Insidus

Friday, August 13, 2021

Disney+ Is FINALLY Coming To South Africa, No Clue On Whether The Rest Of Africa Will Get It At The Same Time

In a statement, the Walt Disney Company Africa said: "As confirmed in The Walt Disney Company's Q3 earnings call, Disney+ will launch in South Africa in winter 2022."

More details will be shared closer to launch.

Disney's subscription video streaming service Disney+ will finally launch in South Africa around June 2022. Viewers will be able to watch new series like Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Loki and a vast collection of content from National Geographic, Marvel Studios, Pixar and Disney.

The Walt Disney Company released its third-quarter 2021 financial results on Thursday night, where CEO Bob Chapek told investors on the company's financial results conference call that the launch of Disney+ in Eastern Europe is being pushed back from this year to 2022.

The Mouse House is doing this to enable a broader launch in "summer 2022" that will definitely include parts of the Middle East and South Africa, but that might exclude the rest of the African continent.

America's "summer 2022" means winter 2022 in Africa, starting from June.

Bob Chapek said that the "expanded Disney+ footprint will include parts of the Middle East and South Africa".

The Walt Disney Company Africa late on Thursday night told Channel24 in a statement: "As confirmed in The Walt Disney Company's Q3 earnings call, Disney+ will launch in South Africa in winter 2022. We will share more details as we approach the launch next year."

South Africa, Africa's most sophisticated TV market on the continent, will likely be the only African country where Disney+ will be launched initially. Chapek reiterated in the conference call that "our direct-to-consumer business is the company's top priority".

A year and a half after its launch, Disney+ has now reached 116 million subscribers worldwide by 3 July, bundling a collection of library and brand-new original content from across multiple of its studios and brands under one stream-viewing umbrella, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

The streaming race in SA
The first date fixture for a launch date of Disney+ for South Africa comes a week after a further two subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services launched in the country: ITV Studios and the BBC's BritBox SA, as well as eVOD from eMedia Holdings' e.tv.

BritBox SA and eVOD joined the existing Showmax from MultiChoice, Netflix SA, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, PCCW Media's VIU, Vodacom Video Play and TelkomONE.

Meanwhile the SABC, far behind in the video streaming race, plans to launch its video streamer, modelled after the BBC's iPlayer, before the end of its current financial year.

South African consumers are still waiting for other global streamers like WarnerMedia's HBO Max, along with Paramount+, NBCUniversal's Peacock and Discovery+ to launch locally.

While Disney has started to shut down hundreds of its linear TV channels globally, the expectation is that its existing group of pay-TV channels under its media networks division distributed into Africa and South Africa will remain on the air after Disney+ launches in winter 2022 for two major reasons.

The first will be to use these linear powerhouse TV channels as marketing and promotion avenues to raise awareness of Disney+ and to drive consumers to sample and subscribe. Secondly, with low and expensive broadband penetration and cost in South Africa, while the traditional pay-TV market still grows, Disney has millions of traditional pay-TV viewers from kids to adults who won't immediately move to Disney+ and who can't be cut off.

The third most in-demand streaming platform
The latest market research from Parrot Analytics has found that Disney+ has become the third most in-demand video streaming platform for original content in the United States and around the world, trailing just behind the more established Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Disney+ has dominated the video streaming original content game, accounting for the top two shows by demand globally on streamers, and with four of the top five in America during the second quarter this year.

All three Marvel series released this year on Disney+ became the most in-demand shows in the world within two weeks of launching, and Disney+'s original flagship series The Mandalorian continues to draw exceptional worldwide and American demand under viewers despite not launching a new episode since December 2020.

Friday, August 6, 2021

Could M-Net And MultiChoice Eventually Revive Big Brother Africa As A Permanent Channel?

Big Brother is famous reality show that features contestants who live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. The first show which is based in Dutch began in September 1999 and since then became a major franchise with 54 adaptations around the world.

In Africa, we got to see a Pan-African version of the game show from M-Net between 2003 - 2014 before becoming a Naija exclusive by Africa Magic from 2017 and onwards through DStv.

