Why Fan-Favourite Sports Channel Is Not Available On Pay Platforms

In 2021, the isolated SABC Sport channel on the DTT platform was made available to Openview consumers as part of a deal made by the public broadcaster and eMedia Investments which included two more channels and 19 radio stations.

Years prior, SABC Sport made its OTT debut on Telkom's streaming service TelkomOne under a similar agreement with the public broadcaster within it included the 19 radio stations, SABC Education and likely any upcoming channel(s).

Since it's availability to free-to-air consumers, SABC Sport has become the top 10 watched channels on Openview and since then sourced several content outside of SABC 1-3 which includes the best of ESPN and Racing240 and all of that just triggered a certain pay-tv brand, SuperSport.

SuperSport is a sports division of M-Net which houses the biggest sports brands like Premier League, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Moto GP, WWE, Wimbledon, PGA Tour. Point is they are the biggest sports brands in Africa.

Unfortunately, due to all these prestige over the brand only a handful of matches are accessible to lower masses and those excluded rely on the SABC for some of these matches.

In the beginning, consumers no matter the platform would have access to these matches but following the official launch of SABC Sport that all changed as SuperSport exclusive matches would only be screened on the DStv and DTT platform with TelkomOne and Openview blocked from seeing any of these matches.

If you look at the tactic here, they're basically trying to boost the consumer numbers on their platforms as they experience a decline in DStv Premium and Compact consumers and also with streaming taking over they want to level the playing field.

Since then the public broadcaster had filed an application accusing SuperSport of being anti-competitive in a similar stature to eMedia Investments when their channels where pulled from the DStv platform.

Taking that to account, why would MultiChoice want a channel that rebroadcast SuperSport content especially if it means more consumers will likely downgrade if it means paying less for premium content.

Some of the content that was restricted to TelkomOne and Openview were also excluded from SABC Sport imagine if the channel was already on DStv with those restrictions attached when consumers who missed out would hope to catch-up or rehash some past content.

Redraw Your World: Why The Cartoonito Linear Channel Will Likely Have A Silent Rollout In EMEA?

Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and programming blocks that target preschool-age children. Since 2021, the brand comes with original content produced under Cartoon Network Studios.

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled plans to boost the offering of Cartoonito within the next two years but those plans could be in jeopardy. As seen in the past weeks, the company behind Cartoonito had scrapped projects some even entered post production.

On top of that, they plan to cut more content as they save up on costs. Not that Cartoonito won't have 50 titles I honestly believe they could get there but under two years does seem a bit far fetched perhaps use what little is available and the rest will follow later.

As seen in most international markets particularly Europe, Cartoonito is airing on a lot of Boomerang channels which builds onto that speculation of the phasing out of the channel as Warner Bros. Discovery hasn't done much for the brand.

Boomerang positions itself as a family channel but certain shows like Grizzy And The Lemmings and Masha And The Bear just compliment the offering seen on Cartoonito. Even the recent launches of Akissi and Legend Of Spark make the channel seem age appropriate to Cartoonito.

As seen with Redraw Your World on Cartoon Network and the phasing out of TCM with TNT I'm starting to think that maybe if Cartoonito does wind up replacing Boomerang for viewers in these regions that Warner Bros. Discovery won't make much fuss about it.

Redraw Your World may be on Cartoon Network but you still see plenty of old graphics and even when TNT replaced TCM there wasn't much variation at the time and so the idea of Boomerang folding under Cartoonito for a similar stance doesn't seem far fetched.

At launch, I'm kind of expecting Cartoonito to keep most of the content with several other shows heading to Cartoon Network or for them to keep those shows and put it in much later timeslots while use the above-mentioned shows to fill up the airtime alongside other content.

 

Mentalism Isn’t Magic But Its Mystery Is Just As Captivating - Larry Soffer

The leading mentalist in Africa Larry Soffer explains the five qualities that make a good mentalist (and we’re not talking of the TV show kind)

When Larry Soffer tells people he is a mentalist, they immediately think he spends his days unravelling crimes and putting offenders in prison, just like the lead character in the American drama television series 'The Mentalist'.

