Netflix adds 7-episode documentary series The Trials of Winnie Mandela from 23 April with never-before-seen footage from Emmy-winning director Mandy Jacobson

by Thinus Ferreira

On 23 April, Netflix will add the 7-episode documentary series from the late, Emmy-award-winning director Mandy Jacobson, The Trials of Winnie Mandela, that contains never-before-seen footage of the late South African struggle icon, along with interviews dissecting her legacy.

Produced through production companies Indelible Media and The African Oral History Archive, The Trials of Winnie Mandela has Barbara King as producer, as well as Swati Mandela-Dlamini, one of Madikizela-Mandela's granddaughters.

Swati Mandela-Dlamini also fronts the documentary series with another granddaughter Zaziwe Manaway (née Dlamini). Both fronted the 2013 reality series Being Mandela. 

Ivor Ichikowitz, Mandy Jacobson and John Nyoka served as executive producers.

In this new documentary series, Swati Mandela-Dlamini and Zaziwe Manaway look at the life of their grandmother, known as the "Mother of the nation", pieced together by personal accounts, family anecdotes and public records.

Featured in The Trials of Winnie Mandela are former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, former president Kgalema Motlanthe, anti-apartheid activist Dr Nakedi Mathews Phosa, advocate Thuli Madonsela, political analyst and writer Sisonke Msimang, human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka, visual artists Nkululeko Mahlangu and Loyiso Mkize, newspaper editor Mondli Makhanya, as well as Madikizela-Mandela's longtime personal assistant Zodwa Zwane. 

Also included are members of the notorious Nelson Mandela Football Club, as well as family members of Siboniso Tshabalala and Stompie Moeketsi, who reflect on the lasting wounds of their deaths and Madikizela-Mandela’s involvement.

In The Trials of Winnie Mandela, she reflects in her own words on her childhood, her activism, and her relationships as a wife, mother, and comrade in some never-before-seen footage from the later years of her life.

The documentary series explores the controversies that defined her public image, including the headlines and scandals that followed her, as well as her persecution by the apartheid regime.

Also included in this biographical work are the voices of some of her detractors and some of her harshest critics, offering a fuller view of a life lived under unforgiving, relentless scrutiny.

According to Netflix's synopsis, "Like most families, the Madikizela-Mandela family is complicated – complex characters and stories that hover between half-truths and never-spoken-about moments as two granddaughters discover, when they go on a journey to find the essence of their grandmother".

"But this is no ordinary grandmother. This is Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, one of South Africa’s greatest feminist icons – a revered, global figure. One whose legacy continues to remain shrouded in mystery and intrigue. An icon embroiled in allegations of kidnapping, assault and murder."

Monsters In Africa: Why the continent waits for its own global fantasy and sci-fi breakthrough

by Thinus Ferreira

While Netflix's Squid Game did it for Asia and put Korea on the global map for genre content, the Nordics found success mining folklore, and Latin America booms with producing "telefantasy", the one continent that is still waiting for its local Wakanda-like breakthrough on the worldwide stage is Africa.

While Africa is rich in stories, folklore, writing talent and creativity, the execution and production in successfully birthing an African-type of Squid Game that garners global appeal has so far remained elusive.

In September 2024, MultiChoice's Showmax, which Canal+ is now shuttering, released Subterranea, Kenya's first-ever sci-fi series as a psychological thriller that never would have seen the light of day if it weren't for the African streaming service that took a big swing with the Nairobi-based Kibanda Pictures on the bunker-set series.

When it comes to quality, engrossing and smart science fiction and fantasy, home-made in Africa and resonating with global viewers, Nosipho Dumisa-Ngoasheng, says the lack of buzzed-about genre content is because Africa underestimates itself.

The South African writer, director and producer who co-founded Gambit Films, says, "I have many opinions on this".

She spoke as a panellist at the 8th Joburg Film Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she implored Africa's biz to take a new look at genre content and to take the risk with sci-fi and fantasy stories, and to start trying it out on a small scale.

While  Comic Con Cape Town is set for 30 April and Comic Con Africa 2026 is marked for 24 September in Johannesburg and while both fan-driven events on African soil have found success and support from sci-fi and fantasy lovers, the content and stars it rests on are primarily international. 

"This is for me where I think it's a case of 'don't under-estimate our audiences'. I think in this particular area, I do feel we have under-estimated our audiences," she says.

