Is M-Net's new 1Magic channel on DStv going to commit the cardinal sin of repeating old content that was on VUZU AMP - just because the rebranded channel has a new name?

It will be a serious error of judgement but what is the chance that M-Net's new 1Magic channel replacing VUZU AMP on 29 January is going to start rebroadcasting old content that was on VUZU AMP?

I'm desperately hoping that it won't be happening, although if it does, I won't actually be surprised.

MultiChoice has been working hard the past two years to start limiting the number of repeats and old content across its DStv satellite pay-TV service, but one thing that has seriously been irritating viewers, it hasn't put a moratorium on: the shameful recycling of old content that starts popping up yet again on a "new" channel, just because a TV channel gets a new logo and a new name.

BBC Worldwide did it with BBC Brit, Discovery Networks International did it with Discovery Family, AMC Networks International (AMCNI) did it with Sundance TV that replaced AMC, and I'm holding my breath to see whether M-Net's "new" channel 103 with a new name is going to dredge up the "old" channel 103 content.

If a TV channel has a new name, a new look and a new channel brand identity, it shouldn't trade in its yesteryear stock. 

It will be interesting to see if M-Net is going to put stuff like Being Bonang or Minnie Dlamini's wedding TV special, Minnie Dlamini: Becoming Mrs. Jones, that was on VUZU AMP, again on 1Magic. Keep in mind that 1Magic is supposed to be and presented as a DStv Premium channel.

If M-Net does end up doing that, 1Magic won't really be any different that BBC Brit, DStv Family and Sundance TV that were actually "cheating" pay-TV subscribers after their "relaunches" as new channels. 

And why go to all the effort of a new name and image and a new coat of paint on the factory door outside, if its still the same assembly line conveyor belt on the inside?

I dearly hope that 1Magic that is promising new shows like The River and Unmarried isn't going to load up on old content that DStv Premium subscribers have already seen in the past on VUZU AMP.

Ongoing series and shows that used to be on VUZU AMP like The Real Housewives are of course fine, because it's new episodes. But 1Magic will start to incur its first image dent if it dishes up VUZU AMP things people have seen before.

The one problem that 1Magic has is that it starts out with not a big, but actually a sizeable trust deficit - both with viewers as well as with the press covering television and the TV business.

Already I have had 5 different journalists ask me versions of: "So how long do you think 1Magic will last?"

That's not a good thing. 

Viewers, and I suspect several of the press, are not instantly going to "embrace" 1Magic. They are suspicious because they're been burnt now so many times before that they're no longer willing to just "invest" their heart and time and attention into a channel that might also just be outright cancelled and be done away with in another 3 years' time.

M-Net has made so many chops and changes to its channels over the past half a decade that it's almost a question of people not taking it "seriously" anymore when some M-Net channel is launched.

In the back of your mind there's now perpetually the nagging suspicion that it might be taken away just as easily as it was launched, after a year or two.

VUZU AMP lasted just over 3 years - a bit longer than M-Net Edge, so why should DStv subscribers have any trust or show affinity to embrace 1Magic? 

Like an orphaned child shunted from foster home to foster home one too many times, it is understandable why DStv subscribers might have trust issues with new TV channels that arrive, promising the world with new names, just to disappoint and then fold when you least expect it (yes Animal Planet, we're talking about you).

To a degree, M-Net already missed an opportunity this past week with 1Magic to properly explain the new channel, to try and allay fears that might exist, to put 1Magic into proper context, to try and influence attitudes, and to answer questions.

There was a media briefing for the launch of 1Magic at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg but M-Net did it only for Johannesburg media. Sadly the bulk of the type of Johannesburg media outlets who were invited and attended couldn't be bothered to report anything of substance about it.

Either the type of media invited are bad and lazy or incompetent, or M-Net didn't have interesting or relevant things to say - or perhaps both. Whatever the case might be, it's not good for 1Magic beginning as a new TV channel to have a media event and there not being actually a flurry of stories about what was said at the actual briefing.

The result is that ordinary viewers, as well as South Africa's TV industry, haven't been able to hear what M-Net has to say and wants to bring across and communicate about 1Magic.

