Drafted Version: What To Expect On Warner Bros. Discovery Africa In July 2023?

Discovery Channel:

Expedition Unknown: An archaeologist travels across the world in search of lost artefacts and investigates unsolved mysteries like the creation of the Nazca lines.
Outback Opal Hunters: Six teams of opal miners from Australia embark on a risky mission to hunt for the most fascinating gemstone in harsh and remote landscapes.

TLC:

Me Or The Menu: Four couples put their relationship to the test as they try to overcome the difficulties of opening their first restaurant together.
Outdaughtered: American married couple Adam and Danielle, parents to a set of all-female quintuplets, share details about the joys and struggles of taking care of multiple children.
90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days: The series about couples who unite in America under a special U.S. visa -- tells of how the couples first became acquainted.

Discovery Family:

Street Outlaws Fastest In America: Eight of the fastest teams in the U.S. descend on Memphis to compete for the biggest street race yet, for a prize of $100,000. Handpicked by JJ Da Boss, street racing bosses from South Carolina, St. Louis, Kentucky, Mississippi, Detroit, NOLA, Texas and the Northeast, each claiming to be king of the streets, have assembled their teams in Memphis for the chance to prove their racing chops.

Real Time:

Spring Baking Championship: America's finest pastry chefs and professional bakers battle it out in a series of challenges based on springtime treats that test their culinary skills.
Still A Mystery: Reexaminations of cases in which unanswered questions still remain; includes interviews with law enforcement personnel, family members and private investigators as well as news footage and social media posts.
NASA's Unexplained Files: Various theories offer insight into the work NASA does and has been doing.
Buddy's Big Bakedown: Amateur and professional bakers from the USA create and bake different cakes and compete against each other to emerge victorious.
The Demon Files: Ralph Sarchie and his team help people under attack from demons and Satan.
Secret Space Escapes: Astronauts and scientists recall their terrifying and near-death experiences during space missions.
Lakefront Bargain Hunt: The spotlight is on water lovers who dream of weekends or summers living by the dock of the bay.

Investigation Discovery:

Homicide Hunter: The Man With No Face: 1988: In Colorado Springs, Mary Lynn Vialpando, age 24, was raped and murdered. 30 years later, detectives link the crime scene DNA to James Papol. In May 2021, now age 48, Papol pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Aaron Hernandez: An ID Murder Mystery: Football, fame and murder. In this special, we examine the rise and fall of football star, Aaron Hernandez.
Susan Powell: An ID Murder Mystery: After 28-year-old Susan Powell disappears from her home in West Valley City, Utah, her husband, Josh, unsettles police with his odd behavior, leading them to suspect he knows what really happened to his wife and the mother of his two young sons.
Pamela Smart: An American Mystery: This three part special explores the story of Gregg Smart, whose wife Pamela Smart plotted his murder at the hands of four teenage boys in 1990.

Food Network:

Guy's Ranch Kitchen: Guy Fieri challenges his friends in a cooking showdown to prepare some of the most healthy dishes that are packed with flavour.
Supermarket Stakeout: The host invites aspiring chefs from different parts of the country to purchase ingredients from grocery shoppers and compete in a series of culinary rounds to win.

HGTV:

100 Day Dream Home: A custom home designer couple takes up assignments wherein they build a perfect house from scratch in less than 100 days.
Holmes Family Rescue: Contractor Mike Holmes teams up with his kids, Michael Holmes Jr. and Sherry Holmes, to rescue clients who have nowhere else to turn after living through botched construction jobs.
Holmes Of

Travel Channel:

The Haunted Museum: Paranormal investigator and host of Ghost Adventures Zak Bagans joins forces with filmmaker Eli Roth, the modern master of horror, to present a terrifying film anthology inspired by pieces found in Zak’s personal collection of haunted artifacts.
Kindred Spirits: Paranormal investigators, Amy Bruni and Adam Berry, help families troubled by supernatural activities in their homes and help them find peace.

Cartoon Network:

Craig Of The Creek: Following the adventures of Craig Williams and his two friends, Kelsey Pokoly and John Paul `JP' Mercer, as they explore the untamed wilderness of the Creek, which is dominated by tribes of children.
Jellystone: Yogi Bear, Cindy Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and other residents of Jellystone cross paths in fun and ridiculous ways, turning everyday activities into hilarious pandemonium.
Justice League Vs. Buzzard League: It's up to the Justice League to team up with their bizarre counterparts to stop Darkseid and save the galaxy!
Garbage Boy And Trash Can (New Show): About a boy who believes he has superpowers and fights for justice with his sidekick, Trash Can.
Justice League Gotham City Breakout: about a boy who believes he has superpowers and fights for justice with his sidekick, Trash Can.