"2009's District 9 science fiction action film from Neill Blomkamp came out several years ago. If you asked me what film I wish I had been a part of, that would be it without a question," Dumisa-Ngoasheng noted.

"While it wasn't a South African production in that it wasn't a South African company or South African studio or anything like that, what it did highlight is that our audiences are absolutely hungry for it. Our audience absolutely wants it. And then nothing."

"When District 9 came out, I was absolutely convinced that it was the dawn of a new era - that something new was coming. We had big things we were pitching. We had all or spec sci-fi's. And then the conversations were always ''Our audiences don't understand it'. Which I don't believe."

"We've seen it time and time again - scifi and fantasy as genre work. I think the misconception and where we falter is in thinking it requires a crazy budget because it requires a crazy, massive world and everything is big."

"I think it comes back to the same thing about knowing what you won't compromise on. There is nothing wrong with starting small, for example, an Ex Machina. Her. These are grounded scifi's where yes, the budgets in Hollywood are spent on Joaquin Phoenix and so on but we don't have to do that."

"It takes a high concept, that is grounded with an element of these genres, that we slowly start to explore and that we start to play around with and take some risks. It's also a question of who do we take risks with? Who has already displayed an understanding of the genre?"

Dumisa-Ngoasheng says "What I also think sometimes happens if we are navigating and going into genres with partners who haven't necessarily attempted it even on a small scale, then there's a higher risk, as opposed to 'maybe they have shorts that have already been done in this way.' Maybe the story isn't so good but the technical is good - let's partner with a great storyteller or use a piece of IP to build the thing."

"I can't stress enough how I feel there's an audience, myself being one of those audience members, who are greatly underserved in the genres of sci-fi and fantasy. I mean fantasy! Africa's storytelling is grounded in fantastical stories but we never get to go there." 

Paramount launches hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery with cash offer directly to its shareholders after Netflix said it's buying WBD

by Thinus Ferreira

Paramount isn't going gently into the good night and on Monday launched a hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, after Netflix and WBD on Friday announced that Netflix is buying WBD.

Paramount Skydance is offering an all-cash buy to WBD's shareholders, backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital.

Whereas Netflix is buying Warner Bros.'s TV and film studios as well as its streamer HBO Max, Paramount wants all of WBD, including its Discovery Global set of linear TV channels.

Paramount on Monday said that its deal to snap up WBD is of superior value to shareholders and won't face the uncertain regulatory process that a Netflix buyout of WBD will confront.

Since Netflix is the world's and the United States' largest video streaming service, it will raise anti-trust issues when it wants to acquire HBO Max as a big video streaming service as well that specialises in premium content.

On Monday, Paramount said that it is taking its all-cash offer directly to WBD shareholders since Paramount believes that they were not presented with "the most compelling and superior transaction".

According to Paramount, a Netflix transaction of WBD represents "inferior and uncertain value, a protracted and uncertain multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process, a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash, and ownership of Global Networks as a standalone over-leveraged company whose future trading value is uncertain".

Paramount says it is offering $18 billion more than Netflix to buy the entirety of WBD.

David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, in a statement, says, "WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company".

"Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros Discovery board of directors in private, provides superior value and a more certain and quicker path to completion."

"We believe the WBD board of directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process."

"We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximise the value of their shares."

"We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theatre industry."

"We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theatres as a result of our proposed transaction. We look forward to working to expeditiously deliver this opportunity so that all stakeholders can begin to capitalise on the benefits of the combined company."

Neither Netflix nor Warner Bros. Discovery had immediate comment.

Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes told Reuters "The Warner Bros Discovery acquisition is far from over. Netflix is in the driver's seat but there will be twists and turns before the finish line. Paramount will appeal to shareholders, regulators and politicians to try to stymie Netflix. The battle could become prolonged."

Canal+'s MultiChoice is currently in contentious channel carriage negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery for a carriage extension of 12 TV channels on the DStv pay-TV service in South Africa and the Rest of Africa (RoA) region.

With no new deal, MultiChoice will lose the 12 TV channels by the end of December 2025, as well as studio output like the TV content from Warner Bros. Television and films from Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as everything from HBO, all bought for M-Net (DStv 101), the M-Net Movies channels, as well as MultiChoice's streamer Showmax it runs with Comcast's NBCUniversal.

On Monday afternoon, MultiChoice Group said that it "is aware of the announcement made regarding Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix".

