Coronavirus: MultiChoice gives a free month-long upgrade to DStv Compact subscribers, M-Net extends its M-Net Binge pop-up channel for a further 2 months until 28 June.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice is giving a free month-long upgrade to all DStv Compact subscribers to the next higher bouquet because of the Covid-19 lockdown situation in South Africa while M-Net is extending its M-Net Binge pop-up channel for DStv Premium subscribers for a further 2 months that will now run until the end of June.

From today, 1 May, the Randburg-based pay-TV operator is giving a free bouquet upgrade to DStv Compact Plus. 

Until 29 May DStv Compact subscribers in South Africa will be able to watch additional TV channels available to DStv Compact Plus subscribers and above, including 1Magic, M-Net Binge, Comedy Central, kykNET, Africa Magic Urban Movies, CBS Justice, Curiosity Stream, History, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., CBeebies, MTV Music, SuperSport 8, SuperSport 12, SuperSport 13, and Sky News.

"It’s exciting to bring new content to our DStv Compact package subscribers," says Ntsika Msuthu, DStv South Africa PR manager.

"During this time, we aim to keep our customers entertained with the best available local and international content available to us and we are excited that we can give our customers exclusives such as the Somhale’s The Union which was dubbed as the wedding extravaganza of the year."

Meanwhile M-Net execs have decided to extend its M-Net Binge Home of HBO (DStv 114) pop-up channel with a further 2 months for DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers with the channel that will now run until Sunday 28 June.

From today the opening time of M-Net Binge will change with the channel's schedule that will now start at 20:00 on weekdays and 19:00 on weekends because of the high age-restricted content.

Series added that will run from their first seasons from this month include True Blood, Silicon Valley, Ballers, The Wire, True Detectives and Big Love.

Coronavirus: MultiChoice and M-Net add a super-stacked pop-up channel 'M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO' to DStv filled with premium HBO series, miniseries and films.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net and MultiChoice will be adding an M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO pop-up TV channel to DStv from Friday with the binge-watch TV channel that will be super-stacked with multiple premium old and new American series, miniseries and films, ranging from Game of Thrones and His Dark Materials to Band of Brothers and Sex and the City.

M-Net this week rushed to compile and uplink the channel and okay the licensing rights before South Africa starts its 21-day national lockdown period with to try and curb the rapid spread of the Covid-19 novel coronavirus in the country.

Earlier this week M-Net's top programming executives scrambled after president Cyril Ramaphosa announced a 21-day national lockdown period for the country after hatching the plan to source and put together a premium "box sets" TV channel for top-tier DStv subscribers.

South African TV ratings in both daytime and prime time - similar to what has been happening in the United States - have shown a steady surge, in some cases up double digits up to 30% in some timeslots since last week as schoolkids and adults are staying and working from home and turning on their TV sets more and for longer.

This week M-Net decided to temporarily revive its M-Net Binge channel that was shuttered in October 2018. The new M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO will run on DStv channel 114 from Friday 27 March at 19:00 and will have multiple classic and brand-new HBO series and films.

M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO will be available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers in high definition although some shows like Sex and the City won't be in HD.

The channel will broadcast full seasons of edgy, award-winning series, as well as a selection of HBO Original films and will run between 18:00 and 06:00 for seven days a week. The channel's 12-hour block is due to the racy nature of the channel's content that makes a lot of the age-restricted material not suitable for daytime broadcast and viewing.


Specially curated super-stacks of shows
M-Net says it carefully curated the M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO channel "to create appointment viewing" and that DStv subscribers will find the same series in the same timeslot, on the hour, with a new episode, from Mondays to Fridays.

The channel will have some brand-new HBO drama series on Sunday nights that until now has only been available on MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service, like the brand-new British fantasy series His Dark Materials and the contemporary American business dynasty drama, Succession.

