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Canal+ Group Buys Stake In African TV Production Company Marodi TV

Canal+ Group has acquired a stake in Marodi TV, a Senegalese production company which is a leading purveyor of TV series across ...

Thursday, April 30, 2020

e.tv Acquired Broadcasting Rights To All Three Seasons Of Istanbullu Gelin

e.tv signed a deal with Global Agency for the Turkish telenovela, Evermore (Istanbullu Gelin). Viewers should expect the show to surface on various e.tv channels in the near future.
There's no idea on whether the show will be distributed in English or Afrikaans but viewers should expect more telenovelas from Global Agency. Here's the storyline:
Growing up without her mother and father, Süreyya must fnd her way in life alone. Proud and beautful, she lives modestly with her only relatve, Aunt Senem. Working her way to graduaton at a music conservatory, she becomes a talented musician. But this independent, simple life is set to be turned upside down.
The handsome and wealthy Faruk Boran transforms the young singer’s life. Mesmerized by his charm, she fnds herself swept up in a passionate romance and falls desperately in love. The successful businessman is similarly smiten and keen to introduce her to his very diferent, privileged life in the green city of Bursa.
The Borans are among Turkey’s richest and most aristocratc families, holding court in a picturesque mansion among forests. Here, Süreyya will batle the tough family matriarch Esma Sultan, who has brought up her four sons alone. For her, protectng the family’s power is everything.
Love-struck Faruk, determined to carve out a life of his own choosing, proposes marriage to Süreyya, unaware of what his mother has in store for him. Esma has great dreams for her favorite son, and has set her heart on a diferent bride, one who is in her mind beter suited to the family’s deep-rooted traditons.
Süreyya’s arrival in the mansion and news of their engagement enrages Esma.
She is a stubborn and difcult woman who will resist all Süreyya’s eforts to integrate herself into the family. The path of love leads her into a turbulent world of cruelty, decepton and vengeance that will reveal her strength of character.
She succeeds in becoming the family’s bride, but Esma will not remain silent in the face of this defeat. Her next move, will show the newly married couple that the war has only just begun. She will make Süreyya pay a heavy price, triggering discord between her and Faruk.
The guile and deviousness of Esma threatens at tmes to destroy their relatonship. She will seek to drive Süreyya out of the mansion and bring them to the brink of divorce. But despite entering an unfamiliar world, Süreyya learns to adapt and gains strength from the love of Faruk.
The two women launch into a batle for control within the household. To survive she must be strong, as Esma has no intenton of sofening and acceptng her. She will set traps to try and divide the happy couple. Faruk too, will not give in easily, and pursues Süreyya whenever she fees.
The war between Süreyya and Esma will shake the 400-year-old Boran mansion to its foundatons. Faruk must decide whether his loyaltes lie with the family or his chosen bride. The couple face a ferce batle between love and traditon that will test their resolve to its limits.

This Mother's Day, Boomerang Africa Celebrates Moms Across Africa With A Specially Curated Local Campaign, Magic Makers

Mother's Day this year will look a little different than usual, and that is why Boomerang Africa will help kids celebrate mothers across the continent with its brand-new, imaginative video series, Magic Makers.

Magic Makers is a  heartfelt video series where kids get to raise their voice to celebrate important dates and magical moments, showcasing their great imaginations and cool ideas with other Boomerang fans. The first edition of Boomerang Africa’s Magic Makers, airing on Tuesday, 5 May, is exclusively dedicated to moms across Africa, where kids get to express their wildest and craziest ideas, letting the whole continent know just how they would spoil their moms on Mother’s Day.

In this day and age, where everyone's using video calls to stay in touch with family and friends, Boomerang Africa’s Magic Makers video clips will take on the new ‘norm’ and present as a video chat with a split-screen video conference gallery view, representing Boomerang’s large community of kids. In each episode, two kids will ‘pop out’ on the community and share their unexpected ideas on how they would love to indulge their mom this Mother’s Day, or tell us what their mom’s special superpowers are… The Magic Makers video clips will also drive fans to boomerangafrica.com, where they will be able to play and download great activities to help celebrate Mother’s Day even more.

Boomerang Africa’s Magic Makers will premiere on-line and on-air on Boomerang, DStv channel 302, on Tuesday, 5 May. Kids can also visit Boomerang Africa’s website to find additional cool, inspirational activities providing consistent fun and laughter, leaving them wanting more and MORE!

Watch out for the next edition of Magic Makers where our Boomerang kids give us their crazy ideas on sharing magical moments with their dads for Father’s Day in June.