Nkateko Mabaso, M-Net South Africa's general manager, was at the 1Magic media launch and press briefing and spoke, but there's not been a single article about anything he said from the media who were invited and attended.

Reneilwe Sema, M-Net director of local entertainment channels, was at the 1Magic media launch and spoke but likewise there's not been a single media place where you are able to find what exactly he said.

The award-winning scriptwriter Phathu Makwarela (Muvhango on SABC2's former head writer) responsible for The River as one of the executive producers and produced by Tshedza Pictures, was there as well and spoke, but you won't find any of his comments from this past week anywhere either.

To date there's not been a single review of The River that was actually previewed and shown at the media launch and press briefing to journalists (M-Net won't be showing it to TV critics outside of Johannesburg).

For 1Magic's start and to really bring it under the attention of people, M-Net should maybe have made a much bigger fuzz about 1Magic as a new channel launch, especially because there's the VUZU AMP existence that precedes it, and that it needs to get distance from.

Hopefully M-Net's 1Magic can in time (if it lasts long enough), overcome some of the built-in bias and skepticism that exist about yet another relaunch, and that it will be launching with on Monday.

If it can last on DStv for longer than 3 years and 3 months it will already be considered more of a success that what VUZU AMP ever was. 

With so many available TV channels now and the attention of viewers and the press so splintered, it's incredibly difficult to break through. Hopefully 1Magic will grow and be able to find traction.

M-Net says DStv subscribers shouldn't panic over the relaunch of VUZU AMP as 1Magic; new channel will still have international shows, together with gripping local dramas and reality shows.

M-Net says DStv subscribers shouldn't panic over the relaunch of the VUZU AMP (DStv 103) channel that is being relaunched as 1Magic on 29 January, saying the channel will continue to show international series, alongside gripping local drama series, telenovelas and reality shows.

Three years after launching VUZU AMP, M-Net is rebranding it as 1Magic for DStv Premium subscribers, saying that it needs a better aligned channel where it can broadcast even more local entertainment to a premium DStv subscriber base.

On Tuesday M-Net is doing a launch event for just Johannesburg press to unveil 1Magic to the media, with the channel that will try and court an upmarket black viewership demographic that's familiar with the existing Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) offering and who wants even more.

While VUZU AMP has struggled to find a sizeable enough audience, M-Net says 1Magic is a brand-new channel that is being created to try and appeal to a wider urban audience.

VUZU AMP is therefore being transformed into 1Magic since M-Net has identified a need to "refine our content offering for viewers who live within a global-meets-local worldview".

With 1Magic, M-Net will offer DStv Premium subscribers a content mix of "fresh exclusive local, with existing edgy international series" as "a celebration of the modern viewer who enjoys local and international shows".

"Vuzu AMP audiences should not panic because 1 Magic will still be serving a mix of compelling, relevant and entertaining international programmes like The Fixer (titled Scandal in America), How To Get Away with Murder, The Real Housewives, Power and later on in the year, latest seasons of Ballers, Queen Sugar and Insecure," says M-Net.

1Magic's programming schedule will include dramas, telenovelas, reality shows and movies.

1Magic will also roll out local programming with its flagship new telenovela, The River, starting on 29 January as well with a cast including Sindi Dlathu, Hlomhla Dandala, Moshidi Motshegwa and others.

On 2 February, Unmarried will start on 1Magic, as an "urban chic drama", unpacking themes of love, urban hustle and bustle, and the daily challenges faced by young urban couples in trying to juggle life and aspirations. The cast of Unmarried includes Fezile Makhanya, Thembisa Mdoda, Renate Stuurman and others.

M-Net says it is positioning 1Magic as "the entertainment destination of choice for DStv Premium customers, who are comfortable crossing between the best of international and local worlds".

The channel will celebrate "the duality of the modern African viewer, by putting Viola Davis alongside Sindi Dlathu, Olivia Pope alongside Thembisa Mdoda, and Jay Ellis next to Phat Joe, on a single channel."

Shows like the Marvel collection that used to be on VUZU AMP will be integrated into the M-Net (DStv 101) channel and the M-Net City (DStv 115) channel in order to make way for more local shows on 1Magic.

