MultiChoice's 5 day MultiChoice Content Showcase is currently taking place at the Outrigger Mauritius Resort & Spa in Mauritius.
MultiChoice couldn't be bothered in the slightest to even just tell South African press and TV critics about it or that it's happening.
That's despite South African packaged and seen channels like M-Net Edge (DStv 102) for instance did presentations and had American stars over from the drama series From Dusk Til Dawn on Saturday for a press conference and panel discussion.
For day 1 and day 2 news and stories check here with links to further articles.
For day 3 news and stories check here with links to further articles.
Day 4 news, announcements and stories here.
Morning
M-Net will be launching a new channel Maisha Magic Bongo on DStv on 1 October for Tanzania.
M-Net will be launching a new channel Jango Luxo on DStv on 11 October for Angola.
M-Net says more local content is coming for African countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe - as well as a country-specific channel for every country in East Africa.
Maisha Magic and Maisha Magic Bongo will now be opened up and broadcast to the majority of African countries on DStv - just not Southern Africa because MultiChoice has satellite capacity limitations for DStv in Southern Africa.
About M-Net's channels on DStv, M-Net director Theo Erasmus says M-Net's new frontier is "creating country specific channels" - for instance after Maisha Magic Bongo, M-Net will launch a Maisha Magic channel in Uganda.
M-Net also says about its growing set of channels on MultiChoice's DStv that M-Net wants to be "adaptable and flexible to meet expectations in television landscapes that are clearly changing fast".
M-Net says it's constantly looking to get more local content within specific countries like Ghana.
Cue M-Net Edge (DStv 102) doing a panel at the Plantain with the American stars from the drama series From Dusk Til Dawn, D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz.
Shut out South African TV critics and press won't get to interview them. Of course. (That "swoosh" sound you hear? My guess would be it's the M-Net Edge show that just went on TV critics in South Africa's "Ignore from now on forever" list.)
No problems there. BBC Worldwide beautifully shared all the relevant, right information timeously with South African press as well, and Joel Churcher, BBC Worldwide's vice president and general manager for Africa, did so on Saturday morning with and for Africa's journalists as well.
Watch MultiChoice Africa CEO Tim Jacobs on television talking about the DStv price hike in Kenya and Uganda in this 9 minute interview (among other things), explaining that it is a mid-year DStv subscription increase as a "cost recovery" due to African currencies weakening against the dollar.
Tim Jacobs interestingly explains that MultiChoice in South Africa doesn't totally have a dollar based cost base, unlike the MultiChoice Africa business where its driven by dollar prices.
MultiChoice's South African business and market is significantly bigger than elsewhere in Africa. For instance, for every 100 DStv subscribers in Africa, there's only 2 in Kenya.
Afternoon
A+E Networks UK will host Africa's press this afternoon for the Lifetime (DStv 131) beach tent event "Wedding of a Lifetime". Why?
Oh because Four Weddings South Africa is coming to Lifetime. Yes. Perhaps you've noticed the words "South Africa" there. [Media did a competition to create the "wedding of a lifetime" on the beach.
Yes. It's yet another South African show with South African contestants. On DStv. Leveraged for the MultiChoice Content Showcase, where actual South African press and TV critics were cut out. Mindblowing.
A+E Networks UK's Lifetime also shared upcoming programming regarding wedding programming, including Four Weddings SA which it couldn't bother sending to South African journalists.
Scripps Networks International presents highlights for September to December for The Food Network (DStv 175) and the Travel Channel (DStv 179). Can't bother to issue the same information to South Africa's TV critics and press where the channels are also seen on DStv in South Africa.
Strangely there's been no presentation or presence of FOX International Channels and their African division, FOX International Channels Africa (FIC Africa). FIC provides a whole lot of channels to DStv like FOX, National Geographic, FOX Crime, Nat Geo WILD and is even responsible for the distribution of Sky News.
Also oddly missing: Discovery Networks International (DNI) supplying channels like The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC Entertainment, Discovery World.
And apparently there was no NBCUniversal Networks International either. While Telemundo stars were flown in from South America last year, there was zero presence of E! Entertainment, Telemundo, Universal Channel, Studio Universal at this year's MultiChoice Content Showcase.
In South Africa meanwhile The Herald reports that consumers are becoming increasingly upset with DStv over the apparent "lack of choice, DStv access fees, and censorship" and MultiChoice launches the DStv Explora in Liberia.
Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) party.
Artist Diamond Platnumz last year missed his flight to Maurititius where he was supposed to perform. It was highly embarrassing for MultiChoice Africa, since DStv filmed a music video in which he appeared and he was supposed to perform it live on the opening evening but was a no-show.
This year Diamond Platnumz was moved to the end of the MultiChoice Content Showcase (to make sure he shows up?) where he performed to celebrate Vuzu AMP's first birthday as a M-Net TV channel on DStv.
