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eMedia's 4 Channels Recieve Another Extension On MultiChoice's DStv, Might Go Dark By August 2024

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice had been undergoing a carriage dispute with the Competition Tribunal. After the p...

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Cartoon Network Reveals First Look At All-New Original Series Elliott From Earth


Cartoon Network EMEA shared another look at its brand-new original series, Elliott From Earth.

From the talented team behind the network’s multi-award-winning, global hit, The Amazing World of Gumball, Elliott from Earth is a 20 x 11-minute animated sci-fi comedy about a boy and his mum who find themselves suddenly transported somewhere across the universe surrounded by an amazing array of aliens from new and unknown corners of the galaxy. While trying to work out who brought them there, and why, they make a new home for themselves and encounter new friends, including Mo, the only other being from Earth – a dinosaur.

The new series will roll out across Africa in the beginning of 2021. Trailer will drop "very soon".

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

New Details Emerge About MultiChoice Deal With BBC + October Highlights

Following all the cancellations and pop-up channels over the year with MultiChoice. There's new details regarding the deal formed with BBC Studios:

1.The first fact is that BBC First stops airing on DStv and several programs will move onto M-Net and BBC Brit.

2. CBeebies which was available only on Premium and Compact+ will now be available on Compact, Family and Access. This comes at a time where viewers are losing Disney XD.

3. BBC Lifestyle will soon be available in HD

4. The deal involves additional Catch Up rights so more shows will be available on Catch Up, some as seasonal box sets.

No dates have been confirmed for these yet.
This from their statement about it:
The agreement sees the continuation of a number of the BBC’s award-winning British shows, including Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear, EastEnders, Peaky Blinders and much more.
There’s also fresh content in the form of a brand-new seasons of Our Girl, Come Dine with Me South Africa, The Mallorca Files, Jamie Oliver’s Keep Cooking and Carry On, and The Graham Norton Show.
Viewers who are wildlife and nature enthusiasts can look forward to more landmark titles such as A Perfect Planet and The Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis on BBC Earth.
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OCTOBER 2020 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
MasterChef series 16 (24 episodes)
Weekdays from Monday 5th October at 18:00 on BBC Lifestyle
More images available on request
One of BBC Lifestyle’s most popular cooking competitions is back with John and Greg ready to see who the next MasterChef will be…
Out of the thousands who applied, 60 hopeful amateur cooks have made it through to compete over five weeks of Heats. This year they will have to cook not only for their place in the competition but also the right to wear a coveted MasterChef apron. With six contestants in each Heat and only four aprons up for grabs, the battle is fierce from the offset.
The contestants get their first chance to win an apron by cooking their Signature Dish – a plate that tells John and Gregg about who they are as a cook and how good they can become. After tasting all six dishes, John and Gregg will pick their two favourites and those cooks will earn themselves not only a MasterChef apron, but also a place in the next round.

Return to the Wild series 2 (6 episodes)
From Monday 5th October at 19.00 on BBC Earth
Adventurer Ben Fogle revisits people who turned their backs on the rat-race to set up home in some of Earth’s most remote locations.
How have things panned out for the former war correspondent who became a grizzly bear guide in the Canadian wilderness? Or the former city fat cat turned jungle Tarzan in the swamplands of Georgia, USA? And what about the man whose tragic accident prompted a move to Australia’s notorious Tornado Alley? Ben finds out what’s changed for these compelling characters as he learns about the challenges they’ve faced since he first spent time with them. Is life in the wild still their ultimate dream?

Pointless series 23 (55 episodes)
Weekdays from Monday 5th October at 19.00 on BBC Brit
The brainy quiz returns for a twenty second series in which contestants try to score as few points as possible by plumbing the depths of their general knowledge to come up with the answers no-one else could think of. Presented by Alexander Armstrong and Co Host Richard Osman.