It was recently reported that Liberia would be making its own version of the game show which will launch on DStv channel 399 not sure what's wrong with 198 which begs the question on whether M-Net plans to revive Big Brother Africa with regional adaptations if so how would they able to cram all those shows in 1 year.

My guess would be that MultiChoice and M-Net will eventually operate Big Brother as a full-time brand not just in Nigeria but the rest of Africa as well. I can see some having a joint game show of course.

From what I've gathered, this franchise is all about welcoming talent and unlike Idols SA pop-up channel. This one is not reserved for only auditions.

Last year, MultiChoice's content boss (who died of COVID-19 complications may she R.I.P.) mentioned how popular the show has become and how the viewership has grown exponentially during the pandemic.

With that in mind, a permanent feed doesn't seem far off and I know it's a lot to process but my idea for this channel is to give at least 6 month coverage perhaps reduce the duration to get more markets onto that space and to air repeats for the rest of the year and often run a second channel when the content gets bigger.

While the pop-up ran across all packages or at the ones paying more than R100 this permanent one will be available to the family package (my opinion). Not saying Access customers will lose anything but they'll have open windows when it's live or repeats could work to better save up on costs.

There's other channels on DStv airing new episodes throughout the year which would actually affect the viewership that's why mentioned repeats. It wouldn't also be the best time to deploy such antics during the December holidays since some viewers won't be invested to their TV screens.

Big Brother Africa would join fliekNET which served as a yearly pop-up before becoming a full-time channel. MultiChoice has been Afrocentric and more focused on what they have as opposed to what's still available which is the reason for Honey, Wild Earth, Moja 9.9., Novela Magic, Maisha Magic Movies, kykNET Lekker, Abol TV and Pearl Magic Prime.

September 2021 On History Africa | Remembering 9/11 - The 20th Anniversary | New & Returning Series

REMEMBERING 9/11 - THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

HISTORY Channel Africa commemorates the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 atacks with special once of documentaries showcasing amongst others: the build up to the event, the iconic ‘fall’ of one of New York’s best beloved buildings and the legacy that stll haunts many survivors.

Brand New & Exclusive 9/11: FOUR FLIGHTS
11 September Saturday 20h15
Four Flights is the emotonal history of the four doomed fights of 9/11, each carrying mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, wives and husbands, frequent fiers and frst- tmers, and the unsuspectng along with the heroic fight crews. Each story is backed up by audio recordings, fight transcripts, on-the- ground audio and video recordings, and the mementos of the victms. It is told primarily through interviews with the loved ones lef behind, but also by air trafc control workers and other survivors involved in the story.

Brand New and Exclusive RISE AND FALL:
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
12 September Sunday 20h15
Rise and Fall: The World Trade Center, breaks down the history behind the constructon and destructon of the iconic Twin Towers. The program reveals the mechanics of building the Towers, innovatons, jaw dropping specs, and the highs and lows of its lifespan. It also dissects how the planes struck the Towers, and how the buildings’ design lent itself to both salvaton and destructon.

Brand New & Exclusive REVEALED: THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN
18 September Saturday 20:15
The documentary showcases the ten-year efort to fnd Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for the 9/11 atacks and the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Based on the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s unprecedented access to American intelligence and military personnel, the flm recounts how President Barack Obama ordered a small group of Navy SEALs to raid a mysterious building in Pakistan, without ever being sure that bin Laden was there. Featuring interviews with President Obama, CIA Director Leon Paneta, mission commander Admiral William McRaven, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and, for the frst tme, clandestne military planners, intelligence analysts, members of the assault force, and more, the flm reveals the risks and tensions of a mission whose purpose was clear, but whose outcome was never certain.

