Here Are Some Did You Know Facts About

The professional wrestling fraternity was saddened to learn about the demise of the former WWE World Champion Bray Wyatt at the age of 36. He has long been dealing with an undisclosed illness but nobody expected his condition to have deteriorated, this much.

Earlier this month, Fightful Select reported that the illness Wyatt was dealing with was indeed life-threatening. The source also noted how Wyatt contracted COVID-19 earlier this year which exacerbated heart issues for him.

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Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)

Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)

Positive progress towards his pro-wrestling return was noted in recent months but he ultimately suffered a heart attack to pass away. As we mourn the death of one of the most entertaining WWE Superstars of the modern era, here are some lesser-known facts about him:

- Real name Windham Rotunda, Bray Wyatt comes from an enriched family with a tremendous history in pro wrestling. He is the son of former WWE wrestler Mike Rotunda who oversaw the company's non-televised house shows for years until the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two of Mike's brothers, Barry Klinton Windham and Kendall Windham were also wrestlers as they followed in the footsteps of their father, Blackjack Mulligan. Even Bray's own brother, Taylor Rotunda was an ex WWE Star best known as Bo Dallas.

- Bray Wyatt returned to WWE last year at Extreme Rules 2022 with an Uncle Howdy character tagged alongside him. This persona was supposed to be played by his brother Bo but WWE never got the opportunity to reveal the identity.

- In real life, both Bray Wyatt and his brother have been attached to either active or former WWE personalities. While Bo is dating active WWE Superstar Liv Morgan, Wyatt has been married to former WWE in-ring announcer JoJo.

Morgan and Bo reportedly run a farm together and they entered a relationship for their love of farming in the first place. As for JoJo, she took a break from the WWE to focus on her personal life with Bray.

- Following his October 2022 return, Bray Wyatt only competed once on WWE TV which was at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, where he defeated LA Knight in a first-time-ever Pitch Black Match presented by Mountain Dew.

WWE arranging a sponsored match for a particular superstar is an example of how Wyatt was over with the WWE Universe. If the WWEShop.com sale is to go by then he was the second-highest merchandise mover.

Being the franchise player of the WWE, Roman Reigns usually covers the top spot while Wyatt overtook him on quite a few occasions with the invention of The Fiend and those puppets from Firefly Funhouse.

The original Wyatt Family gimmick was so popular among the fans that The White/Black Sheep mask sold like hot cake almost a decade ago. Even during his latest return, he moved tons of merch with Uncle Howdy before illness sidelined him.

- Bray Wyatt was one of those very few top WWE Superstars who never had the chance to successfully defend the WWE Championship in a singles capacity. He won the prestigious belt back at Elimination Chamber 2017 PLE.

Just when people thought that WWE was about to give Wyatt his deserved push, Wyatt lost the momentums by dropping the belt to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33. Things went worse for him with the follow-up House of Horrors rematch that ended up being a debacle.

Overall, Bray Wyatt is a three-time world champion in the WWE. After 2017, he won the Universal Championship in 2019 as The Fiend only to be victimized by Goldberg. Then in 2020, he regained the title for just seven days before Roman Reigns took it.

Amazon's Bestseller I'm Glad My Mom Died By Jeanette McCurdy (PDF)

I'm Glad My Mom Died is a memoir by American writer, director and former actress Jennette McCurdy based on her one-woman show of the same name. The book is about her career as a child actress and her difficult relationship with her abusive mother who died in 2013. It is McCurdy's first book and was published on August 9, 2022, by Simon & Schuster.

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SpongeBob SquarePants Pitch Bible (PDF)

SpongeBob SquarePants, commonly known as the SpongeBob Bible, is the pitch bible for SpongeBob SquarePants . It contains many concepts originally made for the show, but a lot were not included.

