Barney's World Premieres In October On Cartoonito Across USA And EMEA

Mattel, Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery announced today that Barney, Mattel’s iconic purple dinosaur, will return to television screens for the first time in 14 years. Barney’s World, a new animated series featuring original music and updated takes on Barney classics, will premiere Monday, October 14 on MAX followed by a linear premiere on Cartoon Network starting on Friday, October 18. The show also launches on Cartoonito in EMEA and APAC, and Discovery Kids in LATAM.  Select episodes of Barney’s World will be available on YouTube, where the first episode will debut early on October 11 in specific countries.  

MEET BARNEY, BABY BOP, AND BILLY!

The new Barney’s World is set in a playground, where Barney is joined by dinos Billy and Baby Bop and their three kid best friends David, Mel, and Vivie. Through action-packed, music-filled adventures together, Barney helps the kids and audiences explore big preschool emotions, showing them how to love themselves, others, and their communities.

Originally launched in 1988, Barney quickly became a global sensation, captivating audiences with the friendly dinosaur and his larger-than-life personality. The Barney & Friends series aired on top broadcasters globally, including 14 seasons on PBS in the United States, with its final episode airing on November 2, 2010.

While Barney’s World was developed for preschoolers, viewers of all ages will feel nostalgic singing along with Barney and his friends again. Today’s parents, many of whom grew up with the lovable dinosaur, can now create memories with their own children as they experience this new take on a beloved classic.

Barney’s World premieres with 52, 11-minute episodes featuring familiar faces and new characters alike, including:

• Jonathan Langdon (ZOMBIES) as Barney - A singing and dancing purple dinosaur who embodies love, Barney is a great listener who helps his friends work through challenges in a way that is caring to themselves and others.

• Bryn McAuley (Hotel Transylvania: The Series) as Baby Bop - A charming and opinionated dinosaur who is an advocate for all feelings, no matter how big or small.

• Jonathan Tan (Rubble & Crew) as Billy – An energetic dino who loves action and loud sounds. With a strong sense of self awareness, Billy encourages kids to express their feelings and care for themselves. 

• Jayd Deroché (Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures) as David – An empathetic, self-aware, and caring kid, David loves giving big hugs and has an infectious laugh that he shares with his friends, older brother, and younger sister.

• Diana Tsoy (CoComelon Lane) as Mel – Mel is active, competitive, and always up for a challenge. She is multiracial from Korean and Mexican heritage, speaks three languages, and loves to share her culture with her friends. 

• Ella Paciocco (Vocal Star) as Vivie - Vivie is wildly creative and loves to paint and perform. She lives with her Nonna, and together they enjoy cooking, sharing Italian traditions, and caring for their friends and family.

“The goal of Mattel Television Studios is to develop and distribute episodic and long-form content that expands Mattel’s characters and storylines across linear and streaming platforms worldwide,” said Josh Silverman, Chief Franchise Officer, Mattel. “Barney nurtures the power of love in all of us, and we are thrilled to bring him back to fans all around the world. We hope this modern revival leaves an impression on young audiences, imparting lessons that will positively influence them as they grow up.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Mattel to bring a fresh, imaginative new take on Barney that resonates with today’s preschoolers and their families around the world,” said Vanessa Brookman, General Manager Kids, Global Streaming and International Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery.  

“This new animated series aims to blend nostalgia with modern storytelling, ensuring that the world’s beloved purple dinosaur continues to inspire, educate, and delight young audiences.”

Barney’s World is co-produced by Mattel Television Studios and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana. It is executive produced by Michelle Mendelovitz and Josh Silverman for Mattel and by Athena Georgaklis, Doug Murphy, Mellany Welsh, and Pam Westman for Nelvana.

Zee Zonke – SA’s No. 1 Pay TV Channel Presents An All New Local Show, “Amaqhawe – Our Heroes”

Zee Zonke is thrilled to introduce its first original local show, isiZulu Amaqhawe (Our Heroes), premiered on 14 September 2024 at 5 pm on DStv channel 169. Since the channel’s launch in August 2023, Zee Zonke has ranked number one in the Pay TV space. This is the channel’s first local foray, spotlighting the extraordinary stories of South Africans who have made notable contributions across various sectors.

