Animation series, Lamput, renewed for a third and longer season on Boomerang for 2020.

Turner's Cartoon Network has renewed the animation series, Laput, for a third season that will be broadcast on its sister channel Boomerang (DStv 302) in South Africa and across Africa.

Lamput, a non-dialogue, slapstick chase animation series, follows Lamput, a gooey orange substance who has escaped from a secret laboratory.

Despite the best efforts of scientists Specs Doc and Skinny Doc, Lamput manages to evade them at every turn. It's produced by the Mumbai-based Vaibhav Studios in India and the third season will start in 2020.

Lamput originally started as a 15-second and two-minute shorts, but the new third season will be a mixture of 21 five minute episodes and 21 two minute episodes.

Vaibhav Kumaresh, creator of Lamput and founder of Vaibhav Studios, says "It's great to know that the crazy adventures of Lamput will continue and it’s completely heartening to see the amazing viewership the show has received so far across the globe."

Leslie Lee, the vice president of Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the Asia Pacific, says "From their studio in Mumbai, Vaibhav and his team pour enormous amounts of energy into this creation and it’s awesome to see the results. It’s an excellent achievement for Lamput, a homegrown Indian series, to reach a global audience".

Turner International's SuperheroHQ pop-up channel will run from 15 March on DStv across Africa with animation superhero series and films.

Turner International has announced more information about its Superhero HQ pop-up channel that it revealed in November 2018 is coming in 2019 at its first Turner Africa programming upfront, with SuperheroHQ that will run from 15 to 31 March on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

SuperheroHQ will be accessible for DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers on DStv channel 300 during the holiday period with the schedule that will include animation series, animation movies, as well as live-action superhero-themed movies.

Burson Cohn & Wolfe, in a press release on behalf of Turner Africa, says SuperheroHQ will run from 15 March to 31 March, but then also that the channel will run from 15 March to 21 March.

"Exclusive to DStv Premium, Compact Plus and Compact, SuperheroHQ is the exciting channel
where your favourite superheroes will gather for the holidays. For the full schedule, as well as
the latest information, visit [insert website here – where fans can access the channel schedule]," says Burson Chon & Wolfe in its press release.

During the day SuperheroHQ will show animation series like Batman, Superman, Justice League, Green Lantern and Teen Titans.

During the evening Superhero HQ will show films like the four Superman films, and 3 Spy Kids movies.

SuperheroHQ also curated animation films including The Lego Batman Movie, Batman Gotham Knight, and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis.

In-between Turner in South Africa is doing localised thematic fillers with the South African comedian Mojak Lehoko that will run between programmes in the form of superhero-themed stand-up comedy videos.

"I like being creative, always trying to do new things, and now being part of Cartoon Network's
pop-up channel, with relatable characters, makes me feel like a superhero. This channel is a
special treat for the legions of superhero fans - young and old - delivering thrilling action as well
as moments to laugh out loud," says Mojak Lehoko in the press release.

Series on SuperheroHQ will include Batman the Brave and the Bold; Batman the Animated Series; Superman the Animated Series; Green Lantern; Justice League Action; Young Justice League; Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans.

Films on SuperheroHQ will include Batman Gotham Knight; Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker; Batman vs Robin; Justice League: Doom; Superman/Batman: Public Enemies; Superman/Batman: Apocalypse; Green Lantern: First Flight; Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite; Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom!; Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered (22' Special); Son of Batman; Superman: Unbound; Justice League: Throne of Atlantis; Lego DC Comics SuperHeroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League and Teen Titans: Trouble Tokyo.

So-called "blockbuster" movies on the SuperheroHQ channel will include Superman the Movie; Superman II; Superman III; Superman 4: The Quest for Peace; Superman Returns; Spy Kids; Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.

No scheduled dates or times for when which of these specific titles will be seen on the SuperheroHQ channel have been released to the media but Turner International says a movie will run every weekday at 20:05.

Saturdays on SuperheroHQ will be dedicated to Batman, starting at 07:25 with an animated Batman film, followed at some time by animated Batman and Superman series.

On Saturday afternoons at 17:30 there will be a marathon of Batman episodes on SuperheroHQ with Saturdays that will end with a double film feature starting at an unspecified time.

