Paul Welling, VP of content, announcing from 1 Sept we will have our very own SA feed on @DStv ! #sibastable pic.twitter.com/lvJ9DxjYkm— Food Network SAfrica (@FoodNetworkSA) August 15, 2017
The South African and African version of The Food Network (DStv 175) from Scripps Networks Interactive is apparently getting its own Food Network channel feed from September on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.
The Food Network had a media launch today in Cape Town with a similar one set for Wednesday in Johannesburg for the new season of Siba's Table with TV chef and presenter Siba Mtongana.
In Cape Town on Tuesday, Scripps' new regional content boss Paul Welling announced something in the line of South Africa that will be getting its own Food Network channel feed from September although specific details are not available or known yet.
Currently Scripps Networks International distributes three lifestyle channels across the United Kingdom and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (UK & EMEA) region.
Food Network and Travel Channel are available on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa, and Fine Living is available on the Chinese operator StarSat's platform but getting zero publicity.
Travel Channel and Fine Living are also available on Econet Media's Kwese platform elsewhere in Africa since February this year.
TVwithThinus isn't able to comprehensively report on the newly packaged Food Network channel feed for South Africa from Scripps and what exactly that - and the change - entails since there was no invitation to the media launch event and by Tuesday night there wasn't any press release or stories elsewhere yet to reference from media who did attend.
Although I wasn't told beforehand that there would be any Food Network launch for Siba's Table, and with PR company Mortimer Harvey in South Africa that didn't respond to any of the media enquiries made on Tuesday about the event, it is however clear from a Food Network SA tweet on social media that some type of adjusted and bespoke Food Network is coming to DStv from September.
This was Paul Welling's first time back in South Africa and speaking publicly after his jump to Scripps Networks Interactive in his new position as Scripps Networks Interactive's head of content for the UK & EMEA region since his move to Scripps in May this year.
There is no transcript of what Paul Welling said and announced at Tuesday's Food Network and Siba's Table media event, neither is there any press release available about Siba Mtongana and what she had to say.
However the upcoming 3rd season with 10 new episodes of the successful Siba's Table is set to start on 7 September at 20:00 on the Food Network.
Viewers will see a slight change in the upcoming 3rd season since the start of the series on the Food Network in September 2013.
Now Siba Mtongana will give traditional dishes and recipes her "sibalicous" spin by showing viewers how she creates her own unique re-interpretation to food ranging from.braai pork and snacks to steak and even creating a blind date for some of her friends.