Early prime time (18:00 to 21:00) shows on 1Magic will rebroadcast in the week, during the day.

Late prime time on 1Magic (21:00 to 23:00) will have content for a more mature audience and will rebroadcast in the week, after prime time. Popular series omnibuses will be scheduled on weekends.

M-Net says 1Magic will also minimise repeats since there will be more premium content on the channel, "so fans are urged to watch the premiere over rebroadcasts". 

"In line with our vision to be the best African storytellers in the world, M-Net has identified a need to invest in more local entertainment for our viewers, in the premium segment," says Nkateko Mabaso, M-Net South Africa general manager.

"1Magic will fill a viewing gap by combining new and exclusive local shows with international content.”

M-Net replacing VUZU AMP with 1Magic on DStv Premium from February 2018, adds local dramas like The River, Unmarried.

Three years after launching the M-Net AMP and M-Net Edge channels in October 2014 with M-Net Edge that had already fallen away at the beginning of 2017, M-Net and DStv are now also ending VUZU AMP and replacing it from 29 January 2018 with 1Magic (DStv 103).

Like VUZU AMP, 1Magic will only be available for DStv Premium subscribers.

For now, M-Net says that the lower-tiered VUZU channel on DStv channel 116 will remain, although M-Net says the change from VUZU AMP to 1Magic is to align all the channel names to the "Magic" moniker.

"For now VUZU on 116 will remain as a channel as we will communicate should there be any changes to that channel."

VUZU AMP has struggled to gain ratings traction the past three years and with the rebranding to 1Magic and a content programming shuffle, M-Net hopes to help lift the existing VUZU AMP ratings closer to that of the existing set of Mzansi Magic channels.

M-Net says 1Magic will carry local drama series, telenovelas, reality shows, movies and international reality, drama and films.

1Magic will broadcast series like The Fixer, How To Get Away with Murder, The Real Housewives, Power and later in 2018 the latest seasons of Ballers, Queen Sugar and Insecure.

In response to a media enquiry about the channel change, M-Net says 1Magic will be "introducing a bigger exclusive local content slate than what we currently have on VUZU AMP".

"The name change was necessary in order for the brand to fit into the M-Net brand architecture where all our channels across the continent carry the name "magic", for instance Zambei Magic, Africa Magic, Maisha Magic and Mzansi Magic".

"The new name is memorable and not specific to any language group as we are appealing to a wide audience that has a viewing appetite for local and international content".

M-Net says this will include firsts like a daily local telenovela to the channel.

On 29 January 2018 when VUZU AMP changes to 1Magic, it will launch a new local telenovela entitled, The River, with Sindi Dlathu, Hlomhla Dandala, Moshidi Motshegwa and Larona Moagi like SABC3's Isidingo set in a mining community.

On 2 February 1Magic will start the new urban drama Unmarried, which unpacks themes of love, urban hustle and bustle, and the daily challenges faced by young urban couples in trying to juggle life and aspirations. 

Unmarried stars Fezile Makhanya, Thembisa Mdoda and Renate Stuurman.

"In line with our vision to be the best African storytellers in the world, M-Net has identified a need to invest in more local entertainment for our viewers, in the premium segment. 1Magic will fill a viewing gap by combining new and exclusive local shows with international content,” says Nkateko Mabaso, M-Net general manager for South Africa.

Minnie Dlamini's wedding special Becoming Mrs Jones lifts VUZU AMP to a ratings high for the channel on DStv - but the AR is still very small.

The first episode of Minnie Dlamini's 3-part TV wedding special Becoming Mrs. Jones, that started last week Friday, lifted VUZU AMP (DStv 103) to a channel ratings high with 98 698 viewers.

According to M-Net that packages and programmes the VUZU AMP channel for MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, the first episode's audience rating that's just short of the 100 000 viewership tally "is officially the highest rated show in VUZU AMP history".

There are however two caveats.

In context the audience rating (AR) of 98 698 viewers aged 15 and older for Becoming Mrs. Jones is still very small given the total DStv and free-to-air TV household audience available in South Africa.

