SPI International’s FunBox and FightBox Joins Fubo’s Molotov

Canal+ company, SPI International, has expanded its partnership with the French OTT service Molotov, owned by streaming platform Fubo. 

SPI International has introduced Fast&FunBox and FightBox, to Molotov’s lineup which will be available in Molotov’s extended basic package.

SPI International builds on its partnership Molotov, with it currently offering the gaming channel Gametoon on the service.

Fast&FunBox delivers programming of action/adveenture sports including car racing, motocross, snowboarding, and skateboarding. While, FightBox is dedicated to combat sports, offering a selection of exclusive content, live events and weekly programming across mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, karate, kickboxing, taekwondo among other disciplines.

“We’re excited to further strengthen our relationship with Molotov by introducing Fast&FunBox and FightBox to French audiences. These offerings, alongside Gametoon, cater to MMA, extreme sports, and esports enthusiasts, in harmony with Fubo’s mission to deliver dynamic sports entertainment to audiences worldwide. With SPI International’s channels on Molotov, viewers can enjoy a diverse range of sports content including appointment to view live fights and breathtaking adrenaline sports,” said Georgina Twiss, MD Western Europe and Africa at SPI International.

“Our parent company, Fubo, has built a successful business in multiple countries following the sports entertainment model, and we plan to expand Molotov’s offering in the same way”, said Grégory Samak, MD at Molotov. “As a player in MMA, extreme sports and esports – all growing sports in France – SPI international is an obvious partner for Molotov as we go deeper into sport.”

Development Alert: BBC First Debuts In Czech Republic And Slovakia Through T-Mobile, O2 And Slovak Telekom

The BBC First brand premiered in Czech Republic and Slovakia as an SVOD collection via T-Mobile and Slovak Telekom in November 2023, but this will be the first time the brand will be available as a linear channel in these countries, according to BBC Studios.

The channel’s June’s highlights include Six Four, a four-part thriller starring Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd, which will premier on June 5

BBC First will also air seasons one and two of Maigret, starring Rowan Atkinson, and season one of police drama Hope Street.

BBC First will be available fully localised with Czech subtitles to T-Mobile and O2 subscribers in Czech Republic and Slovak Telekom in Slovakia and joins BBC Earth and BBC News, which are already available in both countries.

“We are thrilled to witness the continuous growth and success of our global brand, BBC First, over the past decade. I cannot envision a better way to commemorate this milestone than by expanding its reach to new audiences, together with our great partners in Czechia and Slovakia, T-Mobile, Slovak Telekom and O2. BBC First presents a distinctive opportunity for British drama enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of content that includes both thought-provoking, gritty narratives and intricate storylines, as well as light crime dramas” said Bartosz Witak, General Manager for CEE at BBC Studios.

Paramount And Skydance Media Agree To Terms Of A Merger, Awaiting Approval

Paramount and Skydance have agreed to terms of a merger. A deal could be announced in the coming days, he said.

A Paramount special committee and the buying consortium — David Ellison's Skydance, backed by private equity firms RedBird Capital and KKR — agreed to the terms. The deal is awaiting signoff from Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, who owns National Amusements, which owns 77% of class A Paramount shares, Faber said Monday.

The agreement terms come after weeks of discussion and a recent competing offer from Apollo Global Management and Sony Pictures.

"We received the financial terms of the proposed Paramount/Skydance transaction over the weekend and we are reviewing them," said a National Amusements spokesperson.

The deal currently calls for Redstone to receive $2 billion for National Amusements, Faber reported Monday. Skydance would buy out nearly 50% of class B Paramount shares at $15 apiece, or $4.5 billion, leaving the holders with equity in the new company.

Skydance and RedBird would also contribute $1.5 billion in cash to Paramount's balance sheet to help reduce debt.

Following the deal's close, Skydance and RedBird would own two-thirds of Paramount, and the class B shareholders would own the remaining third of the company, Faber reported. The negotiated terms were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

The deal will not require a vote from the shareholders, which was part of the negotiations, Faber reported. Paramount's annual shareholder meeting will take place on Tuesday.

The deal is valued at $8 billion, an increase from the $5 billion offer on the table earlier. Under those earlier terms, Redstone would have received less than $2 billion for her stake, and the class B shareholders would have been bought out at a nearly 30% premium at $11 a share.

In early May, Apollo and Sony formally expressed interest in acquiring Paramount for about $26 billion. However, Redstone has favored a deal that would keep Paramount together, and Apollo and Sony planned to break up the company.

In addition to the twists and turns of the negotiations with buyers, Paramount's C-suite has also undergone a shakeup in recent months.

Bob Bakish stepped down as CEO in late April and was replaced by what the company calls the "Office of the CEO." Paramount is now led by three executives: George Cheeks, CBS president and CEO; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, the head of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon.

Could M-Net Look Into Splitting Some Of Its Assets With Canal+?