Watch. Play. Laugh!

SABC Education To Launch On DTT And YouTube, Might Launch Elsewhere

The South African public broadcaster as part of its digital terrestrial television (DTT) offering will launch a new TV channel, SABC Education, on 4 May that will initially be available for streaming on YouTube and be available for free through DTT decoders.

SABC Education is the first new TV channel that the broadcaster is launching besides its SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 channels set, as well as its SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC Encore (DStv 156) channels carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.

SABC Education will carry educational programming from the department of education, archived shows from the SABC library, as well as educational programmes seen and available on SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3.

The SABC says that other platforms for SABC Education will hopefully be added later. SABC Education will be a linear DTT TV channel, with additional educational programming that will be streamed on digital platforms.

The digital streaming of the channel will be carried using the SABC Education portal, SABC Education Virtual Academy (SEVA), social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and other SABC channel websites. 

Madoda Mxakwe, SABC CEO, says in a statement that "The launch of the channel is timely, as the nation requires these interventions to fill gaps that have been created by Covid-19 related adjustments. In particular, this initiative will ensure that education and learning continues outside the traditional classroom environment".

"The introduction of the SABC Education channel is in line with our education strategy which has been in the pipeline for some time."

Friday, April 24, 2020

May 2020 On TNT Africa | Adventure | Troubled Waters | Clint Eastwood

ADVENTURE MONTH
This May, TNT is bringing adventure stories that can separate you from reality and transport you on a journey that provides thrills and amazing experiences along the way. Don’t miss a good dose of adrenaline with TNT’s careful selection of adventure flms that have no limits for imagination. Every Saturday during May, TNT will broadcast a triple feature, kicking of with the channel premiere of the heart-stopping, mythic action-adventure, Apocalypto.
Saturday 2nd of May
16:55 – Race the Sun (1996) 18:35 – Spy Kids (2001) 20:00 – Apocalypto (2006) channel premiere
Saturday 9th of May
16:30 – The Goonies (1985)
18:20 – Joe versus The Volcano (1990) 20:00 – Green Lantern (2011)
Saturday 16th of May
15:45 – Innerspace (1987) 17:40 – Superman (1977) 20:00 – Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (2005)
Saturday 23rd of May 16:15 – Hook (1991) 18:35 – Jumanji (1995) 20:00 – Batman Begins (2005)
Saturday 30th of May 16:30 – Labyrinth (1986) 18:10 – Free Willy (1993) 20:00 – Spider-man (2002)

TROUBLED WATERS
TNT encourages you to make an aquatic trip throughout a list of movies where the plot takes place in the water. From adverse weather conditions to sea storms, and even deep-water monsters, we are defnitely taking you to the deepest depths! Join TNT every Monday evening in a double feature as the channel showcases acclaimed blockbusters such as The Perfect Storm, Deep Blue Sea and White Squall.
Monday 4th of May
17:55 – White Squall (1996)
20:00 – Anaconda 3: Ofspring (2008)
Monday 11th of May
17:45 – The Widowmaker (2002) 20:00 – Lake Placid vs Anaconda (2015)
Don’t ask too many questions!
Monday 18th of May
18:35 – Silent Venom (2008) 20:00 – The Perfect Storm (2000)
Monday 25th of May
18:05 – Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) 20:00 – Deep Blue Sea (2010)

CLINT EASTWOOD FAN DAY
This month, Clint Eastwood, one of the biggest stars and most celebrated talents in cinema history, graces TNT with his array of titles as part of the Fan Day rendezvous. With his 90th birthday falling on the last Sunday in May, what better way to celebrate it than with a great tribute? So, on Sunday, 31 May, bring out the popcorn and join TNT in celebrating some classics from Eastwood’s iconic career.
Sunday 31st of May
10:50 – Every Which Way But Loose (1978) 12:40 – Dirty Harry (1971) 14:20 – The Enforcer (1976) 15:55 – Sudden Impact (1983) 17:50 – Million Dollar Baby (2004) 20:00 – Blood Work (2002) 21:50 – Magnum Force (1973)

The History Of PBS Kids Before It's Debut In Africa (A Survey Is Also Inserted)

I'm sure everyone with a DStv or GOtv by now heard about the brand (stylised as PBS KIDS) before stations like SABC and e.tv distributed a handful of series such as Zaboomafoo, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Peep And The Big Wide World, Wordgirl, The Magic School Bus, Arthur, Curious George, Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, Cyberspace and Super Why.

Now we're gonna catch up with what PBS Kids was back when the brand only existed in the market through its series.