The pitch bible is laid out as scientific discoveries from a team of deep sea divers. The research is dedicated to a diver who lost their life due to ocean pressure. The pitch bible starts off detailing the main character, Sponge Boy. It describes his character, how he's different, and his appeal to children. It then shows various drawings of the important buildings and their attributes, with a description of background characters interspersed. After which, A drawing made by Stephen Hillenburg shows a couple on a beach. The woman says "Dave, lets take a moment to talk about the Secondary Characters." It then describes Squidward, Patrick, and Sandy, in that order. A drawing of a tiki saying "other characters is then also seen," followed by drawings and descriptions on Mr. Crabs, Pearl, Plankton, Barnacle Bill, and Mermaid Man. It then describes in further detail, aimed towards executives, of the appeal of Sponge Boy to kids. A comic-style of Sponge Boy is then shown, followed by a Hawaiian background with the text "story ideas for a pilot." Another drawing of Sponge Boy is seen, followed by early plot descriptions and drawings of "Jellyfishing" and "Reef Blower." Another Hawaiian background is shown, now with the text "more story ideas." Then follows plot descriptions for "Mussel Beach," "Squeaky Boots," "Bubblestand," and "Employee of the Month." A drawing of Patrick is shown, followed by more shorter and unnamed story ideas. Another page describing the appeal of Sponge Boy, titled "Why 'SpongeBoy'?" is shown, followed by an image and description of the show pitcher, Stephen Hillenburg. Finally, four drawings depicting various settings in Bikini Bottom are shown, which marks the end of the pitch bible.

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Afrikaans Voice Actors For eExtra's Winter Son

Anton Schmidt as Mazhar

Bradley Oliver as Bora

Insey Cele as Nadide

Stephren Saayman as Burak

Vinette Ebrahim as Fatma

Raynad Slabbert as Efe/Mete

Sue Pyler as Seda

Eloise Cupido as Seda's mom

Dawid Minnaar as Resat

Roderick Jahfta as Yakup

Mortimer Williams as Ismail

Warren Hannelie as Sumru

Liane Heyl as Leyla

Zetske Van Pletzen as Nisan

Dirk Stoltz as Kadim 

Source: Die Afrikaans Voice Page

Peach Greek: First Episode To Fan Made Remake To Ed Edd'n Eddy Is Now On YouTube

Peach Creek is a fan-made adult web series, focusing on the final year of high school for the characters from Ed, Edd n Eddy. Designed as both a love letter and direct continuation of the show, Peach Creek is by fans, for fans.

Set in their final year of High School, life has changed so much for the Eds and the rest of the gang. Lives change and intermingle, people grow. The Eds come to realize that not everyone who you grow up with will be there in the future. Ed deals with his past and present; Edd begins to open up his boundaries; and Eddy has to come to terms with who he is.

Episode 1 is titled The Rug Pull which follows the Eds as they hang out in the van, Edd's life is monotonous.

What Happened To The Hallmark Channel On DStv?

Hallmark Channel was a family based entertainment channel featuring a set of miniseries such as McBride and Mystery Woman, movies alongside reality and acquired series like Walker Texas Ranger, Home Improvement and The Brady Bunch.

The channel hadn't been profitable during the time it was managed by Crown Media Holdings as they made several losses during 1998 to 1999. They recorded a $35.5 million in 1998 on revenue of $23.7 million, and in 1999 it lost $56.7 million on revenue of $31.9 million.

After several years of struggle, the channel made a breakthrough in 2005 recording their highest peak in viewership. It was also the year Hallmark's international operations was put up for sale receiving so many weak offerings they were fortunate to find a buyer.

Out of all the weak offers, Sparrowhawk Media purchased the brand for a total of $242 million which too was weak but the most they've gotten amongst bids. Around that time, NBCUniversal assisted in channel distribution.

In 2007, Sparrowhawk Media was later purchased by NBCUniversal had plans to launch a further set of channels including Universal TV, KidsCo, Diva, Syfy, Studio Universal and 13th Street Universal while as operating 18 Hallmark channels.

