Turner is dumping and replacing one of the last remaining original channels that DStv started with, with the old American films channel TCM from Turner Broadcasting that is being switched to the TNT channel from tomorrow, 21 September.
TCM has been available on MultiChoice for 23 years on DStv channel 137, as well as on Cell C's subscription video-on-demand streaming service, Cell C black, since late last year.
Tomorrow TCM, on DStv and Cell C black, that reaches 6.7 million monthly viewers across 49 English-speaking African countries, will switch to the blue-circled TNT.
TNT's programming is built on an action-driven, pulse-raising slate, mixed with some romantic films and comedies.
Despite a TCM brand fresh earlier this year and the addition of more recent films the past two years on the channel, DStv subscribers still saw TCM as old and outdated, prompting the final switch-out of the channel.
TCM - short for Turner Classic Movies - was one of the few original channels in 1995 that MultiChoice launched DStv with 23 years ago.
TNT that in the United States also carries drama and reality series, will be a film channel for South Africa and Africa and be a more contemporary film channel from Turner to be competition for channels like Studio Universal, SundanceTV, and M-Net's set of self-packed M-Net Movies channels.
"The TCM brand has had a strong classic association which doesn’t reflect the actual brand proposition, or deliver the right message, to our African audiences," says Guillermo Farré, head of general entertainment for Turner in Southern Europe & Africa, about TCM's demise and replacement with TNT.
"Even though we have listened to our viewers and worked hard towards modernizing the image of the channel, there was still a strong association of the TMC brand to 'classic Hollywood silver screen productions'. We therefore decided to switch TCM to TNT to fully reflect the new brand identity and perspective in line with our American blockbuster programming strategy," says Guillermo Farré.
Turner says TNT will offer a "young, fresh and entertainment-filled offering for the entire family" with "creative and relevant programming specially tailored for African fans".
TCM up until now was slightly male skewed with a growing number of viewers in the 25 to 49 age demo, particularly amongst black African viewers.
TNT will show films ranging from The Illusionist, The Green Mile, Crank, Robin Hood and Hellboy 2 to Doom, Tango and Cash and Gladiator.
Turner issued no September schedule for the mid-month TNT replacement.
Below is Turner's first teaser trailer promo for TNT.
While Turner says that TNT will be an "entertainment-filled offering for the entire family" Turner chose to deliberately include profanity like "Holy mother of Jesus!" in its official promo, something that will definitely be off-putting and be seen as blasphemous by certain families who are DStv or Cell C black subscribers who might choose to rather steer clear of TNT.
While TNT Africa is or African audiences, it doesn't seem as if Turner's marketing team for TNT knows Africa or audience sensitivities.