The schedule will contain shows like The Newsroom with Jeff Daniels, the fantasy drama series Game of Thrones, The Night Of, Banshee, The Leftovers and Girls, as well as the classic funeral home family drama Six Feet Under.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's epic war drama, the 10-episode World War II miniseries Band of Brothers will be showcased on M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO, while Saturday nights will have thought-provoking documentaries that have not been readily available to DStv viewers.

A super-stack of 6 episodes of the classic New York sex dramedy series Sex and the City with Carrie Bradshaw and her friends will be broadcast every Sunday night from 22:00.

On Saturdays up until 21:00 the line-up is packed with thought-provoking documentaries. The documentary this Saturday 27 March is Ice and Fire. Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, it investigates solutions to try and reverse the effects of climate change while time is ticking.

The film this Sunday is Deadwood, the special made-for-TV that HBO created to conclude the hit series from the 1990s.

M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO will also be available on DStv Catch Up with a connected decoder and on the DStv Now streaming service.

Here is the schedule of how some of the shows on M-Net Binge - The Home of HBO will broadcast:

The Newsroom
Mondays to Fridays at 19:00, repeats the next day at 18:00.

From the imagination of Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, comes another riveting political drama series, set in the newsroom of the fictional Atlantis Cable News television channel. The Newsroom won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series, along with Golden Globe nominations and a string of other accolades. These include a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Jeff Daniels) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (Jane Fonda).

Band of Brothers
Mondays to Fridays at 20:00.

Hollywood legends Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who collaborated on one of the greatest war movies of all time, Saving Private Ryan, teamed up again and revisited World War II as executive producers on a project that won high praise from viewers, and Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Best Miniseries. Based on a non-fiction bestselling book by historian Stephen E Ambrose, it follows the history of a parachute battalion from jump training in the United States through its participation in major actions in Europe.

Game of Thrones
Mondays to Saturdays at 21:00 and 22:00 (two episodes)

The most talked about television series of the new millennium, bar none, took the fantasy genre to a new level. Game of Thrones won a record 58 Emmy Awards, and has a global fan base that long ago surpassed the one billion mark – and keeps growing. If you’ve just returned from another planet and missed it first time around, you’ve got some catching up to do. There are 72 episodes, all told. Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, it has several plot arcs and a huge ensemble cast. Please remember that the series contains scenes of nudity and violence.

Six Feet Under
Mondays to Fridays at 23:00

A funeral parlour may not sound like the ideal setting for a long-running drama series, but Six Feet Under was a smashing success, named by Time Magazine, The Guardian and Empire as one of the best television series of all time. Nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award back up those assessments. The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of the Fisher clan, owners of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home. Besides the usual themes of interpersonal relationships, love and loss, it fearlessly tackles the most important philosophical question of our time: the meaning of life.

The Night Of
Saturdays at 23:00

Following a wild night of sex and drugs, Nasir “Naz” Kahn, a Pakistani-American student, wakes up to find that the woman he’d spent the night with has been stabbed to death. He has no recollection of the events of the night. This is the premise of a multiple award-winning crime miniseries starring John Terturro as John Stone, the lawyer who represents the murder suspect. It won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Directors’ Guild of America Award among a slew of accolades. It has a score of 90 on Metacritic, based on 40 reviews, and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating universal acclaim.

His Dark Materials
Sundays at 19:00

Strangeness and wonder mark this fantasy drama based on the cult novel series of the same name by Philip Pullman. The action takes place in a multi-world reality, switching from one to the other in an absorbing, unusual narrative. In an alternate world, all humans have animal companions called daemons. As it turns out, they are manifestations of the human soul. The main character is a girl named Lyra, an orphan who discovers a dangerous secret. And then her path crosses with a boy named Will. The series combines live-action and animation and won an Annie, America’s top animation award.

Succession
Sundays at 20:00 and 21:00 (two episodes)
An American satirical comedy-drama television series that won the British Academy Television Award for Best International Programme and the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. In addition to that, Brian Cox, one of the lead actors, won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A dysfunctional family battles for control of a global media and hospitality conglomerate – and the patriarch’s health is in steep decline. Who will inherit the throne?

