Insidus: Entertainment Inside Us

Another One Bites The Dust: Love Nature Reportedly The Next Victim To Get Culled By StarSat

A month after The Smithsonian Channel, the Canadian-based Love Nature featuring documentaries related to wildlife and nature goes off air on StarSat across Africa by the end of November.

Love Nature launched 2 years ago alongside The Smithsonian Channel as replacements to National Geographic and National Geographic Wild as StarSat had been going through a contractual dispute with The Walt Disney Company.

The demise of Love Nature leaves a big gap in the viewership as so many channels were culled from the platform including FOX, SA Music, SA Playlist, St Eyethu and a range of Discovery Channels.

Just like Smithsonian, fans of Love Nature will have rely on National Geographic to give viewers the best in factual and educational programming, and hope that doesn't get culled as well.

2021 has proven to be weak year on the basis of new channels. So far the platform launched MUTV, Zimbabwe's Jit TV, the ANC inspired C12 TV, Fashion TV, Roots TV and 3 Zee TV channels.

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Read Also:
- Female wrestling promotion launching in 2022, could StarSat pick it up?
- Star Life rebranding to Life OK???
- Could SABC Encore and Children make their way to StarSat?
- African Animation Network launching an experimental animation block
- Warner TV might be replacing TNT
- Canal+ acquires majority stake at SPI International
- Timeless Dizi Channel got a streaming service

Cartoonito Launching As A Linear Channel!!! Did Kidscreen Let The Cat Out Of The Bag?

As WarnerMedia in Europe, Middle East and Africa gear up for the return of Cartoonito. WarnerMedia sourced out several content with the recent addition Spookies as reported by Kidscreen greenlit for the "linear channel" in 2023.

Cartoonito launched in several markets either as a programming block or linear channel and viewers feeling agitated wonder the possible implications it will have to their viewing.

In Latin America, the brand is set to replace Boomerang by the end of November with several shows being phased out except for Tom And Jerry and Scooby-Doo which are considered preschool for that market.

If this format is duplicated, Boomerang's death will be less painful for everyone. Cartoonito might be stocking them up to increase their success rate and eventually dump them.

November is almost up with Bionic Max and Dino Ranch nowhere in site on Cartoon Network and Boomerang respectively. The possible delay could have something to do with the rollout of Cartoonito.

WarnerMedia plans to offer over 50 preschool series within the next 3 years and such amount can't be confined to mere block.

Streamlining forms part of WarnerMedia's vision for the market seeing that HBO Max will arrive in 2025. We could be looking at another Tom And Jerry where the mouse eventually gets caught.

A+ Afrique Coming Soon To DStv??? Is This How Canal+ Plans To Exercise Their 15% Stake Of MultiChoice And Could This Lead To More Channels?

Ever since the French broadcaster made an entry to Africa. They've made a name for themselves after acquiring Nigeria's ROK and IROKO Studios even maintaining a 70% stake in Dizi and FilmBox's parent company SPI InternationaI .

The thing that intrigued the media mostly about Canal+ is their objective with MultiChoice. They currently own a 15% stake and attempted to acquire their African counterpart several years back.

It doesn't look like they're ready to back down as they've slowly been obtaining a portion of the brand. With their current stake they've managed to get 1Magic alongside several DStv channels to their own platform in various regions.

Seeing that Canal+ cater for French speaking territories it only seems logical for there to be a lack of channels or at least in markets that aren't familiar with this group.

Through a private website you have a file for a channel owned by Canal+ titled "A+ Afrique Test". It may seem like nothing but "test" could imply anything at this point.

There's not much Canal+ on DStv aside from the three ROK channels. Its possible that the 15% puts them at a disadvantage so if they'll likely be fortunate once acquiring more shares.

About A+ Afrique
Sentimental intrigues, captivating thrillers, comedy and exciting fictions, A+ devotes 100% of its air time to African series produced throughout the continent and thus positions itself as The African Series TV Channel.

Broadcast in more than 20 countries in West and Central Africa, A+ has become French-speaking Africa’s standard-setting channel, seeking to reflect the continent’s various identities and defining features, and to be resolutely oriented toward Africa’s future.

