Discovery Inc.'s TLC and ID channels turn 10 in South Africa with special nostalgia-programming; as Discovery says 'Africa has been important for Discovery for 20 years and we look forward to the next 10 years'.

by Thinus Ferreira

Discovery Inc.'s TLC and Investigation Discovery (ID) channels both turn 10 years old in South Africa with special programming on both channels, with Discovery reaffirming its content commitment to the continent, saying that Africa has been an important market for Discovery for over 2 decades and that it's looking forward to the next decade.

Discovery has not yet launched its Discovery+ subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in South Africa or Africa or made any announcements that it plans to launch in sub-Saharan Africa, as Canada becomes the latest country to have Discovery+ rolled out there on 19 October. 

Marking the decade-anniversary of TLC Africa and ID in South Africa, Anouska Widdess, senior director TLC and channel operations and head of content for TLC in South Africa, says that "Africa has been an important market for Discovery for more than 20 years, and we look forward to the next 10 years as we hope to continue to collaborate and engage with South African audiences".

Discovery says that TLC that ranks as the number one lifestyle TV channel on the Africa continent "remains the flagship channel for Discovery with an impressive share of 1.13%. It consistently ranks within the top 25 channels across total TV and premiere episodes frequently achieve over 100 000 viewer from our loyal viewers".

"TLC has a show for everyone; our audiences turn to their televisions to seek comfort, solutions and inspiration. Each of our viewers has an unforgettable memory, heart-warming moment or special connection with our shows and the growth of the channel has surpassed all expectations."

TLC programming

During its birthday month, TLC (DStv 135) will show viewers "2 weeks of nostalgia" from 1 November at 9:25 daily, with another chance to watch episodes of shows like Gypsy Weddings, Honey Boo Boo and I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.

TLC will also show Toddlers & Tiaras: Where are they now? with viewers who can catch up with what happened to the various toddler beauty queens, who are now young women.

A new season of Theresa Caputo in Long Island Medium: There in Spirit will start on TLC in November. Then the couples of 90 Day Fiance will have to compete with each other for the first time ever in 90 Day Fiance: Love Games.

Other "memory lane" TLC shows during the 2 weeks include Gypsy Weddings, Breaking Amish, Honey Boo Boo, Jon & Kate, Our Little Family, My Giant Life and My Teen Is Pregnant and So am I.

ID programming

Investigation Discovery (ID) is also marking a decade on the air in South Africa with 10 years' worth of criminologists, journalists, pathologists and psychologists exploring the worst of human behaviour.

From 15 to 24 October ID will bring viewers another chance to immerse themselves in true-crime documentaries, detective shows and stories where love goes awfully wrong, as episodes uncover some of the most shocking crimes in recent years with a line-up of all-time favourites.

ID will show episodes from series including The Madeleine McCann Mystery, Gypsy's Revenge, Evil Stepmother, Perfect Murder, Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall, Deadly Affairs, and Crime to Remember.

Discovery Inc. pulls all of its TV channels from StarTimes in Africa and StarSat in South Africa in unresolved contract conflict.

by Thinus Ferreira

Pay-TV customers of StarTimes across Africa, including StarSat subscribers in South Africa, abruptly lost all of the Discovery TV channels on Monday without warning because of an unexplained and unresolved contract conflict.

StarTimes and StarSat subscribers woke up on Monday to discover that their Discovery channels - StarTimes Real Time, Investigation Discovery, Investigation Discovery French, Discovery Science and Discovery Science French - were all gone. 

The end of the channels come after Discovery Inc. cut its Discovery Family channel in late-January from channel 222 on StarTimes and StarSat after just two years on the Chinese pay-TV platform even before it was supposed to go dark on 31 January.

Discovery Family went dark after the Fine Living Network (FLN), that is also from the Discovery Inc. stable, abruptly disappeared in December 2020 after more than a decade on the air on StarSat, with the move that also angering subscribers.

StarTimes and StarSat subscribers are fuming over the fact that they were only told in August, and after it happened that the channels are gone, saying they would have cancelled their subscriptions had they known in July or with a month's notice.

Discovery Inc. in response to a media enquiry, told TVwithThinus on Wednesday that "StarTimes Real Time, Investigation Discovery, and Discovery Science will no longer be available through the provider as of 2 August. However, lovers of real-life entertainment can still enjoy a plethora of world-class content from Discovery on DStv."

Discovery didn't answer why customers and viewers of its channels were not told or warned beforehand about the loss of the TV channels.

Luyanda Cele, StarSat spokesperson, told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry on Thursday morning that "Please note that the channels are removed due to contractual issues and communication was sent immediately to our customer via bmail, SMS and on our social medial pages".

On Facebook StarSat only posted a notification on Wednesday morning, long after 2 August, while subscribers say even the StarSat call centre knew nothing about the axed Discovery channels.

On Facebook when StarSat subscriber Daphne Brown asked why StarSat keeps discontinuing channels and if it's because StarTimes is not paying the distributors, StarSat said "it is due to contractual reasons and nothing to do with payment".

Nadia Crowie said "Surely someone should have known earlier, not a few days after debit orders went off and payment made. Even if we were notified, it should have been before debit orders went off or payments were made".

Nduduzo Gape said "I joined StarSat because of those channels. I am giving you one month to resolve this issue else I'm disconnecting".

Subscriber Zanele Ngcongo said "Wow, you guys are not good to your customers. You only tell today but I've noticed on Monday that Real Time was off. You need to change the way you do things".

ALSO READ: Discovery Inc. cuts its Discovery Family channel from StarTimes and StarSat after just 2 years on the air without any explanation and just a month after axing FLN.

ALSO READ: After over a decade on-air in South Africa Discovery Inc. abruptly dumps Fine Living on StarTimes and StarSat without warning or explanation.