Back when PBS Kids was somewhat decent with a huge fanbase (including every other kids channel to date), the channel aired series such as the ones mentioned above along with Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Sid The Science Kid, Dragon Tales and Clifford's Puppy Days just to name a few.

Children's programming has been essential for many decades on PBS even it's successor National Educational Television (NET) had shows such as Mister Rogers Neighborhood, NET Playhouse before it got replaced in the 1970s with PBS.

PBS had a block known as "For Kids" which ran series such as The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow, Zoom, Shining Time Station, The Big Comfy Couch, Kidsongs, Ghostwriter, Long Ago And Far Away, Newton's Apple, Square One Television and Mister Rogers became a part of it.

In 1994, PBS rebranded For Kids Into PTV as part of their Ready to Learn project a goal in which they can get their content to children living in poor households. Shows that joined it's PTV era included Arthur, Kratts Creatures, Zaboomafoo, Jay Jay The Jet Plane, The Huggabug Club, Theodore Tugboat.

On September 1999, PBS Kids underwent a facelift this introduced their mascots Dash (boy) and Dot (girl) which many only in the United States would recognise through bumpers and interstitials till now. Along came new styles that were simplistic at that time viewers would have praised it just as much as Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Shows that followed this facelift were Between The Lions, Dragon Tales, Wordworld, Curious George, Clifford The Big Red Dog with the spin-off Clifford's Puppy Days, Sagwa, Cyberchase, Sid The Science Kid, Martha Speaks and Super Why, Cyberchase and Super Why.

On October 2004, through a series offshore PBS Kids GO! was introduced aimed at kids aged 6-12 year olds. Series that joined the lineup include Maya And Miguel, Fetch With Ruff Ruffman(Lost The Rights Off), Wordgirl, Design Squad, SciGirls, Fizzy's Lunch Lab, The Electric Company and Wild Kratts.

On October 2013, a lot happened with PBS Kids first PBS Kids GO! was discontinued, Peg+Cat was introduced, their style was adapted to look more 2010s but even more simplistic, the mascots were changed as well Dot remained while Dash was eliminated (maybe he grew up with the audience that could be the reason for the discontinuation) and became part of the logo with two new characters Dee (girl) came in to cause more mischief with Del (boy, Dash's replacement). Dash is still alive through merchandise and PBS Kids current logo.

As for the state of PBS Kids today you have good shows such as Martha Speaks, Curious George, Arthur, Odd Squad and once app exclusive The Ruff Ruffman Show but most of the shows are a hit or miss and not that great. They bring in series such as Ready Jet Go, Wild Kratts and then of course there's Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Pinkalicious And Peterrific and Peg+Cat that are useful as this brand has been doing for decades.

In January 2017, PBS Kids launched its 24/7 channel in the United States with plans to rollout the brand internationally. The 24/7 channel consisted of of both current and former series from the channel. They also offered a PBS Kids app and programming block.

MultiChoice added the channel back in June 2018 through the DStv Now service with plans to use it elsewhere if it succeeded then Showmax supplied content that hasn't been seen on the channel. In May 2019, it launched as a pop-up channel only in South Africa and Lesotho as stated it launch with it being permanent for the rest of Africa. Now the channel has been added permanently to South Africa and Lesotho.

PBS Kids' African feed uses the same schedule everyday, airs new double or single bill episodes everyday, has no ads like the one in the United States, no bumpers but they do have interstitials, no marathons or stunts and no shorts or movies but maybe they'll add some of these a little later for now they could be familiarising themselves with the market. The current series on this channel are Peg + Cat - Mathematics, Wild Kratts - Wilderness (Natural Science), Wordworld - Numeracy (English), Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - Emotional intelligence and human respect (Life Orientation), Time Warp Trio - History, Pinkalicious and Peterrific - Visual Arts, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - Crafts and music (Creative Arts) and Molly of Denali - Culture (Creative Arts).

In the end, these series are watched and have fans as well even I enjoyed some of the shows back in my youth and see a few interesting shows now. Even stations like Cartoon Network, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon along with their additional stations were at their prime back then compared to now so these brands are no really no different and are just evolving with time.