"Our own commercial discussions with WBD remain ongoing, and we are not in a position to comment on the negotiations of other industry players. There is no final decision regarding any WBD channels or content on our platforms."

"As always, any updates that may affect our customers will be communicated directly and transparently. Our focus remains on providing the best possible content offering."

M-Net and Showmax at risk of losing HBO and all other Warner Bros studios series and film output in TV channels carriage fight between Canal+'s MultiChoice and WBD

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net and Showmax are both at risk of losing all of Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO content, as well as all of the TV series and films licensed from WBD's TV and film studios, in separate negotiations that form part of the bigger channels carriage agreement negotiations and standoff between Canal+'s MultiChoice Group and WBD.

The existing channels carriage contract between MultiChoice and WBD expires at the end of December 2025.

The months-long talks to hammer out a new channels carriage extension contract have become contentious, with the risk that DStv subscribers could lose the 12 TV channels supplied by WBD at the end of the month.

It is however not just the 12 TV channels that might get axed from DStv but also all of the HBO content seen on MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax, as well as on the M-Net (DStv 101) channel, and the M-Net Movies channels, which are bought "separately" from the full linear TV channels as part of output deals.   

A source told TVwithThinus that the potential loss of WBD's content for MultiChoice's DStv, M-Net and Showmax is its "biggest existential threat in its history".

Talks between Canal+, MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery again took place on Thursday evening.

The WBD channels at risk of going dark on DStv on 31 December include CNN International, Discovery Channel and Cartoon Network - all three of which have been on DStv since it launched 30 years ago in 1995 - as well as Cartoonito, Food Network, TNT, TLC, ID: Investigation Discovery, Real Time, HGTV, Discovery Family and the Travel channel.

Another source made it very clear to me that the current negotiations with MultiChoice involve separate agreements for both Warner Bros. Discovery’s channel brands, as well as for all of its premium content like HBO series and Warner Bros. titles.

It means that HBO shows and Warner Bros. films appearing on M‑Net, M‑Net Movies and Showmax are also part of the ongoing discussions - not just the 12 TV channels, creating a much bigger possible content loss catastrophe than what DStv subscribers realise.

If MultiChoice and WBD fail to sign a new channels carriage agreement, M-Net and Showmax will also lose the individual shows and films acquired from WBD's TV and film studios like Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, as well as HBO.

HBO series titles range from The Gilded Age, The White Lotus and Dune: Prophecy to House of the Dragon, the new upcoming spinoff Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that will debut in 2026, the new Green Lantern series Lanterns that will start in 2026 as well, and also the highly anticipated new Harry Potter drama series, currently filming its first season and is expected to run for a decade like Friends.

M-Net didn't respond with any answers or clarification to multiple media queries made last week about this output deal that it is at risk of losing.

A concerned and angry DStv subscriber has now started an online petition, entitled "Save our DStv channels from cancellation" to implore MultiChoice not to allow these 12 TV channels to get axed from DStv.

A third insider told me "things are not looking good".

"WBD, which is now taken over by Netflix, is the largest American content supplier of third-party entertainment to DStv and M-Net. You can't replace that massive loss with anything else, even if MultiChoice says it will work on finding replacement content."

"How will they explain to DStv subscribers paying exorbitant monthly subscription fees already why they no longer have CNN, Discovery or Cartoon Network, but that you want them to keep paying?" another source said.

MultiChoice says "While discussions between the parties continue, no agreement has been reached at this stage".

MultiChoice also hinted that WBD's asking price for whatever content the negotiations are over, might be too high.

MultiChoice says it's trying to acquire content "at the best possible pricing. Every time you subscribe, you trust us with your money, and we take that responsibility seriously".

Warner Bros Discovery told TVwithThinus that it has "not yet reached a mutual agreement with MultiChoice to continue broadcasting our much-loved brands. We want to assure our viewers that Warner Bros. Discovery remains unequivocally committed to finding a resolution".

"Our primary goal is to keep these channels accessible to our loyal audience. We are hopeful that a constructive path forward can be found that benefits all parties, especially the viewers."

Before Canal+'s takeover of the MultiChoice Group, Maxime Maada, Canal+ CEO, told South African regulators that DStv would have more content and more services after Canal+'s buyout and not fewer.

The Competition Commission of South Africa told TVwithThinus in response to a media query about the potential loss of WBD's TV channels and content from DStv, M-Net and Showmax, that "The Competition Commission is not able to comment on this at this stage until it has established all the relevant facts".