The truth is the only likeness Larry has to Patrick Jane’s character Simon Barker is their passion for entertainment. “Although I have been approached several times to help crack a crime, this is not something I feel comfortable doing. My aim has always been to entertain and inspire,” he says.

The misperception generally stems from the fact that people simply do not know what mentalism really is.

Mentalism explained 

We all know that magic encompasses a whole range of different things, from illusions on stage to close-up magic tricks amongst others. It is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by seemingly impossible feats using natural powers.

Mentalism comes under the ‘magic’ umbrella and could perhaps be best described as the magic of the mind. It is a sophisticated practice and an incredible skill that takes years to develop.

“A mentalist uses specialist techniques to demonstrate their art and skill of mind reading, metal bending, second sighting and predicting the thoughts of others. In truth, it involves anything that reveals the power of the mind and requires the ability to read body language and micro facial expressions. It basically utilises each of the five human senses to create the impression of a sixth sense,” explains Larry.

Done well, mentalism can positively impact the person watching the performance unfold. Not only does it allow the audience to step outside their mundane, everyday life, but it also transports them to a different reality, and inspires them to believe in the impossible to create a better future for themselves. 

After witnessing his fair share of mentalists and magicians perform all over the world, Larry believes these five qualities are what sets apart the good ones from the not so good:

Focus on the audience: Some mentalists perform so that they can feel great, validated, and admired but this makes their performance a one-sided affair. A great performer is able to focus on the audience’s experience and how it will connect with them emotionally. He always tries to give the audience the best experience THEY can have. The focus should always be on them and the feelings and emotions they will walk away with.

Have great intuition:  You can spend years studying mentalism, but nothing quite compares to being born with amazing intuition. Even as a child Larry perceived things that other people didn’t, which is probably what drew him to mentalism when he was studying magic.

Don’t be afraid to take risks: Pulling off scary stunts like putting a spike through your hand, making spoons and forks bend, lightbulbs burst, or broken watches come back to life can be tricky. Imagine having millions of listeners to a radio station for you to predict the incorrect newspaper headlines.

Luckily this has never happened to Larry, but he always pushes himself to do risky things as this has the biggest payoff.  He once performed for the First Lady of Kenya in Nairobi and popped a balloon with a large knife while blindfolded. To add some danger, he asked an audience member to stand somewhere in the crowd with the balloon and used what he calls ‘Second Sight’ to find them. It went down a treat with the crowd.

Eat, sleep and breath mentalism: Mentalism requires you to successfully blur the lines between reality and the supernatural. To do this well, you need to be more than just good at your craft. Only then will audiences believe that what you did was something impossible. You need to get even the biggest cynics to walk away in awe.

Create a memorable impression:  People must remember the experience they had with you for years and years. Only then will you have impacted them with your performance and skill. He once performed at the J&B Met a few years ago and ran into someone that saw him there a few years later. The gentleman came up to Larry to tell him that he kept a spoon that he bent for him for all these years because it reminded him that there was more to life, and this kept him rehabilitated from drugs.

You can never put a price on how this makes you feel!

Larry inspires his audiences to believe in the impossible so that they can achieve their dreams. Follow @LarrySoffer or visit his website for more information at www.larrysoffer.com.

El Mataviejitas. The Killer Of Old Ladies

2005. At a symposium on crime in Mexico City, a man from the Department of Justice stands up to give a talk. What he has to say is horrifying. He announces that Mexico is now experiencing “a terrifying and new phenomenon: the presence, now indisputable, of a serial killer. That which happens to us today didn’t happen to us before; happened in movies, in the United States. However, violence and crime have also become globalized—the serial killer of elderly women, El Mataviejitas, is an example of this.”