Sundays will be dedicated to Superman with an animation movie starting at 07:25, followed at some time with a marathon of animation series including Batman the Animated Series and Superman the Animated Series.

At 17:30 on Sundays there will be another marathon of Superman episodes, with Sundays that will end with a double film feature starting at an unspecified time.

South African survey by Turner's Boomerang confirms that the lives of 4 to 7-year olds are one unending party - literally.

A new survey by Turner's Boomerang (DStv 302) channel confirms that the lives of 4 to 7-year old kids are one unending party - literally - as almost half spend up to 2 hours per week at birthday parties.

Turner's Boomerang conducted the marketing survey under 500 South African parents of kids aged between 4 and 7 - its core audience - looking into the importance of downtime and humour.

The survey revealed 48% of parents of kids in this age bracket said that their kids have between 4 and 7 hours of commitments, activities and social events in a normal week. In Johannesburg and Pretoria this rises to 54%.

More than 30% said their 4 to 7-year-olds have up to 1,5 hours per week of school homework and more than 40% have up to an hour per week of housework or chores.

About 40% also have up to 2 hours per week of playdates with friends, with almost 50% spending up to 2 hours per week at birthday parties.

Playing with friends or siblings, playing with family and watching TV are the moments when parents said their child tends to laugh most.

Watching TV is the top activity kids would choose for downtime at night and during wet weather – and 95% of 4 to 7-year-olds would choose to watch cartoons over any other genre to help them relax.

About a quarter of the sample said their child mainly gets their humour from TV.

When asked about their child watching TV programmes that are not educational, 42% of parents said they're okay with it but don't encourage it – however, when asked about the benefits, 64% said that it allows their kids to develop a sense of humour, imagination and creativity.

"Boomerang offers kids a safe space and time to relax, laugh – and be kids," says Julien Borde, the head of channels for kids and general entertainment for Turner Africa, France, French speaking territories and Israel.

"The time between four and seven years is when kids’ lives start to get a little more serious, and we want to provide them with a qualitative line-up that is filled with non-stop moments of pure enjoyment"

"This recent study gives us meaningful insights to kids' need for commitment-free downtime, something we've taken carefully into consideration with our new channel refresh."

"Our line-up serves non-stop entertainment and fun from old friends such as frenemies, Tom and Jerry, to new ones such as the raccoon, Taffy, posing as the fluffy angora cat in Mrs Muchmore's manor."

"We are dedicated to staying in tune and reflect the needs of our audiences, and we are excited putting the results of the survey into action. We want to bring kids more to laugh about."

Turner promotes producer Sarah Fell to director of original kids series for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Turner Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has promoted Sarah Fell, producer on The Amazing World of Gumball, to director of original series for kids.

Sarah Fell will be responsible for overseeing the development and production of all Turner kids' series across the EMEA region, including the recently commissioned Elliott From Earth series.

Sarah Fell is also tasked with finding and developing new talent and ideas into content that can play across Turner's kids' platforms in the region. Sarah Fell joined Turner in 2011 as producer of Cartoon Network's (DStv 301) The Amazing World of Gumball.

She also oversaw production of The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, as well as Turner EMEA's first Boomerang (DStv 302) original series, The Happos Family.

Sarah Fell will report to Patricia Hidalgo, chief content officer for Turner EMEA and international kids strategy.

Patricia Hidalgo says "Finding the best creative talent across our region, sourcing and developing ideas into great shows is key to the success of our kids business".

"Shows produced here like The Amazing World of Gumball and The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe have not only enjoyed significant critical acclaim but have proven key in making our channels and digital platforms successful in EMEA and across the globe."

"None of this would have been possible without Sarah's creative leadership and we're delighted she will be taking on this expanded role to help bring more of our EMEA-made content to the forefront."

MultiChoice switches Turner's Cartoon Network and movie channel TNT to high definition from 18 December on DStv.

MultiChoice will switch Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network (DStv 301) and its recently-rebranded movie channel TNT (DStv 137) both to high definition (HD) from 18 December 2018 on DStv in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.

MultiChoice says the upgrade of Cartoon Network and TNT to HD "is a direct response to the needs of African audiences, ensuring a truly immersive viewing experience".