Eight Go Rallying (4 episodes)
From Wednesday 7th October at 20.00 on BBC Brit
Four celebrity duos are joining a group of intrepid classic car enthusiasts on the Endurance Rally Association’s ‘Road to Saigon’, travelling over 3000 km from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand through Cambodia and Vietnam. The series follows them over three countries and over 3000 km as they endure crashes and break downs as well as experiencing the sights and sounds of three fascinating countries.
Each pair has been given their own rally-prepped classic car, with no sat nav, no air-conditioning and no in car entertainment. Together, they must take on some of the most challenging roads in the world, spending hours together in stifling 40 degree heat. What will they make of their first taste of endurance rallying? Will their relationships survive this formidable test?
Motoring enthusiast Noel Edmonds and wife make-up artist Liz Edmonds are in a classic MGB GT. Spandau Ballet pop star- turned-actor Martin Kemp and wife, Wham! backing singer Shirlie have a 1972 Mini. Mother-and-daughter team cookery expert Andi Oliver and TV presenting daughter Miquita Oliver have the oldest car - a 1959 Morris Minor, and grime star Tinchy Stryder and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens have been given a sky blue Hillman Imp.
Have they got what it takes to make it all the way to the finish line?

Crusades (3 episodes)
From Friday 9th October at 19:00 on BBC Earth
Bloody and brutal, the Crusades were meant to be the religious wars to end all others. Except they didn’t, and in modern times, their history has been hijacked by politics and religious fervour, with both Muslim and Western worlds misunderstanding the truth. This series sets out to shed new light on these legendary wars, and re-analyse the romanticised, idealised history to find out what really happened eight centuries ago, through detailed archaeology, and fresh scrutiny of ancient sites and long discarded eyewitness testimony.

The School That Tried End Racism (2 episodes)
From Tuesday 13th October at 19:00 on BBC Earth
This gripping documentary series follows a British school which helps its students uncover and eradicate racial biases. The two-part programme explores how these hidden differences can affect us all and as well as what we can do to tackle them. In the first episode, the students are tested for unconscious racial bias, with two best friends receiving surprising results. Elsewhere, the classmates explore white privilege and a white British student is shocked to hear her black classmates’ experiences of racism.

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby series 3 set 1 (3 episodes)
From Thursday 15th October at 20:00 on BBC Lifestyle
Check into more of the world’s most awe-inspiring hotels as this fun, aspirational hit series returns. These fantastic locations represent the zenith of luxury and the ultimate in customer care.
Fancy a visit to a Macau hotel with one of the world’s largest indoor gardens? Or an opulent palace magically set in an Indian lake? Presenters Giles Coren and Monica Galetti roll up their sleeves and learn how hard the staff work in these incredible locations.

Jamie Oliver Keep Cooking and Carry On (20 episodes)
From Monday 19th October at 20:00 on BBC Lifestyle
In these unprecedented times, Jamie sets out to help, sharing some incredible recipes that make the most of your kitchen staples.  With ingenious ideas on what to do with those panicked pantry purchases and forgotten frozen food, he’ll offer us new ideas on what to cook with the simple ingredients you’ve got to hand and what to swap out if you haven’t.

WarnerMedia's TNT, Tailormade For African Fans, Launches On StarTimes This September

Leading media and entertainment company, WarnerMedia, is expanding its entertainment offering in English speaking sub-Saharan Africa countries by introducing its Hollywood blockbuster channel, TNT, to the international digital TV operator, StarTimes.

As the 15th of September, StarTimes subscribers in over 10 countires including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia will be able to enjoy an action-driven, pulse-raising slate of movies, mixed with romantic gems and hilarious comedy, alongside original TNT productions, aimed at keeping its African audiences glued to their screens!

WarnerMedia has a long-standing relationship with StarTimes in French-speaking African regions distributing Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing, WarnerTV, CNN and TCM Cinéma across the continent, and is already distributing TOONAMI, the go-to destination for action and animation movie enthusiasts of all ages, through the first-ever deal with StarTimes in English speaking Africa. This new TNT deal will further diversify its channel offering giving StarTimes’ viewers access to the high-quality blockbuster movie channel tailored for African viewers.

The launch of TNT on StarTimes demonstrates the channel’s unremitting commitment to deliver premium content to African families, making top family entertainment accessible to more customers across sub-Saharan Africa.
As part of the September launch, TNT has an exciting line-up of never-before-seen titles with the premiere of its latest TNT Original Movie, Human Capital; a Fan Month block dedicated to the best titles of Denzel Washington (Remember the Titans, Déjà vu, The Hurricane and Fallen); and the reoccurring Film Fight stunt, where in September, an original movie will be faced against one of its sequels, every Friday evening, in a double feature, bringing up sagas such as The Transporter, National Treasure, Karate Kid, and Free Willy.