El Mataviejitas. The Killer of Old Ladies. You could tell from the nickname—from the El in El Mataviejitas—that the police were looking for a man. They were looking for a man because—well, who else could commit crimes like these? Someone was killing elderly women in brutal fashion around the city, leaving them dead on the floor, strangled by things like stethoscopes or phone cables or women’s tights. Sure, witnesses were claiming that they’d seen a woman—a tall woman—around the scenes of some of these crimes, but authorities would not be shaken from their belief. The killer was a man. Maybe a man who dressed in women’s clothes. But a man nonetheless. El Mataviejitas.

Susana Vargas Cervantes has been studying the case of the killer initially known as El Mataviejitas for over a decade. One of the things she noticed was that Mexican police had kind of imported their idea of what a serial killer looked and acted like from their neighbor to the north—from the United States, land of the celebrity serial killer. So when police in Mexico City finally started thinking that all of these killings of elderly women might be connected, they started looking for someone…well, someone like Ted Bundy. Someone charismatic. Brilliant. Psychopathic. And definitely male.

Back in the 1960s, before the killings of old women and before the symposium on crime, a thirteen-year-old girl was being sold to an older man. The girl’s name was Juana Barraza. Her mother, Justa Samperio, was an alcoholic who beat her daughter at every turn. Juana grew up in poverty, north of Mexico City, and had never learned to read or write much, and didn’t know her biological father. But the main source of trauma in her life, it seems, was her mother. Justa would have done anything for a drink. Anything. And so when Juana was thirteen years old, her mother sold her to a man named Jose Lugo in exchange for—some say—three beers.

The exchange was so cruel that Juana thought that the whole thing was somehow…not real. A joke, or a misunderstanding, or a set-up. Jose Lugo took her back to his house and she waited for her mother—or her stepfather, who she trusted—to come and save her. But no one showed up. No one showed up when Jose Lugo tied her to his bed. No one came to save her for the next five years, while Lugo raped her over and over, when she had an abortion, or when she gave birth to a son. After those five years, her uncles finally found her and rescued her. As it turned out, Juana’s mother had been lying to the rest of the family this entire time, saying that Juana had just…left with her rapist of her own free will.

Years later, Juana would weep on camera, under arrest, as she said, “That is why I hated older women.”

Credits: Tori Telfer

Afrikaans Voice Overs For In Die Ysterhand Se Greep And Kruispad + An Update On Die Put Voice Overs For Season 2

In Die Ysterhand Se Greep

Gustav Gerdener as Yigit

Sesethu Ntombela as Nur

Shemane Harris as Iciai

Karin Retief as Aytul

Sanli Jooste as Nazaan

Denver Vraagom as Cahit

Claudia Jones as Yaren

Susan Coetzer as Hafize

Mia Anne Kennedy as Elmas

Kruispad

Anton Dekker as Suleyman

Adrian Styen as Mert

Rika Senne as Kudret

Sue Pyler as Nehir

Marlee Van Der Merwe as Ilay

Cindy Swanepoel as Eda

Die Put replacements

Wilhelm Van Der Walt as Selim

Jaundre Kim as Karaca

Credits: Die Afrikaans Voice Page

[Missed Opportunity]: Expanding The Reach Of Zee World To DStv Access

eExtra was ripped off from the DStv platform for at least a month and was reinstated shortly after alongside eToonz, eMovies and eMovies Extra on the DStv platform following pending investigation by the Competition Tribunal which will take at least 6 months to resolve.

MultiChoice appears to have moved on although they don't put it in writing recent additions like DreamWorks and Movie Room has led me to believe that the pay-tv company has no plans to keep these channels past 6 months or at least a portion of channels.

As outlined by MultiChoice, eMedia Investments bulk of content doesn't fit into their 5 year content strategy for which the brand had stated consumers are viewing more DStv content than actual original programs although 2 appear to fit that description.

On top of that, they had mentioned that they won't be able to launch as much channels as they used to in the past year due to transponder constraints so whenever a new channel comes it usually has to occupy the space taken away from another channel.

In court, MultiChoice stated 3 SABC channels would accommodate for the 4 e.tv channels in the coming future but that's the thing. If anyone is similar with the SABC then you can already imagine how the content would differ.

