The comedians Donovan Goliath, Ebenhaezar Dibakwane and Virgil Prins will be the TV presenter troika of M-Net's new weekly content discovery show, The 101.
The 101 on the M-Net (DStv 101) channel will
highlight programming across M-Net’s various channels on MultiChoice's DStv
satellite pay-TV platform.
The show will guide viewers to help them find
what's new, what's changing, possible programming pre-emptions and timeslot
changes, returning seasons and also what new shows are about.
The weekly half-hour show will also help with
practical DStv PVR and Explora decoder issues and tips, as well as mini
educationals to help DStv subscribers use some of the powerful technology under
their TV sets better to enable enhanced time-shifted and catch-up viewing.
The 101’s comedian presenters will do
interviews with various famous faces, while informing viewers about M-Net's "Express from the US" titles, international production breaks in shows and why
it happens, the very latest schedule changes, as well as do on-set visits to
local shows that are broadcast across M-Net's range of channels on DStv.
Donovan Goliath already started showing up in short,
generalised M-Net programming promos across DStv since late-2016.
The 101 was originally scheduled to start
this Sunday on M-Net but has been pushed out by a few weeks due to production
issues and some logistical challenges.
While The 101 will be broadcast on
M-Net as a weekly linear show, M-Net is looking to make The 101 episodes
as widely available as possible, including as non-subscription options and
across as many digital platforms as possible to help TV viewers watch it – like
for instance YouTube.
The main aim of The 101 is to help all
TV viewers to be better informed about M-Net's programming and scheduling
across the pay-TV broadcaster's large group of M-Net general entertainment and
M-Net Movies channels on DStv.
M-Net is the biggest single provider of
content to MultiChoice’s service in terms of self-compiled and packaged
channels but a growing number of DStv subscribers – as is the trend with pay-TV
viewers globally – struggle with the content discovery process and knowing
where to find, and to watch, what.
When viewers know where and when to get and
watch as well as record programming in their interest, the guided viewer
behaviour helps to lift ratings.
Research regarding the powerful content
suggestion algorithm functionality used by subscription video-on-demand (SVOD)
services like Netflix and Naspers' ShowMax to show viewers similar type programming
that they might also enjoy watching, based on their existing viewing
preferences, have shown that people will actually watch even more television if
they’re told about shows and films that are the same as what they already
enjoy.
M-Net will make an official announcement
about The 101 and its presenters soon.
