Fox Networks Group Africa's new deal with 20th Century Fox Television Distribution brings shows like The Gifted, The Resident and Ghosted to South African viewers - although with a big gap.

FOX Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) and 20th Century Fox Television Distribution signed a new contract for exclusive TV series as well as regional premieres to broadcast on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) in South Africa and Africa.

FNG Africa was asked for the period of the deal but Fox Networks Group Africa told TVwithThinus it's confidential - although deal duration is usually announced in these types of agreements and the value is kept under wraps.

"The timing of the conclusion of this deal could not have been more perfect, having just launched the second season of Lee Daniels’ Star on the FOX schedule on Thursday nights," says Tracey Gilchrist, FOX Africa programming director.

"Empire season 4 Part B returns in March, filling the schedule with absolutely the best in class from 20th Century Fox Television content and we are thrilled to be able to bring to our fans this variety of content to ensure there’s something for every taste on the schedule and a thrilling start to 2018."

New shows that will be rolled out on FOX include The Gifted, Ghosted and The Resident, although FNG Africa is quite far behind America with all of these shows.

The Gifted that started in October 2017 already finished its entire 13-episode first season on FOX in America.  A year ago in February 2017, FOX Africa announced that FOX will have The Gifted and that it would be a Express from the US title that never happened.

The Gifted, set in the X-Men universe, will now start on FOX on 23 April at 21:00. A family who has children with supernatural abilities, go on the run.

The new series Ghosted will also be on FOX as part of the new deal but this show too will be old.

Ghosted with Craig Robinson and Adam Scott already started on 1 October 2017 on FOX in America and will start on 14 April 2018 at 20:25 on FOX in South Africa and Africa - half a year later.

Ghosted is a single-camera comedy and revolves around a cynical skeptic and a genius “true believer” in the paranormal who are recruited by a secret government agency, known as The Bureau Underground, to save the human race from aliens.

The 3rd new series won't have such a big lag between episodes shown in America and in South Africa.

The Resident is a new medical drama series that started on 21 January on FOX in America and will start 2 months later in South Africa on 27 March  at 21:00 on FOX. Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife), Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Shaunette Renée Wilson (Billions), Melina Kanakaredes (CSI: NY) and Merrin Dungey (Big Little Lies) are some of the stars in this series following doctors' drama.

The animation shows Family Guy and American Dad are part of the 20th Century Fox Television Distribution deal and FOX will now play these two shows out starting with The Simpsons, stripped daily, from 18:00.

What FNG Africa is doing very well currently is showing episodes of the very good drama series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on FOX, within 24-hours after the US premiere on Fridays at 03:00, and available for DStv subscribers an hour after broadcast on DStv Catch-Up.

The latest and final season of The X-Files, is also on FOX.

FOX Life does a logo refresh as the channel pivots to its new programme schedule.

FOX Life (DStv 126 / StarSat 133) has undergone a logo change refresh as the channel from FOX Networks Africa (FNG) pivots to its new programme schedule and better delineated programming offering from sister channel FOX.

FOX Life will soon add Turkish telenovelas to the channel's line-up as well.

"The new programme schedule will make it easier for fans to enjoy their favourite shows through streamlining of genre, predictable repeat patterns and every girl's favourite – weekend catch ups," says Tracey Gilchrist, director of programming for Fox Networks Group Africa.

FOX Life now has an updated logo, with refreshed on-air imaging.

"Refining FOX Life has also meant that FOX Africa's schedule has been bolstered with even more premium scripted dramas."

The next seasons of Star and Atlanta will premiere on FOX early in 2018.

"It is time for FOX Life to move forward. We have listened to the audience, and plan to keep super serving you with the best content in a viewing environment that is current and fresh."

"At the same time, we are still committed to bringing you the best first on FOX Africa, and looking forward to moving forward stronger with both of these hugely popular channels."

FOX Upfront 2017: Programming, schedules of FOX and FOX Life channels restructured: 'We're working towards schedule stability, predictability and stacking'.

FOX Africa has restructured the line-ups, programming and scheduling of its FOX and FOX Life channels in South Africa and across Africa to make it easier for viewers to understand the differentiation between the two TV channels and to increase viewership through more predictable and easier-to-understand schedules and timeslots.

FOX Networks Group Africa has reworked the schedules and placement of some programming - a process that's ongoing - to better delineate the premium content channel FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 133) and the recently relaunched FOX Life (DStv 126 / StarSat 133), a channel that is geared towards female viewers.

A lot of pay-TV viewers and advertisers have been struggling to figure out the difference in tonality and the separate channel propositions of FOX and FOX Life.

FOX Africa has been working to make it more clearer so that viewers know where to tune to to find what kind of programming.

On Wednesday in Johannesburg at FOX Networks Group Africa's FOX Upfront 2017, Tracey Gilchrist, director of content, scheduling and acquisitions at FNG Africa, said "we're working towards schedule stability, predictability and stacking".

Tracey Gilchrist said that a lot of work the past few months has gone into creating "complete predictability across the entire schedule" for the FOX channel.

In regards to the FOX channel, Tracey Gilchrist said "FOX will be the home of scripted, international, hot content".

In regards to the FOX Life channel that will turn one year old in mid-September since its replaced FOX Crime on DStv and StarSat, Tracey Gilchrist said "FOX Life - like all one year olds - they have to develop and they have to adapt to their surroundings".

"What have we've done the last couple of months? We've listened. We've done research. And in response to all of this, we've streamlined our schedules."

"We have implemented consistent scheduling practices, our repeats are easy to find now on the schedule, and we have very specific target markets and content."

"FOX Life is about women, we are about successful women, we are about women on the start to their road to success, we are pan-African, we are direct, and we are inclusive."