MultiChoice and M-Net shutting down its M-Net Binge channel for DStv Premium subscribers at the end of September after a year and 4 months.

MultiChoice and M-Net are shutting down another of its self-packaged channels, this time M-Net Binge (DStv 900) that will come to an end on 1 October.

DStv Premium subscribers are losing M-Net Binge after a year and four months since it started in May 2017, with MultiChoice and M-Net telling subscribers in an on-screen message to "please note that M-Net Binge will stop airing 1 October 2018".

"Continue your entertainment with the latest series on M-Net 101/102, watch it on Catch Up or binge-watch it on Catch Up Plus. Thank you for watching".

This is what DStv subscribers and the public are seeing at the moment:

M-Net and MultiChoice launched M-Net Binge in May 2017 with the channel that ran over weekends as a linear TV channel on DStv to help subscribers catch up on missed series and episodes.

At the time Yolisa Phahle, now MultiChoice's CEO for general entertainment, said "M-Net's successful movie pop-up channels have shown that our premium viewers love themed and curated content and M-Net Binge is an exciting initiative for series fans to catch up with the best of the best shows that they may have missed or want to watch again."

Responding to a media enquiry, Lani Lombard, M-Net's head of publicity, says that "over the past couple of years, M-Net and MultiChoice have introduced several innovative platforms to speak to series fans' changing viewing needs within the ever-evolving video entertainment landscape".

"As such there are now several ways for DStv customers to catch up on premiere M-Net 101 and 1Magic shows they may have missed or want to watch again."

"After reviewing the current uptake and perceptions around these platforms and services, M-Net and MultiChoice decided to discontinue the weekend pop-up channel M-Net Binge (DStv 900) from 1 October 2018."

"M-Net 101 and 1Magic series fans can still watch their favourite shows at their own convenience. DStv Catch Up allows customers with a PVR or Explora decoder to watch selected series currently on DStv - these shows are automatically sent to your decoder without having to do anything".

"There is also DStv Catch Up Plus, an extended version of DStv Catch Up, where selected series are available to DStv Premium customers to stream or download with a DStv Explora decoder that is connected to the internet."

"DStv Now online or on the app enables DStv customers to stream shows or download shows straight to their devices. The online streaming service Showmax is available to all DStv customers - either through DStv Exploras connected to the internet or through the Showmax app. Previous seasons of shows that are currently on DStv can be streamed or downloaded."

After taking away M-Net Edge, M-Net adds new linear M-Net Binge channel on DStv to help DStv subscribers catch up on missed series and episodes.

After sending M-Net Edge over the cliff, M-Net is bulking up with M-Net Binge as a new linear TV channel on DStv to help subscribers catch up on missed series and episodes.

M-Net Binge (DStv 900) that will run on weekends from Saturday 6 May, aims to expand M-Net and DStv's catch up service offered to DStv subscribers through giving TV viewers another opportunity to catch and catch up on TV shows and episodes of series they have missed and didn't get to (yet).

By pressing "record" on the DStv programme guide for the M-Net Binge channel, DStv subscribers across Africa will be able to amass a recording collection over weekends similar to a fisher throwing out a net and scooping up a sack of telly sustenance.

It enables DStv subscribers to use a linear TV channel to create "TV box sets" of series as long as they have enough space on their DStv decoder hard drives.

Like M-Net Edge, M-Net Binge will only be available for DStv Premium subscribers.

M-Net Binge will run on Saturdays and Sundays between 21:30 and approximately 05:00 the next morning, showing premium series that was/is on M-Net (DStv 101) and VUZU AMP (DStv 103) and that was on the canned M-Net Edge.

M-Net Binge will have "themed" weekends, for instance shows from Shonda Rhimes like The Fixer (Scandal) and Grey's Anatomy, a superhero marathon or "period-drama throwback".

Before the reboot of Twin Peaks that will be on M-Net (DStv 101), M-Net Binge will show the first and second season of the original series.

