You're reading it here first.
I was first to tease you about m199 RIGHT HERE when I broke the news and then I told you flat-out RIGHT HERE that m199 will be M-Net and DStv's new holiday channel in December - news that MultiChoice just officially confirmed.
''DStv Premium subscribers can look forward to the return of the popular holiday channel on DStv. The m199 channel, previously known as the M-Net holiday channel, gives subscribers the opportunity to catch up on their favourite series or movie that they might have missed during the year,'' MultiChoice says in a just-released statement.
m199 will start to broadcast from Wednesday, December 10 and run until January 9, 2011 from 08:00 in the morning until 13:00 - of course on channel 199 on DStv and not on channel 198 as in the past. "This time of the year is all about providing the whole family with great entertainment,'' says Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's general manager for content. ''We believe that m199 will add to the overall experience and give our subscribers more choice this festive season.''
The m199 holiday channel will be themed according to days, as well as timeslots. Family friendly movies will go out daily between 08:00 and 10:00. Medical shows such as Mercy I, Private Practice II and House VI will run on the ''Midday Medical'' timeslot at 12:00, 13:00 and 14:00 respectively.
Fridays will have musicals and Saturdays superhero movies while ''Bridal Specials'' will be shown on m199 on Sundays with movies like Painted Veil, Bride Wars, Rachel Getting Married, Made of Honour and The Proposal.
Series will be shown at 17:00 daily, with themed movies at 21:00. Mondays are devoted to comedy movies, Tuesdays to drama, Wednesday to action and Thursday night will go to chick flicks. A special ''Horror Hour'' awaits on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 23:00. Omnibus broadcasts of series are scheduled for Sundays with the final season of Lost (4 episodes per Sunday), The Pacific I (2 episodes per Sunday) and Nurse Jackie (2 episodes per Sunday).