In a world where remarkable achievements often go unnoticed, Amaqhawe shines a light on those who have defied the odds to make meaningful socially, economically, or culturally meaningful impacts. These unsung heroes make a difference in several lives in their fields of music, arts, literature, entertainment, medicine, education, politics and business.

Experts selected 28 individuals from hundreds to feature in Season 1. Each episode will delve into the lives of these achievers, exploring their challenges, perseverance, and successes. Through interviews, dialogues, and interactions with family members, friends, and communities, Amaqhawe seeks to inspire viewers in a manner never seen before.

“At Zee Zonke, we believe in the power of storytelling to connect, inspire, and uplift communities. With Amaqhawe, we are proud to honour the outstanding individuals who have made a difference. We are thrilled to partner with Absa, which reinforces our commitment to celebrating the diverse and impactful stories that shape our nation.” said Somnath Malakar, CEO of Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean Islands.

Hosted by the charismatic and ever-popular duo Phindile Gwala and Luthando’ BU’ Mthembu, the show promises to be vibrant, entertaining, inspirational and aspirational, with stories that truly resonate.

“Content is at the core of what Zee does, so we created this local show. We understand how important it is for people to tell their own stories, which can shape and empower communities. We also want to do the best we can for our audiences, where they get to see themselves on screen, which adds to the enjoyment that locally resonant storytelling provides.” said Desiree Pillay, ZEE SVP: Content & Marketing, Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean Islands.

Daniel Munslow, Managing Executive for Group Communications at Absa, says, “We are thrilled to partner with Zee Zonke on Amaqhawe (Our Heroes), a groundbreaking initiative that marks our first local foray into spotlighting the extraordinary stories of South Africans who have made significant contributions across various sectors. Amaqhawe aligns seamlessly with our strategic objective of ‘Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together, one story at a time.’ Through this partnership, we proudly celebrate the heroes who inspire us and drive progress within our communities.”

Tune in for the premiere of Amaqhawe on 14 September 2024 at 5 pm, exclusively on Zee Zonke, DStv channel 169.

Important News Dated 15 September

As some of you have already noticed, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks as I ran into some personal setbacks that was beyond my control. So with the help of a notepad I had to type whatever I had to publish and trust me it was frustrating being away from everyone and this lost time had led me to miss out on various deadlines for which I apologize as all this came last minute for me.

But during this time I got to do some thinking and with the forever changing landscape we have to make some adjustments to our platforms to cope with this. This includes content on DStv Flex, we could look into simplifying some of this into a new segment of course those details are still underwraps and to limit the amount of duplicate content.

As for the sites, we feel that the current format is sort of crammed or bloated we may look into modifying some of these areas. We already offer floating widgets, this could as well become the areas of our site where you find upcoming and featured attractions taking up positions of course nothing can be final as it all depends on how users interact with these gadgets.

MultiChoice Is Working On A SuperSport AM/PM Channel

During the week, several consumers had noticed that MultiChoice is working on a sports channel known as SuperSport Variety AM/PM. There is currently no details on when the mysterious TV channel will be announced but from the esteemed outcome it could be another pop-up channel. 

AM/PM could imply a TV channel that constructs its content in a particular order during certain hours of the day only to repeats this format throughout the day. 

This channel is currently using the frequencies of Ginx eSports TV which could be the likely cause for the channel's description eSports/Gaming. From the lineup, AM/PM features a lot of highlights from the paralympics alongside some actual events with Premier League as an overflow. 

MultiChoice with the inclusion of this channel is probably trying to do what SWITCH'D ON and Zambezi Reloaded is doing and trying to accommodate viewers different preferences and schedules. This would further maximize its viewership and reach and engage with viewers at different times.

SuperSport AM/PM is basically a mashup of SuperScreen and Olympic News as it offers highlights from the Paralympics. It also broadcasts sporting events mainly opening and closing ceremonies or events which range from football, rugby, archery and swimming. 

How Showmax Has Become A DStv Competitor To Canal+?

