Trace renames Trace Africa music channel to Trace Ngoma

by Thinus Ferreira

Trace is renaming its Trace Africa (DStv 326) channel to Trace Ngoma with the change that will happen on 18 December and with the channel remaining on the same channel number on DStv run by Canal+'s MultiChoice.

In a press statement, Trace says Trace Africa is renamed Trace Ngoma "To strengthen the connection with South African audiences by offering programming that reflects their identity and lived experience".

"Trace Ngoma provides culturally relevant content in local languages, rather than a broad pan-African approach."

Olivier Laouchez, co-founder and Trace CEO, in the statement, says "Trace Ngoma is where music meets identity. It amplifies the rhythms and stories that define South African culture and gives young people a space to connect and feel seen".

Trace Ngoma will air DJ sets and performance shows, presenter-led programming blocks, docu-stories like The Booth and On the Come Up with Sipho Magosha about artists and producers, faith-influenced and traditional programming like Gospel Kickstarter, and continue to show music video playlists according to various genres and languages ranging from amapiano and Afri-pop to maskandi, hip-hop, gqom, gospel and lemkompo.

Locally curated shows include Amapiano plz, Maskandi Vibes, Ke Hip Hop Dawg!, Lekompo Fela and Top 10 Afropop.

Three new South African produced Trace Original music shows added to the Trace Urban and Trace Africa channels.

by Thinus Ferreira

Trace has added three new South African produced Trace Original music shows to the Trace Urban (DStv 325) and Trace Africa (DStv 326) TV channels: Future Maskandi, Afro Tech is Life, and The Re-Introduction.

Future Maskadi has musician Zulu Mkhathini as presenter on Mondays at 19:00 from 3 October and will feature artists like Mzukulu, Mnqobi Yazo, Lwah Ndlunkulu Thee Legacy, Big Zulu and others.

As a 13-episode studio-based, variety show with inserts, Future Maskandi will bring viewers the backstories and music of new entrants into the Maskandi Music space. The aim of the show is to celebrate artists who have fused traditional Maskandi music with a fresh contemporary sound and is produced by Trace Studios.

Afro Tech is Life features ambitious South African up-and-coming DJs and a selection of A-list Afro Tech DJs playing music for a group of in-studio partygoers. The aim of the show is to showcase a new generation of DJs and is broadcast on Trace Urban from 1 October on Saturdays at 19:00.

The Re-introduction, starting in November 2022 on Sundays at 18:00 on Trace Urban, is a new 24-minute music documentary series with the aim of retelling the stories of icons like Fela Kuti and Brenda Fassie to a new audience of music lovers.

Each episode will focus on one music legend whose story will be anchored by a present-day music star including Zoe Modiga, J'Something, Langa Mavuso, Rouge, Sarkodie, Moozlie and others.

"With our ongoing commitment to empower, direct and nurture young local artists to create quality local musically content, we are ecstatic about the three new offering on the channel," says Valentine Gaudin-Muteba, Trace Southern Africa managing director.

"These Trace originals aim to propel further growth within the younger audience segment offering not just music but edutainment, fashion and lifestyle."

Cell C's black has added 3 of the TRACE channels - TRACE Africa, Trace Gospel and TRACE Sports Stars - to its streaming platform.

Cell C's black streaming platform has added three of the TRACE channels to its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform in South Africa: TRACE Africa (604), TRACE Gospel (603) and TRACE Sports Stars HD (410).

Cell C recently launched black in South Africa, offering several linear TV channels that are streamed, including through its blackBOX set-top box.

TRACE Sports Stars was carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform for 4 years before it was dumped, and was carried on StarSat from China's StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM) before it was dumped from there too.

Trace Sports Stars has since been picked up by eMedia Investments' free-to-air satellite service OpenView HD (OVHD) from Platco Digital and profiles international sports personalities with a lifestyle and entertainment angle.

TRACE Sports Stars is streamed as a high definition (HD) channel on Cell C black.

TRACE Africa (StarSat 334 /  DStv 326) is already carried on both DStv and StarSat.

Cell C black is the first platform to carry and make TRACE Gospel available in South Africa.

TRACE Gospel shows videos of Contemporary Gospel, Urban Gospel, Worship Gospel and Traditional Gospel, as well as interviews with upcoming and established artists and features and concerts.

TRACE Gospel shows urban African music with music videos from various genres ranging from Afro-pop and Coupé-décalé, to Kwaito-house, Afro-trap, Makossa and N’dombolo.

The channel focuses on African music and culture by showcasing concerts and features related to African artists and urban African lifestyle content.

"TRACE is dedicated to being ahead of the curve and making its content available on all
platforms that will make viewing more convenient for our audience," says Leo Manne, TRACE Southern Africa senior vice president.

