BREAKING. MultiChoice dumps Sony Channel and Sony MAX from DStv at the end of October after not renewing the Sony Pictures Television Networks contract.

MultiChoice is dumping the Sony Channel (DStv 127) and Sony MAX (DStv 128) from its DStv satellite pay-TV platform at the end of October after not renewing the channel's carriage contract with Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN).

MultiChoice was asked why it decided not to renew the  carriage contract but declined to answer.

In a terse statement, MultiChoice that incorrectly refers to the Sony Channel as Sony Entertainment, says the Sony channels will stop airing on DStv and that "as from end October 2018, Sony Entertainment (DStv channel 127) and Sony MAX (DStv channel 128) will stop airing on DStv. The current contract with Sony will expire end of October".

Emma Marshall, spokesperson at Sony Pictures Television for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry on Friday that "Sony Pictures Television's channels in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sony Channel and Sony Max, will stop being carried on MultiChoice’s DStv platform at the end of October, as the contract between SPT and MultiChoice expires at that time".

"We thank our viewers in the region for their support. SPT is excited about future opportunities in the Sub-Saharan African market and is exploring programming options for the continent."

The Sony Channel rebranded from Sony Entertainment Television in September 2014 after MultiChoice added it 11 years ago in November 2007.

In January 2011 MultiChoice added Sony MAX as a male-focused channel and as a replacement for Sony's terminated Animax channel. MultiChoice then said that it hoped to do "many more Sony channels on our DStv platform" and that Sony MAX "is fitting in perfectly with the DStv platform".

The Sony Channel and Sony MAX will remain available as linear TV channels on Cell C black on channels 203 and 204.

The Sony Channel and Sony MAX have largely been neglected over the past two years.

In 2016 MultiChoice Africa removed both channels from DStv and GOtv elsewhere in Africa outside of South Africa but later returned it to its GOtv digital terrestrial television subscription service.

In South Africa, MultiChoice also came close to removing the channels at this time, according to sources, who said that the two Sony channels were destined to suffer the same fate as in the rest of Africa after Naspers' pay-TV arm embarked on a wider plan to cut back on channels with too much repeat programming that were angering DStv subscribers.

In the end the Sony Channel and Sony MAX both got a last-minute reprieve, but now the axe finally came down on the channels due to too much old content and repeats.

In mid-2016 Sony Pictures Television Networks for Africa and The Sony Channel dragged MultiChoice into scandal for the faking of Gogglebox South Africa by making as if TV households were watching content across DStv channels that MultiChoice never even showed. Gogglebox SA got cancelled with people involved in the scandal who got fired.

2017 also marked the first year since SPTN started doing it in 2013 that Sony Television in Africa stopped doing any kind of annual Sony upfront event in South Africa with 2018 that also had none.

The accomplished and respected Sonja Underwood who used to be Sony Pictures Television Networks' territory director for Sony Africa's channels also left Sony at the end of March 2017, something that Sony didn't announce, with no new Africa boss who engaged with media or TV critics the past two years.

In July 2018 SPT promoted Kunle Falodun as the "country" leader for Africa to drive and look after Sony's plans and its channel distribution for the African continent, including South Africa.

Sony is changing its Sony Channel in the United Kingdom into Sony Crime Channel targeting women, will the same be happening for Sony Channel in South Africa and Africa at some point?

Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN) is ending The Sony Channel in the United Kingdom and switching it to the Sony Crime Channel from 6 February, raising questions as to whether the Sony Channel (DStv 127 / Cell C black 203) in South Africa and across Africa on MultiChoice's GOtv service is destined for the same fate sooner or later.

Sony Pictures Television Networks announced that in the United Kingdom the Sony Crime Channel will start on 6 February on Freeview, Sky and Virgin - but it will happen by merging the existing Sony Channel and its True Crime channel.

The result is apparently the end of the Sony Channel in the UK, and a new channel targeting female viewers with more high-profile programming and crime series.

The Sony Crime Channel will be similar to A+E Networks UK's Crime+Investigation (DStv 170) channel and Discovery Networks International's Investigation Discovery (ID) (DStv 171) that are both also strongly focused on female viewers with schedules packed with "true crime" investigation shows.

The Sony Crime Channel will run series like CSI, Person of Interest, Law & Order, Deadly Women, Crime 360, as well as repeats of British dramas like Spooks and Hustle.

SPTN says "With a predominantly female audience, Sony Crime Channel will create a one-stop destination for crime fans to immerse themselves in the genre with a vibrant fusion of fascinating stories, heart-pounding thrills, engrossing characters and stunning reveals.”

Now to South Africa and Africa where The Sony Channel has been largely neglected over at least the past year. Here's more perspective:

In 2016 MultiChoice Africa removed The Sony Channel and Sony MAX (DStv 128), targeting a male viewership, from DStv in Africa.

In South Africa, DStv also came close to removing the channels according to sources at the time, who said the channels were destined to suffer the same fate as in the rest of Africa as MultiChoice started a drive to cut back on channels with too much repeat programming that were angering DStv subscribers, but in the end both channels got a stay of execution.

In African countries outside of South Africa, after their removal from DStv,Sony and Sony Max were added to MultiChoice's GOtv pay-TV digital terrestrial television (DTT) service because it was seen as less premium pay-TV channels with too much old content and repeats - but then the channels were even removed from GOtv ... only to eventually be added back to GOtv.

The past year there's not been much on The Sony Channel or Sony Max for viewers in South Africa and Africa to make pay-TV viewers excited, and there's been other clues as well about how The Sony Channel and Sony Max have been backsliding during 2017.

In mid-2016 Sony Pictures Television Networks for Africa and The Sony Channel was involved in the scandal of faking Gogglebox South Africa by making as if TV households are watching content on DStv that MultiChoice never even showed.

Of course Gogglebox SA was cancelled and there's not been a second season, with no word from The Sony Channel if there ever again will be one. In December 2017 a veteran producer who was involved with the show at the time, told TVwithThinus that people who were involved in the scandal and allowed it to happen actually got fired.

2017 was also the first year in about 3 or 4 years since Sony Pictures Television Networks from the UK responsible for Africa, failed to do any kind of annual Sony upfront event in South Africa.

Sony did similar upfront events like BBC Worldwide South Africa, Discovery, FOX and others, in previous years but not in 2017 and was conspicuously absent on the upfront circuit where channel providers do their "show and tell" events for the media.

Either SPTN for Africa didn't see it worth spending the money and/or doing the effort, didn't feel it had or has any content or news on The Sony Channel and Sony Max worth crowing about to advertisers and the Press Covering Television, or just lessened the focus and attention that it's giving to these channels in South Africa and across Africa.

Add also the quiet departure of the lovely Sonja Underwood, who used to be Sony Pictures Television Networks' territory director for Sony's Africa channels, and who left Sony at the end of March 2017 for all3media International, something that Sony didn't even announce.

Sonja Underwood whilst at Sony for a decade since 2007 would often directly engage with the media and advertisers, and since she left there's definitely been much less of a tactile interaction and a presence as far as Sony and The Sony Channel in South Africa and Africa is concerned.

Lyle Stewart, is still the senior vice president for the Sony Pictures Television Networks' Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMA) region but it doesn't seem as if Sony bothered to appoint any new Sony territory director for Africa specifically. If there is one, TVwithThinus isn't aware of such a person.

Taking all of this into account as background on how Sony and The Sony Channel slipped in the ranks the past year and a half, it definitely wouldn't come as any surprise news if there were suddenly some announcement that The Sony Channel during 2018 is being flipped to The Sony Crime Channel in South Africa and Africa just like what is happening in the UK now.