Last month, I did a story about Showmax and how rumours had swirled around that MultiChoice was looking to separate it from DStv with some talks expanding further to a possible sale. Canal+ is looking to acquire the pay-tv company and merge their operations.

As some already know, Canal+ is a foreign entity and there's various legal hurdles they'll have to overcome before claiming victory. Since then, they've continued acquiring additional shares and this may a reason and in part it could have to do with its other assets.

MultiChoice isn't the first pay-tv company they sought after as there was Orange SA's film and TV division alongside M7 Group in parts of Europe. The main reason this may prove to be a challenge in Africa has to do with MultiChoice's dominance. 

SuperSport had become the leading destination for sports in Africa and often this had led to legal disputes with various broadcasters such as eMedia Investments. Canal+ is also a monopoly in their respective area something legal entities could explore.

Several media enthusiasts had thought of that possible division of assets with Canal+ funding local broadcasters such as SABC News and Moja Love while controlling daily operations of DStv. MultiChoice or a potential shareholder licensing a few TV channels and Showmax. 

Considering the load of TV channels under M-Net, we presume Canal+ would be able to obtain most of them despite the 20% ruling. In this case, Africa's operations alongside secondary brands Mzansi Wethu and KykNET & Kie with them holding majority sports rights.

M-Net could just limit their operations to a single channel alongside Showmax with M-Net Movies, Mzansi Magic, KykNET, SuperSport Blitz and SuperSport Grandstand. This would form part of a streamlined attempt with further entertainment handled by Canal+.

This separate company and Canal+ would continue working together with Showmax offering the best of the above-mentioned. If anything, this separate company could look into doing more partnerships as seen with NBCUniversal's DStv Glass and Showmax. 

Canal+ with its current assets from MultiChoice would build their own division, Canal+ Africa. This would be where pay-tv platforms DStv and GOtv would reside alongside premium entertainment and sports from Africa Magic, Zambezi Magic, Maisha Magic and SuperSport. 

More Broadcasters Are Reportedly Set To Lose WWE Following Shift To Netflix

Earlier in the year, it was reported that WWE had signed an exclusive deal with Netflix worth $10 billion to bring the trademark exclusively to their services. This would bring WWE's run on linear TV to an end after 31 years as it broadcasts on Netflix in 2025.

Netflix would become the exclusive home to weekly shows Raw, Smackdown and NXT alongside premium live events like WrestleMania and Crown Jewel. This would affect consumers in U.S., U.K., Canada and Latin America with international expansion underway. 

Existing broadcasters such as FOX (U.S.), SportsNet (Canada), TNT Sports (UK) and ESPN (Latin America) will need to find a replacement. Sports journalist Dave Meltzer sites AEW as one of the potential leads for international broadcasting deals. 

But there's a catch as mentioned by Dave:

"Essentially they’re all losing their wrestling, and if the stations want to keep wrestling the best option is AEW. And if AEW is able to get deals with these stations at even half of what WWE gets, or less than half of what WWE gets, that alone would make it profitable even if the WBD deal isn’t a big increase.”

If anything, could SuperSport look into snatching AEW from TNT I mean compared to when WWE was with its previous broadcaster. All events are Express From The U.S. and unlike WWE's endeavors none of the weekly live events were shortened.

Perhaps even Ring Of Honor, it is currently owned by Tony Khan who also manage All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Then lastly New-Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), they have done several events with AEW with some familiar faces like Jon Moxley, Matt Riddle and Mercedes Moné.

If anything, don't expect this content to get a standalone channel on DStv for now at least. Considering that these promotions don't have familiarity with audiences it's future is dependent on them and that would determine its growth on SuperSport.

Skydance Media Plans To Merge Their Operations With Paramount Global, Could This Have An Everlasting Affect On Nickelodeon And MTV?

As some readers are aware, Shari Redstone is looking to sell her shares in Paramount Global home to MTV and Nickelodeon. Currently, Skydance Media and Sony Pictures Television in a joint bid with Apollo Global Management are battling it out.

The Sony-Apollo deal has garnered a lot of media scrutiny as insiders report a possible dismemberment of their linear portfolio. With Paramount Studios being merged onto Sony Pictures Television current offering and studio lots auctioned off.

Skydance Media proposal is said to be favorable because unlike Sony-Apollo they wouldn't go through any regulatory hurdles for foreign ownership. Their plan would be to merge their operations with Paramount Global of course the finer details haven't been outlined. 

From what several sources uncovered, Skydance Media is planning to merge/bundle Paramount+ with another streaming service. It is no secret that Netflix and Disney+ have been edging out the competition so it's likely they're looking after Paramount’s interests. 

Skydance Media has worked with Paramount Global on several projects such as Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Top Gun, Jack Reacher and Star Trek.

If anything, we presume a possible merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global could lead to a reduction of content or at least for its linear portfolio. As mentioned, Skydance wants to merge Paramount+ with another streaming service. 