Brand New Episodes MOUNTAIN MEN S9
2 September Thursdays 19h25
There are men in America who must stll make their living of the land; huntng and trapping to provide for their families. They are the Mountain Men. The series features a variety of men from Appalachia to the Rocky Mountains to Alaska and follows them as they race against winter to obtain the sustenance and money needed to make it through the coldest months of the year. Eustace Conway lives deep in the mountains of North Carolina on the “Turtle Bay Reserve.” He moved there two decades ago in search of a more “truthful” existence. In the years since, he’s built a home, and survived by huntng, fshing and raising animals. Tom Orr lives with his wife on the Yaak River in Montana. He is 100 miles from the nearest town, a place he hasn’t ventured to in 10 years. John is a trapper by trade and to prepare for winter, he must earn enough money to obtain the supplies he needs. Marty Meieroto, his wife Dominique and their daughter Noah live in the small Alaskan town of Two Rivers. Every month, Marty pilots his bi-plane, travelling into the bush in search of the wolverine and lynx pelts he needs to make a living. While he’s on the Black River, he must hunt moose and caribou to survive in the wilderness. Together, they represent America’s true Mountain Men.

Brand New and Exclusive MOUNTAIN MEN S10
30 September Thursdays 19h25 Winter is loosening its grip on the mountains of North America. But that doesn’t mean life here is getng any easier. As the thaw begins and rivers start to swell, new opportunites open up for the mountain men to stockpile supplies, grow their own food and fortfy their homesteads. But this spring… they’re digging deep like never before. The mountain men and their families are masters of independence and living of the land. But even they are preparing for a changing world - one where the ultmate test may be who can brace for the worst in America’s wilderness.

Brand New & Exclusive LOST RELIC HUNTERS S2
20 September Mondays 19h25
In season 1 of Lost Relics, Carl and Hamilton unveiled their extraordinary stash of Knights Templar treasure. But amazingly that is only a small fracton of what they have amassed in a lifetme of obsessive collectng. Amongst other extremely rare and precious artefacts in their possession are: important pieces of Nazi memorabilia; pirate treasure; Crusader armour and weapons datng back nearly a thousand years; and as yet unseen Templar relics that cast new light on some of the Order’s deepest and darkest secrets. In season 2, we delve into one or more of these other incredible collectons. Using the same intoxicatng blend of archaeology, history and travel to exotc locatons like Venice, Istanbul and the Caribbean, these will be pleasurable and entertaining journeys into some of the most intriguing chapters of our past. This season’s episodes include new investgatons and discoveries of artefacts ranging from Celtc Gold and Crusader Pilgrim relics to Nazi items believed to have come from Hitler’s Bunker, and then contnuing eforts to authentcate the Tomar Templar Hoard.

Naagin Season 3 Coming Soon To eExtra

Following the launch of eMedia Investments leaked streaming service eVOD which unveiled upcoming content for eExtra which was mentioned earlier in the year including Turkish dramas Dokter Ali, Voelvry and Kamer 309 alongside the local drama Isiphindiselo while these shows have yet to make their linear debut the channel airs a new season of Naagin.

Naagin debuted back in 2018 on eBella as a weekly series before moving to eExtra following its termination. The third season is of the longest seasons for this Color's original.

In the third season, Ichadhari Naag and Naagin, Vikrant and Ruhi are about to be united in marriage after a wait of 100 years. But their story takes a dark turn when they cross paths with some murderous hooligans. After being publicly shamed by the cast of Veere Di Wedding for harassment, this group of hooligans is in a vengeful mood and they take it out on Ruhi and Vikrant.

The season debuted back in 2018 and Ekta Kapoor bagged two awards for this season which stars Karishma Tanna, Rajat Tokas, Pearl Puri and Swara Bhaskar.

Season 3 airs 27 August at 16:45 replacing Siddhi Vinayak when it concludes on August 26. This month will also welcome the second season of As Die Skoen Pas.

New Series Alert: Loli's Luck Coming Soon To Telemundo Africa

As predicted a few months back, Telemundo has ran short of super series with Operation Pacific being the only super series for the channel. The channel is going back to its roots with the new family comedy series, Loli's Luck.