THANK YOU MEDORA ENTERTAINMENT FOR PART OF THE INFO
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SURVEY ON PBS KIDS
- PBS Kids is #1 in preparing kids for success in school and in life. For those without the channel selected programs can be found on free-to-air channels.
- Parents report that TV is one of the top ways they spend time together as a family. PBS Kids is the best use for family screentime with 37% along with 24% being Disney Junior, 12% being Nick Jr, 2% being Cartoon Network and 25% having other alternatives.
- PBS Kids is #1 in readiness when preparing kids for school parents discovered the following: PBS Kids is 50% helpful and 31% helps somewhat, Disney Junior is 28% helpful and 36% helps somewhat, Nick Jr is 28% helpful and 31% helps somewhat, and Cartoon Network is 9% helpful and 10% helps somewhat.
- Parents especially in low-income communities rank PBS Kids as the most trusted and safe place to watch television.
- Improving in child's behaviour: 66% being PBS Kids, 56% being Disney Junior, 50% being Nick Jr and 16% being Cartoon Network.
- 74% of parents want high-quality educational content available to children anytime, anywhere and PBS Kids is available on TV and to stream. With its programs available for distribution.

Rumored And Speculated Developments For Telemundo Africa

For those of you with DStv you might have come across Telemundo, a channel owned by NBCUniversal International along with Universal and E! Entertainment. The channel can be found on DStv channel 118 in English and 507 in Portuguese, it is available on GOtv.

For those who've watched the channel since the channel's presence in the market would have noticed the overload and mismanaged repeats seen on Telemundo during the daytime reason being has to do with super series that are deemed inappropriate for daytime viewing and the fact they invest more money into them compared to those basic telenovelas.

Now getting back to the topic Telemundo has made a lot of changes in the year which includes repeating old series in the mornings with some getting the weekend treatment which led to scrapping the omnibus for super series and airing them everyday which is hurting the channel a lot considering the fact that they don't have a lot of content in the vault so this is their desperate attempt to keep viewers tuned in.

There was mismanagement of repeated shows in January Telemundo was set to broadcast a repeat of My Perfect Family instead viewers got Love and Betrayal and were told the show would follow immediately after this Argentine telenovela but it didn't till now. This hasn't been happening to one but all the repeats scheduled for the channel later this year leading the media to have doubts on some of the shows.

According to some insiders, Telemundo will be using the slots around 2am-4am to repeat shows and apparently Behind Closed Doors and The Son I Never Knew are slated for that slot so far nothing has been official chances are these slots will be implemented but they'll put other shows on there.

Then there's the 7 days a week treatment something Zee World and Star Life currently have going on which doesn't look good at all for Telemundo considering how much telenovelas they have in the vault in their birthplace. Chances are this format will be introduced as the channel might revive the catch up slot on weekends for like 2 hours.

Something that has been an ongoing conversation for years there has been speculation that the channel will start airing certain programs weekly which wouldn't be a bad idea for some series like You Can't Hide starring Blanca Soto which has just 10 episodes followed by Luis Miguel which might have 26 episodes.

Biographies, the one thing Telemundo hasn't broadcasted as yet from their vault. Good news, those shows might invade your screens the bad news no one knows how long those will take to arrive.

We all know Telemundo has competition and no one I'm not talking about Eva instead the retarded channel FOX Life which introduced four new Televisa telenovelas most of them are based on old telenovelas not to mention new for Southern Africa so yeah it's not a rival but another competition for the some parts of Africa.

The last rumored development which could have been scrapped is classic telenovelas the ones below 2010 which many fans have struggled to see and wanted the channel to broadcast. Apparently there was some rumor that it might have been wanted to introduce them in the mornings and afternoons but since then there's been nothing about it. They also were some rumor that they wanted to introduce some African reality series that will be filled with Nostalgia.

Telemundo will be celebrating its 7th year in Africa in August. The question remains on how many more surprises and disappointments we should expect from this brand.

Limpopo TV Greenlits Church And Gospel Series

The Chat with Priscilla, hosted by author, actress and Bible teacher, Priscilla Shirer, is a talk show that covers a variety of topics for women such as singleness, sexuality, stress, & marriage, just to name a few. Interwoven into each episode is a message of faith & how to respond to these issues as a Christian woman.
Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, Shirer made her film debut in the film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith. Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.
She has also authored several books:
"Fervent; A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer"
He Speaks to Me: Preparing to Hear from God Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God Speaks And We Are Changed: Encounters with a Transforming God
A Jewel in His Crown: Rediscovering Your Value as a Woman of Excellence.
She has Leading Film Features in:
The War Room, as Elizabeth Jordan.
I can only imagine, as Mrs. Fincher, Bart Millard's teacher Overcomer, as Principal Olivia Brooks. Our hope for you, our viewers, is that it will be a safe place for honest conversation.
Priscilla Shirer
The Host and Producer of a Fresh Faith Program Called THE CHAT with Priscilla Coming to Limpopo TV Every Sunday 18:30 CAT

