M-Net abruptly ends Coronation Street and Emmerdale on M-Net City without warning as MultiChoice's DStv subscribers lose access to these British soaps for a second time in months.

by Thinus Ferreira

DStv subscribers have abruptly had the British soap operas Coronation Street and Emmerdale ripped away from them for the second time in months after M-Net stopped broadcasting these shows on its M-Net City (DStv 115) channel in February, without any explanation or warning to MultiChoice's pay-TV customers. 

Both Emmerdale and Coronation Street that were broadcast on ITV Choice until that channel shut down in mid-2020 on DStv, suddenly ended in February on M-Net's M-Net City (DStv 115) channel on DStv without any warning to followers.

This is the second time within a year that Coronation Street and Emmerdale just stopped and disappeared for DStv subscribers.

After the end of ITV Choice, followed by the shocking shutdown of BBC Studios' BBC First channel, MultiChoice and Jan du Plessis, director of M-Net channels, announced with fanfare that British content would be picked up through ITV Studios' distribution arm and be broadcast by M-Net on its set of channels.

In July 2020 M-Net announced that it had acquired both Emmerdale and Coronation Street that would start later in 2020 on M-Net City.

In September 2020, in response to a media enquiry from TVwithThinus asking what DStv subscribers will be getting in place of ITV Choice and BBC First in terms of British content after these channels were lost to subscribers, MultiChoice again reiterated this and said that "two of ITV's most-loved soaps, Emmerdale and Coronation Street, will return to M-Net City".

Less than half a year later Coronation Street and Emmerdale are abruptly over and gone.

TVwithThinus asked M-Net why Coronation Street and Emmerdale were suddenly ripped from the M-Net City schedule and why DStv subscribers got no warning.

M-Net in response to the media enquiry, says that "We also enjoyed the British line up with Coronation Street and Emmerdale, however the contracts for these series have not been renewed with us and also the seasons we licensed came to an end hence they are not playing anymore. Thank you for watching and do enjoy the other great shows we have to offer".

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