Loli's Luck (La Suerte De Loli), follows Loli Aguilar is an independent, successful woman who works as the executive producer of Global Radio Group, the #1 radio station on the West Coast of the United States. While Loli's career is on the rise, her love life slides into the background as she enjoys her freedom and life without compromises. But life takes an unexpected turn when her best friend Mariana passes away and leaves everything to her, including her two children. Everyone is surprised, especially Loli, who feels like the least-qualified person for that responsibility. She must face her new reality and learn that work is not everything in life: the true meaning of success is family and love.

Silvia Navarro Dolores (The Candidate) stars as lead and other stars joining her include Gaby Espino (Santa Diabla aka Broken Angel), Osvaldo Benavides, Christian Chávez and Mariana Seoane.

The series replaces the final season of False Identity from Monday 13 September at 22:00 CAT/21:00 WAT/23:00 EAT. Judging by the nature of the show expect some schedule adjustments or better a reduction in Queen Of Heart's timeslot.

Besides Loli's Luck, Telemundo has other upcoming shows such as 100 Days To Fall In Love, Looking For Frida and The Scent Of Passion with rumoured shows such as El Capo and Nurses (more details can be found on the above link regarding shortage of super series).

eMedia Investments Leaked Streaming Service eVOD Has Launched To Replace On e On Demand And Also Plans To Add TV Channels

e.tv has launched the eMedia South African broadcaster's leaked streaming service eVOD (e-Video-On-Demand) as a so-called freemium streamer with over 2 500 hours of content at launch, including different premium subscription tiers for exclusive content.

e.tv plans to spend at least R100 million per year on creating brand-new local content for eVOD that will include 4 eOriginal series and 10 original South African feature films, and the plan is to add the streaming of live linear TV channels on eVOD in the future.

As e.tv is a free-to-air commercial broadcaster, eVOD offers thousands of hours of free library content that is available after a customer registers an eVOD profile.

eVOD also offers daily (R5 for 24 hours), weekly (R15) and monthly (R29.99) subscriptions, giving a viewer access to all content and offering more exclusive content including a first-run eOriginal movie, and access to the next week's 5 episodes of e.tv's top local prime soaps and telenovelas in a functionality called FastForward (FF).

eVOD subscribers can for instance watch the first episode of the new local drama series Is'phindiselo before broadcast, as well as Atlantis, the first eVOD Original movie in which a young woman sets out to find her missing brother involved in a gang and starring Bronte Snel, Maurice Carpede, Chumani Pan, Keenan Arrison and Ettienne Gertse.

eVOD customers can pay with debit or credit cards, airtime or partner billing with e.tv that has partnered with MTN and with MTN customers who register for eVOD who get 4GB data free monthly until 31 January 2022 that can only be used to watch eVOD content.

eVOD is available to download as an app for mobile devices on the Google Play and Apple's App Store, and is online at www.evod.co.za as a browser experience for computers.

e.tv's existing "e On Demand" website service where people could watch Catch Up episodes of shows, will now redirect users to the eVOD website.

eVOD launches in South Africa just a day before BritBox SA that is launching on 6 August with the country that is adding two new video streaming services in an already crowded video-on-demand space and where the South African public broadcaster plans to launch its own SABC VOD service, modelled on the BBC's Player, before the end of the year.

Besides eVOD and BritBox SA, South African consumers already have access to MultiChoice's Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ that are all competing with PCCW Media's VIU, Vodacom Video Play and TelkomONE.

Consumers are still waiting for other global streamers like WarnerMedia's HBO Max, along with Disney+, Paramount+, NBCUniversal's Peacock and Discovery+ to launch locally.

"We decided to meet our audience in places where they will be at - so if not on the TV set, on the mobile, or on the PC, and eventually they will get the eVOD content again on TV," said Khalik Sherrif, eMedia Holdings CEO, the eVOD virtual launch event on Wednesday night.

"We have a huge following in South Africa through e.tv and all the other TV channels and we understand in our business that our customers and audiences are changing on a daily basis these days, getting content through means that we didn't conceive of 10 years ago - the TV has evolved from analogue to DTH to DTT and the last couple of years we went to OTT."