Guillaume Coffin, vice-president and head of commercial and business development for Turner France and Africa, says "the addition of our new HD channels speaks to our commitment to provide our viewers with the best available content on the best available platform, highlighting our drive to continuously innovate".

"African fans remain our top priority and we look forward to seeing their response following the shift to HD."

IN PHOTOS. Do everything turn, turn, turn: Turner's first-ever (and colourful) Turner Upfront Africa dazzles with a rotary, turntable stage.

On Tuesday Turner held its first-ever Turner Upfront event for Africa, with the international content and channels distributor that showed, and talked about, its current and upcoming content and channel plans.

The media and TV critics, as well as TV, PR and marketing executives, advertisers and ad execs all filled The Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg as Turner executives from France, responsible for South Africa and Africa, made content announcements and talked about Turner's multi-faceted portfolio and brand strategy for and in the African continent.

Turner distributes channels and content like CNN International, Cartoon Network, Toonami, Boing, Boomerang, [adult swim], Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, TNT and others worldwide and throughout 54 of Africa's English, French and Portuguese speaking countries.

Turner's content can be found on operators like satellite pay-TV platforms such as MultiChoice's DStv, Naspers' subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax, Cell C's SVOD service Cell C black, broadcasters like the SABC, and others.

Turner clever constructed and used a rotary, turntable stage to "turn" from the one to the next custom-made set for the late afternoon presentation.

ALSO READ: TNT going HD, Ben 10 sold to SABC, Showmax getting content from [adult swim], as Turner holds its first-ever Turner Upfront Africa event.

'Holy Mother of Jesus!' As Turner dumps TCM and replaces it with TNT on DStv and Cell C black, it's 1-minute promo for the 'family' channel chooses to go profane.

While Turner Broadcasting does lip-service that it's new TNT channel for South Africa and Africa is for the family, the new movie channel immediately turned profane, with Turner bosses signing off of a deliberate decision to include a "Holy Mother of Jesus!" in the 1-minute promo video for TNT.

It's not clear why Turner decided to include the blasphemous epithet in its 70 seconds TNT promo that families watching TNT on MultiChoice's DStv or Cell C black, and who might consider tuning to the channel, might find offensive or off-putting.

Turner dumped and replaced TCM, switching it to the TNT channel from today, 21 September.

TCM has been available on MultiChoice for 23 years on DStv, as well as on Cell C's subscription video-on-demand streaming service, Cell C black, since late last year, with TCM that reached 6.7 million viewers across 49 English-speaking African countries.

In a statement Turner International issued on Thursday about TCM switched out for TNT, the company said that TNT is "a young, fresh and entertainment-filled offering for the entire family".

Turner was asked through its South African PR agency, Burson Cohn & Wolfe on Thursday afternoon why, if TNT is for the "entire family" it deliberately decided to include in the short promo the American actor Chris Tucker shouting "Holy Mother of Jesus!" from the film Rush Hour 3.

On Friday afternoon Turner in response to the media enquiry said: "Turner is aware of the concerns raised regarding the new slate for TNT. The channel takes great pride and care in ensuring that all of its programming is reflective and respectful of local cultures, and regulations."

"Therefore, the TNT programming team is carefully listening to its African fans and aims to ensure the channel keeps offering a diverse, fresh selection of movies combined with beloved American blockbuster references such as Rush Hour 3, which is one of the channel's best performing movies for the past 2 years."

"Most importantly, all our programming comes with appropriate age restrictions, prompts for viewer discretion and other appropriate precautionary measures."

The inclusion of specifically "Holy Mother of Jesus!" in the promo video is odd since Turner has only 70 seconds to bring across the look and feel of its TNT brand on DStv and Cell C black.

Turner decided to indicate through the promo that TNT is actually apparently not that family-friendly. The TNT promo has the potential to offend some of the possible audience Turner and TNT is trying to reach before they have even made a decision to possibly watch TNT or not.

It also raises questions as to how well or not Turner International is actually attuned or care about South African or African audiences, since including a blatantly blasphemous line in a generic channel promo is surely something that a company that knows South Africa and Africa's TV market should know is a no-no.

As an international company that wants to do business in Africa and South Africa and wants to gain traction with customers and viewers, Turner International with the TNT shows a shocking lack of sensitivity to who the audience actually is.