Instead of Postman Pat you get Words And Numbers and Die Put is supplemented by past episodes of 90 Plein Street and although some of this content can benefit some audiences it's completely different.

The package I'm targeting for this article had to be Easyview cause as seen by several consumers it's one of the least valuable packages in the market with few exceptions being wrestling on TNT alongside the lifestyle and factual entertainment viewed on Real Time.

On top of that, the package isn't fortunate with additions and at times replacements for whenever a channel is removed from the DStv platform which was the case with eMedia's 4 channels.

When they were unexpectedly scrapped from the DStv platform. Multichoice rather just add 1 channel to supplement for 4 worse is when the channel has nothing remotely similar to any of the channels, KIX.

MultiChoice should have done a better job reviewing the aspects of each channel cause it's clear by some readers that this wasn't the case at all for eMedia's stations as the brand made it seem as if nothing new appeared on those stations.

eToonz was mostly preschool and that changed over the years regardless MultiChoice directed viewers to Disney Junior and JimJam with Cartoon Network being the only brand for older children and eExtra came off as a local channel.

Interesting to note is how they were able to keep up with the offering but didn't bother to just view every aspect of the channel as there was more to the channel than the supposed local offering which was compared to kykNET and Mzansi Wethu.

There was more to eExtra than just Kuiertyd there was that chunk of Korea and Zee TV offering which surprise surprise comes with a 24 hour linear channel that is seen on DStv Access everywhere else except South Africa but MultiChoice just opts for more MTV Base.

Viewers on DStv Access get to view this offering for only 6 months but what happens that duration passes those who are paying more can view this content on Zee World while those paying less being these consumers even Easyview are left in the dark for the foreseeable future.

Scooby-Doo Resembles Late 60s Sitcom

An all-American athletic boy with blonde hair. A beautiful popular girl. A lazy beatnik with a goatee who peppers his speech with "like" and "man." A brainy, petite brunette.

That sounds like a quite familiar quartet, right? Perhaps one that drives around in a green and blue van with a Great Dane?

Those descriptions apply to the core characters of The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis or Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! — and with good reason. The latter Hanna-Barbera cartoon, which premiered in 1969, was based on the former black & white teen sitcom from a decade earlier.

Here are the voice actors behind the characters of 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You!'

The development of Scooby-Doo was inspired by a couple popular teen sensations of the 1960s. Fred Silverman, CBS's head of daytime programming at the time, was looking to duplicate the success of the Archies. His rough pitch to animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera was this: a teenage rock band that would solve mysteries. Hanna-Barbera assigned the task to writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and artist Iwao Takamoto. Their first draft was a group dubbed the Mysteries Five, consisting of kids named Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda and W.W., along with a bongo-playing sheepdog called Too Much. These teen toons were rough analogues to Archies characters Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Hot Dog. (W.W. was an additional kid brother.)

Unimpressed, Silvermen sent Ruby, Spears and Takamoto back to the drawing board. This time, the creators simply mimicked Dobie Gillis.

Take a good look at the photo up top and it becomes pretty obvious. Fred is Dobie (Dwayne Hickman), Daphne is Thalia (Tuesday Weld), Shaggy is Maynard (Bob Denver) and Velma is Zelda (Sheila James). Heck, "Velma" even sounds like "Zelda."

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis showed its influence in other realms of pop culture, too. Dobie Gray, the pop-soul singer known for chart smashes like "The 'In' Crowd" and "Drift Away," was born Lawrence Darrow Brown. His record label suggested he use the name "Dobie" to ride off the popularity of the sitcom.

In a less evident example, Gerry Marshall admitted that his hit Happy Days was patterned after Dobie Gillis. Then again, just about every sitcom about teenagers can credit Dobie Gillis, down to Saved by the Bell. Dobie is a pioneer. This early gem was the first sitcom on a major network to focus on adolescent characters. He may have been a Boomer, but it feels like he hasn't aged a day.

