January 2021, and continues with premiere episodes on weekdays until Friday 22nd January, at 07:00.

Disney Junior is available on DStv channel 309

Close Enemies Season 2 Coming Soon To Telemundo Africa

The show went on hiatus on Telemundo Africa for literally a year after the first season of Enemigo Íntimo made its debut on Telemundo Africa in January 2020. 

The second season of Close Enemies (Enemigo Íntimo) takes place two years after the first season. Roxana (Fernanda Castillo), who can no longer hide under the alias of "El Profesor", will fight to reestablish the Mil Cumbres cartel and grow her empire, but Alejandro (Raúl Méndez), commander of the Anti-Drug Unit, will not be willing to leave her now that he knows that "El Profesor" and her missing sister are the same person. These conflicts between opposing sides unleashed a war of revenge between two blood brothers, now turned into worse enemies.

Catch Close Enemies season 2 weeknights from 22:00 CAT/21:00 WAT/23:00 EAT which comes around the time as Laws Of The Heart.

Telemundo is available on DStv and GOtv

As Die Skoen Pas Coming Soon To eExtra

To start off the new year, the channel will be introducing another Afrikaans dubbed Turkish drama as part of the Kuiertyd block on eExtra called As Die Skoen Pas.

As Die Skoen Pas (Kiralık Aşk), when Defne's brother gets into debt and is held captive, Defne is forced to accept an offer in exchange for the money. She has to make omer, a wealthy shoe designer who owns a company, fall in love with her and marry her. Barış Arduç and Elçin Sangu take up the lead roles.

Since the series debut back in 2015, it managed to rollout in 14 other countries with 2 additional countries including South Africa only getting them in 2021.

Catch it weekdays at 19:30 from Monday 18 January. Yes, I'm aware a rerun of Deur Dik En Dun occupied that timeslot. So what will happen is the repeat will air after Begeertes which comes at a time the show changes its storyline.

As Die Skoen Pas joins other Afrikaans dubbed Turkish dramas currently seen on eExtra such as Deur Dik En Dun, Elif and Begeertes.

There's also another romcom coming later in the year....

eExtra is available on OpenView, DStv and Starsat

Read Also:
- Mi Corazon Insiste En Lola aka My Heart Beats For Lola coming soon to eExtra

Three Months After The UK Shuttered Their Disney Channels, Several Other Markets Follow

Disney XD In Africa alongside the UK Disney Channels shut down back in October. This was due to ongoing review of the entertainment with the other being the launch of Disney+.

Since the streaming service launch you've seen several markets shut down their Disney Channels particularly Disney XD now the demise of the brand continues with Malaysia which is connected to other regions.

We’re delighted to share that Astro is refreshing its Kids Pack for the next generation of Malaysian kids with two exciting new entertainment channels plus 10,000 On Demand episodes starting December 15.

First, please welcome Boomerang (Ch 619) and Nick Jr. (Ch 617) to our family. These two great channels will join Cartoon Network (Ch 615 HD / Ch 635) and Nickelodeon (Ch 616 HD / Ch 636) on the Kids Pack, and will complement Baby TV (Ch 618), Astro Xiao Tai Yang (Ch 304 HD / Ch 344), Chutti TV (Ch 213), Astro Tutor TV (Ch 601 / Ch 602 / Ch 603), Astro TVIQ (Ch 610), and, of course, Malaysia’s no. 1 kids entertainment brand, Astro Ceria (Ch 611 HD / Ch 631). We’re looking forward to pre-school favourite Nick Jr. (Ch 617) enhancing our line up with global hits like Paw Patrol, Dora the Explorer, Top Wings, Shimmer and Shine and Blue`s Clues & You whilst Boomerang (Ch 619), with its multi-generational appeal, is the home of hit shows such as Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, My Little Pony: Pony Life, Scooby-doo! Guess Who?, The Tom & Jerry Show, The Looney Tunes Show and Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures.

In addition, we have over 10,000 episodes of quality children’s entertainment and education available on Astro On Demand and Astro GO including hits such as We Bare Bears, SpongeBob SquarePants, Beyblade, Upin & Ipin, Ejen Ali, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, Ben 10, Peppa Pig, Lego Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bandanamu Kids Songs, Molang, Oddbods, Thomas & Friends, SMK, Omar & Hana, Didi and Friends, The Five Elves, Happy Little Submarines, Motu Patlu, Bahubali, and much, much more!

And there’s more! We’re just putting the final touches to FAMtv (Ch 100), a brand new pop-up channel for all customers to enjoy from December 15. FAMtv (Ch 100) promises something the whole family can enjoy with Malaysia’s favourites such as Running Man, Mr. Bean, Doraemon, Phua Chu Kang, Crayon Sin Chan, Dexter’s Laboratory, Kampung Boy and many more.

While we’re delighted about our refreshed kids content slate we should also advise that Disney has notified all regional South East Asia partners it will be discontinuing the Disney XD HD (Ch 612) on 31 December 2020, 24:00 hours. As part of this upcoming refresh of our Kids Pack, Disney Channel HD (Ch 614 HD / Ch 634) and Disney Junior HD (Ch 613) will also cease broadcast on our network on 31 December 2020, 24:00 hours. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and regret any inconvenience caused.

As always, our customers, especially our young ones, remain at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to continuously improving our children’s entertainment and education offerings and can’t wait to share all of the great new line up. It all begins in just a few days!

Update: Greece will shut down Disney XD early next year

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