"However, it is important to note that any changes to the business of the merged entity will have to be done in a manner that ensures that the merger conditions are not undermined or violated."

ALSO READ: Stalemate in channel carriage extension negotiations between Canal+'s MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery could see 12 TV channels axed from DStv at the end of December 2025: 'You trust us with your money'

ALSO READ: SHOCKER. Canal+'s MultiChoice now says 12 TV channels from Warner Bros. Discovery will definitely be removed 31 December 2025 in channel carriage fight.

ALSO READ: Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO Max streamer for $72 billion: 'The Albanian army has taken over the world'

ALSO READ: Subscriber starts 'Save our DStv channels from cancellation' petition as Canal+'s MultiChoice tries to strike new deal with WBD: 'Loyal DStv subscribers are deeply frustrated over betrayed trust'

ALSO READ: Canal+'s MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery unable to agree on price for 12 TV channels and HBO content, won't lower subscription fees for DStv subscribers if channels are axed

Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO Max streamer for $72 billion: 'The Albanian army has taken over the world'

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix will buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios, as well as its HBO Max streaming service for $72 billion, excluding its Discovery Global TV channels.

Netflix and WBD announced the deal on Friday that will give Netflix control of the content produced by TV studios like Warner Bros. Television, film studios like Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as premium pay-TV channel HBO and the video streaming service HBO Max.

Canal+'s MultiChoice is currently in contentious negotiations with WBD for a channels carriage contract extension for its 12 TV channels included on DStv in South Africa and the Rest of Africa (RoA) which expires at the end of December 2025.

Canal+'s MultiChoice and M-Net is furthermore in negotiations for a new content output deal as well with WBD for HBO originals, as well as the TV series and films shown on M-Net (DStv 101), DStv's M-Net Movies channels, and MultiChoice's video streamer Showmax.

Both of these contracts - for the linear TV channels, as well as for the series and films content from WBD - form part of the same negotiations.

Fifteen years ago in December 2010 in an article headlined "Time Warner views Netflix as a fading star", Jeff Bewkes, then the CEO of Time Warner that owned Warner Bros. and HBO, in an interview with the New York Times, said, referring to Netflix, that "It's a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world? I don't think so".

Now that Netflix "Albanian army" has indeed taken over the world - or at least Warner Bros. Discovery.

Netflix's buyout of WBD has to pass regulatory scrutiny in the United States, with the deal expected to take between 12 to 18 months to complete.

It will exclude Discovery Global, the TV channels division that will house WBD's linear TV channels like CNN, CNN International, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Travel channel, Magnolia Network, Discovery Channel and others.

On Friday, Netflix was adamant that nothing would change, that Netflix would continue to operate according to how it always has, and that Warner Bros.' currently operations and distribution would continue independently, including its theatrical film releases and schedule.

The TV and film studios of Warner Bros. are combined the biggest in the world.

Where the deal might run into trouble is the anti-trust issue that will arise with the world's and the United States' biggest video streaming service buying another streaming service and by all measures HBO Max as the one with arguably the most premium content.

The Netflix deal is strongly opposed by Hollywood.

"Together we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling," said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, in a statement.

"Today's announcement combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world," said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, in the statement.

ALSO READ: SHOCKER. Canal+'s MultiChoice now says 12 TV channels from Warner Bros. Discovery will definitely be removed 31 December 2025 in channel carriage fight.

ALSO READ: Stalemate in channel carriage extension negotiations between Canal+'s MultiChoice and Warner Bros. Discovery could see 12 TV channels axed from DStv at the end of December 2025: 'You trust us with your money'

ALSO READ: Subscriber starts 'Save our DStv channels from cancellation' petition as Canal+'s MultiChoice tries to strike new deal with WBD: 'Loyal DStv subscribers are deeply frustrated over betrayed trust'

ALSO READ: M-Net and Showmax at risk of losing HBO and all other Warner Bros studios series and film output in TV channels carriage fight between Canal+'s MultiChoice and WBD

Netflix commissions Quizzical Pictures for South African adaptation of Brazilian film with Cape Winelands set Love & Wine film set for 5 December release

Thinus Ferreira

Netflix Africa has commissioned Quizzical Pictures to make a South African adaptation of the Brazilian film Ricos de Amor, with Love & Wine produced in Cape Town and the Western Cape Winelands region, which will be released on the streaming service on 5 December.

