BREAKING. Discovery Channel HD coming to MultiChoice's DStv as Discovery gets upgraded to a high definition channel from 2014.

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Discovery Channel (DStv 121) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform is getting upgraded to a high definition (HD) channel as HD Discovery Channel, within Q1 - or the first three months - of 2014.

The current Discovery HD Showcase - the only Discovery Networks International channel which was in HD on DStv and one of the few HD channels besides sport channels which were HD in DStv - will be discontinued as it is effectively replaced by the new HD Discovery Channel.

MultiChoice says it will replace Discovery HD Showcase with something else. Viewers without access to high definition television will see a standard definition (SD) version of the HD Discovery Channel.

The content which was on Discovery HD Showcase will be funneled to DStv subscribers through the DStv Explora decoder which is HD enabled, as DStv on Demand content.

DStv subscribers with DStv Explora access will therefore get more HD content not otherwise available and which wasn't first broadcast on a linear basis.

DStv Premium subscribers will now however be able to watch the factual entertainment Discovery Channel in high definition which means that brand-new programming will become in HD much quicker for South African viewers such as Magician Impossible, Bear Grylls, River Monsters, Wheeler Dealers and Gold Rush Alaska.

A lot of Discovery Channel programming was only viewable in HD during a second run on Discovery HD showcase after its been on the Discovery Channel. Now DStv subscribers will be able to see it originally in HD during its first broadcast.

The Discovery Channel HD version for South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa will be what is known in the trade as a "bespoke" or uniquely packaged and programmed channel similar to what Discovery HD Showcase was.

The Discovery Channel HD feed is specifically tailored and scheduled for DStv subscribers in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

"The launch of the new dedicated HD Discovery Channel is an important milestone for our services in Africa and represents our continued committment to offering DStv viewers the best, high quality programming experience possible," says James Gibbons, the senior vice president for emerging business for Discovery Networks for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

"We're sure that our DStv viewers and South African advertisers will relish the chance to watch their favourite Discovery Channel programmes in unbeatable high definition quality. We're also planning more new shows targeted at our DStv viewers starting with the launch of the epic Klondike drama," says James Gibbons.

Mark Rayner, the new chief operating officer (COO) of MultiChoice South Africa says "we want DStv to be our customers' home for great entertainment. Offering the adventurous and life-affirming content on Discovery as HD simulcast to our customers gives DStv Premium customers access to the best HD content in the world."

JUST SAYIN'. Some incredible looking dinosaurs in high definition coming to Discovery HD Showcase in 2012, looking better than Terra Nova.

I can't tell you what show they're in (because I don't know).

Discovery didn't say, but at Tuesday evening's Discovery CEEMEA Upfront 2012 in Johannesburg for the programming coming to viewers in 2012 on each of the 6 Discovery channels on MultiChoice's DStv, I caught an amazing glipse of incredible looking dinosaurs.

Unlike the other shows on the other Discovery channels' show reels, the dinos on Discovery HD Showcase (DStv 172) didn't have an on-screen subtitle to identify them. In just micro seconds there flashed three dinosaurs - supposedly to be seen in 2012. Dinosaurs that's going to look much, much better in high definition (HD) than those I've seen so far in the first four episodes of the new TV drama Terra Nova starting in January on M-Net.

I couldn't believe that Fox and Steven Spielberg have spend gazillions of dollars the past two years, only for Discovery to actually create better-looking, and more realistic dinosaurs.

Discovery executives spoke to me privately about the Discovery HD Showcase channel. One told me privately that Discovery is very proud of the channel. ''It's very dear to us and we take special care of it,'' the one person said noting how amazing it actually is for South Africans to have this special HD channel given capacity and technology challenges in Africa and South Africa where HD actually still come at a premium.

''Nothing is ever upscaled and we very carefully select what goes on Discovery HD Showcase -  brand-new never before seen shows originally produced in HD, and the HD version of some shows that's been on some of the other Discovery channels and carefully chosen with the viewer in mind,'' said another.

Discovery HD Showcase chases the biggest waves in high definition in June and has the spectacularly exotic Way of Life in August.

Great shows coming to Discovery HD Showcase (DStv 172) in June is Storm Surfers: New Zealand and in August Way Of Life with Jim Brasher.

