Roundups #84: Via's Die Kontrak Has Been Picked Up By eMedia's eExtra, Cape Town TV Partners With Reemay Real Fitness For New Fitness Series And People's Weather Enters The Track With Rotax Karting

Kuiertyd doubles down on Afrikaans entertainment

Earlier in the year, eMedia Investments picked up Die Kontrak formerly seen on Via for a second season on eExtra which stopped airing such content as the content couldn't obtain enough viewers but after almost 3 years the channel gets back in the game.

'Die Kontrak' is the popular TV talent search program where a record contract from the prestigious Coleske group can be released. The program premiered in 2018 and Demi Lee Moore was announced as the winner.

Die Kontrak airs weekly on eExtra at 18:30 from 21 August with repeats available to stream on eVOD and to binge on e.tv every Saturday at 18:00.

Cape Town TV is about to enter the gym

TV Radio Actor, Corporate Media, Health Fitness Group & Personal Trainer / Motivational Speaker /Corporates Deemay Ramon's The Reemay Fitness Channel will be making its DStv debut on Cape Town TV this September.

As stated by the owners of The Reemay Real Fitness:

To those who have DStv make sure not to miss our indetail, overall health, fitness and wellness programmes coming soon to the comfort of your homes.

The Reemay Real Fitness is currently broadcasting through StarSat on OnseTV every Tuesday at 7pm with Cape Town TV by September 2022 on DStv. For those without the necessary outlets can view it on YouTube.

Rotax Karting is blazing through People's Weather

Some of the most famous names in South African Motorsport have Rotax Kart Championship titles on their CVs, including Michael Stephen, Jonathan Aberdein, Julian van der Watt, David Perel, Mark and Gavin Cronje and Bradley Liebenberg, to name but a few.

In 2022, the Rotax South African Kart Championships will race together again. Well organised club, regional and national race days countrywide, run by officials who love Kart Racing.

Managed by Karting SA, The Championships run to a single, simple, clear and comprehensive set of regulations. Backed by our supporting ASN, WOMZA, who share in our vision and initiative.

Don't miss it on People's Weather at 14:30 from 4 September.

TLNovelas Africa Completes The Puzzle Of New Content With Burden Of Guilt And The Highly Anticipated Series, Overcoming Heartbreak

After weeks of anticipation, TLNovelas Africa's only Mexican entertainment channel to offer telenovelas in English and Portuguese completes their trio of new series with Burden Of Guilt joining already announced series Head Over Heels, Giving Up My Life and Overcoming Heartbreak.

Burden Of Guilt (Mi Pecado) follows the lives of childhood best friends Paulino, Rodolfo, Gabino and Matías as their friendship is put to the test as they get older. Matías opts to become a religious men while Gabino becomes a shrewd and greedy man who manipulates those around him.

Maite Perroni and Eugenio Siller star as the protagonists with Francisco Gattorno as the co-protagonist, while Daniela Castro, Sergio Goyri, Sabine Moussier, Jessica Coch, Altaír Jarabo, and Armando Araiza star as the main antagonists.

Overcoming Heartbreak (Vencer El Desamor) tells the story of four women, of different ages and social strata, who are forced to live together under the same roof. At first, the coexistence between them is complicated but their problems with their respective partners is what bounds them.

It stars an ensemble cast headed by Daniela Romo, Claudia Álvarez, Julia Urbini, Valentina Buzzurro, David Zepeda, Juan Diego Covarrubias, and Emmanuel Palomares.

Overcoming Heartbreak was unveiled earlier in the year alongside the third instalment to Overcoming titled Overcoming The Past when the channel broadcast the first instalment to the franchise, Overcoming Fear.

Burden Of Guilt just like most TLNovelas soaps even the 3 announced shows joins DreamWorks Channel as one of the already seen already hashed content in various African markets. A date and time for this content will likely be mentioned close to their launch.

As it is the current offering on the channel is set to reach its climax but if I had to guess Head Over Heels replaces Simply Maria, Burden Of Truth replaces Malquerida, Overcoming Heartbreak replaces No One Like You and Giving Up My Life replaces Keeping My Family Together.

Unpopular Fact: Cartoon Network Was A Loss Making Channel

When two corporations merge a bunch of wild decisions are made that we should definitely be worrying about. A recent announcement revealed that HBO Max as you know it won't be sticking around for much longer and something else will be taking place.