Showmax is African based streaming service operated by DStv parent company MultiChoice which is in the process of being acquired by French broadcaster Canal+. It takes on other streamers in the market like Netflix, SABC+, eVOD, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Disney+.

Since late 2023, NBCUniversal obtained a 30% stake in streaming service which gave consumers access to content from Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation and Telemundo International. This also helped the company extend the reach of Peacock after being constant to America. 

After licensing various channels like Studio Universal, Universal TV, DreamWorks, E! Entertainment and Telemundo to DStv consumers in Africa. They even curated OTT version of these channels known as Universal+ through DStv Stream with plans to get their DStv Glass service scrapped. 

MultiChoice sites the current economic climate as the reason this product had been shelved but some believe it may have to do with the possible takeover by Canal+. As the CEO of Canal+ had mentioned at some point that their prime focus is being allocated onto content and content distribution. 

MultiChoice has all these other ventures such as Namola, Showmax, SuperSportBET and Irdeto part of which just seems like a waste now based on its financial performance. Not long ago, they had reduced their stake on DStv Insurance to 25% with the rest allocated to Sanlam. 

Canal+ was able to brief the media in on the plans awaiting MultiChoice one of which having to do with another subsidiary, Showmax. With Netflix taking over how people consume content, MultiChoice had to trim the entertainment on DStv down to a point where Me had been axed.

Me was being built up as open window to M-Net for Compact consumers similar to how Mzansi Wethu wad tailored for Access. Now that portal had been closed and merged to what Compact+ consumers alongside Premium view as 1Max.

Canal+ offers the same content on different platforms through MyCanal it is basically how DStv Stream is with the DStv platform which is multimedia. Giving consumers different ways of accessing the very same content but this stopped being the case with DStv and Showmax. 

When Disney+ launched all of its existence was built around its linear offering same with Paramount+, SABC+ and eVOD. But with Showmax that changed as you get content like Chucky: The Series on Showmax but not through DStv yet M-Net has to fold all their content on Showmax.

DStv has to rely on sport to get any attention nowadays but when it comes to entertainment from Zee Zonke for instance those don't make much of an impact with Showmax. Hollywood Reporters even did an article on how content from Telemundo and TLNovelas is under siege from these platforms.

Similar to how M-Net is ramping up its local offering and going as far as partnering with international studios a similar outcome awaited Telemundo and TelevisaUnivison. In the end, these brands are trying to sustain themselves in a world where Netflix can control how you view them.

New Series Alert: UKube Ngangazi Coming This September To Zee Zonke

The story revolves around Srivalli, a simple girl full of life and energy, so positive in her outlook that she tries to find the good aspect in everything that happens in life. In fact, even after being considered unlucky by her family, she wishes to marry a charming and understanding man who shares her personality traits.

In a twist of fate she meets Samrat, an egoist and a chauvinist who doesn’t respect women. In fact, even his mother Bhavani fears her son a lot. However, it is this unusual union of two starkly different personalities that is bound to create conflict and drama, and it will be interesting to see what happens as they decide to get married!

It starred Yashwanth as Samrat, Chaitra Sakkari as Srivalli, Nirosha Radha as Bhavani, Vara Prasad as Raghupathi, Vijay Durga as Avanthika, Siddu as Goutham, Pratyusha Ponnapalli as Kamala, Sree Piya as Nandu, Sravan as Lavangam and Archana as Meenakshi.

The series premiered on Zee Telegu from May 2023 as Devathalaara Deevinchandi and has since then accumulated 444 half hour episodes. The broadcaster is home to shows like Umakoti Oyintandokazi and Uthandolwani both of which are currently airing on Zee Zonke.

Now Zee Zonke is looking to add its third show from the broadcaster under the name UKube Ngangazi from 5 September. It's sister channels are also looking to add new content with Ringside Rebel and Amulya's Wedding on Zee World with 36 Reasons and The Pain Of Loving You on Zee One.

Other Reasons SABC, e.tv And DStv Continue To Lose Viewers

During the year, the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) had conducted a survey where it was revealed that the number of households watching TV decreased from 15.9 million to 13.9 million. Although it was also outlined that the number of households in SA increased from 17.3 million to 18.3 million.

