The long-gestating plan to turn the M-Net Series (DStv 114) channel into a high definition (HD) TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform and to expand the M-Net Series brand into an expanded TV channels subset is finally happening with M-Net Series turning into M-Net Series Showcase as an HD channel, and M-Net Series Reality and M-Net Series Zone being added as two further standard definition (SD) TV channels.
TV industry insiders knowledgeable about the M-Net Series plans and TV with Thinus have steadily tracked it, and today the pay-TV broadcaster made it official by revealed the major upgrade to its M-Net Series channel brand.
The flagship M-Net Series channel will change to M-Net Series Showcase in name and become a HD channel on the new DStv channel number 113, M-Net Series Reality will show reality shows on channel 115 and M-Net Series Zone on channel 114 will be a rerun channel with previously shown seasons of shows seen on the M-Net channel and elsewhere.
The channels will go live on 9 July on DStv during the primetime evening. DStv Premium subscribers will get all three M-Net Series channels. DStv Compact subscribers will get M-Net Series Zone.
M-Net Series has been on a constant evolutionary change since the channel - provided by M-Net to MultiChoice - started as The Series Channel on DStv showing only old library titles of American shows similar to TopTV's Fox Retro channel.
At M-Net's media roadshow currently underway at the Fairmont Zimbali Resort in Durban, M-Net talked about the upcoming changes.
Plans more than a year ago to turn M-Net Series into a high definition (HD) channel and to start further additional M-Net Series channels on the DStv bouquet which went through various permutations and was postponed in favour of first launching, extending and structurally realigning M-Net movie channel offering under the M-Net Movies umbrella and boosting DStv's movie channel offering in the process.
Now the M-Net Series channel is following the same pattern, also with a showcase channel and additional channels.
M-Net Series Reality will have "the best conversational reality series depicting real talent, real people and real stories on channel 115. Shows on this channel will be Real Housewives of New York, Real Housewives of Orange County, Junior MasterChef II, Life After Top Chef, America's Got Talent, The Face I, Ready for Love I and Fashion Star.
M-Net Series Reality will also be the channel carrying the talk shows from now on.
The schedule for M-Net Series Zone has not been locked down yet I'm told but the channel on channel 114 will "offer the best in uninterrupted bundled episodes of series' that viewers may have missed."
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