The sterling British drama The Hour which would have been on M-Net Series (DStv 114) and would have started on 18 December has now suddenly been moved to M-Net, where The Hour will now start on Tuesday 25 December at 20:30.
(Hit and Miss will now start on M-Net Series on 18 December at 22:30 in the place of The Hour).
The channel change actually does make sense and is actually a better fit on M-Net than M-Net Series.
M-Net - which lost out on actually getting Downton Abbey which is the year's best drama series and which BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) suddenly brought to South African viewers in 2012 by showing the first and second series - has been short of a good British period drama or two. The Hour will fill that void.
In addition, M-Net has secured and showed the first season of The Newsroom, the new American HBO drama set inside a fictional TV news channel. The Hour, which details British political intrigue and the inside workings of a British investigative TV news show at the BBC and the people who work there, is a logical and perfect fit therefore to both The Newsroom and on the M-Net schedule.
And there's a third reason: The Hour takes place in London in 1956 - it also fits nicely with Mad Men, the 1960's advertising drama which is also a prestige M-Net drama.
So there's actually three very good reasons as to why M-Net likely decided to remove The Hour from M-Net Series and rather place this six episode British drama on M-Net.