Understanding how SABC and e.tv is losing viewers, let's take a look at SABC+ and eVOD when those platforms were rolled out there was so much hype about how many downloads it accumulated. Although, actual consumer numbers are currently unknown for these platforms. 

Consumers instead of watching Annekan Die Swa Kry would probably be watching Binnelanders on KykNET&Kie as they could always catch-up on this week's episodes on eVOD. Another again, more consumers are opting for OTT so they rather use their cellular devices for this content. 

When Droomvelore last aired on e.tv the show was able to accumulate 1.8 million and when Annekan Die Swa Kry came this fell to a whopping 1.5 million. One of those reasons eMedia Investments is trying to scrap government plans to halt analogue signals with SABC looking to rollout its STBs.

Despite launching rival platforms to Netflix, neither company is making much revenue with MultiChoice anticipated to become the first in the region with Showmax. Let's remember, Showmax was launched back in 2015 and eMedia and SABC came with their rival offering 7+ years later.

Late entries are struggling to maintain their services are grow revenue wise hence the "free" service which gives them more exposure to these audiences. 

Although MultiChoice is seeing a much brighter future with Showmax the consumer base on DStv continues to deteriorate. This is due to inflation, increased competition from not only streaming but cable providers as well and lastly the dismantling of premium channels. 

What MultiChoice could have done to fight off inflation and retain DStv consumers would be rolling out an unbundled version of the DStv packages. This would see consumers paying for M-Net, National Geographic and Cartoon Network with the option to add sports into the mix.

The sad reality about DStv is that they are losing credibility as most content aside from news and sports is accessible nowadays. If one needs music there's always Spotify in my opinion and YouTube introduced viewers to Cocomelon and all MultiChoice can do is milk it dry.

Then the other is similar to free-to-air operators, consumers are just changing their viewing habits. Some are probably tired of viewing the same shenanigans from Uzalo and Muvhango and would rather browse TikTok or use their Xbox as there's more entertainment there.

New Series Alert: Amulya’s Wedding And Ringside Rebel Coming This September To Zee World

Not long ago, it was reported Zee One would be adding the Marathi based series 36 Reasons to their lineup in the month of September. With Zee World that will also be unveiling new content within that time frame for consumers in Southern Africa titled Amulya’s Wedding and Ringside Rebel. 

Synopsis for Amulya’s Wedding 

Amulya’s Wedding, is a series that explores the complexities of love and relationships. Amulya, a strong-willed and independent young woman, crosses paths with Vedanth, a wealthy and successful businessman, in a series of unexpected and often challenging circumstances.  

As misunderstandings and clashes arise, the two find themselves drawn to each other despite their differences. This drama delves into their evolving relationship, the dynamics within their families, and the obstacles they face on their journey toward love and understanding.

The series premiered on Zee Kannada as Gattimela from March 2019 to January 2024 with over 1000 episodes having being filmed. It starred Rakshith Gowda as Vedanth Vasishtha, Nisha Ravikrishnan as Amulya Vedanth Vasishtha and Sudha Narasimharaju as Parimala Manjunath.

Synopsis for Ringside Rebel

Ringside Rebel is a heartfelt drama that tells the inspiring story of Phulki, a determined young girl from a small village who dreams of breaking free from the traditional expectations placed upon her. Phulki’s passion for boxing, inherited from her father, fuels her fight against the societal norms that threaten to hold her back.  

Despite facing resistance from her family and community, Phulki’s unyielding spirit and courage drive her to carve out her own path in life. Ringside Rebel is a tale of resilience and empowerment, showcasing the journey of a woman who dares to dream beyond the limitations of her world.

The series premiered on Zee Bangla as Phulki from 12 June 2023 and since then over 100+ episodes had been filmed. It starred Divyani Mondal as Phulki Roy Chowdhury, Abhishek Bose as Rohit Roy Chowdhury, Ankita Majhi as Aruna Roy Chowdhury and Sohan Bandyopadhyay as Pallab Roy Chowdhury.

Amulya’s Wedding airs daily at 18:00 replacing Meet In Love from 11 September while Ringside Rebel commences an hour later at 17:00 replacing our Heroes.