Cartoonito:

The Adventures Of Bernie (New Show): After failing to help Zig, Bernie is lost at the bottom of the ocean. In this hostile environment, this handyman will do everything he can to get back to his island and find Zig, but his clumsy new neighbours won't make his task any easier.
Bugs Bunny Builders: Bugs Bunny and Lola Bunny manage an inept crew of builders at ACME Construction Company. Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, and others use their tools and wild vehicles to pull off some loony construction jobs.
Toads And Friends: 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.
Silly Sundays (New Show): Everything centers around Sonia, Hugo, Mel, Mom, Dad and Granny as they create unforgettable memories together during their weekend gatherings.

Boing:

My Little Pony: Pony Life (New Show): The series explores comedic, slice of life stories that Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy experience, primarily while hanging out at Sugarcube Corner.

Regular Nick Shorts: Cartoon Network And Max Acquired Rights To Lana Longbeard With Tara Duncan Loading Up On Disney Channel And Gamebox To Rollout A 60 Minute Ghostbusters Game

Zephyr Animation

2D-animated comedy Lana Longbeard has landed its first presales, with Warner Bros. Discovery (EMEA), Super RTL (Germany), Gulli (France) and CBC (Canada) claiming it for their regions. Co-produced by Zephyr Animation (APC Kids’ production arm) and Canadian studio Copernicus, the 52 x 11-minute series for six to nines tells the story of a courageous teen girl who sets sail on her father’s viking ship on a quest to become a famous adventurer. APC Kids has the global distribution rights.

Superights

Animated adventure series Tara Duncan will be distributed worldwide (excluding China) by Paris-based Superights. Produced by Princess Sam Pictures and based on a 15-book series by Sophie Andouin-Mamikonian, this CG-animated show stars a girl who travels to a magical planet to learn how to control her powers and defeat evil villains. Princess Sam has already sold the first season (52 x 13 minutes) to buyers including Disney (France, Belgium, Japan, Africa and the Netherlands), Rai (Italy) and RTE (Ireland), and a second 52-ep season is currently in production.

Columbia Pictures Location Based Entertainment

Who you gonna call? A Ghostbusters VR game is in the works at Columbia Pictures Location Based Entertainment and Immersive Gamebox. Based in London, Immersive Gamebox operates experiential game rooms where content from popular entertainment brands is projected onto the walls for kids to interact with through touch-screens and motion-tracking. The techco is gearing up to launch a 60-minute Ghostbusters: The Cursed Collection game at its 20 locations in the UK, EMEA and US later this year. In the experience, kids will explore haunted streets and battle ghosts from the ’80s movie franchise.

Cameroon Threatening To Suspend The Distribution Of Several Channels On DStv For Broadcasting Homosexual Content

Cameroon's media regulator threatened on Tuesday to suspend distributors of television channels, particularly foreign ones, that broadcast "scenes of homosexuality", in a country that punishes same-sex relations with imprisonment.

In a text entitled "Warning", dated Monday and circulated in the media on Tuesday, the National Communication Council, a government body, stated that it had noted "the proliferation of programs promoting homosexual practices", "generally broadcast by foreign editors".

These programs "are increasingly to be found in cartoons aimed at children and minors", says the text.

"The CNC calls on the promoters of channels broadcasting programs showing scenes of homosexuality in Cameroon (...) to immediately withdraw these programs, which violate the law, morality and customs of our country, on pain (...) of the outright suspension of the media concerned".

The CNC does not name any of the media it is criticizing. However, an official from the body, who requested anonymity, assured AFP that "for the moment there is no question of this or that company being named because the volume of programs concerned is too great to name them all".

Cameroon, like many other African countries, receives many foreign channels via subscriptions to the packages offered by the French group Canal+ and the South African group DStv, as well as a number of other small private operators selling access to foreign channels by satellite.

The nine members of the CNC are appointed directly by decree of President Paul Biya, 90, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 40 years.

Sexual relations between people of the same sex are punishable by prison sentences ranging from six months to five years in Cameroon.

In May 2022, the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced the "violence and abuse" regularly suffered by LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex) people in this Central African country.

"The criminalization of homosexuality has created a climate in which Cameroonians and the security forces can assault and abuse LGBTQI people with impunity", HRW deplored.