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#WeAreDrama: Openview Being Bombarded With Rebroadcasts Of The Heir, Kuiertyd Put More Focus On Prime Time And Star Life Will Have To Undergo A Name Change Perhaps "Life OK" To Avoid Confusion With Disney+ Star

Zee TV and eMedia are inseparable
If you think the Indian offering is overcrowded on Openview well matters only get worse from there when two channels from different stables offer the same programming.

The Heir formed part of Zee One's launch schedule and launched days later on eExtra. Both channels are eating from the same dinner but with eExtra playing third wheel to Zee TV it only seemed logical for them to source out other programming.

At the moment, that doesn't seem to be the case or at least not initially as eExtra has Surrender In Love and Naagin with Zee One getting Guddan, Lies Of The Heart and Reach For The Stars.

Kuiertyd bouncing back
Following the launch of eVOD, eExtra has seen a decline in weekend repeats of Kuiertyd. Feeling concerned, viewers reached out to a source who was close to the matter.

According to them, this is part of a review in the channel's offering seeing that repeats don't get high ratings why waste time on repeats. Similar to e.tv, eExtra is working to build their prime time offering.

Remember when Voëlvry aired on Sunday in the form of a marathon. Well it's reportedly set to return under the name Kuiertyd Premium which will compliment the Afrikaans movie slot on Saturdays.

Two series are set to launch in 2022 the first being Droom Velore on e.tv with reruns of the eVOD series Die Put makes way to eExtra likely for Kuiertyd Premium.

Star Life, It's A Beautiful World, Life OK, Love Is Beautiful and Disney+
Disney+ is scheduled to in South Africa by June 2022 so it seems logical for Star Life to edit out the "Star" ahead of time as to not cause a commotion now that it will be folded under a streaming service.

Utsav replaced the "Star" across Europe and it looks like Star Life will be exempted from that as LyngSat list Utsav for all the other channels but not Star Life.

Before Star Life's induction into the market there was Life OK and coincidence Zee One was available in Germany before launching in Africa. Could it be that Star Life will revert back to their predecessor Life OK?

2021 taught me that familiarity can come at a price as seen above. Star India forming part of The Walt Disney Company will likely dig through their archives once again when searching for an alternate brand.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also follow Doodsondes for Kuiertyd updates.

New Series Alert: eMedia Investments Acquire Rights To Turkish Romcom Droomvelore And The Reboot Of The 1975 Law Enforcement S.W.A.T. For e.tv + Possible Developments Coming To eExtra

As reported earlier in the year, the brand acquired rights to the Turkish romcom Erkenci Kus (now titled Droomvelore) starring Can Yaman as Jan and Demet Özdemir as Sanem who also stars in the upcoming Kuiertyd series Kamer 309.

Sanem is a young girl who works at her father's grocery store in hopes to become a famous writer one day. When her parents give her a choice to either get a proper job or an arranged marriage, Sanem gets a job in the advertising agency her sister works in. From there she meets her boss and love interest, Jan.

Apparently, this may not be the only series to enter 2022. It looks the drugpin series Die Put from earlier this month will reportedly make its linear debut soon.

Droom Velore will likely replace Deur Dik En Dun on e.tv knowing the channel it will bombard itself with repeats as viewers wait for its glamorous debut while eVOD Turkish repeat Die Put is shoved onto eExtra.

Kuiertyd Premium which is likely where Die Put will be slotted seeing that the second season of Voëlvry commences in December is a binge-a-thon for Turkish dramas further boosting eExtra's prime time.

In other news...
eMedia Investments acquired rights to the reboot of the 1975 law enforcement series S.W.A.T. which is currently available on M-Net.

S.W.A.T. follows Sergeant Daniel and his team from the LAPD fight dangerous criminals and strive to protect the public from the threat they impose.

The series replaces 9-1-1 weekdays at 20:30 on e.tv from Monday 29 November.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also follow Doodsondes for Kuiertyd updates.

Travel Channel Could Be On The Chopping Block On DStv Following The Major Decline In Europe

Travel Channel is currently on autopilot through DStv as international markets have started aligning themselves with the main counterpart while others have pulled the rug under the channel.

One of the longest running brands on Discovery offered leisure, lifestyle and other travel related programs is transitioning to horror which is probably part of a phase in rolling out Discovery+.

As mentioned, several Travel Channels have closed down amidst the transition to horror and it wouldn't surprise me if the same fate awaited the brand in Africa.