On top of that they've got several projects in development and with Paramount Pictures they'll expand on that. Prior to acquisition talks, Netflix had licensed various content from Nickelodeon like Saving Bikini Bottoms: The Sandy Cheeks Movie and Fairly OddParents: A New Wish.

Although Sony-Apollo would lead to the purging of TV channels outside of regulatory confinement. These channels could lose credibility under Skydance Media and serve as second fiddle to the endeavors licensed to Netflix or even Apple TV+.

News Shorts: The Caring Friend Circle Coming Soon To Play Room, A Rebroadcast Of The Impostor Launches On Telemundo Across Africa And WildEarth Extends Its Reach To Freeview In The UK

More Sesame Street on Play Room

Not long ago, Play Room had scooped up rights to more educational content from Sesame Workshop with Math Adventures. Now the channel will continue its investment toward the franchise with the rollout of The Caring Friends Circle.

Elmo learns something super important about himself. The Caring Friends Circle plays a game where they say something they like about themselves while passing a ball. But when it is Elmo's turn, he is not sure what to say. 

It will air daily at 06:15 from 14 June.

Telemundo hits the snooze button

Based on the Chilean telenovela Cerro Alegre, The Impostor follows a young waitress with a great ability for imitation and acting, has to pose as a millionaire investor to infiltrate a very powerful New York family in order to uncover a hidden truth.

It starred Christian Bach as Raquel Altamira, Sebastián Zurita as Eduardo Leon Altamira, Lisette Morelos as Blanca Guerrero, Manuel Landeta as Adriano Ferrer and Armando Silvestre as Don Leónidas Altamira.

The series will replace Betty In New York daily at 19:00 from 14th June.

WildEarth goes abroad 

WildEarth's live and interactive shows aim to recreate the thrilling experience of being on a safari vehicle in remote African locations. The focus is on capturing serendipitous moments of unscripted magic, rather than relying on dramatic animal behaviour, to create an emotional connection between viewers and the natural world.

Online, the platform attracts seven million global monthly unique viewers and now those daily live broadcasts are available on TV in the UK.

Emily Wallington, Co-Founder of WildEarth, expressed her excitement about the partnership with Freeview, saying: "'WildEarth' is all about connecting people to nature in a real and unscripted way – in effect we are the largest safari vehicle in the word. This helps viewers to understand nature for what it really is and to see why we need to conserve our beautiful habitats. This partnership with Freeview in the UK is a major step in achieving this as we reach British viewers who love nature and care about the planet.”

Recap To Last Month: Don't Expect Any Daytime Repeats For The Controversial "Evil Affairs" On Star Life As Titli Moves To Late Nights

Star Life is a general entertainment channel operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in India. It is home to various English dubbed productions from India including Game Of Love, Anupamaa, Imlie and Divya-Drishti.

Last month, Star Life made the dastardly deed of halting daytime repeats of Evil Affairs and Beyond Love. This had caused an uproar of angry viewers demanding for them to be reinstated with the channel only opting to move further repeats to late nights. 

As some readers are aware, Beyond Love will be replaced by Titli as reported earlier as You Have My Heart debuts at 21:30 from 8 June. Unlike the fallen Beyond Love, Titli will also have a daytime slot at 13:30 meaning Evil Affairs will be isolated from the offering.

Fans have been hindered with curiosity over the channel's sudden decision not to incorporate Evil Affairs as it brought on dramas like Divya-Drishti and The Evil Eye all of which were made available for daytime audiences. 

Unlike the latter, Evil Affairs can be compared to the likes of the FOX original Lucifer formerly seen on M-Net. Due to religious preferences, viewers aren't accustomed to the level of Satanism depicted this is what led M-Net to move Lucifer from 19:00 to 23:00.

Beyond Love was victimized in the Evil Affairs saga with daytime broadcasts still possible as the channel needed to organize their current but this came when it was already too late.

New Series Alert: Math Adventures And Barbie: Dreamtopia Coming Soon To Play Room

Play Room, a South African based children's channel operated by Ngwato Nkosi Group that offers fun and learning with a mixture of locally produced content part alongside international shows is set to debut two new series, Math Adventures and Barbie: Dreamtopia. 

Produced by Sesame Workshop, Math Adventure is an educational TV show that seeks to help children improve on numbering skills. It featured Zoe, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird.

Barbie: Dreamtopia follows Chelsea Roberts as she finds herself touring her own make-believe land known as Dreamtopia with her big sister, Barbie. There, they discover a whole new munch-able world and swim through rainbow rivers with small mermaids.

Math Adventures airs daily at 06:40 and this would be followed by Barbie: Dreamtopia at 20:10 from 11 June.

Sesame Workshop is home to shows like Abby's High Flying Fairy School, Abby's Amazing Adventures and The Big Feeling Explorer. Other shows like Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures and Barbie: Magic Touch are all owned by Mattel Television.