During the week, Telemundo was one of the first channels to pause production of Nurses with Until Money Do Us Part which serves as the only primetime series on the channel drawing to a close leaving Telemundo to become a wasteland for old content.

Development Alert: The Fairly OddParents And My Little Pony: Pony Life Coming Respectively To eToonz And Possible New Channel On DStv Boing Africa

During the year, eMedia Investments had (re)acquired various content from Nickelodeon including Kung Fu Panda: Legends Of Awesomeness, Dora The Explorer and The Loud House. Now the brand is set to rollout their fourth series from the brand, The Fairly OddParents.

Synopsis for the show:

The Fairly OddParents follows Timmy Turner, a 10 year old kid who was given his own fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda who grant his every wish which at times comes with disastrous consequences. Butch Hartman known for Danny Phantom serves as content creator.

Since the series inception, The Fairly OddParents serves as Nickelodeon's second longest running series behind SpongeBob SquarePants. It has also spawned several live-action films and one series alongside various video games, theme park attractions, figurines and toys.

Recently, Nickelodeon had filed a trademark for The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish for entertainment, sporting and cultural services. Not much info is available about it on whether it will be a TV series or film for the brand or through Paramount+.

This comes after the removal of The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder on Paramount+.

Boing, a children's channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery funneling shows from Cartoon Network and Cartoonito (formerly Boomerang) is set to broadcast the first season to one of the brand's forgotten shows, My Little Pony: Pony's Life.

Synopsis for the show:

Based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, the series explores comedic, slice of life stories that Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy experience, primarily while hanging out at Sugarcube Corner.

The series was picked by Cartoonito (formerly as Boomerang) in 2021 and ran for two seasons. Unlike Friendship Is Magic, the series uses a different art style and each episode is 11 minutes long, consisting of two five-minute segments.

During the year, various content from Boing had been registered under DStv Catch-Up (including My Little Pony: Pony Life). According to reps, there are no plans to add Boing to DStv but that doesn't explain its appearance on Catch-Up maybe it will be added later on.

My guess a replacement for Disney Channel or Nicktoons if not a new channel on the platform.

The Fairly OddParents airs Fridays at 16:30 from 30 June on eToonz while My Little Pony: Pony Life is slated to launch later in July on Boing.

Everyday Novelas Shorts: Overcoming The Past Launches On TLNovelas Africa In The Coming Months While A Rebroadcast Of Almost Yours And Siddhi Vinayak Rollout On Telemundo Africa And eExtra Respectively

The long-awaited third installment is coming to TLNovelas

Overcoming Fear was unveiled in 2021 and amidst the launch it had already been confirmed by the channel that they picked up rights to other two instalments which were made available in Africa prior to release, Overcoming Heartbreak and Overcoming The Past.

Anticipated to rollout after Sightless Love from August 6, Overcoming The Past follows the lives of four women dealing with many issues such as digital bullying, abuse of social media, and abortion. It stars by Angelique Boyer, Sebastián Rulli and Erika Buenfil.

Marjorie De Sousa stars in the Mexican telenovela Almost Yours

Until Money Do Us Part is scheduled to end in the coming week and the channel was initially slated to air the law based drama, Law Of The Heart. But as seen with most of their schedule these plans have been scrapped with Almost Yours taking its place from June 20.

The series revolves around the life of Antonio Solano (Jorge Salina). Antonio is a good and hardworking man whose family abuses him. They only want him to provide for them. However, this changed upon meeting Julieta Vargas (Marjorie de Sousa).

Guilty Pleasure on eExtra hits a new low with this &TV original

Siddhi Vinayak is an Indian television series starring Nitin Goswami and Neha Saxena that aired from 26 October 2017 to 18 January 2019 on &TV. The series was made available on eExtra in 2021 with a rebroadcast set to replace Dare To Love from June 26.

The romantic thriller follows two childhood sweethearts, Siddhi and Vinayak, grow up to hate each other and become enemies until they begin to fall in love. It is produced by &TV the same network behind Begusarai on Zee One and The Heir on eExtra.

Genius Brands International Becomes Kartoon Studios

US-based children’s entertainment company Genius Brands International has changed its name to Kartoon Studios and will transfer its listing from the Nasdaq Capital Market to the NYSE American exchange.

The LA-headquartered studio, which owns the rights to certain IP created by comic book writer and Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, said the move heralds the label’s “next phase of growth” in the production, distribution and licensing of kids’ content.

The rebrand comes after the company has made several acquisitions over the past year, including taking a majority stake in Germany’s Your Family Entertainment, plus acquiring Canada’s Wow! Unlimited Media and its subsidiaries Frederator Studios, Frederator Network and Mainframe Entertainment.