The channel has heavily been disregarded by the media including Discovery Inc which held a celebration for much younger brands TLC and ID this month. On top of that ignorance is usually the first signs in terminations at Discovery.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Discovery Family might end as a linear channel in Africa following its termination on StarSat of course details surrounding the termination remain a mystery.

Either Discovery is consolidating the entertainment seen on Discovery Family and Travel Channel to male focused DMAX as seen in Europe or they are launching an accessory to HGTV, Magnolia Network.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

#WeAreToonz: Could The Possible SABC Children Channel Be A Spinoff To SABC Education?

After a year, SABC Education revised their schedule to further bolster their offering with reruns of Skeem Saam making their way to the channel and themes being broadcast daily.

What started out as another Mindset transitioned to cater for SABC 1-3 audiences with a mini kids slot taking up a portion of the schedule reducing the initial audience.

Evidently, SABC hoped to the Department Of Education would assist them in getting this channel off the ground. If they succeeded the lineup wouldn't have appeared the way it did.

Chances were they wouldn't be much channel space for all the programming seen on SABC 1-3 so SABC Children could have been the preschool counterpart that put the effort on children aged 2-14.

My hunch can be proven If you visit their former media accounts or download the Tuluntulu app, you see they're multilingual on top of promoting content already seen through SABC Education.

If this brand is fortunate enough to become a linear station. Don't be surprised if they act like that Mindset pop-up channel for a smaller demographic which launched in 2020.

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also follow Doodsondes for Kuiertyd updates.

SABC, e.tv And DStv Ratings For October 2021: Uzalo And Muvhango Continue To Be Trailblazers On SABC 1 & 2 Respectively | The Estate Omnibus Debuts At The Top 5 Thanks To Repeats On SABC 1 | Sitcoms And News Reach A New Peak On e.tv | Gomora Dethrones Uyajola 9/9 On DStv | More

SABC 1:
Uzalo - 7 099 635
Generations The Legacy - 5 926 095
Skeem Saam - 4 728 245
Skeem Saam (R) - 3 001 370
Xhosa News - 2 897 085
Zulu News - 2 890 505
Hush Money - 2 379 790
Uzalo (R) - 2 352 398
The Estate from S3 - 2 305 292
Nyan Nyan - 2 086 547
Live Amp - 2 052 918
Now or Never - 2 004 352
Real Goboza - 1 996 374
Uzalo Omnibus - 1 888 190
Muvhango (R) - 1 867 600
Orange Couch - 1 854 162
Born Legends - 1 789 467
Ikani - 1 789 266
Khumbul' Ekhaya - 1 783 670
Siswati/Ndebele News - 1 745 856

SABC 2:

Muvhango - 3 643 585
7De Laan - 1 097 923
Muvhango Omnibus - 974 234
Tlhakantsuke - 875 945
Ke Nyala Mang - 821 448
Ses/Tsw/Sep News - 765 783
Mmalonya - 709 951
Nuus - 709 137
Skwizas Repeat - 694 673
Muvhango Repeat - 649 860
Morning Live - 624 170
Vutha - 593 094
Venda/Tsonga News - 589 119
Skeem Saam Repeat - 581 519
Uzalo Repeat - 517 011
Music - 509 810
The Estate Repeat - 493 058
Die Sentrum - 489 236
Comedy Mixtape - 475 739
Behind the Scene:Imvelogy - 437 448

SABC 3:

Qatar Fifa World Cup: Ethiopia vs Bafana - 968 107
The Estate Omnibus - 625 717
Animal Babies: First Year on Earth - 517 765
The Passion of the Christ Movie - 499 465
Natures Great Migrations - 470 467
News - 460 829
A Valentine's Date Movie - 435 808
The Amazing Spiderman 2 Movie - 414 281
The X Factor - 409 678
The Insider Sa Repeat - 380 294
The Estate Repeat - 368 641
Bundesliga Bayer 04 vs Hoffenheim - 341 712 5
In the Valley of Elah Movie - 295 564
7De Laan Repeat - 292 311
Instapreneurs - 290 070
The Longest Date - 288 872
The Estate - 286 902
Sun Sand and Romance Movie - 284 823
Soccer Wrap - 283 959
Kicks Movie - 267 159

e.tv:

Scandal - 5 254 139
House of Zwide - 4 493 251
Imbewu - 3 816 520
Durban Gen - 2 796 464
Alvin and the Chipmunks Movie - 2 615 876
South Africa Tonight News - 2 523 567
Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel Movie - 2 468 362
The Tuxedo Movie - 2 340 484
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Movie - 2 299 513
Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Road Chip Movie - 2 225 290
The Goldbergs - 2 221 200
The Medallion Movie - 2 173 681
Family Feud South Africa - 2 123 647
Mad Max Fury Road Movie - 1 947 344
Around the World in 80 Days Movie - 1 885 655
Imbewu Repeat - 1 813 122
Britain's Got Talent - 1 769 712
The Legend of Tarzan Movie - 1 726 320
Deur Dik En Dun - 1 585 039
Durban Gen: the Reunion Special - 1 558 090

DStv:

MZANSI Gomora - 1 586 831 & 1 994 995
MOJA Uyajola 9/9 - 1 502 492 & 1 938 235
MZANSI The Queen Movie - 1 374 631 & 1 704 617
MZANSI Uthando Nesthembu - 1 158 861 & 1 511 479
MZANSI Mnakwethu - 980 298 & 1 211 089
MOJA Isencane Lengane - 965 090 & 1 243 067
MZANSI The River - 931 676 & 1 162 287
MZANSI Diep City - 879 839 & 1 112 179
MZANSI Izangoma Zodumo - 790 217 & 970 292
MZANSI Umkhokha - 789 218 & 973 116
MOJA Giants of the City - 772 476 & 1 013 075
MZANSI Grootboom and Sons - 698 844 & 861 961
MZANSI Idols SA - 683 814 & 907 654
MZANSI Our Perfect Wedding - 649 700 & 798 489
MWET Our Perfect Wedding - 587 793 & 738 038
MOJA Mamazala - 536 372 & 711 197
MZANSI Gomora Repeat - 517 062 & 646 457
MOJA No Excuse Pay Your Papgeld - 508 295 & 644 780
MZANSI Love and Loss - 473 746 & 599 059
MZANSI Epk:Mission Impossible III - 471 553 & 531 763
MZANSI Face 2 Face - 465 871 & 552 132
MBIO Phakathi Egoli - 452 047 & 635 454
MWET The River Movie - 449 418 & 581 675
MOJA Single and Mingle - 442 393 & 557 460
MZANSI The Queen Repeat - 438 412 & 603 537
MBIO Shukuma - 432 769 & 600 468
MWET The River Repeat - 431 393 & 509 082
MWET Epk:Dead Trigger - 427 590 & 527 288
MOJA Ufelani - 402 611 & 541 716
MOJA Dloz'lami - 400 361 & 486 215

You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also follow Doodsondes for Kuiertyd updates.

Insidus: Entertainment Inside Us

Another One Bites The Dust: Love Nature Reportedly The Next Victim To Get Culled By StarSat

Cartoonito Launching As A Linear Channel!!! Did Kidscreen Let The Cat Out Of The Bag?

A+ Afrique Coming Soon To DStv??? Is This How Canal+ Plans To Exercise Their 15% Stake Of MultiChoice And Could This Lead To More Channels?

#WeAreDrama: Openview Being Bombarded With Rebroadcasts Of The Heir, Kuiertyd Put More Focus On Prime Time And Star Life Will Have To Undergo A Name Change Perhaps "Life OK" To Avoid Confusion With Disney+ Star

New Series Alert: eMedia Investments Acquire Rights To Turkish Romcom Droomvelore And The Reboot Of The 1975 Law Enforcement S.W.A.T. For e.tv + Possible Developments Coming To eExtra

Travel Channel Could Be On The Chopping Block On DStv Following The Major Decline In Europe

#WeAreToonz: Could The Possible SABC Children Channel Be A Spinoff To SABC Education?

SABC, e.tv And DStv Ratings For October 2021: Uzalo And Muvhango Continue To Be Trailblazers On SABC 1 & 2 Respectively | The Estate Omnibus Debuts At The Top 5 Thanks To Repeats On SABC 1 | Sitcoms And News Reach A New Peak On e.tv | Gomora Dethrones Uyajola 9/9 On DStv | More

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