Unpopular Fact: Cartoon Network Was A Loss Making Channel

When two corporations merge a bunch of wild decisions are made that we should definitely be worrying about. A recent announcement revealed that HBO Max as you know it won't be sticking around for much longer and something else will be taking place.

During an investor call, Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO David filled us in on what's happening by the end of 2023. HBO Max and Discovery+ are combining to form a new streaming service by next year. It will have a mix of old and new content with a lot of details still being left in the dark.

While this combo is taking sometime to get going we are already feeling the consequences right now - cancellations.

You may know that the Batgirl and Scoob: Holiday Haunt's situation were both these projects were close to being finished then they were just scrapped from ever releasing. That was bad but things are about to get much worse.

During the investor call, we learnt some unfortunate news about animation. In a previous slide from WarnerMedia, it was revealed that a high budget was going into projects including kids and animation with unproven financial returns.

On the call, we also learnt that content on both streaming and linear platforms would be cut without an adequate investment case on them if that was bad it's probably gonna get worse. This means that no current or upcoming offering is safe from being cancelled.

As stated in that upfront they would be looking to cutting back on local investment so it might be bye-bye to My Cartoon Friend, Elliott From Earth and CN To The Rescue alongside upcoming attractions like Garbage Boy And Trash Can, Iyanu: Child Of Wonder, The Adventures Of Ivanhoe and Battu are all not safe.

Credits: Vailskibum94

eVOD Has Been Credited In Latest Annual Results From MultiChoice Group

MultiChoice and eMedia Investments have been in an on/off relationship following the dispute in regard to the 4 e.tv channels. As seen in May, the channels went dark on DStv without notice only for the Competition Tribunal to look back on their final notion following pending investigation.

During that time, MultiChoice had managed to find the necessary alternatives with kykNET's Turkish offering on kykNET & Kie, DreamWorks, KIX and Movie Room all of which have managed to perform at their best capacity but not enough to fill the void left by the e.tv channels.

For those who've been following eMedia's stations for a while may have heard of eVOD I mean who wouldn't have heard of it as it is the only known outlet to stream the bulk of content some of which haven't aired any of eMedia's channels.

It was speculated the only reason eVOD wasn't added onto the Explora Ultra had to do with the ongoing feud between eMedia Investments and MultiChoice in regard to DTT and the carriage fees for their channels as other brands like the SABC are said to be earning more with just SABC News.

But as MultiChoice outlined in their recent annual results, they plan to add more streaming services even crediting various entities that haven't been seen on the Explora Ultra like Acorn TV and eVOD.

Taking that to account, could you say that eVOD will likely be bundled under the Explora Ultra perhaps as a replacement to e.tv's 4 channels as the channels only returned as part of a technicality and aren't must carry channels like SABC 1-3.

Boomerang Vs. Toonami Vs. Boing: Most Likely To Get Chopped

Boomerang, Toonami and Boing are animation brands within Warner Bros. Discovery's portfolio that cater to kids and youth adults but to better understand them it's best to explain each of them individually in detail.

Boomerang is a children's brand that caters to viewers aged 4-7 with shows like Masha And The Bear, Grizzy And The Lemmings and The Happos Family while as carrying content for the whole family to enjoy like Looney Tunes Cartoons, Mr. Magoo and Zig & Sharko.

Toonami is an action driven channel for young adults featuring various animation from DC's superheroes like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Justice League and Teen Titans. Accompanying the league of DC characters is anime like Hero Academia and Dragonball.

Boing is basically another Nicktoons as it features a classic set of content like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Johnny Bravo and Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends while as being used a brand for CN's forgotten or reject shows like Angelo Rules, Oswaldo and The Jungle Bunch.

In short, Boomerang is the best place for laughter while Toonami caters for comic book fans and people in the mood for some action and Boing travels back in time to the place where it all began with old favorites while blending to the modern society.

Unfortunately with all these traits come some minor flaws of which these 3 all have in common. Although each have a role to play, it's more transparent the more you watch but I feel it's best to bring it up.