Multiple new eOriginal series, films planned
Marlon Davids, e.tv managing director said that "the investment in the local broadcasting industry will be R100 million per year - that's what our investment is going to be - and it will include at least 4 eOriginal series for eVOD, as well as at least 10 local movies per year".

"Atlantis is available to watch on eVOD and up until the end of March 2022 next year we will launch another 4 movies, and possibly 2 more. In a full financial year there will always be 10 movies that we will launch."

Excluding Atlantis that is already on eVOD, the other eOriginal films will be available on a T-VOD basis on eVOD as a transactional video-on-demand offering.

"This means that eVOD users will pay a to-be-determined once-off fee to watch a movie because it won't be available on TV or in cinemas and will be territory premieres," Marlon Davids said. The price for T-VOD films has not been decided yet.

"A big part of eVOD will be Catch Up, so users will be able to watch last night's episode of series like Durban Gen or House of Zwide or even the Turkish telenovelas dubbed into Afrikaans."

"In that space we know that viewers are obsessed with those shows like Gebroke Harte, so we will also offer FastForward for Elif to see the next 5 episodes that will still be broadcast on the eExtra channel."

"Also some of these Turkish drama series that haven't been on e.tv channels such as Dokter Ali and Voelvry will now premiere on eVOD even before it goes to one of our linear TV channels."

"After Is'phindiselo our 13-part series that has already been renewed for a second 13-episode season, we will launch another one towards mid-September called Housewives, that is in production."

Plan to move e.tv content to eVOD
e.tv told the media that its existing shows like soaps of which Catch Up rights have been licensed to MultiChoice's DStv Now will remain accessible on that pay-TV provider's streaming service but e.tv's content is no longer available on VIU and has been moved to eVOD.

"As our contractual obligations ride themselves out, we're consolidating our content on our OTT service which is the logical thing to do," Khalik Sherrif said.

"We are introducing what is the mass audience of South Africa to content that is now going to be streamed. As data becomes cheaper, the numbers will grow. But we had to be in this business. We had to start somewhere."

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Due To Contractual Issues, Investigation Discovery, Real Time And Discovery Science Will No Longer Be Available On StarSat In South Africa And StarTimes In The Rest Of Africa

Apparently, StarTimes dumped the last batch of Discovery Channels seen on their platform: Real Time, Discovery Science and Investigation Discovery.

Before the removal, a lot of subscribers complained about experiencing technical difficulties with several channels including these ones and StarTimes said that they were working on resolving the matter.

Shocking enough, these channels went off air and according to StarTimes in the rest of Africa, Discovery decided to terminate these brands from August 2nd, funny thing about this is all of these channels are still available on DStv, Zuku TV and TelkomOne.

If you look brlob the one in South Africa was blandly honest:

Earlier this year, they even terminated Discovery Family and said it had something to do with Discovery but guess what it's still available on DStv and this is the channel's 8 month on the platform so if it's a Discovery thing why is it still functioning on your competitors.

Not long ago, MultiChoice even mentioned that they'd be handling the media sales for Discovery's set of channels packaged on DStv from September.

It seems to me that someone is being deceitful in this case StarTimes as they haven't been open with viewers regarding developments on their platform. The first incident happened in 2018/9 where they removed all the Disney Channels and blamed it on signal interference while Disney said it was due to commercial negotiations.

With this in mind, could it be possible that the company is facing some bigger problems that they don't want viewers to find out about.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Due To A Change In Management, MultiChoice Will No Longer Carry Beste Van Nederlands (BVN) On DStv

In view of a new digital strategy, the Flemish Minister of Media (Benjamin Dalle) has indicated that he does not wish to renew the partnership with BVN broadcaster after 1 July 2021. As a result, as from 1 July 2021, BVN will become a 100% Dutch broadcaster with more room for programmes of NPO, the Dutch public service broadcaster. BVN will continue to be available around the world online and largely via satellite. The termination of the partnership between Flanders and BVN will, however, partially affect the satellite distribution, as well as the VRT programme offering on BVN.

