MultiChoice and M-Net shutter DStv's 1Magic and ME channels.

by Thinus Ferreira  

  

As part of M-Net's linear pay-TV channels portfolio consolidation, MultiChoice is shutting down both the 1Magic and ME channels at the end of this month, with DStv subscribers losing another two TV channels at the same time as DStv's price hike for 2024 kicks in from April.

The axing of M-Net's linear 1Magic and ME channels was originally planned to take place just before the relaunch of MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax last month but was pushed out by two months.

The loss of the 1Magic and ME channels is the latest in a string of eight TV channels that will have gone dark on MultiChoice's DStv over just the first three months of this year while South African pay-TV subscribers are expected to pay more for the traditional satellite pay-TV service.

Gone for Dstv subscribers since the beginning of 2024 are the Deutsche Welle, Emmanuel TV, B4U Movies, 1Free State TV, NWTV and People's Weather TV channels.

MultiChoice in response to a media query from TVwithThinus confirmed that the two TV channels are getting axed and says the "M-Net universe is streamlining towards a better and simpler viewing experience".

"From 31 March 2024, M-Net will streamline its channel offering to provide a more seamless entertainment experience for DStv customers. While we will be bidding farewell to 1Magic and ME Channels, we're confident that these changes will pave the way for an array of fresh, engaging content across our other channels, making for a more robust and streamlined offering."

"M-Net is committed to giving customers only the best in entertainment and endeavours to continuously improve our customers' viewing experience."

1Magic (DStv 103) which launched in January 2018 is shutting down after five years and was available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact subscribers.

When M-Net launched 1Magic out of the shuttered VUZU AMP channel in early 2018, M-Net claimed that 1Magic would be "introducing a bigger, exclusive content slate that what we currently have on VUZU AMP". That promise however went unfulfilled over the past half a decade that the channel was in existence.

At the time M-Net said that it had "identified a need to invest in more local entertainment for our viewers, in the premium segment". 

The plan was for 1Magic to be a localised version of the M-Net channel to attract and retain DStv Premium subscribers through premium local productions but most of the content, including The River, only really found an audience when it got screened on Mzansi Magic.

ME that is shutting down two years and three months after it launched in November 2021 was available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers and was created out of the shuttered and fused together M-Net City and VUZU TV channels. 

ME offered lower-tiered DStv subscribers a way to see first-run M-Net content, especially American series, later, as part of the windowing-down approach followed by the traditional pay-TV model.

ALSO READ: Deutsche Welle and Emmanuel TV going dark on MultiChoice's DStv.

ALSO READ: More TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv axed including People’s Weather.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice's DStv price increase for 2024: Two packages increasing with above-inflation rates.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice hikes DStv decoder prices by up to over 17%.

Revived Gossip Girl cancelled, Outlander ending with prequel series spinoff.

by Thinus Ferreira

The revived Gossip Girl series has been cancelled after two seasons, while Outlander will be ending after eight seasons although the story will continue in a spinoff series.

Josh Safran, showrunner of the revived Gossip Girl series, has revealed that the show has been cancelled after two seasons. 

The 2021 Gossip Girl, from Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max seen on MultiChoice's streamer Showmax and the Me (DStv 115) channel, was a reboot of the 2007 series which chronicled the "scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite" teenagers.

"So here's the goss: it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max," he wrote on Instagram.

"The EPs and I will forever be grateful to the network and studio for their faith and support; the writers for their devious brains and dexterous talent; the superstar cast for being the greatest of collaborators and friends; and the crew for their hard work, dedication and love for the project."

"This was honestly the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom. We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill bottle, and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs. Thank you for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo."

"A big thank you to all the GG fans around the world. You’re the reason we came back in the first place, and who knows, maybe the reason we will meet again. Much love."

HBO Max in a statement says "We are very grateful to showrunner/executive producer Joshua Safran, and executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard".

"Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience."

Outlander ending - with a spinoff

Meanwhile, Outlander, seen on M-Net (DStv 101) will be ending although the story will continue with a new spinoff, prequel series.

The 16-episode 7th season of Outlander will be broadcast this year, with the 8th season likely sometime in 2024 which will have 10 episodes.

"For nearly a decade Outlander has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we're pleased to bring Claire and Jamie's epic love story to a proper conclusion," says Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz, in a press statement announcing Outlander's ending.

"But before we close this chapter, there is plenty of their passionate story to tell over the course of 26 new episodes and even more to explore of this dynamic world and its origin story. We're thrilled to continue to partner with Matthew, Maril and Ronald and can't wait to see where their alluring storytelling takes us next."

Outlander will be followed by a prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, which will chronicle the love story and romance of Jamie Fraser's parents, Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie.

"Outlander: Blood of My Blood is, at heart, a love story. It will explore what lengths a person will go to find love in a time when love is considered a luxury, and when marriages are made strategically, often for political or financial gain," says Matthew B. Roberts, Outlander showrunner who will continue as showrunner on the prequel series.