GOSPEL XCLUSIVE.
A Unique Gospel Industry Magazine Show that will be Focused on The Gospel Industry and the Gospel Singers.
Profiling and showcasing some of the Famous, Upcoming and Legendary Names of the Industry.
With a Combination of Exclusive Interviews and Latest Music Videos.
Be Sure not to miss this Special Every Sunday 17:00 & Repeats Every Tuesday 12:00 CAT.
The channel is expected to launch on DStv and StarSat

What Would SABC Education And SABC Children Be Today If They Got Their Standalone Channels

As some of you already know the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has been going through a ruff patch for nearly a decade. From being the dominant player in the free-to-air market into a debt flooded corporation.

Before that whole mess came into affect both SABC and e.tv plotted to launch their own STB which included growing the number of FTA channels while SABC decided to wait for digital migration to take effect, e.tv on the other hand went ahead and launched their STB becoming an even more dominant player in the market.

SABC made the mistake of waiting, part of that may have to do with the whole debate regarding the encryption of the STBs. Even if this platform were to arrive in 2020 it would be very difficult for them to make a huge impact if they want TV licence holders and the fact that OpenView has lured potential customers with the last option being streaming services like Showmax and Netflix makes it kind of difficult.

The channels SABC plotted to have were 2 regional type channels, a sports channel, a movie channel and education channel with majority of those plans scrapped for a sports channel along with language based channels which also got scrapped for sports yet again, education returns then you have a health channel again, a parliamentary channel and a history channel. So far SABC Encore and News are the only additional channels they've managed to launch through DStv with the over delayed sports channel on a test phase through DTT platforms.

Two years after Encore's arrival, SABC signed a deal with an African online platform nobody heard off called Tuluntulu. That supplied a variety of online channels this introduced SABC Education and Children.

SABC Education, judging by the name you already know this channel was set to be an educational channel by now this brand shouldn't be new to anyone if you watch Uzalo and Skeem Saam you would have seen this brand name at the end of the show. This channel would have been no different to encore with it's lineup having educational elements and consisting of old reality, lifestyle and drama series. Two years back, there was some negotiation regarding this channel with other organisations so maybe part of the channel will be treated as Mindset if it ever comes to life.

SABC Children, this youth channel is used for both local and international content except the local content is not part of SABC Education and since SABC is staying true to their roots the kids lineup more likely consisted of American animated series dubbed in other South African languages. This would have been one of the few SABC channels with international programming.

Due to the pandemic, it's possible that SABC Education will materialize it's the only channel along with SABC Sports I can see a future off with the rest they kind seem like another future failed experiment. Even with e.tv they launched several of their own channels only to scrap some of them.

SABC Education and SABC Movies aren't bad ideas they have enough content in their vault for these channels with SABC Sports it's kind of complicated due to the pandemic and the last time I saw it on the DTT platforms it was being used for old matches.

Out of all the imaginary channels SABC plots to launch SABC Education and Movies are the only channels I can see on DStv the rest seem like an absolute failure to me and since MultiChoice signed a deal with Mindset for a spin-off channel it's possible they'll sign a deal with SABC for an education channel which SABC has been trying to get up and running.

MultiChoice Dumps TV Mall After 2 Years

MCG will no longer be carrying TV Mall on its DStv platform, as from on 30 April 2020. The business has opted to streamline its offering and continue its product sales online.

TV Mall has been a beacon of change in the African broadcasting landscape, being the very first live shopping mall in Africa. The channel was launched on the DStv platform in 2018 and performed very well in the local commerce industry.

At Multichoice Group, we constantly review our content and channel offering to ensure that we give our customers local content that resonates with them at great value. “It has been wonderful to work with the TV Mall team, being the first African live shopping mall, they have been a true milestone in Africa’s broadcast industry,” said Aletta Alberts, Executive Head of Content Strategy at MultiChoice Group.

Nicky Fintz, CEO of TV Mall says: “During this time, we need to understand the dynamics of the market we aim to please, and we’re cognisant of the state of the economy during this pandemic. With that said, it has been a pleasure to have had the opportunity of being on the DStv platform which enabled us to have a bigger footprint in South African homes.”

“MultiChoice remains committed to providing the best local and international content for its customers. We are proud and appreciative of our association with TV Mall and will continue to provide the most compelling and entertaining content for our customers,” concluded Alberts.

TV Mall viewers can continue to enjoy the live shopping platform on www.tvmall.co.za.