Storm Surfers: New Zealand in June on Discovery HD Showcase tracks big wave pioneer Ross Clarke-Jones and the two-time world champion Tom Carroll as the two Australians travel across the world to find the most dangerous and biggest waves they can find. Storm Surfers: New Zealand is the follow-up series to Storm Surfers: Dangerous Banks. Meteorologist and surf forecaster Ben Matson uses the latest storm prediction technology to track swells and time their arrival to a matter of hours in a mad, high-stakes race against time and the elements to conquer and film massive waves.

Way of Life with Jim Brasher in August on Discovery HD Showcase explores some of the most exotic and uncommon occupations across the globe where the jobs are simply a way of life. Jim Brasher ventures from Argentina to the Sahara, northern Luzon and India's bustling Kolkata and even Asia's intense jungles to care for an elephant.

INTERVIEW: ''We see Africa overall as a growing region.'' - Discovery Networks on launching Discovery World and Discovery HD Showcase channels.

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Discovery Networks is expanding on its available channels in March. Discovery in Southern Africa grew with the recent addition of South Africa's second high definition (HD) TV channel Discovery HD Showcase (DStv 172) in December. The Discovery channel is also moving to DStv 121 to make space for the brand-new channel, Discovery World, starting on DStv 250 from March.

I spoke to Caleb Weinstein, senior vice president and general manager of Discovery Networks for emerging markets such as Southern Africa.
He explains the rationale behind Discovery's current channel expansion here, how the channels are different, whether further growth lies in the future and how Discovery sees its future prospects in the region.
You will want to find out what he says about Discovery's high definition television offering, The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), how this TV region compares to others and the benefit of Discovery's new channel numbers.

Click on READ MORE below for my comprehensive talk with Caleb Weinstein and what Discovery Networks is doing in Southern Africa.

BREAKING. DStv to add a new channel: Discovery World.

I can be exclusively first to break the news that DStv will be adding Discovery World as a new TV channel in March 2010 in South Africa.

DStv already has Discovery (which will now move to channel 121 from March - see my previous post) and Discovery HD Showcase. Now it seems there's a 3rd Discovery channel on the way.

No word from DStv yet on this news. I just got an email - not from DStv - that only very enigmatically says about the move of the Discovery channel - starting in big red letters with the words ''Please note'':
''The move has opened up an exciting opportunity for Discovery to strengthen its local portfolio, and its stronghold as the leader in factual content, through the 1 March 2010 launch in South Africa of the premium factual brand, Discovery World.''

Discovery World is a TV channel. Discovery World also just launched in the East and West African countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya last month.

FIRST LOOK! Discovery HD Showcase starting at 10:20.

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The brand-new high definition (HD) channel, Discovery HD Showcase that MultiChoice has just added to its DStv platform and which I was first to tell about on Friday right HERE will go live this morning at exactly 10:20.

Discovery HD Showcase will broadcast for 24 hours per day and kicks off this morning at 10:20 with Deadliest Catch, followed by Really Big Things with Matt Rogers. Mytbusters and Smash Lab is also on the schedule for today.

(As of this Monday morning at 09:00, DStv hasn't updated their website TV guide with the existence of the channel yet, or made any TV guide line-up for the channel available yet.)

BREAKING. MultiChoice starts a 3rd HD TV channel on DStv: Discovery HD Showcase.

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AWESOME NEWS! MultiChoice has added another, brand-new high definition (HD) TV channel: Discovery HD Showcase.

Discovery HD Showcase will start this coming Monday, 21 December on DStv Channel 172.

MultiChoice's DStv platform already has two HD channels, M-Net HD (DStv 170) and SuperSport HD (DStv 171) that will start on Saturday, 26 December with a soft launch and go 24 hours early next February.

Discovery HD Showcase will cover a range of shows including science, technology, people, places and natural history in crystal clear high definition clarity - if you have a flat screen television and a HD PVR decoder. A month ago MultiChoice introduced its new HD PVR (with a slightly smaller hard drive) for R3 000 instead of R4 999 to enable a quicker uptake of HD decoders (and by implication HD TV viewing) in South Africa.

''This latest addition demonstrates our commitment to growing our HD offering on DStv,'' says Nico Meyer, CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.

Discovery's HD networks already reach 17 million people worldwide since the first international Discovery HD channel was launched in southern Asia in 2005.