Love & Wine was executive produced by Odirile Mekwa, JP Potgieter and Harriet Gavshon and directed by Amanda Lane, 

The film that has Amanda Lane, Darryl Bristow-Bovey and Zelipa Zulu as writers, has Ntobeko Sishi, Thandolwethu Zondi, Masali Baduza, Thando Thabethe, Bongile Mantsai, Desmond Dube, N'kone Mametja, Simone Neethling, Rorisang Mohapi and Bohang Moeko as part of the cast.

The logline for Love & Wine as issued by Netflix's new PR company in South Africa, Burson, reads: "A privileged young man working at his wealthy father's business traps himself in a lie when he falls in love with a hard-working medical student and tries to convince her that he comes from more humble beginnings like hers. What follows is a comedic whirlwind of chaos and heartfelt revelations". 

Love & Wine follows the wealthy Ovee (Ntobeko Sishi) who wants to prove he is more than "money".

He asks his friend and driver Nathi (Thandolwethu Zondi) to help him with a plan to find out if love can conquer all.

Wanting to get an internship at his father Sityebi's (Bongile Mantsai) winery, Ovee falls in love with a doctor Amahle (Masali Baduza).

Meanwhile, Nathi starts to enjoy his nouveau riche life, and while chasing the same internship, falls in love with the winery's manager Lena (Thando Thabethe).

Judge throws out Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana interdict application to block Netflix SA and Storyscope from releasing Beauty and the Bester doc series

by Thinus Ferreira

On Friday morning Judge Sulet Potterill, as expected, dismissed the urgent court interdict application brought by convicted murderer, rapist and fraudster Thabo Bester and dr Nandipha Magadumana who tried to block Netflix from showing its documentary series Beauty and the Bester that the streamer earmarked for a release today.

"Judge Sulet Poterill in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this morning said "A defamation claim can be instituted and damages sought. I cannot find in any way that the screening of the utterances they find to make the doctor guilty affects her right to have a fair trial".

She dismissed the interdict application with cost against Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana and noted that the information about the two are "firmly in the public domain".

At exactly 09:00 on Friday, Netflix globally released the 3-episode Beauty and the Bester, with the 40-minute episodes having titles like "A Monster is Dead", "Ride or Die", and Everything to Lose".

The first episode of Beauty and the Bester details the prison fire in which Thabo Bester allegedly faked his death to escape, the second episode details how Nandipha Magadumana's friends and family feared that she "got swept away by love", while the third episode chronicles the manhunt for the two fugitives who crossed borders into Tanzania, and how deep Nandipha's involvement is in Thabo Bester's life of crime. 

Produced by StoryScope, Beauty and the Bester - a word play on the story "Beauty and the Beast" - has Anthony Molyneaux as director, with Neil Brandt, Laura Colucci and Thandi Davids as executive producers.

Netflix declined to provide media with digital screeners of Beauty and the Bester ahead of time, something which is usually done for review purposes and to promote content, saying it is "sensitive".

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana, with separate lawyers, both brought an urgent interdict application against the release on Netflix of Beauty and the Bester, chronicling the buzzy crime-riddled tale they're ensnared in.

After the judge tossed the interdict application on Friday morning, TVwithThinus asked Netflix South Africa for comment. Burson that does corporate communications on behalf of Netflix SA said Netflix has no comment or statement.

It's a two out of two for fail for Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana who last year also brought an interdict application against MultiChoice's streamer Showmax and IdeaCandy when they tried to block the release of the documentary Tracking Thabo Bester that was also dismissed with cost.

Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana are both due back in the Bloemfontein High Court next week Friday for their criminal trial. 

Thabo Bester is currently held in the C-Max division of the Kgosi Mampuru II jail.

ALSO READ: Netflix will only have half an hour time on Friday morning to halt global release of hot take doc series Beauty and the Bester if Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magadumana court interdict is maybe granted

MultiChoice Namibia is losing 49 subscribers daily who cut the cord over high prices and Netflix as it hikes DStv fees up to 8% from April 2025 and blames inflation

by Thinus Ferreira

As MultiChoice Namibia gets ready to hike prices from April 2025 and blames inflation, Namibia's broadcasting authority has revealed that MultiChoice Nigeria is losing 49 subscribers daily in that country who are cutting the cord due to the high subscription fees and competition like Netflix.