TNT will be available on StarTimes’ DTT Basic Bouquet (channel 047 and 214 in Uganda), and Smart Bouquet on DTH (channel 186), offering the best action, thrills, comedy, original movies and more!

Champions Pro Wrestling Returns On A South African Community Station

Champions Pro Wrestling (formely World Wrestling Professionals) is a South African professional wrestling promotion created in 2002. The promotion was televised in South Africa from 2004-2009 and internationally in 2009. CPW is owned by Mark Beale, and is heavily was influenced by American mainstream wrestling.

CPW will be in affiliation with Focal Point Studio for filming each episode.
The series will air Wednesdays at 9pm on Mpuma Kapa TV (formerly BayTV aka the Church Channel) on DStv channel 260
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ABOUT WWP BEFORE BECOMING CPW
WWP Wrestling was established more than 20 years ago in Nelson Mandela Bay South Africa . It is a National Federation that operates through out South Africa, Africa and India. It has established many Wrestlers currently on the South African Wrestling circuit...
WWP Wrestling has been involved in:
1) Establishing WWP Thunderstrike on National TV in South Africa
2) Established 100% De Dhana Dhan Wrestling TV series in India using many local Wrestlers
3) Established a weekly Wrestling Television Show on DSTV Channel 260
4) Helped establish "Champions Pro Kushti "Wrestling Federation in India. Doing live stadium and TV Shows across India giving local Wrestlers a opportunity to Wrestle on a international Platform
5) Many WWP Wrestlers appeared on various Tv shows like 7de Laan, Weakest Link, 3 Talk with Noeleen
6) Has held Wrestling Roadshows at most of the Festivals around South Africa
7) Has formed relationship with Sun International and has held live shows at their resorts and currently planning many more
8) Established the WWP Wrestling Extravaganza "WRESTLEMONSTER" bringing in International Talent to fight local Wrestlers
9) Formed Wrestling associations with APWA in Johannesburg and DPW in Durban
10) Established the WWP Pro Wrestling School of Excellence in Nelson Mandela Bay WWP Wrestling has done excellent work in Promoting South African Wrestling and it's very talented Wrestlers....it's time to step up where more international talent is brought in to take on South Africa's best.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

As Expected, Disney XD And FOX Life Stop Airing On DStv By The End Of September

This news came from another African market and not South Africa but I'm certain that it includes every other market considering the state of both channels.

At the beginning of September, Disney Channel started airing shows from Disney XD so they kind of gave it away at that point while FOX Life is replacing the remaining telenovelas with repeats of past reality shows.

MultiChoice will be adding TLNovelas and from what I remember FOX Life supplied content from there so that should make a fine replacement for the FOX Life channel while Disney XD doesn't need replacing since Disney Channel will now supply content from that channel.

Disney XD launched in the early 2010s on DStv and kind of outshined Disney Channel in a way since most children prefer animation as opposed to sitcoms. I wasn't a fan of XD because it made it easier for Disney Channel to cancel programs. Now that XD will be off the market Disney Channel will have to work extra hard to please viewers.

FOX Life launched in 2016 in the place of FOX Crime and FX. The channel started out as a general entertainment channel carrying all the realistic programs with FOX handling the niche, crime and paranormal stuff then FOX Life dedicated themselves to unfinished Turkish shows and boring reality shows. This channel is definitely getting canned from StarSat/StarTimes I'm confident about that now.

MultiChoice in that mysterious market had this to say to the individual:
MultiChoice Group (MCG) has confirmed that as of September 30th at 23:59 CAT, Disney XD (channel 304) and FOX Life (channel 126) will stop airing on the DStv platform. The change is a result of ongoing review of channels by content providers and platform partners.
Update:

As per your query, I wanted to close the loop with this update:

 

We can now confirm that the Disney XD and FoxLife channels will close at midnight on Wednesday 30 September.

 

As the television landscape and viewer consumption evolves, we continue to develop and review our products and services - including with our platform partners - to ensure we are offering the best possible experience for consumers.

 

Whilst Disney XD will no longer air, some of the channels most popular and iconic animated and live action series will be brought to Disney Channel, expanding the channel’s programming offer to viewers. Whilst FoxLife will no longer air, we are excited to continue to entertain DStv viewers with world-class series and programming from Fox Channel.

