NBCUniversal is dumping E! in Africa after 21 years, with the steadily dismantled channel that will be gone and replaced by the reality-saturated Bravo on 7 October.
It's an awful and tragic end for E! that MultiChoice added to DStv in December 2004.
As with all things corporate, dying and reaching the end of service as it disappears into obsolescence, there is absolutely no explanation from NBCUniversal on why it's axing E! but one, or a combination of these reasons is likely true.
E! as a pay-TV channel has been dying on the pay-TV vine for a very long time, with less and less content investment, a schedule littered with repeats, stale and old programming and repurposed Bravo content.
E!'s only remaining "real" show - once its flagship programme and schedule staple - E! News also got cancelled, and once your sole remaining anchor programme is gone, there's nothing left of what was once signature E!.
E! is also one of the channels NBCUniversal decided to get rid of, spinning it off as one of the Versant-held channels.
E! as part of the upcoming Versant collection may or may not be available to NBCUniversal International Networks to distribute. In fact, even if it is available, NBCUniversal International Networks might not want to distribute it because of its low relevance as a zombified pay-TV channel.
We don't know because NBCUniversal International Networks hasn't communicated to the media about changes, plans, or programming in a very long time.
What happens to the remaining E! content is unclear; NBCUniversal International Networks didn't explain, but was asked, and comment will be added here when received.
In a prepared corporate quote attributed to Hendrik McDermott, MD, Hayu, EMEA Networks & International Direct-To-Consumer, NBCUniversal, about pulling the plug on E!, he says "We are thrilled to be launching Bravo Africa, with our partners DStv, and to build on the success of the NBCUniversal channel portfolio in Africa by bringing audiences even more of the mega-hit global franchises that they already love – now as part of Bravo, the linear channel brand that is synonymous with top-quality reality content".
"This rebrand reflects the strong slate of Bravo programming that had already been added to E!, and now makes exclusive original programming and a wider selection of Bravo's immensely popular reality programmes available to DStv subscribers."
Byron du Plessis, MultiChoice South Africa CEO, in a prepared quote, says "DStv subscribers that are fans of great reality programming are going to love Bravo Africa, and we are delighted to be able to give these hugely popular shows a home on our platforms. The channel will be available down to DStv Access, as we continue to improve our customer value proposition across our packages".
