Zee/Sony Merger: Set To Close A Major Entertainment Channel And Auctioning Off A Further 3 Channels

ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd is reportedly planning to shutdown a “major entertainment channel” as a part of concessions to merge with Sony Pictures Networks.

The plan has been considered to ease competition concerns and secure the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) approval for their $10 billion merger.

LiveMint reports that the “major entertainment channel” currently has a huge 20-30% market share. Rumours surfacing online indicate that it could be one of the Marathi TV channels ran by ZEEL.

ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) also offered to sell three Hindi TV channels, as per the remedial proposal to the competition authority, in its ongoing merger with Culver Max Entertainment (Sony).

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it will sufficiently address the competition-related concerns made in the proposal by ZEEL. The broadcasting giant said it would sell Hindi GEC Big Magic, along with ZEE Classic and ZEE Action.

“The Divestment Business consists of ZEEL’s and/or the Resultant Entity’s (as the case may be) ownership interest in Big Magic which is engaged in the Hindi GEC market segment and Zee Action and Zee Classic which are engaged in the Hindi Films channels market segment,” the CCI order reads.

Furthermore, the CCI order stated that the divestment TV channels will include:
1) license for trade-marks, channel names, and logos for a reasonable period agreed with the approved purchaser.
2) applicable licenses, permits, and authorisations,
3) applicable agreements concerning the licensing of content from the relevant licensor entity(ies)
4) the employees exclusively dedicated and working for these channels.

MultiChoice Supposedly Repositions DStv Easyview With The Addition Of Two Channels, Attempting To Give Openview A Run For Their Money

Openview is currently South Africa's leading provider in free entertainment operated by eMedia Investments. The platform is currently seen in over 3 million households with more households set to join once analogue cease to exist or MultiChoice shoot themselves in the foot.

Honestly, the platform was giving consumers on DStv Access and mostly Easyview a run for their money. I mean with less than 25 channels you'd discover consumers on these packages were being derived of so much more so it's understandable why one would flee.

Unlike Access, the Easyview package doesn't come with much luxury aside from TNT and Real Time with almost everything residing in the religious and communal areas. For which Openview lacks as they are regarded as the HBO Max of cable.

During the week, it was reported MultiChoice would be allocating two more channels to the package. These channels would be adapting to a similar format to that of eReality and eToonz as they too aren't 24 hours capable.

For several years, eMedia Investments had been working on filling up the remaining analogue signals with their Openview platforms. Now MultiChoice has undergone a similar path with their Easyview package.

MultiChoice wants to take the digital approach by reinventing the Easyview package after the brand was seen as redundant for several years for its failure to source fresher entertainment which led consumers to fled to the Openview platform.

Turkish Couple Edits Presents Verdeelde Liefde's Zeynep & Mehdi ღ You Broke Me First

Turkish Couple Edits a YouTube channel which distributes a variety of music videos based on couples within a number of telenovelas. Part of which can be viewed on eExtra: #DisComplicated and Verdeelde Liefde.

Here's another video for the show Verdeelde Liefde:

In case anyone's wondering what music is used in the video it's Tate McRae's You Broke Me First.

Recap: Global Agency Revealed International Sales For Turkish Drama “The Game Of My Destiny”

Global Agency announced the sales for “The Game of My Destiny” in North Macedonia and Hungary earlier in the year. The new deal marked another milestone in the global expansion of the hit drama, which had been acquired in Israel, Lithuania and Romania. The drama aired on BeIN in the Middle East and achieved great success.

“The Game of My Destiny” is produced by NGM Medya and is still aired on STAR TV on Friday nights. The series’ leading cast members are Ozgu Karayel from Ethos (Netflix), Heartbeat, Black Money Love, Kuzey Guney; Akin Akinozu from Hercai, The Last Emperor, Friends Forever; Sarp Apak from Daydreaming; Meric Aral from The Red Room, High Society, The Oath and Esra Dermancıoğlu from Bitter Lands, Fatmagul.

“The Game of My Destiny” tells the gripping story of Asiye, whose world is turned upside down when her daughter is attacked by a neighbor, leaving them to rebuild their shattered lives. When the stranger Mahir finds them refuge in the home of his powerful family, she is shocked to face her ex-husband Cemal who abandoned the family years ago. Asiye now faces the toughest of dilemmas in choosing whether to reuniting with Cemal or making a fresh start with Mahir. In a mansion fraught with romance, betrayal and jealousy, Asiye must overcome a cruel destiny and find happiness for her family in this thrilling drama.

Global Agency announced that there were ongoing negotiations for the drama in several territories and looks forward to seeing “The Game of My Destiny” added to the international programming of many more channels across the world.

In Die Ysterhand Se Greep and Kind Van Die Noodlot on kykNET & Kie alongside My Better Half and Bitter Sweet on St Novelas and Droomvelore (Erkenci Kus) and Gebroke Harte (Paramparça) on eExtra join a list of content distributed by Global Agency.

New Developments: The Legends, The Four And More Dubbed Content Coming To St KungFu In November 2022

St KungFu, a general entertainment channel headed by StarTimes that is home to various martial arts based programming and movies. On top of serving as a rival Celestial Tiger's KIX channel on DStv will be introducing the following the shows from November, all of which are dubbed:

- The Legends - When the imprisoned son of the Demon King escapes and rises to power, the woman sworn to ensuring his confinement plots to recapture him even as he develops an attraction toward her. Based on the novel of the same name, it stars Bai Lu, Xu Kai, Dai Xu and Xiao Yan. It premieres November 2 at 10:00 CAT.

