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Sunday, April 9, 2023

Breaking News From Across The World In The Last 7 Days Dated 9 April

BONUS: Insidus Games has been reinstated more to follow in future and a lighter version to our website known as Insidus Plus is online

1. A live-action Moana movie is in development
2. Billie Eilish and Labrinth unveil new single from Euphoria
3. John Cena joins the cast of Barbie
4. Priyanka Chopra Jonas to star alongside Idris Elba and John Cena in Heads Of State
5. Daniel Elbittar and Marlene Favela star as a couple in Televisa's new series, Invincible Love
6. Game Of Thrones movie and new TV show is in development
7. Disney+ EMEA bracing for content and job cuts
8. Heat 2 is in the works with Michael Mann set to direct
9. A Harry Potter reboot is in development for HBO
10. Megan Thee Stallion to star in a movie alongside Adam Sandler
11. A live-action Street Fighter film is in development at Legendary
12. Paddington In Peru, a sequel to Paddington is in development
13. Paramount exploring a potential sale for the Noggin streaming service
14. The Casagrandes Movie is in production
15. The Pirate Bay is getting a TV series
16. Blood And Wine to make a comeback on Telemundo Africa
17. Toads And Friends to rollout on Cartoonito and HBO Max EMEA
18. Shaquille O'Neal to rollout new animated series on Kartoon Channel

Schedule Alert: A Rebroadcast Of Blood And Wine Is Set To Replace Fearless Heart On Telemundo Africa

With originals dominating the repeat front Telemundo, a general entertainment channel owned by NBCUniversal that specialises in the distribution of Portuguese telenovelas from across Latin America is set to air rollout their second rebroadcast, Blood And Wine (Sangre De Mi Tierra).


Crisanto Castañeda and Natalia Martínez de Montiel are people from the land and the vineyards. For them, the grape, its cultivation, the elaboration of the musts and the quality of its wines is not a trade or a way of sustaining itself. It is a passion. A way of life. The only way to breathe and feel. This is the story that we are going to tell. Two intense and complicated families, Los Castañeda and Los Montiel, their encounters, their enmity, their loves, their hatreds and their intolerances, within the framework of the great passion they share: life.


Crisanto Castañeda came to Napa thirty years ago, from his native Michoacán, without a dime. After many years of hard work, he has conquered his world: he has a faithful wife Mercedes, four children: Emilio, Aurora, Paloma and Leonardo; It has its splendid vineyards, but above all, it owns its bodega of strong and powerful wines, just like him.



Natalia Martínez de Montiel was born in the great vineyards of Napa, and grew picking grapes next to her parents, Joaquín and Emilia Martínez, humble braceros who fought to give her a better future in this new land and, thanks to them, she was able to achieve a career at the university. She married Paco Montiel, an educated and good man, who supported her in her dreams of becoming a winemaker and today is still planted with expansion plans. He had only one son, Luis Montiel, married to Anita Carmona, and a winemaker, like his father. In addition, she had to raise the eldest son of her husband, the problematic Juan José Montiel.



Los Castañeda and Los Montiel have a friendship of years. Joaquín Martínez helped Crisanto buy his first land, and Crisanto, many years later, lent the money to Los Montiel to open their small cellar. The harmony of the relationship ends with Emilio's death in a car accident caused by the imprudence of his best friend, Juanjo Montiel, Paco's son. From that family tragedy, a war between families and wineries is established.


Crisanto, taken by the pain and the rage for his loss, puts a demand that aggravates the sentence of unintentional homicide of Juan José, Juanjo lasts a year and a half to jail, and terminates his relationship with Aurora. But in the midst of hatred, love underlies: Juanjo's love for Aurora, who is now married with Roberto. There is also a passionate love between Paco, Natalia's husband, for Paloma, the youngest daughter of the Castañeda. This relationship ends up aggravating the continuous fights and traps that are inflicted Natalia and Crisanto. And at the height of this enmity, there is a murder, which will put the two families in check, since many had reasons to commit it. Added to the suspense created by the murder, each of the members in both families will have to fight against their own and particular demons until they are defeated.


