FX (TopTV 110) programming, the male-skewed TV channel currently only available op On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV satellite pay-TV service in South Africa, is set to get beefed up considerably with the launch of a spin-off channel in America, FXX - with that channel's new content which will undoubtedly filter through to its brother FX as seen in South Africa.
FX Networks which runs the Fox pay-TV channels in America and which is part of News Corporation, announced that FXX will start as a new general entertainment spin-off channel from FX. FXX will be aimed at viewers aged 18 to 34.
FX, FOX and Fox Retro are three Fox channels run by TopTV and seen in South Africa thanks to carriage agreements with Fox International Channels and Fox International Channels Africa (FIC Africa).
Since there's no current plans for FXX which will launch in September in America to be seen in South Africa, it stands to reason that some of the newly-commissioned programming which will be produced for FXX will make it way to FX.
While some of the programming seen on FX in America so far has been seen on M-Net in South Africa (The Americans, Nip/Tuck, Damages, The Shield, Rescue Me, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), some of it is also seen only on FX in South Africa like Archer, while South African viewers are only able to see Fox shows such as Bones, American Dad, The Cleveland Show and American Guy because it's on FX.
Since FXX will have new content and new TV series, its clear that Fox will in time have that TV content filter through to not just M-Net but also to FX as broadcasting and licensing agreements are signed.
While its almost a certainty that some FXX shows will make its way to M-Net (DStv 101) and M-Net Series (DStv 114), some will also make it to FX, meaning a stronger international FX channel being piped into Africa and South Africa.
In other words, FX Africa is going to benefit by becoming a stronger channel since it will be fed from both the FX stable as well as the new FXX stable in America in the future which will produce new sitcoms and drama series.
For FX in America Guillermo del Toro is for instance working on a new TV series, The Strain based on his trilogy of novels about vampires. Mayflower is a look at the founding of the Plymouth colony in America. Grand Hotel is about a luxury hotel in Paris attacked by terrorists.