During an investor call, Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO David filled us in on what's happening by the end of 2023. HBO Max and Discovery+ are combining to form a new streaming service by next year. It will have a mix of old and new content with a lot of details still being left in the dark.

While this combo is taking sometime to get going we are already feeling the consequences right now - cancellations.

You may know that the Batgirl and Scoob: Holiday Haunt's situation were both these projects were close to being finished then they were just scrapped from ever releasing. That was bad but things are about to get much worse.

During the investor call, we learnt some unfortunate news about animation. In a previous slide from WarnerMedia, it was revealed that a high budget was going into projects including kids and animation with unproven financial returns.

On the call, we also learnt that content on both streaming and linear platforms would be cut without an adequate investment case on them if that was bad it's probably gonna get worse. This means that no current or upcoming offering is safe from being cancelled.

As stated in that upfront they would be looking to cutting back on local investment so it might be bye-bye to My Cartoon Friend, Elliott From Earth and CN To The Rescue alongside upcoming attractions like Garbage Boy And Trash Can, Iyanu: Child Of Wonder, The Adventures Of Ivanhoe and Battu are all not safe.

Credits: Vailskibum94

Taken Occupies The Top Spot On S3 While The Black Door Remains In The Top 5 Watched Shows On e.tv - Ratings For July 2022

Previous results

SABC 1:

Uzalo - 5 932 199
Generations the Legacy Soap - 4 793 138
Skeem Saam - 4 507 416
Skeem Saam Repeat - 3 139 924
Zulu News - 2 477 851
Xhosa News - 2 472 789
Roxic Reality - 2 431 510
Plate it up - 2 320 607
Selimathunzi - 2 219 400
My First Documentary - 2 204 285
Uzalo Repeat - 2 058 328
Identity - 1 884 324
#Issa Vibe - 1 841 570
Uzalo Omnibus - 1 771 448
Siswati/Ndebele News - 1 766 392
Ses Top La - 1 620 792
Makoti - 1 597 755
Muvhango Repeat - 1 470 926
Stokvel - 1 432 084
Khumbul'Ekhaya - 1 387 017

SABC 2:

Muvhango - 1 726 228
Presidential Address News - 990 877
7De Laan Soap - 945 543
Ses/Tsw/Sep News News - 896 109
Kgatelopele - 832 393
Bophelo Ke Semphekgo - 710 848
Hlala Kwabafileyo - 670 295
Nuus - 629 895
Muvhango Omnibus - 546 448
Dragon Ball Super - 544 948
Ubettina Wethu Repeat - 529 044
Superman IV: the Quest for Peace Movie - 503 377
Filler: Noot Vir Noot Documentary - 479 293
The Estate Repeat - 472 979
Black Tax - 472 511
Superman Returns Movie - 470 498
Music - 462 764
Morning Live News - 453 733
Murder She Wrote - 449 326
Caf Women's Africa Cup of Nations Zambia - 441 024

SABC 3:

Taken 3 Movie - 682 739
Eden Untamed Planet - 650 953
Taken Movie - 594 911
News - 563 514
Men of Honor Movie - 501 089
Independence Day: Resurgence Movie - 406 825
Britain's Got Talent: The Champions - 400 884
The Estate Omnibus - 361 509
The Estate Repeat - 326 788
Jojo Rabbit Movie - 307 421
Bohemian Rhapsody Movie - 290 857
Filler Documentary - 277 889
Gifted Movie - 265 907
Tropical Heat - 265 131
On Point News - 260 353
Special Assignment Repeat - 259 374
Ad Astra Movie - 249 159
The View - 247 833
Generations the Legacy Repeat - 246 921
Child in the Wild Documentary - 245 733

e.tv:

Scandal Soap - 5 311 319
House of Zwide - 4 918 290
Imbewu - 2 774 727
The Black Door Dram - 2 580 116
Durban Gen - 2 556 437
The Powerball Draw Quiz - 2 118 179
Imbewu Repeat - 2 019 566
Just for Laughs Gags Filler - 1 919 249
House of Zwide Repeat - 1 905 014
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie
Scandal Repeat - 1 790 432
E.TV News - 1 777 164
Transformers Movie - 1 775 627
Isono - 1 738 649
Durban Gen Repeat - 1 666 366
Is'phindiselo - 1 643 864
Droomverlore - 1 583 917
Kong: Skull Island Movie - 1 572 599
I Can with Absa Drive Actuality - 1 537 112
Britain's Got Talent - 1 519 929

DStv:

MZAN Gomora - 1 108 493 & 1 325 168
MZAN Ehostela - 913 363 & 1 125 703
MZAN Our Perfect Wedding - 765 938 & 916 138
MZAN Idols SA Mzansi Magic 18 - 743 516 & 934 642
MZAN The Queen Movie - 737 092 & 897 470
MOJA Isencane Lengane - 679 149 & 764 857
MZAN The River Movie - 662 734 & 779 940
MZAN Date My Family Real - 609 801 & 736 285
MZAN Diep City - 606 030 & 726 006
MOJA Gog'skhotheni - 599 490 & 687 471
MZAN Short and Sweet - 592 320 & 720 220
MZAN The River Drama - 591 387 & 710 422
MZAN Mnakwethu - 579 892 & 708 747
MWET Mnakwethu Happily Ever After - 566 571 & 728 371
MOJA X-Repo - 547 403 & 596 350
MZAN The Real Housewives of Cape Town - 515 928 & 600 689
MZAN Isifiso - 490 263 & 586 045
MZAN The Saturday Showdown - 483 768 & 627 088
MWET Suxoka - 481 354 & 576 694
MOJA Mamazala - 463 051 & 550 747
MBIO Vaya Movie - 458 993 & 593 659
MWET The River - 446 896 & 595 852
MWET Lingashoni Repeat - 438 757 & 497 250
MBIO Ikhandlela Elibovu - 430 379 & 572 977
MBIO Umoni Wothando - 419 547 & 561 629
MWET Wangkolota - 405 227 & 489 629
MZAN Makoti Are You the One? - 403 875 & 505 413
MWET The Queen Repeat - 400 067 & 498 259
MWET Umndende - 389 403 & 454 987
MZAN Gomora Repeat - 1 388 584 & 531 500

New Series Alert: Bitz & Bob And Detention Adventures Coming Soon To Da Vinci Kids - September 2022 Highlights

Kids Programmes
Bitz & Bob — PREMIERE
43 x 15 mins
From September 10th – Saturdays & Sundays 09:15
Meet eight-year-old Bitz and her younger brother Bob as they go on imaginative adventures with their toy friends. Using creative thinking and engineering ideas, they always find a way to save the day!

Detention Adventure — PREMIERE 
20 x 15 mins
From September 12th – Mondays & Tuesdays 16:35
Three brainy friends and the school bully set out to uncover the hidden lab of Alexander Graham Bell. To do so, they must get themselves thrown into detention and find the entrance to a labyrinth of trap-laden tunnels protecting the fabled hidden room.

Continuing Kids Programmes include Briko on Fridays 15:45, Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage) on Wednesdays & Thursdays 16:05 and The Deep on Saturdays & Sundays 10:30.

Monthly & Weekly Specials
The Back-to-School Kindness Challenge
We all want our kids to grow up happy, healthy, and capable. That’s why Da Vinci is taking learning beyond the classroom with our Kindness Challenge!
Join us for a whole six weeks of eye-opening programs designed to show kids the power of social-emotional learning and accompany them into a new school year full of kindness. Learn all about teamwork, resilience and being kind to nature in Go Green with the Grimwades and Siyaya: Wildest Cape. Then, practice empathy and care with the heroes from The Pet Rescuers. Finally, cultural exchange and diversity are at the very heart of A Week to Beat the World.
Every Saturday, come build a smarter, kinder world with us. Challenge accepted! 

Saturday, September 3rd from 13:00 to 16:10
13:00 Go Green with the Grimwades — Reduce Litter, Reuse Plastic Bottles, Repair Bikes and Reuse the Wind 
13:50 Siyaya: Wildest Cape — Lambert’s Bay Bird Island - Where The Birds Are In Charge and The Hottentots Holland Mountains - Crossing The Mountains
14:50 The Pet Rescuers — Milestones and The Mono-Eyed Cat
15:40 A Week to Beat the World — Brazil Day 5 and Mongolia Day 1 

Saturday, September 10th from 13:00 to 16:00
13:00 Go Green with the Grimwades — Recycle the Drawers, Reduce on the Beach, Refuse Party Plastic and Reduce Food Miles
13:50 Siyaya: Wildest Cape — Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve - On Angel’s Wings and The Hottentots Holland Mountains - Unfinished Business
14:50 The Pet Rescuers — Bella and Homer
15:15 A Week to Beat the World — Mongolia Day 2-4

Saturday, September 17th from 13:00 to 16:00
13:00 Go Green with the Grimwades — Reuse Wool, Reduce the Heating, Reuse at the Fire Station and Repair Shoes
13:50 Siyaya: Wildest Cape — Kogelberg - Source To Sea and Robberg - Learning About Survival
14:50 The Pet Rescuers — Heidi’s New Home
15:15 A Week to Beat the World — Mongolia Day 5, Japan Day 1 & 2

Saturday, September 24th from 13:00 to 16:00
13:00 Go Green with the Grimwades — Reuse to Make Instruments, Refuse to Mow, Reuse into a Den and Reduce Screen Time
13:50 Siyaya: Wildest Cape — Robberg - The Exploration Continues and Anysberg - Hidden Gem Of The Klein Karoo
14:50 The Pet Rescuers — It’s a Match
15:15 A Week to Beat the World — Japan Day 3-5

Wild Nature Weekend! 
Saturdays & Sundays from 16:40
Escape into the wild with our brand-new block of animal and nature-themed programming that is fun for the whole family! Every weekend, we’ll explore the natural world with shows that inspire an appreciation for our incredible planet. 
Baby Animals — Meet the world’s tiniest, cutest baby animals and see how they travel the road from birth to adolescence and adulthood. From building strong family ties to learning how to escape predators, these little creatures explore the world around them all day long.

Dogs with Extraordinary Jobs — Dogs never cease to amaze us. From Philadelphia, where a blind woman gets a new running mate, to Kenya, where a team of dogs is on daily patrol protecting endangered rhinos from poachers, we travel the world to meet some of these dogs with extraordinary jobs.  

The Pet Rescuers — The Pet Rescuers follows the adventures and challenges of a devoted team on a mission to give abandoned pets another chance at a happy life. This heart-warming series will take you on an extraordinary journey and restore your faith in humanity.

Animal Embassy — Entertaining and informative, this series will take you behind the scenes of Loro Parque - one of the world’s best zoos. Packed with engaging characters - both animal and human, Animal Embassy reveals the unshakeable devotion to conservation and animal welfare. 

Amazing Animal Friends — Discover some of the most incredible and unusual animal friendships. From the duck obsessed with a dog in France to the elephant that thinks she is a buffalo in Zimbabwe, we explore what brings these species together and how they form their extraordinary bonds.

Morning Brainiacs
Every day from 06:00 to 09:00
Early risers unite! Start the day off on the right foot with this collection of fun and educational programmes that will engage your kid’s brain and get them ready to take on the school day. 
06:00 Do You Know?
06:30 Siesta Z
06:45 Darwin & Newts 
07:00 PinCode 
07:20 Mily Miss Questions 
07:30 Marvellous Makes
07:35 Addison
07:50 Doki
08:05 Kosmix 
08:15 The Fixies 
08:25 Superhero Sprinter Galore
08:35 Wild Kratts 

Hints: MultiChoice To Add More SABC Channels To The DStv Platform

eMedia Investments and MultiChoice have been beefing over the carriage agreement for eToonz, eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra on which these 3 new SABC channels were set to replace but following the court's recent ruling complicates things for these channels as MultiChoice doesn't have much room for more channels.

In an interview earlier in the year, the SABC promised new content for the current SABC 1-3 alongside these new channels while also changing the way content would be distributed amongst their brands as they gear up for the launch of their long awaited OTT platform.

These new channels which are likely the same ones eMedia Investments failed to launch last year although there that much hasn't been confirmed would it be shocking if it was true as these brands were set up to replace eMedia's channels on the DStv platform.

From the info presented to the press about Openview's long awaited SABC channels, consumers should expect a lot of archived material as seen with SABC Education but as more viewers glue themselves to these brands expect some fresh content every now and then.

I'm no wizard in this but wasn't this how most if not all eMedia's brands panned out and following its expansion to the DStv platform you saw an increase in primetime so yeah these new channels have to be the same ones coming to the Openview platform.

Onto the specifics for these channels, SABC hasn't provided any detail in that regard but they have been giving a couple of teasers like SABC Sport 2 alongside the return of SABC Encore.

SABC Sport 2 comes out of the fact that the main channel SABC Sport has seen success on the Openview platform but as mentioned on several occasions they're not financially fit to launch more channels unless they have a reliable source of income and regardless this is a brand that MultiChoice wouldn't really want on their platform.

SABC Encore on the other hand is an uphill battle not that channels can't relaunch on DStv but for the time that it ran on DStv. There wasn't anything worth exploring that viewers hadn't got on SABC 1-3 but as mentioned in an interview they plan to revive the brand on another platform that doesn't it can't come back.

All the channels needs is improvement over whether it can launch again it's a mystery maybe this channel will launch on Openview and a seperate entertainment channel likely called SABC Entertainment surfaces on DStv as SABC had been tinkering with the brand names.

The second channel SABC Education has been going through development hell and as speculated most of this is on SABC as MultiChoice had been waiting on the other two channels to surface but as usual the public broadcaster can't meet up to a deadline.

The last channel is a complicated scenario, SABC had registered an SABC Parliament while Openview is expecting repeats that's not the case with this channel but seeing as they are replacements it's better to just cut that out of the list and look at another potential channel, SABC Children.

I know out of the 3 channels 2 cater for children but remember SABC Education revamped their lineup in 2021 and just like Da Vinci Kids also includes content for adults. The channel offers shows like Skeem Saam, Afro Cafe and Speak Out something you wouldn't find a lot of toddlers watching.

If you look at the possible 3 channels, the idea doesn't seem far fetched as MultiChoice has plenty of entertainment channels and while as with SABC I don't envision them adding anything that could rival with SABC 1-3 any further than SABC Encore/Entertainment.

Could eMedia Investments' Local Endeavours Lead To The Recreation Of The eKasi+ Channel?

eMedia Investments has been building their local portfolio with the likes of The Black Door, uMbali, Housewives, Is'phindiselo, Daryn's Gym and Atlantis and I don't know about you but all this kind of leads to the thought of a standalone channel.

eKasi+ was another property of eMedia Investments seen on the Openview platform when it first launched in the market. At the time, eMedia's local endeavours usually hit a bump on the road on top of working under a limited budget which is why it's known to viewers as eExtra.

eExtra has achieved a lot of milestones on eMedia's portfolio following the success of Kuiertyd which has a hub on eVOD and standalone channel on the Openview platform. It even lead MultiChoice to build their own Kuiertyd through kykNET & Kie.

But the fact is eExtra doesn't cater to the same audience as eKasi+. While eExtra is viewed as an alternative to kykNET and the dismal Afrikaans offering on SABC 2 with eKasi+ it was taking on the likes of SABC 1 and Mzansi Magic's Wethu and Bioskop channel.

I'm not saying eMedia had no reasons to throw the channel away as eKasi+ was very much repetitive and struggling to hit the standards seen on SABC 1 which is why there was that existing bulk of eExtra available on the channel alongside WWE.

But with this fresh offering coming to their stable with more expected in the near future. It wouldn't be a bad idea to revive a concept similar to eKasi+.

I'm not expecting any exclusive content to run on the channel but function more like SABC's Encore channel or M-Net's Mzansi Wethu where the channel offers a selection of archived material alongside current shows from e.tv like The Black Door, Scandal and Imbewu.

What Really Happened To Mindset Network's Health Channel?

It was on pilot mode in 2003, The Mindset Health Channel, a partnership between Mindset Network, the National Department of Health and Sentech, provided a multimedia platform, to deliver uplifting health education and promotion on critical health issues, including tuberculosis the HIV and AIDS pandemic, on a mass scale.

The channel, which began broadcasting TV programmes in October 2003, had advanced to Internet datacasting reaching an increasing number of clinics and hospitals. From 48 sites in the pilot phase, Mindset Health had 298 established sites throughout South Africa.