Namibia's Communications Regulatory Authority (CRAN), in its latest sector report, indicates that MultiChoice Namibia has shed a combined 35 578 DStv and GOv subscribers between the start of 2023 and the end of 2024.

This means that MultiChoice Namibia over the past two years has lost 49 subscribers daily.

According to the regulator, MultiChoice Namibia has seen an 11% decline in the satellite pay-TV operator's total subscribers in the country in the 4th quarter of 2024.

"This may be attributed to the recent increase in subscription fees and growing competition from streaming platforms like Netflix," the regulator notes in its Q4 broadcasting sector report.

From April 2025, MultiChoice is hiking DStv fees in Namibia by between 6% and just over 8%.

This is MultiChoice Namibia's second price hike in less than a year, after it hiked prices in September 2024.

MultiChoice Namibia is hiking DStv Premium by 6% from April from N$985 to $1045 - crossing the psychological threshold of $1000 per month for its top-end package for the first time ever. 

MultiChoice Namibia is increasing DStv Compact Plus 5.9% from N$675 to N$715, while DStv Compact is increasing 6% from N$495 to N$525.

DStv Family is increased 6.7% from N$370 to N$395, while DStv Access will increase by 8.5% from N$175 to N$190.

DStv Lite - the cheapest package - is getting a price decrease from N$110 to N$60, making it 45% cheaper.

MultiChoice Nigeria blames inflation in the country for the increase of between 6% and 8%.

"Africa’s much loved storyteller has taken into account the current rate of inflation and economic pressures facing Namibians when considering our price adjustments," says MultiChoice Namibia.

ANALYSIS. MultiChoice's biggest threat isn't Netflix. It's this.

by Thinus Ferreira

Much is made, correctly, about the threat that the red "N" poses to DStv but MultiChoice's biggest nemesis isn't Netflix. Like an oasis in a desert, it's something drying up and unravelling before your very eyes watching from the couch.

Like when Pangea as a supercontinent started to break up 250 million years ago, continental drift - or let's call it "content-al" drift is busy breaking MultiChoice's DStv apart.

Like the global tectonic forces that exert a constant push and pull on landmasses and which are impossible to control, content forces beyond MultiChoice's control are tugging at its content bundle that are transforming the traditional DStv pay-TV bundle before our very eyes.

Like the advent and rise of streamers like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and the rest of the "Netflix and chill" litter, these shiny "New TV" baubles do pose a very significant threat to DStv, the SABC and eMedia's e.tv and all of their traditional, linear television offerings.

When you watch VIU, you're not watching SABC1. When you're watching something on Disney+ you're not watching the Discovery channel. That impacts ratings and revenue.

But that's not the biggest existential threat.

The biggest clear and present danger impacting DStv - and pay-TV as we know it worldwide - is the closure of the content pipelines and the gushing content water that is slowly going to ebb to a trickle. 

It's not that more people, willing to pay for TV, sign up and decide to pay for a streaming service. 

The biggest problem is that the value offering of the traditional pay-TV bundle is diminishing. 

The content on offer on a traditional pay-TV service like DStv - as is happening elsewhere in the world - is steadily being diluted, while the content offering on streamers (and therefore its inherent value offering) is steadily increasing.

This is increasing the pressure - those tectonic powers pulling it apart - on the value that resides in the bundle offering of what used to make traditional pay-TV great value.

As international media companies and studios are blatantly directing their production spending away from making content for (their) legacy pay-TV channels, those TV channels are slowly morphing into zombie channels.

What once made pay-TV channels like an MTV, E! or the Travel channel great, no longer exist. And consumers are noticing. 

The lack of  enough, and enough quality content to feed and fill the schedule line-ups of these traditional channels weaken the offering of traditional pay-TV. 

And there is little MultiChoice can do about it.

MultiChoice acquires and pays for a bundle it built and desperately tries to maintain for DStv subscribers - just like pay-TV operators worldwide - but there isn't anything it can really do when the supplier and "filler" of that channel isn't maintaining it and filling it with enough, good enough content.

This is happening because the "good enough" content is now earmarked to go directly, or first, to streamers. 

MultiChoice has ramped up the production of local content but that isn't enough to offset the unravelling of the overall value of the total channel bundle fraying before our eyes.