Satellite distribution via Eutelsat 113WA and Astra 19.2 continues:
BVN will still be available in the overseas territories belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but also elsewhere in Central and South America and a large part of the United States via the Eutelsat 113WA satellite. Furthermore, BVN will continue to be available via the Astra 19.2 satellite throughout Europe and the neighbouring territories in North Africa and South-West Asia. The “ reception page ” shows, by way of footprints, the exact areas where these satellites can be received.

Up till now, the high costs of satellite distribution could be shared with Flanders, but as the Flemish financial contribution, will be discontinued, we will, unfortunately, be forced to cut back on several expensive satellite contracts. Some of you may already experience the impact there of from 1 May 2021.

When choosing what satellites can be continued based on a smaller budget, we have ave decided, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, to give priority to the overseas territories belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In addition, it has been opted to maintain satellite coverage in Europe, where most Dutch emigrants live.

The following satellites will stop transmitting BVN in the short term:
- SES-5 (in Central and Southern Africa) as from 1 May 2021
- AsiaSat 5 (in Asia) as from 1 July 2021
- Optus D2 (in Oceania) as from 1 July 2021
- Galaxy 19 (in Canada, United States and Central America) as from 1 July 2021
- Multichoice/DStv (in Southern Africa) as from 1 November 2021.

If you watch via the Galaxy 19 satellite, your location may offer BVN via the Eutelsat 113WA.

You can check the exact reception area of the Eutelsat in this footprint.

BVN via cable:
If you watch BVN via cable, and your cable provider receives the BVN signal through one of the satellites that are discontinued, your cable provider will most likely not be able to continue to transmit BVN.

BVN worldwide online:
The BVN TV channel is offered online around the world, free of charge. This means that you do not have to pay any subscription fees or to log in. You can find the BVN livestream at www.bvn.tv/bvnlive. Or download the free BVN app for Android and iOS.

VRT programmes on BVN until 1 July 2021:
The VRT programmes will continue to be part of the BVN programming until 1 July 2021. After that, Flemish citizens abroad can watch and listen to the VRT offering via VRT NU, VRT NWS, and the VRT radio apps. Flemish TV viewers within Europe who still wish to watch the VRT offering via satellite can take out a subscription from TV Vlaanderen.

Just as all Dutch-language viewers around the world, Flemish TV viewers can continue to watch the NPO programmes via the BVN website and app (free, no login or subscription required). We regret that the BVN service will be reduced. We realize that the internet quality is not sufficient everywhere in the world to be able to view BVN online, so that some of you may have no, or insufficient, access to BVN once the satellites are discontinued. We wish to express our thanks to those viewers for their loyalty.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

StarPlus, Star Gold And Star Life Might Be Rebranding Soon

Earlier this year, Star India replaced the Star branding across UK/Europe with Utsav leaving Vijay TV as the only brand in South Africa, Middle East and Singapore to use the Vijay design to avoid clashing with the Star branding that's been rolling out internationally through Disney+.

According to Senior Vice President and Business Head, they want to celebrate positivity and energy reinforced through our loved characters. The Utsav logo, infused from the Star logo, signifies stability and progress while the trademark swoosh pays homage to the insurmountable human spirit.

Since Utsav was introduced, several queries have been filed regarding the rest of the Star channels in Africa and each time they've always redirected the media to the UK/European market since the changes were only applicable to them.

After much anticipation, it seems as if Star India got the rights to use the Utsav branding for the rest of their channels in Africa as they've seemingly been tested through Intelsat 20 on both DStv and StarSat.

On an interesting note, Star Life is the only channel that hasn't gotten the Utsav branding so I'm guessing the change will come to affect near September since it is the channel's birth month - perhaps the channel will be called Utsav Life or use an alternative name Life OK and add the triangle star-infused logo.

Speaking of Star, FOX has been adding a ton of content from there and their upfront in May was very weak in regards to new content so I'm guessing that the rebrand will happen will happen in October which coincides with the closure of more Disney Channels in Asia, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.