- The Four - story of 4 young men: Cold Blood, Chaser, Heartless, Iron Fist - each excel in different martial arts and use them to bring down corruption and establish justice. It stars Hans Zhang, Yang Yang, William Chan and Mao Zijun. It premieres November 7 at 10:50 CAT.

- The Legend of White Snake - provoked by the actions of a seemingly sly human, an ancient snake spirit takes on a human form, in order to prove him a fraud. It stars Jingyi Ju, Menglong Yu, Yan Xiao and Tim Pei in lead roles. It premieres November 14 at 23:00 CAT.

- Princess Silver - Rong Le, a princess of the royal family of the Xiqi Kingdom who wakes up one day to find that she has lost her memory. She is ordered to marry Zong Zheng Wu You, seventh prince of the neighboring Beilin Kingdom, though her husband-to-be refuses to let her inside his manor. Unable to return home, Rong Le settles down in Beilin and opens a teahouse under the alias of Manyao. It stars Sophie Zhang in the lead role. It premieres November 28 at 15:00 CAT.

Could E! Entertainment Be A Thing Of The Past?

E! Entertainment is a celebrity based entertainment channel owned by NBCUniversal that has mainly been used for glitz and glamour or in other words takes you on a trip to Hollywood through red carpets and interviews with their notable title being The Kardashians.

As seen these past months or in other people's perspective last year, NBCUniversal has been cutting back on original content for their channels and E! Entertainment happened to be one of those last remaining channels internationally.

As it is DreamWorks Channel is more like PBS Kids as content is funded by third parties, there's not much changes coming to Studio Universal but when you turn to Universal TV they were more like CBS Reality pitching for new content now they're the slums like BET.

E! Entertainment has lost out on several originals like Keeping Up With The Kardashians, E! News, The Soup and Daily Pop. At the time, not a lot of people knew how far NBCUniversal would go in this layoffs that was until they were reports of the channel closing in some parts of Europe.

I don't know whether this will happen in other countries as NBCUniversal has been eyeing strategic purposes in the phasing out of the E! brand but from what is known so far would the idea be far fetched.

In Africa, E! Entertainment has been adding content from NBCUniversal's Bravo channel. Overseas this two have been operating on seperate grounds but in this region they're working hand-to-hand.

And I'm not saying that E! Entertainment will turn into Bravo but the idea of what's happening in Africa possibly being the outcome overseas wouldn't be shocking I mean Days Of Our Lives is heading to streaming and NBC closed their sports channel.

Don't be surprised if there was an announcement that E! Entertainment would be closing down with further content being divided amongst their brands, Bravo.

Bravo would make a great successor I mean there's a lot the channel can do that celebrity based E! Entertainment had restricted. The channel hasn't gotten that far in terms of popularity but with the right tooling they can get ahead.

Bravo is currently positioned in a similar form to MTV and with E! Entertainment supplying various shows from the brand. They might as well source content from Oxygen since it's also female driven and from what I can make out with this combo you're basically getting Lifetime.

Lifetime was one of my least favourite channels I usually watch it for the documentaries and crime hours. Should Bravo eventually rear it's face one of my expectations is that it could fill the void left by this channel from A+E Networks.

Tutankhamun’s Tomb 100th Anniversary Commemorated With Premiere Programming

King Tutankhamen, or King Tut as he is more commonly known today, was relatively unknown to the world until 1922, when his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter. Now, 100 years later, this unprecedented historic discovery will be commemorated with the premiere of Tut’s Toxic Tomb on National Geographic (DStv 181, Starsat 220) on Fridays at 19:00 (CAT), from 18 November 2022, as well as with fascinating library programming exploring various facets of the renowned pharoah’s life.

On 26th November 1922, Howard Carter made what was dubbed as the greatest archaeological find of all time – entering the treasure-filled tomb of the Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun’s tomb contained thousands of artifacts, a sarcophagus containing his mummy, and a now-famous headdress. It took Carter and his team almost ten years to catalogue the contents of the tomb. The over five thousand artifacts and well-preserved mummies found in the tomb have since brought new insights into life in ancient Egypt and the astounding governance of the boy who became king.

The news lit up the world. But when people who entered the tomb began dying, tales of a “pharaoh’s curse” spread. Were the deaths just coincidences or stories created to sell newspapers? And can modern science explain the truth behind the legend?

In the two-part Tut’s Toxic Tomb series, paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi begins to unravel the extraordinary, scientific truth behind the legend and dives deeper into the mystery behind the Tutankhamun curse story. Exploring potential toxins inside the tomb and on some of the artefacts, she questions whether science can help explain some of the deaths that were linked to the tomb. On her journey, she shines fresh light on this global legend and reveals the greater legacy of Howard Carter’s discovery.

Additionally, viewers can enjoy King Tut In Color (4 November at 19:00) in which the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb is revealed for the first time in colour, thanks to colourisation of black-and-white newsreel and photographs.

In Tut's Treasures: Hidden Secrets (11 November at 19:00), follow how Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 made headlines across the world, sparking a global frenzy for ancient Egypt. Watch as the boy-king's 5,398 priceless objects are being reunited for the first time.

Turkish Couple Edits Presents Verdeelde Liefde's Zeynep & Mehdi ღ Ya Me Enteré

Turkish Couple Edits a YouTube channel which distributes a variety of music videos based on couples within a number of telenovelas. Part of which can be viewed on eExtra: #DisComplicated and Verdeelde Liefde.

Here's another video for the show Verdeelde Liefde:

For those wondering what song is used in the video it's Ya Me Enteré performed by Spanish artist Reik.