"The partnership with Cell C was therefore, a natural and well-fitting one".

Surie Ramasary, Cell C's chief executive of content, says "South Africans love TRACE as a brand and as black we needed to ensure that the content we made available to our customers would be both relevant and enjoyable".

StarSat rebrands and replaces some channels, dumps RTP; adds SowetoTV, Trace Africa and 3 StarTimes packaged channels.

StarSat is rebranding and replacing some TV channels, adding some channels - including three StarTimes packaged channels - and ending the Portuguese channel RTP.

The satellite pay-TV operator from StarTimes Media South Africa and On Digital Media (ODM) warned StarSat subscribers at the end of August that it would be terminating the Viasat Life channel after just 9 months on its platform over "contractual reasons" but told TVwithThinus the channel is now remaining.

Instead the international Portuguese version of RTP - the channel from Portugal's public broadcaster - carried on StarSat on channel 370 will be removed from 15 September.

In other changes StarSat has rebranded ST Movies 1 (StarSat 100) to ST Movies Plus; ST Novela E1 (StarSat 127) to ST Novela E; and Star Life OK (StarSat 562) to Star Bharat.

From September StarSat has added the community TV channel SowetoTV (StarSat 488) and TRACE's music channel Trace Africa (StarSat 334) to StarSat'sR99 Special bouquet and the R199 Super bouquet respectively.

Both SowetoTV and Trace Africa are available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as well.

StarSat has also added ST Naija, ST Novela E Plus and ST KungFu Plus as further self-packaged channels from StarTimes.

ST Naija (StarSat 324) has been added to the R99 Special bouquet and shows Nigerian and Ghanaian music ranging from Afro-pop, Afro beat, Afro-hip, Hip-hop, R&B, Ragga and Dancehall, including golden classics and international hits.

ST Novela E Plus (StarSat 128) has been added to the R199 Super bouquet. This female-skewed channel shows telenovelas from Mexico, The Philippines and Turkey dubbed into English.

ST KungFu Plus (StarSat 156) has been added to the R199 Super bouquet. ST KungFu Plus shows Chinese Kung Fu as well as China’s landscapes, culture, arts and customs with programmes dubbed into English.

MultiChoice dumps the downgraded Trace Sport Stars channel from Trace Group after 4 years; replacing it with another music channel, TRACE Africa.

The downgraded Trace Sport Stars (DStv 188) from the Trace Group is getting dumped from MultiChoice's DStv at the end of the month just 4 years after it was added and will be replaced by the TRACE Africa channel in South Africa.

In West Africa, MultiChoice is adding the TRACE Naija channel on channel 325, and in East Africa MultiChoice is adding TRACE Mziki on channel 323 on DStv.

Trace Sport Stars - a type of E! Entertainment meets sports stars - was added to DStv in April 2012 as the Trace Sports channel but never really popped or got buzz and struggled to bring viewers enough new content.

Trying to lift the meagre viewership, MultiChoice and Trace downgraded Trace Sport Stars in October 2014 by lowering the channel's premium only status - which for two years was only for DStv Premium subscribers - making it available to DStv Extra, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers.

Trace Sport Stars was added to StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat satellite pay-TV platform at the same time.

In 2014  pay-TV operator Sky in the United Kingdom dumped Trace Sport Stars after just 2 years.

Now the under-performing Trace Sport Stars is getting chucked out with not even a month's notice to DStv subscribers; subscribers were told today that Trace Sport Stars is getting dumped at the end of August.

The Trace Sport Stars channel will remain on StarSat and is only being removed from MultiChoice's DStv.

StarSat tells TVwithThinus that Trace Sport Stars will remain available on its platform.

The channel, also carried on Platco Digital's OpenView HD (from eMedia Investments) will remain and continue on this free-to-air satellite-TV platform as well.

MultiChoice is adding TRACE Africa (DStv 326) from the Trace Group from 1 September as yet another music channel, and will sit alongside the existing TRACE Urban (DStv 325) channel.

Like Trace Sport Stars, TRACE Africa won't be a premium channel and will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Extra, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers in South Africa.

TRACE Africa will show music videos and documentaries as "a localised music channel" from established and emerging South African artists with music genres like Afro-pop, kwaito, house, rumba and others.

TRACE CEO Olivier Laouchez had nothing to say about the South African restructuring and changes and the dumping of Trace Sport Stars channel from DStv and the creation of TRACE Africa in South Africa.

The separate press release issued in the rest of Africa, however contains a drop-in quote from Olivier Laouchez, commenting on TRACE Naija for West Africa and TRACE Mziki for East Africa, saying: "TRACE is already the leading music brand in Africa".

"These 2 new localized music channels will help promote more artists from the two biggest music hubs of Africa and they will better serve the strong need of the local audiences for great local content".