WHO KNEW? After switching Investigation Discovery to ID Xtra on MultiChoice's DStv and StarSat, the IDx channel has quietly been switched back to Investigation Discovery.

Discovery's Investigation Discovery (ID) channel on DStv and StarSat that was switched to ID Xtra (IDx) in January 2016, has quietly been switched back to just ID after a year and 10 months.

Investigation Discovery (ID) that changed to IDx with a big hoo-haa, is back to quietly just being ID on MultiChoice's DStv on channel 171, and on StarSat run by China's StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM) on channel 223.

IDx was switched back to ID in mid-October but there was no official announcement from Discovery Networks International for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

Quite awkwardly, because there was no announcement, the media has been blissfully unaware and months later even operators like MultiChoice still uses the IDx channel logo on some of its websites for channel 171, instead of just ID.

In January 2016 Discovery Networks CEEMEA said that ID is being replaced by ID Xtra and that “with its glossy reconstructions of real-life mysteries, ID Xtra will have viewers glued to their screens for hours at a time.”

"Mystery and suspense is one of the fastest growing genres within pay-TV and Discovery is in pole position, leading the category with a channel that has already been a proven success across CEEMEA. We are delighted to offer yet another high-quality channel.

Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice general manager for content said in a statement at the time that “our DStv customers love mystery and suspense stories and ID Xtra takes these stories to a glossier and more dramatic level.  Avid fans of this genre will have an even wider selection of brand new and intriguing content to choose from and still be able to catch up on their old time favourites from Discovery ID.”  

TVwithThinus, that like other media, also wasn't aware of the Investigation Discovery channel branding backtracking back from IDx to just ID, asked Discovery Networks International when ID Xtra flipped back to ID and why.

Discovery says the brand alignment roll-out took place between 18 and 31 October 2017.

"Based on the global success and high demand of the investigation genre, as well as a wider strategy that will see us unify our brands in an increasingly connected world, we have decided to transform IDx into investigation Discovery (ID) across CEEMEA".

"Borrowing from the highly successful American Investigation Discovery, a market-leading channel across both pay and free television, we will start using a new, more sophisticated, cinematic brand package which maintains premium quality and broad appeal, while becoming more seamlessly integrated with the channel's programming".

"This transformation is also accompanied by continued heavy investment in content, to deliver a broad mix of high quality shows and noisy event programming which reflect consumer priorities".

Discovery's ID: Investigation Discovery on MultiChoice's DStv also being changed to ID Xtra from January 2016 a few months after it happened on StarSat.

Discovery's ID: Investigation Discovery channel on MultiChoice's DStv is now also being changed into the ID Xtra channel as what happened on StarTimes Media SA's StarSat a few months ago, with the switch set to take place on 5 January 2016.

Discovery Networks International for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region launched ID Xtra as a replacement channel in April 2014. 

It switched ID: Investigation Discovery out for ID Xtra on 31 July on StarSat where the channel has been running for the past five months.

The same switch will now happen on 5 January 2016 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on channel 171. ID Xtra will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Extra and DStv Compact subscribers.

ID Xtra is more geared towards targeting specifically female viewers with predominantly tabloid-focused crime stories, since a lot of Discovery's existing other channels like Discovery Channel and Discovery World are mostly geared towards a male audience.

Besides TLC Entertainment, ID Xtra as a mystery and suspense channel will give female viewers another channel catering to their viewing taste with crime programming and dramatic crime reconstructions covering "desperate housewives" and "salacious real-life stories of passion, revenge and murder". 

"With its glossy reconstructions of real-life mysteries, ID Xtra will have viewers glued to their screens for hours at a time," says James Gibbons, the executive vice president and country manager for emerging business for Discovery Networks' CEEMEA region.

"Mystery and suspense is one of the fastest growing genres within pay TV and Discovery is in pole position, leading the category with a channel that has already been a proven success across CEEMEA."

"Our DStv customers love mystery and suspense stories and ID Xtra takes these stories to a glossier and more dramatic level," says Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice South Africa's general manager for content.

"Avid fans of this genre will have an even wider selection of brand new and intriguing content to choose from and still be able to catch up on their old time favourites from Discovery ID."

ID Xtra carries shows like Tabloid with Jerry Springer (weekdays at 20:20) covering shocking and bizarre crime stories making headlines.

Other ID Xtra programming include Do Not Disturb: Hotel Horrors (Saturday 9 January, 22:00) going behind closed doors to uncover shocking crimes inside hotels; Bad Blood (Sunday 24 January, 22:00) following families driven apart by heinous crimes as they come together for the first time; and Mansions & Murders (Monday 11 January, 22:50) that re-enacts crimes involving wealthy mansion dwellers.

Discovery launching the new ID Xtra channel in Africa, Middle East and parts of Europe; is ID Xtra also coming to South Africa?

Discovery Networks International (DNI) will be launching a brand-new Discovery channel, ID Extra, tomorrow (1 April) in the Africa, Middle East and parts of Europe region with at least 105 markets which will get and add ID Xtra during the course of 2014.

TV with Thinus enquired, but it is not yet clear whether ID Xtra - a spin-off from the existing ID: Investigation Discovery channel - will be added by MultiChoice's DStv and, or, On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat in South Africa.

Both of the South African pay-TV platforms currently carry DNI's Investigation Discovery channel.

Similar to ID: Investigation Discovery, ID Xtra, will also be a channel with a female-skewed programming offering, and where it is added in Africa, the Middle East as well as Central and Eastern Europe, ID Xtra will sit along the existing ID: Investigation Discovery channel.

ID Xtra is available in standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD).

"After the successful roll-out of TLC, we are now expanding our proposition for female viewers with ID Xtra," says Kasia Kieli, the president and managing director for Discovery Networks for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region, in a statement.

"We believe the channel provides our distribution partners with truly unique content from the Mystery and Suspense genre and strengthens our portfolio, making it the best offer in pay-TV today".

"Mystery and Suspense is one of the fastest growing genres in pay-TV and Discovery is in pole position leading the category," says Paul Welling, the senior vice president and head of channels at Discovery Networks CEEMEA.

Meanwhile the Discovery Channel (DStv 120) was by now supposed to have switched to an HD channel on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa.

 Discovery Networks International and MultiChoice promised subscribers and the industry in November 2013 that Discovery would become Discovery HD within the first quarter of 2014 - pegging it for sometime between January and March 2014.

It has not happened and DNI and MultiChoice have not announced a new date or a new official time frame for the Discovery channel's HD upgrade.

For the time being Discovery continues to be shown in SD. Discovery HD Showcase (DStv 172) which would have been discontinued as a TV channel, therefore continues to run on the DStv platform.