by Thinus Ferreira
With not enough content and new Afrikaans films to keep it going as a permanent movie channel, MultiChoice and M-Net's Afrikaans film channel fliekNET (DStv 149) will go back to being a DStv pop-up channel from mid-July 2022.
fliekNET that started out as a DStv pop-up channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service will cease to be an ongoing DStv from midnight on 15 July, a year and 10 months after it changed to being a permanent DStv channel in September 2020.
fliekNET was originally launched as a holiday film DStv pop-up channel in 2014, that would "pop up" in years after that as a kykNET channel brand extension, before it morphed into a permanent DStv addition in mid-2020.
New Afrikaans films will now premiere on kykNET (DStv 144) on Sundays at 20:00.
kykNET says new Afrikaans films and 50-minute short films will continue to be made and shown on kykNET and that the channel has a new Saturday night movie timeslot at 20:00. kykNET is also developing new 90-minute films which will be shown from 2023 on the channel.
MultiChoice isn't saying why it's taking fliekNET away as a permanent DStv channel and says "channel and content offerings are reviewed regularly in terms of viewing trends and consumer needs. This market research may lead to channel additions or terminations".
MultiChoice says the pay-TV operator "remains committed to the local feature film industry and is proud of the successes of and international recognition received by films such as Barakat, Indemnity and Gaia in recent months".