That's because the channel is only available to subscribers on MultiChoice's most expensive DStv Premium bouquet, limiting the number of people who have access to it.

Secondly M-Net counts VUZU AMP's start as a channel from its launch out of the existing VUZU channel as October 2014.

It means that VUZU AMP is just 3 years old - so there's not a lot of "VUZU AMP history" as far as AR's are concerned.

On a relatively new TV channel starting from a small viewership base, audience share often rises over time as awareness, incidental sampling and the hours of original or unique programming on it expand.

What is making the Becoming Mrs. Jones debut on VUZU AMP impressive however is that it more than doubled the audience that tuned in for Bonang Matheba's reality show Being Bonang that was also on VUZU AMP filling the same exact same genre and timeslot.

Becoming Mrs. Jones at 98 698 more than doubled the 44 614 viewers who tuned in for the most-watched Being Bonang episode - although it's a TV programming truism than a wedding and wedding reality drama will lure more eyeballs than a day-to-day, cinéma vérité style reality series.

Becoming Mrs. Jones was produced by Beautiful Day Productions with Minnie Dlamini as executive producer for the first time.

Minnie Dlamini on showing her Becoming Mrs. Jones wedding special: I'm nervous but I can't wait to share it'; says 'I did not get R6 million for the show'.

Minnie Dlamini who is finally ready to showcase her self-produced TV wedding special to DStv viewers in South Africa and across Africa from this Friday, tells TVwithThinus that "even thinking about it makes me nervous but I can't wait to share it".

The TV star also laughs about hilariously inaccurate tabloid reports in June this year that she "sold her wedding to MultiChoice for R6 million".

It's actually a 3-episode wedding TV special that was acquired by M-Net for its VUZU AMP entertainment channel that is carried on DStv.

"I did not get R6 million for the show. I wish I did, but I did not," says Minnie Dlamini.

At the beginning of the year the veteran TV presenter jumped from the SABC to SuperSport, and is now co-presenting the show Homeground that is being simulcast on SuperSport and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161).

Minnie Dlamini's wedding TV special, Minnie Dlamini: Becoming Mrs. Jones, will unspool as a 3-part special on VUZU AMP (DStv 103) starting on Friday 13 October at 19:30.

The first episode of Minnie Dlamini: Becoming Mrs. Jones will take viewers through the process behind planning her wedding and the preparations for the traditional and western ceremonies. 

The second episode of the 3-part special produced by her Beautiful Day Productions with Minnie Dlamini in the role as executive producer for the first time, follows her to Paris for her lavish bachelorette party with her bridesmaids.

This episode will also include her dazzling traditional wedding and a deeper look into how her Zulu culture celebrates marriage.

The third and final episode will showcase the elegant western wedding set in the opulent backdrop of Somerset West in the Western Cape and is the episode Minnie calls "closest to her heart" as viewers will see her get married to Quinton Jones in a white wedding dress covered in Swarovski crystals, designed by Gert Johan Coetzee.

Tabloids had a field day about your wedding rights being "sold for R6 million to MultiChoice. But this is a "wedding story" filmed by VUZU AMP to air as a miniseries. How did the idea come about?
Minnie: Firstly, I did not get R6 million for the show. I wish I did, but I did not.
This is more of a 3-part documentary series. I came up with the idea after the media frenzy after the announcement of my engagement. I thought it was the perfect idea to flex my producing skills but also control the narrative of my own story.


What will viewers see and what will you not show? And how did you decide what level of what happens at your wedding and the pre-planning you will show?
Minnie: I have shared with my followers as much as I could possibly share with this TV project, giving them a true insight into my life on one of the most important journeys in my life.

Showing your wedding, like what we've seen with Kim Kardashian - it invites people into your personal life. How do you then strike the balance when you get interest in your personal life but don't want the public to know about certain things?

Minnie: As a media personality you are constantly taking risks and which is the best risk to take.

You reveal what you're comfortable revealing and protect what is important.

What is important to me is that I am married to someone who has no desire to be in public eye. Throughout all my narratives I need to protect and respect his views. It's no longer just about me anymore. 