The satellite uplink provided by Sentech allowed datacasting directly to users with information in video, multimedia and print available on demand.

"When patients gather in a clinic they can watch a TV programme in the waiting area, while a healthcare worker independently explores in-depth clinical management material on a PC," says Tricia Hobson, Marketing Manager, Mindset Network. This can be interrupted and returned to at a time convenient for the healthcare worker.

The public broadcast, offering 'infotainment' delivers education and promotion on HIV and AIDS (prevention, management, treatment and care), tuberculosis, other major diseases such as maternal and infant health, and the underlying issues such as gender violence, in multiple languages through, drama, public service announcements, documentaries, interviews and discussions.

"Mindset Health sources high-quality content from a number of our media content partners, including SABC, Soul City, Love Life, Khomanani, Community Health Media Trust and Kagiso Educational Trust," says Hobson. The content is available in five languages - English, SeSotho, isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans.

Healthcare workers and nurses report that the programmes provide an invaluable resource of up-to-date information which adds enormous value to their counselling and administrative efforts.

The Mindset Health Channel aimed to broadcast to 4 000 public healthcare sites, and hospitals as wall as private clinics, prisons and community centres, educating 97 000 nurses and 36 million South Africans.

To do this will require a variety of project and funding partnerships to support the roll-out as well as to sustain usage among both the patients and the healthcare workers in the public health sector.

"We believe these targets are quite within reach and the satellite technology supporting the Mindset Health Channel has the capacity to deliver quality content to South Africa and beyond," says Pranill Ramchander, Sentech's Portfolio Manager: Corporate Communications.

The afterlife of Mindset Health

In a media enquiry, Mindset Network revealed that a lack of funding led to the termination of the health channel contributing to that was the severed partnership with Department of Health as they had no means of keeping the channel sustainable.

A decade after its termination, the nonprofit organisation partnered up with pay-tv giant MultiChoice for a spinoff to the current Mindset TV which catered to Grade 4-9 and ran throughout the pandemic and went dark in the same year with further content available on the main channel.

Roundups #83: Taffy Has Been Removed From Various Boomerang Feeds, WAGS Inspired Series The Queens Of Mzansi Launches On SABC 1, County 49 Currently Streaming On Showmax

Taffy may go back to being a raccoon

Earlier in the year, Cyber Group Studios the company in charge of supplying Taffy to Boomerang announced a further third season and as seen this past week Warner Bros. Discovery will be cutting back on content for their linear operations to invest it onto their streaming service.

Taffy which follows a grey raccoon, Scraggs, who gets adopted by Mrs. Muchmore after thinking he is a cat named Taffy. Her main pet, a blue dobermann named Bentley, is determined to reveal Taffy's secret to Mrs. Muchmore has been part of the Boomerang family since 2018.

Viewers across several markets had spotted that various content like The Fungies and Infinity Train had been removed from not only Cartoon Network but the streamer HBO Max and these two were canned by the network with Taffy likely joining despite the renewal.

S3 Jozi Divas has been revived on another network

SABC1 has a brand-new reality show, The Queens of Mzansi, which will premiere on Monday, 15 August at 21:00.

"Like most South African women, The Queens of Mzansi face hardships from gender-based violence, divorce, financial difficulties, and being widowed. That is what makes them Queens…they all had a rebirth and have found their voices and crowns again," reads a press release from the channel.

According to the statement, viewers will get a front-row seat into their lives and what it 'means to be a modern-day South African woman' while balancing friendship, romantic relationships, being single moms and managing their businesses.

County 49 now on Showmax

This Kenyan political thriller follows the political intrigues of the fictional Bwatele County, Kenya’s 49th county and the nation’s breadbasket. Despite the county’s wealth, its citizens are suffering from the high cost of living and scarce resources.

Now against the backdrop of great civilian discontent, a disgraced security officer is compelled to save the governor and her chief of staff – his estranged wife – from a local terrorist group, which has kidnapped them for money and revenge.

County 49 stars Wakio Mzenge (Selina), Nyokabi Macharia (Chaguo), Ainea Ojiambo (Igiza), Maqbul Mohammed (Crime and Justice), Martin Githinji (Sue na Jonnie), Peter Kawa (Uradi), Benson Ojuwa (Njoro wa Uba), Nick Kwach (Chaguo) and more.