While DStv subscribers have forever complained about repeats and too many repeats, a growing problem facing the MultiChoice's of the world is that particular pay-TV channels no longer even have recent repeats since they have little to nothing original and are become repackaged zombie channels.

With that, these channels also lose their original appeal and what originally made them and their spin-off channels so sought-after.

MultiChoice is helpless to stop it. 

In America - where the traditional pay-TV model has collapsed - American companies from Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, to Disney and Comcast have strongly pivoted away from keeping their traditional pay-TV channels they've been providing for decades strong and viral in terms of programming.

These are now withering on the pay-TV vine.

Even worse: They see and recognise the declining value and monetary worth in these TV channels, to the point where they all want to get them off their balance sheets. 

Comcast is pushing out NBCUniversal's pay-TV channels into Spin Co., WBD is separating them out into their own division where they could potentially be sold off as well, and Paramount will surely kill off and get rid of a few after/if its Skydance buyout goes through.

And anyone who's ever watched The Disney Channel will know it's no longer the it-girl but got fully replaced by Disney+ - which is obviously also where the Kardashians clan now reside, also to the further disintegration of E!.

A lot less money is spent in America on making content for these traditional, linear pay-TV channels but redirected to making shiny, sought-after shows to grow the catalogues of streamers. 

A lot of this content is also simply not available to buy. Studios just don't include them in their offer lists. 

While M-Net as MultiChoice's shiniest show-off channel on DStv is still a strong linear destination at its pre-eminent 101 position on the remote control, it's becoming harder and harder to keep a channel like that sparkling when shows from what used to be from Showtime to Survivor SA simply no longer exist to build a schedule with.

WBD's HBO remains a lifeline to a channel like M-Net, but what will happen when even that output dries up? 

How does the M-Net 101 of the future remain competitive and attractive when its very premise was and is based on curating the best premium programming available on all of television, if that type of programming has shifted to being made and being available on streamers exclusively?

When the most valuable programming, and the most value for money programming is no longer to be found within a channel bundle like DStv, of course customers who used to be DStv subscribers are going to start switching to building their own self-tailored"bundles" with subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+ and others.

Even if MultiChoice orders and tells overseas TV channel suppliers to keep their TV channels provided to DStv strong and vital, there is little MultiChoice can do if there literally isn't the content made and assigned to put into those channel funnels in the first place from the origin end.

The decline of something like DStv isn't (just) because of a Netflix. 

It's because what used to hold TV Pangea together as a content mass and gave it its value, is steadily drifting and breaking apart.

How streaming viewership is measured in this ‘chaotic’ era for TV data

by Don Clarendon, TV Insider

Until a a decade or so ago, TV viewership stats were easily accessible through Nielsen ratings, and the only trick was knowing the difference between a ratings point and a share. But in the streaming era, TV viewership has become a guessing game.

Many streaming platforms don't share in-depth viewership data with the public, leaving it to companies like Nielsen, Luminate, and Parrot Analytics to estimate audience sizes for streaming TV series - for a cost.

And even then, streaming numbers for a given programme can differ from one analysis to another.

Net introduced its Top 10 lineup in February 2020, but that feature is only a ranking with no viewership numbers to be seen.

The streamer took another step toward ratings transparency in December 2023, when it started releasing twice-a-year engagement reports showing six-month viewership tallies for its offerings. That's progress, but streaming viewership data remains scarce.

When streamers are forthcoming, they tout their successes through various metrics. Here's some of the most common terminology in this evolving and often confusing field of audience measurement:

Hours/minutes viewed: The amount of time users have spent watching a given film or TV show. For hit TV shows - especially ones with many seasons available for streaming - this number can soar into the tens of billions of minutes.

Views/streams: The number of times a given film or TV show has been streamed. Netflix's latest engagement reports include the number of views as well as the hours viewed for each title.

Viewers: The number of people who watched a streaming title - or at least, the number of accounts that have. Amazon Prime Video and Max often use viewers as a metric for their public-facing viewership stats.

Cross-platform viewers: The number of viewers who watch a linear TV program live, on PVR, on-demand, or through streaming. As The Hollywood Reporter points out, a linear TV programme's streaming viewership numbers can be reverse-engineered if a TV network shares data about that programme's other viewership.

First X days: A qualifier for viewing statistics to show a film or TV show's reach and engagement over the first X number of days that the title has been streaming - the first 3 days, first 7 days, first 25 days, first 28 days, etc.