'FOX Life is focusing on local content, we are focusing on content from all around the African continent, we're focused on non-scripted content; we also look at telenovelas."

"It's not to say that there won't be scripted content on FOX Life but it will be localised and will be local scripted content," said Tracey Gilchrist.

FOX Upfront 2017: 'Less flesh' Turkish telenovelas coming to FOX Life soon as FOX Africa adds Turkish delights for SA and African viewers.

Smoking-hot, beautiful people. Heart-wrenching romance. Love and loss for the ages. But not so much lust and also a little bit more cloth over the collarbone.

Get ready for Turkish telenovelas that will soon be sweeping up South African and African viewers in passionate stories on FOX Life (DStv 126 / StarSat 133).

On Wednesday in Johannesburg at FOX Networks Group Africa's FOX Upfront 2017, Tracey Gilchrist, director of content, scheduling and acquisitions at FNG Africa, revealed that FNG Africa has acquired and is scheduling Turkish telenovelas - a genre that's recently been taking the entire TV world by storm.

Tracey Gilchrist said the exclusively acquired Turkish telenovelas that are currently being translated and dubbed into English, will run on weekdays at 18:25 on FOX Life - FNG Africa's recently started female-skewed channel that has just turned one year old.

FNG Africa didn't provide a specific starting date for the telenovelas, but TVwithThinus understands that it will kick off within a month as a more modest counter to the more provocative, more skin-baring South American telenovelas seen on channels like Telemundo Africa and EVA on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

To kick off, FNG Africa will show the "less flesh" Turkish telenovelas like Heartbeat and Lodestar (originally known in Turkey as Rüzgarın Kalbi and Coban Yildizi respectively).

According to sources, Heartbeat will be FOX Life's first Turkish TV delight if the dubbing is completed in time, with Heartbeat that is scheduled for a start on weekdays on FOX Life from Monday 2 October at 18:25.

Universal Cinergia Dubbing started work on dubbing both telenovelas into English, both made for FOX Turkey, just weeks ago.

FNG Africa didn't announce or explain why it decided to add Turkish telenovelas for South African and African viewers, but according to insiders FNG has market research indicating that there's viewers who like to watch telenovelas but ones that are slightly "safer" with less glaring, glistening skin that the often ribald Brazilian and Mexican are known for.

From Greece to Pakistan, from Chile to Afghanistan and even Ethiopia, the world is catching on to the well-produced and mesmerising "Turkish super soaps" that's starting to beat South America on their own TV genre turf and driving record ratings in almost every country they're being aired.

Interestingly, although owned and funded by men, several of the Turkish soap productions actually have women as scriptwriters.

In September last year, the the BBC reported on the world's growing fascination with Turkey telenovelas.

One South American viewer told the BBC that "the Turkish productions are very high quality and don't have the Hollywood cliches and stereotypes. When I started to watch these dramas, I realised how tired I was with all the violence and sex of American TV."

In Heartbeat the handsome Rüzgar is in love with Meltem but she dies just before their wedding day and her heart is donated to a sick girl.

Zeynep, discovers her fiancé is cheating on her and heads to a small town. Rüzgar and Zeynep fall in love - not knowing that Seynap is the recipient of his first love's heart.

In Lodestar, an ongoing telenovela, Zühre, the most beautiful girl in Kapadokya is being forced to marry a man she doesn't love.

On her wedding night she runs away, but is spotted by the man's son, Zekkar, a nightclub boss from Istanbul. He doesn't realise she's supposed to be his "stepmother" and falls.

Meanwhile Zühre is being protected by Seyit, a handsome stonemason who also falls in love with her.

FOX Networks Group Africa will kick off with shorter Turkish telenovelas on FOX Life to first test the African waters with drama series that doesn't have the long and stretched out episode order runs of South American telenovelas.

FOX Upfront 2017: IN PICTURES - FOX Networks Group Africa showcases FOX, FOX Life, Nat Geo and Nat Geo WILD.

On Thursday FOX Networks Group Africa held its FOX Upfront 2017 at Hyde Park Corner's The Park House of Events on 7 in Johannesburg, South Africa to unveil, and to talk about, its upcoming shows and programming strategies to advertisers and the media.

Subtitled "Imaginarium", FOX Networks Group Africa's head of advertising and research, Baleseng Dlamini, welcomed guests.

FNG Africa executives Gary Alfonso, Levern Engel, Khosi Khanyile and Tracey Gilchrist went through the upcoming shows and talked programming on the National Geographic (DStv 181/ StarSat 220), Nat Geo WILD (DStv 182 / StarSat 221), FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) and FOX Life (DStv 126 / StarSat 133) channels.

Gary Alfonso touched on the FOX Sports channels only carried on StarSat in South Africa and how viewership and content on these sports channels seen across Africa are growing, and Levern Engel made mention of the very good baby and toddler TV channel BabyTV, also only carried on StarSat.

Here is how it looked inside the event:

M-Net grabs the new American talk show, The Steve Harvey Show, for the first 3 seasons for M-Net Series throughout Africa.

M-Net has acquired the broadcasting rights to the new American talk show, The Steve Harvey Show (not to be confused with his previous similarly named talk show) which will most likely end up on M-Net Series (DStv 114)

The Steve Harvey Show started in America at the beginning of September and is produced by Endemol USA. M-Net will show the new The Steve Harvey Show throughout Africa. The first season's 200 episodes will definitely be shown, but M-Net also acquired the option for two further seasons besides the first one, should those happen.

"M-Net is proud to have The Steve Harvey Show in its territory," says Tracey Gilchrist, the programme executive for M-net Series and M-Net Movies Action. "Steve Harvey is known in Africa for his humorous take on various topics and for telling it like it is. This is what adds a little bit of magic in the minds and hearts of our viewers."