“We now have capabilities to do everything in-house, from content creation to production, distribution and global merchandising,” said Andy Heyward, Kartoon Studios chairman and CEO.

Kartoon Studios produces content such as Shaq’s Garage for Pluto TV and Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten for its own Kartoon Channel.

The company caused controversy earlier this year for using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make shows like Kidaverse Fast Facts. As reported by C21, some children’s TV producers blasted the development as “horrifying” and “downright scary,” but the company defended the use of AI as a “digital assistant.”

The 2023 Eco-Logic Awards To Broadcast On People's Weather By October 2023

The Eco-Logic Awards identify individuals, organisations and communities that positively contribute towards a sustainable world – and we encourage consumers to support them by purchasing  their products and services.

These Awards have since grown into South Africa’s most Glamorously Green eco-calendar event, receiving extensive TV, radio, print media and online coverage.

Each year, individuals and organisations are told to submit their eco-logical products, services, projects or initiatives under 13 environmental categories to be evaluated  by a panel of highly respected and environmentally aware Judges.

Finalists are invited to join an exclusive group of Green VIP’s and thought leaders at the annual Eco-Logic Awards Gala event.

The 2023 Eco-Logic Awards is scheduled to air on People's Weather by October 2023.

Development Alert: Telemundo Is Said To Be Censoring Likely Banning Shows From Across Africa

During the week, a lot of Telemundo related developments had occurred first was the removal of Nurses as further episodes can only be streamed on Universal+. Another development was the complete removal of primetime on the channel.

We finally recieved word from our sources about the recent developments:

We aim to comply with local broadcast regulations in each market where our channels are broadcast and are adjusting our schedule to ensure compliance.

What this means in general is that Telemundo will be monitoring the type of content consumers will be viewing across Africa and this may have to do with the recent regulations proposed by Ugandan law enforcers where those under the LGBTQ can be jailed or killed.

Another brand involved in a similar scenario was Nickelodeon with The Loud House which featured two gay dads and the channel opted to censor some of their content before Kenyan government opted to rather ban the show from ever being viewed in the region.

Unlike Nickelodeon, Telemundo offers one feed across Africa meaning consumers won't get to see the rest of Nurses unless you have Universal+ which some consumers had reported is missing likely for consumers in neighbouring countries as opposed to South Africa.

Similar to how Nurses was phased out, it's very much possible that new content on the channel alongside rebroadcasts will likely undergo the same procedure before being made available anywhere in Africa.

Last year, Zee World and BBC Lifestyle rolled out regional feeds across Africa granting consumers particularly in South Africa the chance to see some of this unseen content. It's currently unknown if Telemundo will follow suit or rely on Universal+ for such content.

Recap To The Week: Could Telemundo Be The Next Channel To Exit The DStv And GOtv Platform Following The Cancellation Of Nurses For Universal+?

During the week, consumers were alarmed to see that Telemundo made a last minute change to their line-up when the only primetime series at the moment which is the medical drama Nurses had been phased out for the anthology series, Decisions.

Through my sources we were able to confirm that the show had been removed from the channel indefinitely - no reason was given for the sudden change. But rumours are swirling of a drop in viewership and others grow close to a channel termination.

As noted sometime ago, consumers should be embracing for more rebroadcasts in the coming months with False Identity and The End Of Paradise in places of For Love And Justice and Queen Of The South. Then there's also Law Of The Heart for Until Money Do Us Part.

Considering Decisions will end around the time consumers would be expecting the military drama it's likely to launch once it ends but Telemundo's sudden loss of Nurses does raise a lot of concern and fear for the channel that brought Aurelio and La Doña.

It's been no secret that Telemundo has been struggling for years to build their primetime schedule as seen with TLNovelas and Zee World. So much so that they went as far as moving primetime from 5 to 7 days and sourcing content from Caracol Television and RCN.

Onto the speculated shared across platforms, it's believed from several consumers that the channel will be phased out from DStv and GOtv as reruns takeover the channel with further episodes of Nurses available to stream on Universal+.

In other developments, Telemundo will be using their Passionistas Group to promote the classic series, Land Of Passions (with English subtitles).

THE CHANNEL SHARED A VERY CRYPTIC UPDATE

Could this have something to do with the anti-gay laws seen in Uganda where you can get imprisoned for promoting such content - who knows. But one thing's for certain, Nurses has been phased out indefinitely and if my hypothesis proves to be true than more channels are expected to undergo similar proceedings.