Completion/retention rate: The percentage of streaming viewers who finish a film or TV series, relative to the number who start it. The analytics company Digital I determined in 2022 that Netflix TV shows with completion rates below 50% were likely to be cancelled at the time, per What's On Netflix.

Binge rate: The percentage of streaming viewers who watch the episodes of TV series in rapid succession, relative to all of that title's viewers. 

In its viewership report for the second half of 2024 the analytics company Samba TV shared that docuseries and crime dramas have higher binge rates - defined in that report as the percentage of 31-day season finishers who binged that season in the first 5 days — than comedies or other dramas.

Starters, watchers, and completers: Categorisations Netflix has used for its viewers, as revealed in a July 2019 letter to a United Kingdom parliament committee. "Starters" are households that watch two minutes of a film or a TV episode, "watchers" are those that watch 70% of a film or a TV episode; and "completers" are those that watch 90% of a film or a season of a TV series.

Netflix reveals year's content slate at Next on Netflix 2025 including new South African films and series

by Thinus Ferreira

On Thursday Netflix revealed more information about its upcoming slate of films and series for 2025, as well as a sizzle reel in which a character moves through various Netflix content.

"We're not just one thing. We’re the best of film, TV, documentaries, stand-up, animation and live events - and we're doing it in 50 languages," said Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief content officer.

"We're not afraid to make big bets on compelling voices and new ideas - whether it's a plot twist, an original story, or a big live moment."

"That's what Netflix is all about. Bold choices. Creativity. Surprises. Fandom. Entertaining the world. That's what keeps our members coming back week after week, month after month, year after year. And that's what we'll be doing in 2025."

Netflix's upcoming slate of new South African films include Semi-Soeter, a follow-up of the Afrikaans film Semi-Soet, as a romantic comedy directed by Joshua Rous and produced by Anel Alexander and Zandré Coetzer.

Meet the Khumalos, a new family film, is written, directed and produced by Jayan Moodley who created the Kandasamys family comedy franchise.

A new Afrikaans drama series, Tuiskoms, is also coming to Netflix South Africa and will debut on 28 February, produced by Infinity Films.

A new drama series Go!, produced by Ten30Films with Kutlwano Ditsele as creator and producer will be released on Netflix on 21 March, with directors Thuli Zuma and Tristan Holmes.

The Go! cast includes Thandolwethu Zondi, Wonder Ndlovu, Dawn Thandeka King, Wiseman Ncube and Katlego Danke. 

A third season of Kings of Jo'Burg from Ferguson Films will debut on Netflix in 2025 as well featuring Connie Ferguson and Zolisa Xaluva, as well as the second season of Unseen featuring Gail Mabalane, Dineo Langa, Waldemar Schultz, Ilse Klink and Siv Ngesi.

Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds is a new documentary film.

American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden is another new documentary series.

Chaos: The Manson Murders is a new documentary film.

Netflix released a clip for Apple Cider Vinegar, a series about two young women who advocate for wellness remedies to cure deadly diseases, who see their lives unravel as they unknowingly - and knowingly - mislead the world:

The unscripted series, Court of Gold, about Serbia's basketball team, got a clip:

Netflix will release the second part of the first season of Tyler Perry's Beauty, and part 3 of the 6th season of Cobra Kai.

Also coming in 2025 are the American historical drama series Death by Lightning, the animated series Death May Cry, the third season of the drama series The Diplomat, as well as new drama series Tyler Perry's She The People.

The documentary film, Eddie, is about Eddie Murphy, while Everybody's Live with John Mulaney is a new weekly talk show which will do live episodes globally from 12 March.

The film The Electric State got a new clip:

Fear Street: Prom Queen is a new film coming to Netflix in 2025, and Forever is a new American drama series:

Frankenstein is a new film, and there will be the third season of Ginny & Georgia.

 

Gone Girls: The Long Island serial killer and Katrina: Come Hell or High Water are two new documentary series also coming to Netflix this year, with Pangolin: Kulu's Journey that is a new documentary film of which this first-look photo was released:

Titan is another new documentary film:

Other new Netflix films include Happy Gilmore 2, Kinda Pregnant, Havoc, R&B, In Your Dreams, RIP and The Woman in Cabin 10.

The Leopard is a new international drama series making its debut in 2025 on Netflix, and it got a trailer:

Tyler Perry's film Madea's Destination Wedding was announced as a tile, and released a first-look photo: