Although M-Net so far has not said a single word regarding specific programming content and the specific timeslots of that content on the pay broadcaster's new schedule that will come into effect from 1 April, I can reveal exactly how the M-Net channel's schedule for a given week will now be looking.
The new M-Net schedule contains a substantial increase in the number of repeats of shows resulting in less first-run content per week, a decrease in the number of movies (because of more show repeats), a new 4 day soap, a new 5 day talk show, overall less local content, a daily stripped reality show, the end of original afternoon programming, and Carte Blanche remaining a fixture on a Sunday night.
The schedule below is for the new, standard ''digital'' DStv M-Net channel; the new M-Net analogue schedule for the about 150 000 subscribers again looks differently. (That new schedule is apparently packaged with repurposed Afrikaans shows and content from kykNET but I haven't seen that April schedule yet to verify it myself, and that schedule isn't being released. An M-Net TV promo only says ''programming thanks to kykNET and e.Nuus'')
Working slowly and carefully and sifting through the first week of the new M-Net schedule for April just released to journalists covering television for TV guide purposes, I can reveal the following:
• Indeed gone from the M-Net channel is Carte Blanche Extra on Monday nights after just 10 episodes (exactly as I broke the news here).
• Gone is the entertainment magazine show All Access on Friday nights (exactly as I broke the news right here).
• Brand-new is the daily talk show The Talk at 13:00 on weekdays (exactly as I broke the news right here, and now also with a early morning daily repeat at 08:00 I just discovered.)
• Brand-new is the Monday to Thursday (not Friday) soap The Wild at 18:00.
• Based purely on looking at the schedule and counting repeats:
1.M-Net is adding more repeats and devoting more time per day to repeat scheduling and less to broadcasting original content that ever before since it adopted a 24 hour schedule. M-Net is doubling the repeats on the next day of some previous day primetime shows, and again showing it over weekends. For example, Survivor SA Maldives would now be shown twice the next day after the previous night, and then again the weekend. That makes it 4 times per week.
2.M-Net is getting out of, and is apparently giving up on trying to programme for mid- and late afternoon viewing, leaving the 14:00 - 18:00 timeslot to repeats of already seen programming.
3.Less movies and a decrease in the amount of feature films shown on M-Net (due to the increase in TV show repeats.
Click on READ MORE below to see exactly how M-Net's new day-to-day schedule will now look from April 2011, what is changing, and what shows and timeslots are left unchanged - with some explanatory notes.
Monday
08:00 The Talk (new repeat slot for daily talk show Mondays to Fridays)
18:30 Masterchef Australia II (goodbye Carte Blanche Extra. A new reality slot running with new episodes of the same show daily)
19:30 Grey's Anatomy VII (unchanged)
20:30 The Good Wife II (unchanged)
21:30 Brothers & Sisters V (a new 3rd hour of primetime TV series as part of M-Net's extended primetime slot, in line with M-Net's announcement that it's extending what it considers to be nightly primetime)
22:30 Movie
00:05 Carte Blanche (repeat)
Tuesdays
07:00 Grey's Anatomy VII (new repeat timeslot of Monday night 19:30 drama)
11:00 The Wild (new mid-morning repeat timeslot Tuesdays to Fridays)
11:30 Masterchef Australia II (new weekday Monday to Friday repeat slot of the previous night's episode)
15:00 Brothers & Sisters V (new repeat timeslot of Monday night's 3rd drama)
16:00 Grey's Anatomy VII (new repeat timeslot of Monday night's 1st drama)
17:00 The Good Wife II (new repeat timeslot of Monday night's 2nd drama)
18:30 Masterchef Australia II (it could indicate that reality shows will now be stripped to run daily until it ends, replaced by a new show. Unclear)
19:30 Chuck IV (unchanged)
20:30 CSI X (unchanged)
21:30 Dexter V (unchanged)
22:30 Californication IV (unchanged)
23:00 Movie (unchanged)
Wednesdays
07:00 Chuck IV (new repeat timeslot of Tuesday night 1st drama)
16:00 Chuck IV (new repeat timeslot of Tuesday night 1st drama)
17:00 CSI X (new repeat timeslot of Tuesday night 2nd drama)
18:30 Masterchef Australia II
19:30 The Big Bang Theory III (unchanged)
20:00 Two and a Half Men VII (unchanged)
20:30 The Mentalist III (unchanged)
21:30 The Event (unchanged)
22:30 Movie (unchanged)
Thursdays
07:00 The Big Bang Theory III (new repeat timeslot of Wednesday night first main primetime hour)
07:30 Two and a Half Men VII
15:00 The Big Bang Theory III (new repeat timeslot of Wednesday night first main primetime hour)
16:00 Two and a Half Men VII
17:00 The Mentalist III (new repeat timeslot of Wednesday night 2nd drama)
18:30 Masterchef Australia II
19:30 Survivor SA Maldives (unchanged)
20:30 Desperate Housewives VII (unchanged)
21:30 Fringe (unchanged)
22:30 Dexter V (repeat of Tuesday 21:30 timeslot)
23:30 The Event (repeat of Wednesday 21:30 timeslot)
00:30 Movie (unchanged)
Fridays
07:00 Survivor SA Maldives (new repeat of Wednesday night first main primetime hour)
18:00 Mike & Molly (now a new comedy and fantasy slot in the place of the hour long Binneland Sub Judice and also not given to The Wild, meaning the soap will only run Mondays to Thursdays)
18:30 The Adventures of Merlin III (goodbye All Access)
19:30 Wipeout Australia (unchanged)
20:30 Human Target II (unchanged)
21:30 Movie (unchanged)
Saturdays
07:00 Movie (instead of Saturday morning children's programming, now a new movie slot)
09:00 The Good Wife II (more weekday repeats in what used to be an extended slot for movies)
10:00 CSI X
11:00 The Mentalist III
12:00 Desperate Housewives VII
13:00 - 17:00 Masterchef Australia II (omnibus of the week's already repeated reality show episodes in what used to be an extended slot for movies and sport)
17:00 American Idol X (unchanged)
18:30 Movie (unchanged)
20:30 Mike & Molly (repeat of Friday's comedy slot)
21:30 Movie (unchanged. basically the new starting time of the 21:00 Saturday movie)
Sundays
07:00 - 09:00 The Wild (omnibus of the week's already repeated soap episodes that used to be original kids programming)
09:00 Wipeout Australia (repeat of Friday night first main primetime hour)
12:00 - 16:00 repeats of week's TV series (unchanged)
16:30 American Idol X (unchanged)
19:00 Carte Blanche (unchanged)
20:00 Movie (unchanged)
