e.tv is dumping Broken Vows with the local telenovela that is being moved off of its prime time schedule from this coming Monday and to its eExtra satellite channel, with the weekday soap Days of Our Lives that is being moved half an hour later to 18:00.
e.tv's patience is up with Broken Vows, produced by Clive Morris Productions, that's struggled in the ratings since it launched in April 2017 in the plum 20:00 timeslot and that was moved to 18:30 just 4 months ago amidst faltering viewership.
Now e.tv programming bosses want to start 2018 with a clean slate not featuring the local telenovela as soon as possible with e.tv's early prime time programming that is pegged to its new schedule to start at the top of the hour.
It means that e.tv viewers won't see the conclusion of Broken Vows in prime time with the show that is being shipped off to the eExtra channel (DStv 195 / OpenView HD 105) from Monday 15 January at 18:00.
e.tv will however broadcast an omnibus of the week's Broken Vows episodes on Saturday mornings at 11:20 and says the channel is still accomodating its viewers without satellite TV in this way, to be able to see Broken Vows.
Broken Vows didn't do well in the viewership but it also didn't get a lot of press exposure during the past 9 months.
e.tv publicity did Broken Vows no favours, signaling to the media that the show is apparently not that important when it neither bothered to tell a large part of the press covering television beforehand about the show's launch event in April 2017, nor invited media to it, and didn't issue any transcripts or press materials about the launch afterwards.
TV critics took their cue from this that e.tv isn't interested in exposure for Broken Vows.
As part of the schedule changes coming on Monday e.tv is also moving its American weekday soap Days of Our Lives half an hour later to 18:00 from Monday 15 January, with talker The Steve Harvey Show moved half an hour later from 16:30 to 17:00.
The channel is also adding Judge Judy to its schedule from Monday in the 16:30 timeslot.
e.tv's successful local soaps Rhythm City and Scandal! are kept in their 19:00 and 19:30 timeslots, followed by eNews with Sally Burdett at 20:00, and the local drama series Easy Money on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:30.
e.tv continues to court viewers with premium American dramas with Shades of Blue with Jennifer Lopez starting on Monday at 20:30, followed by the debut of the 3rd season of Chicago PD on Tuesday 16 January at 20:30 and with The Blacklist returning for a second season on Wednesday 17 January at 20:30.
The crime drama Power will start on Wednesday 17 January at 20:30 with Omari Hardwick as James St.Patrick, the owner of a New York nightclub who is also involved in drug smuggling and trying to balance his two different lives.
About the latest e.tv schedule change the channel's Marlon Davids, managing director of e.tv says "over the last 20 years e.tv's constant innovation has made the channel a firm favourite in the free-to-air television landscape".
"Our new programming line-up demonstrates our commitment to meeting the needs of our audiences. They can look forward to more of the highest quality local programming, alongside world-renowned international content this year."
Asked by TVwithThinus why e.tv is moving Broken Vows off of the e.tv prime time schedule not letting it run its course and making it impossible for free-to-air viewers to see its conclusion in prime time where they started watching it, e.tv says that its channels business "is invested in its multichannel offering as a whole and hopes to draw Broken Vows audiences to the growing needs of the eExtra channel for dedicated local content".
e.tv says "the revamp is aligned to a bigger business strategy as we see upward momentum of the OpenView HD platform."