The series stars Ana Belena as Aurora Castañeda, Lambda García as Juan José 'Juanjo' Montiel, Santiago Ramundo as Roberto Quiroga, Carolina Gómez as Natalia Martínez de Montiel, Miguel de Miguel as Francisco 'Paco' Montiel, Antonio de la Vega as Crisanto Castañeda, Gloria Peralta as Mercedes Paredes de Castañeda.


The Blood And Wine double bill airs daily at 18:00 CAT from Sunday 22 April replacing one of their channel's most popular shows, Fearless Heart. The channel is rumoured to launch a new series likely the already announced The Story alongside season 3 of Queen Of The South.


First Glimpse Into The New Character Expected On Daai Crazy Somer Season 2

Famous actor Olgun Toker managed to impress a large audience with the character of Burak Ersoylu in the series “Arıza” in the winter season. The actor portrayed a psychopathic character so well that the viewers of the series could even believe that he really was that person.


One of the names who left in the first season of the Daai Crazy Somer (Son Yaz) was Olgun Toker, who gave life to the character of Gökhan Şen…Toker showed a strong character acting in Son Yaz with his villain character, just like in the Arıza. Gokhan, who confronted Akgün, acted by Alperen Duymaz, and gave him great difficulties, spread evil…


In the second season of the Daai Crazy Somer, another character is coming, who will shake the story again. The name that will give life to this character has also emerged. Onur Bay, who has played the role of Tekin in the TV series Arka Sokaklar since the age of 9, became the new transfer of the series.



Onur Bay left Arka Sokaklar in June to play new roles. Everyone was surprised when it turned out that the actor’s new series was also Son Yaz.


It has been revealed that Onur Bay will come to the story with a character who will face and compete with Akgün, brought to life by Alperen Duymaz in the new season.


Gökhan was a bad guy and Akgün was very worn out. However, the new character will be a much more challenging person and will stand against Akgün. Onur Bay and Alperen Duymaz scenes will also be talked about a lot in the new season.


Credits: Series Turkish


Paramount Explores Sale Of Majority Stake In Streaming Service Noggin

Paramount Global is exploring the sale of a majority stake in Noggin, its online learning service for children, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.


The company is looking at an opportunity to develop Noggin, which is known for content like "PAW Patrol" and "Peppa Pig", into an interactive learning platform, and is seeking an investor for the job, the report said.



Paramount wants to retain a stake in Noggin, the report added. Paramount Global declined to comment.


The reported exploration of the stake sale is part of the company's effort to support its streaming service Paramount+. The company said in February it will increase the prices of the service's premium and essentials tiers.


Paramount+ is set to integrate with the company's other streaming platform Showtime. The company expects an impairment charge of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in the current quarter from the integration.


Recap To Last Year: Hoho's 'Toad And Friends' Ready To Roll With Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA

Hoho Entertainment today announced that it has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA to bring the riverbank adventures of Mole, Toad, Ratty and Badger to life for a new generation of viewers in Toad & Friends (52 x 11’), a brand-new CG animated series based on Kenneth Grahame’s classic British novel The Wind in the Willows (1908).


“With over 85 million copies of the book sold in 29 languages, The Wind in the Willows is not just a British classic, it’s a global classic,” says Oliver Ellis, Joint Managing Director of Hoho Ent. and producer of Toas & Friends. “We can’t wait to introduce today’s children to these beloved characters, with 52 new and original stories.”


Toad & Friends is produced by London-based Hoho Entertainment, animated in Scotland by Wild Child Animation and directed by Tim Searle (Danger Mouse, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!). The new series has been developed and supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and produced with the support of the Creative Media Program, MEDIA of the European Union, and is set to launch on Warner Bros. Discovery’s preschool brand Cartoonito across EMEA and on HBO Max in Europe in 2023.



“Toad & Friends is a beautiful series packed full of adventure and wrapped in the nostalgia of the original The Wind in the Willows stories that many parents will remember with such fondness. It’s a perfect fit for Cartoonito and HBO Max and we’re thrilled to add it to our growing slate of European productions,” comments Zia Sands, Lead – Acquisitions, Partnerships & Coproductions, Kids & Family EMEA, Warner Bros. Discovery.


Working with a diverse cast, group of writers and production team, Toad & Friends aims to honor the legacy of the original novel and its gentle values about community and citizenship while refreshing the characters and storylines to resonate with a modern audience. The original characters are joined by some ‘feisty’ new female protagonists, including fearless Hedge, scheming Tinker, diligent Heron, mischievous Adder and motherly Mrs. Otter.