 

We are excited to continue to bring our viewers popular and iconic programming from our extensive media networks channels.

 

You may quote “Disney Africa spokesperson”, should you require.


Update: 5 New Channels Coming To DStv

MultiChoice had a showcase were these 5 channels were unveiled which can explain their staff's cluelessness over its existence. More details on the channels have surfaced, please note that the availability of these channels are not definite as they're likely to change.

tlnovelas
Channel: 133
Broadcast dates: 14 September 2020 to August 2021
Package: DStv Family, Compact, Compact+ and Premium
English-dubbed Mexican telenovelas, not made by Telemundo.

ZooMoo
Channel: 314
Package: DStv Family, Compact, Compact+ and Premium
Broadcast dates: 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021
Canadian interactive pre-school channel featuring a mix of live action combined with animation and puppets. Aimed at kids aged 2-7.

KIX
Channel: 114
Package: Compact, Compact+ and Premium
Broadcast dates: Permanent channel, starting on 1 October.
Asian action movies. KIX features martial arts, action and thriller movies from the East and West, all presented in English.

Timeless Drama Channel
Channel: 123
Package: DStv Family, Compact, Compact+ and Premium
Broadcast dates: 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021
Turkish telenovelas and costume dramas dubbed into English.

TVN
Channel: 134
Package: DStv Family, Compact, Compact+ and Premium
Broadcast dates: From 1 November to 31 March
2021
South Korean dramas, also presented in English.

IMPORTANT: These 4 channels can be permanent channels depending on the impact it has with viewers. If they don't close on their specified date that means it's permanent.

Summary:
- All five will be available on Premium, Compact Plus and Compact.
- DStv Family customers get 4 channels
- DStv Access customers and others might have none of these channels, it's still unconfirmed at this point for all except KIX. If MultiChoice does advertise it for these packages as mentioned above you might get another outcome. If you visit their website Da Vinci was announced for Family customers with WWE being Compact when in fact it was Da Vinci on Access and WWE on Family.

The Next Channel Which Might Get Booted On DStv Is EVA

EVA owned by AMC International, is the home of the very best contemporary telenovelas from Latin America and around the world, starring the "newest" and most brilliant actresses and actors form Latin America tv. A potent mix of love, jealousy and betrayal. The channel launched 5 years ago on DStv channel 141 with shows from Azteca TV, Venevision and Caracol Television.

In 2017, MultiChoice Africa (not South Africa) decided to add a second EVA channel (EVA+) for those without EVA kind of like what ViacomCBS had with the two BET channels on DStv. At the time that plus channel had 90% repeats.

AMC International is seemingly neglecting the EVA channels for starters the main channel mostly has double bill of Bold for fresh entertainment other than that it's repeats while EVA+ is a just a catch-up channel. If EVA is still breathing it's more likely for Bold and the Beautiful.

MultiChoice had plenty of channels in EVA's position like Sony Channel and Sony MAX that channel was still relevant for The Amazing Race then there was AMC for Fear The Walking Dead with its successor (Sundance TV) adding some documentaries.

If a company wants to guarantee themselves longevity they should be milking off on a variety of products instead of one e.g. E! with The Kardashians, Zee TV with KumKum Bhagya and CNN with Trump.

Discovery is pulling through despite the changes they had over the years. They manage about 9 channels in South Africa and only 3 are used for repeats. Then there's Nicktoons which was a reruns channel for past animation on Nickelodeon until ViacomCBS decided to give it some exclusive programming it may offer more than the main channel thanks to acquisitions and a block but Nickelodeon is still dominating.

In short if you're going have a +1 channel make sure you have enough programs in your vault like at least 5 years worth of programming and EVA was around since 2015 and only got a second channel after two years. If you're going to expand after a shorter period you must have achieved a lot within that period what did EVA achieve after two years in general.

MultiChoice is adding 2 telenovela channels and 1 Korean channel what are the chances people pay attention to EVA once it's available. The likelihood is that they'll lure viewers away from EVA and a portion from Telemundo. Even FOX Life is hanging around these three channels the likelihood is EVA and FOX Life get canned from the platform with these three new channels keeping viewers occupied.