"The title is a nod to Jamie Fraser's marriage vow to Claire and there will be several names and faces that Outlander fans will know and recognise."

"Jamie and Claire's TV story may be coming to an end with season eight, but Diana is continuing on with their literary journey in her wonderful book series and is working diligently on book ten. With Jamie and Claire, and now Brian and Ellen, there is still so much more to come in the Outlander universe, and we cannot wait to continue sharing these stories with our dedicated fans."

More about Me - the new M-Net TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv that will replace the axed M-Net City and VUZU from November.

by Thinus Ferreira

The earthy, scribbly, camo-esque Me from M-Net will launch on Monday 1 November at 16:00 when it will replaced the two axed M-Net-packaged channels M-Net City and VUZU on DStv channel number 115.

M-Net City (DStv 115) and VUZU (DStv 116) will officially close on Friday 29 October on DStv.

Last week TVwithThinus reported that MultiChoice and M-Net are ending M-Net City and VUZU and replacing the two channels with one channel as it continues its process and strategy to consolidate its linear TV channels line-up on DStv to try and strengthen its offering in the facing on the video streaming wars.

While VUZU is available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers, M-Net City is only available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers.

MultiChoice and M-Net is therefore making the softer-looking, pastel-coloured Me available down through all of the DStv packages to DStv Family.

In effect DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers lose a TV channel, although DStv Family subscribers don't lose anything.

Me is targeted at DStv Family and DStv Compact viewers but will also be available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus audiences.

M-Net describes the new "Me" channel as "TV made personal. It's a place to unwind. It's a channel that will change and evolve to continue to offer viewers more of what they like".

M-Net says that "Me will feature the best of both its predecessors, while establishing a new identity strategically crafted with the discerning audience in mind."

M-Net says that Me is "a destination for primarily the 18 to 34-year-old market, and, in addition to international scripted content, it will feature lifestyle shows and celebrity content that has been previously broadcast on M-Net (DStv 101) and 1Magic (DStv 103)".

Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice Group CEO of general entertainment and connected video, says "We're changing the way we package content and creating a single, extensive, well-curated destination".

"Me will give our viewers and subscribers a multifaceted, competitive channel offering, and we're pleased to offer the best international entertainment in one place."

"Me is taking us in an exciting direction that speaks to the multiplatform world we live in and further sharpens our aim to give our subscribers content that they connect with."

M-Net's Me channel will launch with daily episodes of The Rookie, NCIS: New Orleans, Survivor Australia and Young Sheldon from 17:00 to 20:00. 

From 20:30 DStv subscribers will be able to watch a mix of local and international series like Lioness, Prodigal Son, All American and 911. 

The Real Housewives (starting with The Real Housewives of Atlanta) will be shown every weekday at 21:30, leading into a late-night slot at 22:30 where Me will feature international dramas and thrillers like Godfather of Harlem, Clarice and Flight Attendant.

Over weekends Me will have The Bachelorette SA or a movie on Friday nights. 

On Saturdays and Sunday Me will broadcast game shows, talent shows and reality shows like Beat Shazam, American Idol and Growing Up Hip Hop. Sunday evening at 20:00 Me will feature drama series like Queen Sugar. 

ALSO READ: MultiChoice and M-Net to end the M-Net City and VUZU channels on DStv to be replaced by Me from November.

MultiChoice and M-Net to end the M-Net City and VUZU channels on DStv to be replaced by Me from November.

by Thinus Ferreira

As linear pay-TV channels faces an increasingly uphill battle to not only attract but retain subscribers, MultiChoice and M-Net are ending both the M-Net City and VUZU channels on DStv at the end of October and will combine their content into yet another new M-Net packaged channel called Me from November.

After Disney ended and took away its FOX general entertainment channel just after midnight this morning on DStv and StarSat, some DStv subscribers were shocked to receive a SMS message from MultiChoice late on Thursday telling them that they're losing another two TV channels and that M-Net City and VUZU are getting axed to be replaced by just one channel called Me from 1 November. 

M-Net on Friday morning confirmed the news to TVwithThinus.

"The launch of Me will see two channels, M-Net City (DStv 115) and VUZU (DStv 116), merged to create a bigger, better channel aimed to give viewers their famous, world-class series and reality shows in one place," M-Net says.

"Me will feature the best of both its predecessors, while establishing a new identity strategically crafted with the discerning audience in mind."

Me will take the channel number spot of M-Net City on channel 115.

The M-Net City channel identity was born out of the M-Net Series Zone channel in April 2015 and will now be retired after 6 years. 

M-Net relaunched its GO youth channel in July 2009 as VUZU, that eventually spawned a spin-off TV channel called VUZU AMP that was axed and relaunched as 1Magic. The move to end VUZU and turn it into Me means that M-Net is retiring the VUZU brand name after 12 years.

While VUZU is available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers, M-Net City is only available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers.

It's conceivable that MultiChoice and M-Net will have to make the replacement Me channel available to all DStv packages down to DStv Family, otherwise DStv Family subscribers would effectively lose a TV channel.