In 2011, Universal Networks International's rights to the Hallmark Channel brand ended; the networks were either shut down, or rebranded as one of the channels mentioned above.

Hallmark Channel can only be found in the United States and despite not having much power over the brand. They do own the space once reserved for the brand so Hallmark Channel can't do much globally without NBCUniversal's authorisation.

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Verbode Liefde

Elma Potgieter as Ülfet

Mari Molefe as Suhandan

Alicia Van Emmenis as Saniye

Natasja Jobs as Fitnat

Saanli Jooste as Nevicihan

Marijke Coetze as Döne

Karin Retief as Azimet

David Johnson as Adil

Charl Van Heyningen as Abbas

Andre Retief as Rüstem Kuloglu

Claudia Jones as Culsum

Danielle Retief as Meliha Kuloglu

Rowlen Van Gericke as Serhat 

‘Tom And Jerry’ To Spar In Singapore; First Ever Localized Version To Premiere On Cartoon Network & HBO GO

Warner Bros Discovery has announced the first ever localized version of the Tom And Jerry series, featuring the famous cat and mouse duo as they take their rivalry to Singapore.

Produced locally in Asia, in association with Warner Bros Animation, the new 7×3-minute series will premiere on Cartoon Network in Asia Pacific and HBO Go in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong later this year, before being rolled out internationally. 

A pilot episode giving a flavour of what’s to come will launch in August – further details will be announced soon. 

The project is produced by Warner Bros Discovery’s Carlene Tan, with Vivek Bolar serving as lead director. India’s Aum Animation Studios handled the animation, with stories and designs from Singapore-based Robot Playground Media and Chips and Toon Studios.

Christopher Ho, Warner Bros Discovery’s Head of Kids, Southeast Asia, said: “This series brings back the iconic music and classic animation style from the Hanna-Barbera 1950s era – but with a modern Singaporean twist. 

“With distinctive landmarks, backdrops and atmosphere, the Asian city-state is the ideal location to create a humorous addition to the Tom And Jerry canon. Working with homegrown creative talent in Singapore and across Asia, this project grows the much-loved franchise in the region and beyond.”

Vishnu Athreya, Senior Vice President of Series, Warner Bros Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, said: “Tom And Jerry are two of our most universally loved characters, proving that laughs can translate to any audience. The fans in Asia have long embraced these characters and it’s great to finally give them a version to call their own.”

Tom And Jerry is one of Warner Bros Discovery’s leading franchises with a global social reach of 50 million and almost 30 billion minutes watched on the Warner Bros Kids YouTube channel. There have been more than 500 episodes, 15 movies and seven Academy Awards so far in its 83-year history. 

Warner Bros Discovery also plans to launch additional Tom And Jerry-branded consumer products to complement the series launch later this year.

Disney To Halt Distribution Of DVD And Blu-ray In Australia

The sales of physical media, including Blu-Ray and DVDs, have been in decline for years, following the increased popularity of streaming services and a shift to digital movie releases.

Recently, Disney announced it was closing down its Movie Club program in Canada following a shift in consumer patterns to watching films on digital and Disney+. And now, according to Digital Bits, multiple industry, distributor, and retailer sources, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will be pulling out of distributing physical discs in Australia.

Over the past few years, many retailers in Australia and other countries, have slowly been withdrawing physical media, including video games, movies and music from sale, as audiences shift to digital platforms. Disney has previously stopped releasing movies on physical media in Latin America and across most of Asia. And it is likely other countries and regions will follow, as the sales of physical discs continue to fall.

For context, in the United States, in 2006, “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” sold 14,476,924 million discs.  In 2012, the highest-selling disc was “Hunger Games”, with 7,434,058 discs sold and in 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick” was the highest-selling DVD with 829,831 sold.  However, in 2023, currently, “Black Adam” is the highest-selling DVD of the year, with just 74,353 discs sold in the US.