On 6 May M-Net Binge will show the first season's 9 episodes of Twin Peaks. On Sunday 7 May, Saturday 13 May and Sunday 14 May M-Net Binge will show the 23 episodes of Twin Peaks' second season.

Other M-Net Binge showing include box set showings of Big Little Lies and The Night Of.

"In the ever-changing world of television, binge has become a worldwide phenomenon," says Yolisa Phahle, M-Net CEO.

"M-Net's successful movie pop-up channels have shown that our premium viewers love themed and curated content and M-Net Binge is an exciting initiative for series fans to catch up with the best of the best shows that they may have missed or want to watch again."

M-Net says "M-Net Binge has deliberately been placed next to the time-delayed M-Net Plus 1 on DStv channel 901, which is another channel that was created for the convenience of DStv Premium viewers.

"This means that our viewers can clearly distinguish between channels built around fresh content like M-Net 101, with its extended prime-time that runs between 06:00 to midnight and channels that speak to viewer convenience," says Yolisa Phahle.

M-Net says DStv Premium subscribers will be able to set their M-Net Binge recordings as soon as the electronic programme guide (EPG) becomes available, which is usually 8 days before the day of broadcast.

"Customers can choose to either record the entire series to compile your own box set or record individual episodes".


Some oddities and observations:

1. In a "perfect" world it wouldn't be the M-Net Binge channel but just a Binge channel or the DStv Binge channel.

By that I mean it wouldn't just carry M-Net shows but all kinds of shows across the range of DStv channels from different channel providers and distributors - sort of like the shop window of DStv Catch Up, but in/on a linear channel. There's more than just M-Net shows viewers need and want to catch up on, especially from FOX, Discovery and BBC Worldwide's set of channels.

2. In fact, if M-Net Binge was just Binge and included more channels' content, it could virtually run a whole week long on DStv, continuously broadcasting one set/season of a show after the other. Of course content rights management makes it virtually impossible - all the different kids will never play nicely in the same yard on the same linear TV channel.

3. I get why M-Net Binge is only for DStv Premium subscribers. It's neither "right" nor "wrong", but there's both pro's and con's. Of course it's for DStv Premium subscribers only because M-Net will repeat premium, new and sought-after shows that M-Net and DStv can't possibly (be expected to) make available to lower-tiered subscribers.

On the other hand, more always fuel more - it's called momentum. If more DStv subscribers got access to or watched the M-Net Binge channel, they would actually go on to watch more TV - both watching on the M-Net Binge channel, but also progressing from there and watching new seasons of shows after having been introduced to it, or having been able to catch up on shows and then sticking with them.

4. 900? Whatup with that? On overseas pay-TV operators the 700's and 900's is the channel numbers where the junk lives - pay-TV's twilight zone with the home shopping trash, the pornographic sex channels on Sky for instance and the ne'er-do-wellers.

Now DStv and M-Net started playing SimCity in the 900 setting up shop and expanding in this channel galaxy range, far, far away. Why? If 102 is empty now after M-Net Edge was canned, why not put M-Net Binge on 102 now, or for now, and move it away later when a new M-Net packaged channel comes along. M-Net Binge is, after all, designated royalty as a DStv Premium channel.

5. When did M-Net and MultiChoice come up with M-Net Binge? In a (the last) month?
If MultiChoice and M-Net announced the addition/replacement of M-Net Binge when the demise of M-Net Edge was announced, there would have been much less anger and resentment from DStv subscribers if there was a simultaneous bait-and-switch marketing technique.

6. The M-Net Binge channel logo doesn't look ugly per se, but goodness - how Boring and Bland.

I'm a journalist, not a visual brand marketing creative, but without thinking about it for longer than 30 seconds I would have done stuff to make the logo's design elements work harder and be more dynamic...

... like making the "G" an upside down circle arrow sign to indicate a type of "catching up"; or doing something to indicate "stacking with the 3-lines of the "E"; or changing the last two line vectors of the "N" into an arrow, mimicking how you move backwards to move forward through catching up.

The M-Net Binge logo looks a bit lazy.