The series celebrates the countryside and children’s simple joy of being outdoors as they follow their favorite characters on brand new humorous adventures in which they discover moral courage, respect and the value of friendship.


“It is a joy to bring the teeming hedgerows and bustling riverbanks of the beautiful British countryside to life using the very latest animated technology and techniques,” adds Wild Child Animation’s Ken Anderson. “We hope our reimagined version of Grahame’s world of natural adventure and discovery will encourage children to venture into the great outdoors a little more themselves.”


Friday, April 7, 2023

Recap To The Past: Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman Was Removed From PBS Kids Lineup Ahead Of It's Linear Debut On MultiChoice's DStv


Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman was an educational game show with featured animated host Ruff Ruffman alongside real kids facing real challenges. The kids would do random tasks even play games mostly in the maths and sciences in order to win prizes.

The show was an instant hit with audiences and received critical acclaim. The New York Times praised the series, writing "The show’s creators have written in all the sarcasm and amazingness of a more sophisticated and harder-edged show, but not in a way that condones such behavior.

The series ran for five seasons and 100 episodes from May 29, 2006, to November 4, 2010, on the adult oriented, PBS. Prior to its demise, the series recieved an Emmy for Best Original Song which too is named after the program.

During its run, PBS Kids was a programming block hence the PBS. No 24 hour kids channel was available until at least 2017 and MultiChoice bundled Fetch! alongside various other content from the PBS brand in 2018 on the DStv app under the tile PBS Kids - experimental.

In May 2019, MultiChoice in partnership with PBS extended the agreement for the PBS Kids channel giving more consumers access to #1 trusted for educational content with shows like Arthur, Pinkalicious And Peterrific, Time Warp Trio and Postcards From Buster.

As seen through various promos and ads, we got to see a variety of programs some of which still remain to be unseen on the channel e.g. Super Why, Splash & Bubbles and Ready Jet Go. Of course within these adverts, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman isn't credited any of them.

Not only that it was removed from 24/7 channel and other shows which were seen on the DStv app came as a double bill amidst the removal which begs the question as to why such a popular show would get screwed over in such a manner.

In a Fetch! With Ruffman Fan Page, it was revealed PBS Kids lost rights to the program and this dated back the same year it was slotted on the DStv app. Taking that to consideration, it's likely that PBS had wanted to remove the program from the DStv app much earlier but couldn't.

So they were only able to do so once the year long agreement was expired and PBS Kids not taking to account that not everyone cares or can afford to use the DStv app removed Postcards From Buster before it could even wrap production for those who couldn't see it.

As for Fetch!, although it can no longer be seen on PBS Kids it can however be viewable on other platforms for starters there's YouTube. I mean a lot of PBS Kids content is viewed freely on that platform.

Recap To The Year: Days Of Our Lives Might Be Making It's Highly Anticipated Comeback On Showmax

In 2022, eMedia Investments in an attempt to boost their local offering halt distribution of Days Of Our Lives on e.tv after 5 years. Prior to that, SABC 3 held rights to the NBC soap currently in its 56th season and Vodacom's streaming service RED before it's untimely demise.

Last month, MultiChoice sold 30% of their stake in Showmax to Comcast's Sky and NBCUniversal which will bring some of the world's best content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Days Of Our Lives is eyed as one of the most anticipated shows for the new Showmax streaming service. After ending its 57 year run on NBC, the soap has bolstered it's offering with a spinoff titled Beyond Salem alongside a holiday film titled A Very Salem Christmas.

Both of which alongside the ongoing soap have yet to be viewed in Africa unless browsing torrent sites. Although, selected content from Peacock would be added to Showmax. Businesses often prioritise their most valuable assets or in this scenario, Days Of Our Lives.

Similar to Days Of Our Lives move from NBC to Peacock, the same outcome is expected for consumers in the African market leaving millions of households without access to the soap. If they were to add it on DStv my guess would be M-Net or Telemundo.

Details of the new Peacock streaming service

The streaming service will combine MultiChoice’s growing investment in local content with international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third-party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) soccer matches. “The partnership will also provide access to all the best African content, such as Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels, including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.”

NBCUniversal and Sky will provide ongoing support through the licensing of both technology and content, the partners highlighted.

They will form the new Showmax group, which will be 70 percent owned by MultiChoice and 30 percent owned by NBCUniversal. “It will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create the leading streaming service in Africa,” the companies said. “Powered by Peacock’s leading, globally-scaled technology, Showmax subscribers will have access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programming.”

New Series Alert: Sortilegio Coming Soon To Telenovela Channel Phillipines

Telenovela Channel, a telenovela based channel in the Phillipines operated in a joint venture with Twenty Plus and TelevisaUnivision in a joint is home to various English dubbed novelas viewed on TLNovelas including Italian Bride, Wild Heart and The Power Of Destiny.

As seen last month, the channel is expected to revisit one of TLNovelas' old shows from the 1st of May, Sortilegio. Based on the 1985 telenovela Tú o nadie, it stars stars Jacqueline Bracamontes and William Levy as main protagonists.

Other cast members include David Zepeda, Chantal Andere, Otto Sirgo, Azela Robinson, Julián Gil and Ana Brenda Contreras who are playing main villains/antagonists of the story.

Alejandro returns home after a terrible accident to discover that he is married to Maria Jose, a poor, innocent girl who was deceived by Alejandro's brother Bruno. Bruno used Alejandro's name to marry Maria Jose, soon after he sent to kill his brother in hopes that Maria Jose would inherit Alejandro's fortune.

But when Maria Jose arrives at the mansion she realizes that Bruno lied to her and used her. She is also scared when Alejandro is found alive and returns home. Doctors tell Alejandro that he suffers from memory loss but he is convinced he never met Maria Jose before and goes in search of the truth, but during this time and Maria Jose actually fall in love, while Bruno and Maura (Alejandro's ex-girlfriend) plot to break them up. Meanwhile, the brothers' mother Victoria has fallen in love with Fernando--Alejandro's best friend, so closer to his age than hers.

The series makes its highly appreciated debut weekdays at 7pm from 1st May on Telenovela Channel Phillipines.

Review: The Consequences Of 7 Day Viewing On Star Life, Zee World And Telemundo

DStv customers have been complaining about the level of repeats seen across the platform and a few years ago Zee World found a solution which was the 7 day campaign meaning instead of waiting 48 hours for new content you'd only wait 24 hours.

Or in Zee World's case, adding 5 series to the primetime offering every single day including weekends. Sure with load shedding and a busy work schedule you miss out on a day's worth of content but the channel found a way of reducing the volume of repeats.

Before you had to wait at least 6 months to a year for new content but with this strategy you could wait at least 4 months so yeah Zee World did something most DStv channels failed to do throughout their existence.

If anything it inspired a generation of channels such as Telemundo and Star Life to follow in a similar pursuit. Sure this meant less hours of lazy days and more hours of binge watching but as seen in the last months was the pressure put in to retain their status.

Zee World reduced primetime to 6 days meaning almost 48 hours of primetime gone from the schedule. To top it off you have one program viewed in one part of Africa before anywhere else and vice versa as someone thought of causing confusion by dividing feeds.

Someone at Star Life thought it would be good to reduce the hours of some of their shows as they didn't want the affected series to clash with India. I mean hasn't someone here done their homework you have Zee World dividing Twist Of Fate in seasons.

While in India it should have about 2 seasons by now, I mean several brands had already done this if not Zee World's merger of episodes than division. I mean 15-21 minutes is not enough to brief anyone about a show unless it was a sitcom, soapie or a cartoon.

Telemundo doesn't really need to join the ally of Zee World and Star Life. NBCUniversal has been cutting back on original cost spend I think now would be the best time to save up on your options as opposed to throwing it all in the fire and hoping for a miracle.

Sure this new format is getting us more content from the channel on a yearly basis but if they still used the format seen on TLNovelas. It could lead them into having 5 new shows running on a monthly basis and waiting 6 months on more content.

On top of that, it could help build the main feed's catalogue as they wait for more content. On the bright side, Telemundo isn't NBCUniversal centric as you got shows from other regions such as Colombia through RCN Television and Caracol Television.

Despite what me or anyone thinks about the channels, I think these channels are well off when it comes to repeat management. As some channels are only ever able to source out more content on a weekly basis drowning audiences in repeats for 144 hours.