Many movie fans are unhappy with this news, especially with a growing trend of streaming services like Disney+ making changes or removing content without notice. Disney has been releasing fewer of its films and shows on physical media over the past few years. Australian film collectors will still be able to import films from global retailers, but this will result in much higher costs due to international shipping etc.

“Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 3” is set to be the last physical release in Australia, which arrives in stores in August. Previously released titles will continue to be on sale, but as stock is reduced, these may become unavailable over time.

Ultimately, as audiences have moved to watching films on streaming services such as Disney+ and buying/renting films on digital platforms, it now looks like it’s no longer sustainable to distribute physical discs in Australia.

Warner Bros Discovery President Of International TV Distribution Robert Blair Is Leaving After 25 years With The Company

In an internal memo seen by Deadline, WBD President of International Gerhard Zeiler announced Blair’s departure and revealed his post would not be replaced after “much deliberation.”

Blair will “will transition over the summer and partner closely” with Zeiler “to further empower” WBD’s content licensing team, according to Zeiler. The move is being described as “a necessary structural change to our team design that both flattens and streamlines the Content Licensing organization.”

“Last year, we unveiled a new org structure for International, which we believed best positioned us for success at that time,” said Zeiler. “But we also acknowledged that in an ever-changing industry and market, we would need to continue to evolve in a thoughtful and strategic way, along with the climate around us.

“Seven months into 2023, although we remain confident about our trajectory as a business, we are at another inflection point, and one where the global economy has not rebounded as quickly as we had hoped.

“As such, today I’m announcing that Robert Blair, President, WBD International TV Distribution, will be departing WBD.”

Blair has been with WBD and its Warner Bros predecessor companies for a quarter of a century, overseeing the International sales strategy for major titles such as Game of Thrones, The Flash and House of the Dragon.

He joined Warner Bros International Television Distribution in 1998 as General Manager, Canadian Operations. He had previously served as Director of Television, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

Blair was promoted to lead WarnerMedia’s international sales division in 2019 under worldwide distribution boss Jeffrey Schlesinger and kept his role in last year’s restructure, which followed the Discovery merger and creation of WBD. Schlesinger departed in 2020.

Zeiler’s note today said his departure was “no reflection of his performance” and was instead “a shift we need to make to continue to refine our efficiency and cost structure.”

“My humble thanks to Robert for his outstanding leadership, talent, and effort to help us get where we are today,” wrote Zeiler. “Robert’s contribution to the company in his 25 years has been outstanding and can be measured in several billions of dollars of sales-contracts he made possible every single year. Despite being known as tough negotiator, he is respected by all of his clients he dealt with. He is also an exceptional leader, who mentored many talents within the company and is admired and valued by his team.”

Zeiler is writing from experience — he will have sat at opposite sides of the table to Blair during his time at the helm of RTL, which was a major buyer of Warner content during his time running the European networks group.

Source: Deadline

24Kitchen To Cease Transmission In Turkey By The End Of July, More Countries Likely To Follow

24Kitchen is a lifestyle channel operated by The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) that broadcasts mainly food and cooking programs. Similar to the FOX channel in the affected region, 24Kitchen is known for a number of original productions alongside international content.

Some of the content seen on 24Kitchen include Amazing Weddingcakes, Jamie’s Family Christmas, The Taste of Life Basics and Rudolph's Bakery.

During the month, it was learnt by Bob Iger who serves as the current CEO of the blue brand that he's looking to sell several linear channels. Internationally, The Walt Disney Company is consolidating further programming from these brands to streaming services.

It's likely that the demise of 24Kitchen has to do with the company's pursuit to a streaming only module. The company had closed a further 18 channels last year in Asia and plan to close the remaining feeds by the end of the year.

Although consumers in South Africa and most parts of Africa aren't familiar with 24Kitchen, MultiChoice however distribute a Portuguese feed of the lifestyle channel in Angola and Mozambique while Turkey and some parts of the world had been receiving the Dutch feed.