On a year to year basis, Warner Bros. Discovery invests a certain amount of airtime on their channels with Boomerang and Cartoon Network getting the most Investment seeing as they're more acknowledged compared to Boing and Toonami.

In terms of content, Boomerang doesn't have a lot of noticable shows just gags which can help pass the time but that's as far as it goes. Just like Toonami, it can be irritating on how these shows rollout and how long it takes before you can get anything worthwhile.

Boing is just another repeats channel if anything it kind of rectifies the errors of Boomerang and Toonami. After all, the lineup adjusts constantly you don't have to wait several months or a year to find something worthwhile but that's just the perks of being a Nicktoons which can be substituted.

If there's any channel that would likely get chopped in this instance, it would have to be these three as it is Warner Bros. Discovery is cost cutting and I'm not saying they won't be much left on these stations or we'll see less content but 2/3 is a Nicktoons with the third being an odd triplet.

'Days Of Our Lives': Could The Sand In The Hourglass Be Heading To A New Era In South Africa?

NBC’s long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives will be leaving broadcast television after 57 years to stream exclusively on Peacock, the network announced on Wednesday. The change means that fans who previously have been able to watch the show for free on broadcast will now have to pay for a streaming service to learn what happens next in the show’s fictional town of Salem.

“With a large percentage of the Days of Our Lives audience already watching digitally, this move enables us to build the show’s loyal fanbase on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers,” Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a press release.

Earlier in the year, Days Of Our Lives was swept out of e.tv's primetime offering as eMedia tries to boost their original offering with eMedia Investments expected to invest R100 million in their streaming endeavours which has seen success as the company was able to obtain half a million registrations and record breaking ratings.

Of course, Days Of Our Lives' absence still haunts a lot of consumers as they've been following the soap for half a century when it began on the free-to-air SABC 3 channel which was known at the time as CCV channel and after the SABC's controversial COO at the time Hlaudi Motsoeneng put up a ban for international series forcing the drama to air close to midnight. 

As seen earlier in the year, the sand in the hourglass for e.tv has come to an end after almost 5 years of broadcast which has some feeling agitated over an outlet to this ongoing soap opera.

Peacock overseas decided to move Days away from cable as the ratings have been slipping on a year to year basis as direct-to-consumer becomes a top priority for international brands like The Walt Disney Company.

Before this news came into affect, Vodacom's defunct streaming service supplied Bold And The Beautiful another ongoing soap opera and rival to Days Of Our Lives after it was swept out of SABC's lineup due to the corrupt bold man thereafter MultiChoice's DStv as AMC International opt to not supply EVA channel which was the home of Bold on cable.

As it is a lot of long format or in other terms old timers like The Simpsons moved from cable to streaming for consumers in South Africa as The Walt Disney Company retracted the FOX channel as they plan to become a digital exclusive platform like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Now Days Of Our Lives being a digital exclusive doesn't seem far fetched and on Peacock although not available in the region as yet wouldn't be far fetched a stretch as well seeing as Days Of Our Lives: Beyond Salem which is a spinoff to be the soap can be viewed on the platform.

Peacock on top of being a streaming service is owned by NBCUniversal the same people that own Days Of Our Lives and now the chances of it suffering the franchise getting swept on this platform is close to zero but questions amount to how this service will eventually rollout in South Africa

As it is, Peacock is just another Showmax holds a lot of third party content, limited original content and is not knowledgeable by a lot of consumers as seen with Netflix and Disney+. In some regions, the platform was able to fold under Paramount+ which is expected in Africa by early next year but that doesn't guarantee it will supply Peacock.

Peacock is a very complicated case as outlined there's not much to offer on the table that you would dump a hamburger for a salad while others found comfort on Paramount+ (also known to some as SkyShowcase). Others got it as standalone as seen overseas while others found comfort in a local provider to which I nominate Showmax.

Say what you want about their owners MultiChoice but NBCUniversal has a tight relationship to the company as they supply the only alternative to M-Net on the DStv platform as others were retracted due to content or management changes. On top of that, the movie offering on Studio Universal can come in handy when you're avoiding cartoons.