by Thinus Ferreira
eMedia has ended its eAfrica or e.tv Africa TV channel, a version of its e.tv channel in South Africa shown outside of South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, after 12 years, with DStv subscribers and eAfrica viewers wondering where they are now supposed to watch shows like Scandal! that have been ripped away.
eMedia terminated the Africa channel from April 2022 that was on DStv channel number 250 outside of South Africa.
eMedia Investments launched eAfrica in April 2010 on DStv first in 12 African countries, and then expanded it within a few months to 46.
"It was always e.tv's plan to introduce a pan-African syndicated service. Our programme research shows that Africans are passionate for high-quality African and international produced content. We believe that e.tv Africa will replicate the success of e.tv in South Africa," e.tv said when e.tv Africa launched in 2010.
After a few months when the eAfrica footprint expanded, e.tv said "eAfrica has been received enthusiastically across the continent where e.tv programming is popular".
e.tv Africa showed programming like wrestling until MultiChoice and SuperSport took over the WWE licensing rights, as well as local South African programming like soaps Rhythm City and Scandal! with Scandal! that was still airing new episodes when eAfrica abruptly went dark last week on DStv after 12 years.
eMedia tells TVwithThinus in response to a media query that "We decided to close the eAfrica channel when the yearly
channel and programming reviews were done".
While viewers in several African countries have been locked out of eAfrica, a lot of viewers in Southern African countries will still be watching e.tv and the version of the channel broadcast in South Africa.
A steadily growing number of Southern Africa viewers, using eMedia's free-to-air satellite service, Openview, have been watching South Africa's e.tv and other e.tv terrestrial TV channels outside of South Africa as essentially pirate viewers through Openview decoders which are activated in South Africa but then taken into neighbouring countries and sold there.