There isn't a right or wrong - stay true to yourself what you're comfortable doing. You cannot control people's opinions about you. Instead of showing 10 different narratives, I put together my own story, my way. 

There is a significant difference between the two, The Kardashians is a reality show whereby this is a 3-part documentary - what the public will see is my journey from start to finish.

How did having cameras around change the experience? You're used to having cameramen around but did you prep family members and wedding guests on what to do or how to behave?

Minnie: Just like in every wedding there are always photographers and videographers. We made sure our camera men blended in. 

It was very important for my guests not to feel like they were on a film set, but instead to show the real emotions.

Viewers have grown up watching Top Billing weddings and now Our Perfect Wedding on Mzansi Magic and have become used to a certain level of production value. How will what viewers see maybe be different or the same in terms of expectations of wedding television?

Minnie: My format is different from the other 2 productions.

In terms of the level of production it has really never been seen on South African television. 

I can truly say it's world class. I worked with a team of incredible talented creatives whose brief was to go completely out of their comfort zone to create a completely new viewing experience.

What does filming your wedding for a TV special allow you to do, or for it to be that you wouldn't otherwise have been able to have?

Minnie: It allowed the happiest moment to live forever, not only in my memory but in the hearts of South Africans.

How will you describe why people should tune in and watch?

Minnie: A lot of people think they know me – what makes me happy; what makes me tick. 

This is a piece of work that shows me. This also shows me thought the people that I love. It is deeply personal and deeply transparent. Even thinking about it makes me nervous, but I can't wait to share it.

■ Minnie Dlamini: Becoming Mrs. Jones, starts on Friday 13 October at 19:30 on VUZU AMP (DStv 103).

TOLDJA! M-Net rejigs the revamped V-Entertainment as a once-a-week, Friday-only show on VUZU AMP; adds new weekly music show, Massive Music.

M-Net is rejigging V-Entertainment and will bring it back after a month's on-air absence as a once-a-week, Friday-only show on VUZU AMP and also adding a new weekly music show, Massive Music on Fridays on Mzansi Magic.

At the end of June M-Net abruptly ended the weekday entertainment magazine show V-Entertainment on VUZU AMP and Vuzu after 8 years on the air and said the show isn't cancelled but no longer properly speaking to its audience and needs to evolve.

According to M-Net the reworked V-Entertainment on VUZU AMP (DStv 103) will be a "fresher, more insightful and jam-packed production".

Exactly as insiders told TVwithThinus at the end of June, V-Entertainment is returning in August as a once-a-week episode.

Instead of the gaggle of youth presenters, the revamped V-Entertainment will return on 4 August at 19:00 to VUZU AMP and will now be presented by the older-skewing Somizi Mhlongo who is also an Idols judge on sister channel Mzansi Magic.

Somizi Mhlongo will co-present with two of the former V-Entertainment presenters who have been kept on - Nomuzi Mabena and Siyabonga "Scoop"Ngwekazi.

"We've revamped V-Entertainment to bring the viewers the best dose of entertainment news, in a more current version of the popular format," says Reneilwe Sema, M-Net's director of local entertainment channels.

To compete with e.tv's existing Friday evening music show Club 808, on 4 August a new music show, Massive Music, is added to the Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) schedule at 21:30 with presenters Lalla Hirayama and the YFM DJ Smash Africa.

The show will strictly keep to a rule of not doing "inserts" but to let artists speak in as unguarded as possible interviews.

M-Net says Massive Music will offer "artist interviews, captivating studio performances, and a weekly music chart" as a show where viewers will be able to "get the story behind the songs or albums across all genres".

"The show adheres to a strict 'no insert' policy, instead using the time to probe deeper into the artist's psyche for a more meaningful and richer interview experience, as well as allowing more room for top-notch performances."

"Each week will feature a hot seat segment, discussing all things music and creative.  Whether you're a jazz junkie, afropop fan, hip hop head, kwaito devotee, or house hound, Massive Music will cater to every music palette."

Reneilwe Sema says the aim is for Massive Music to "appeal to a broader base of music lovers, the content of which is sure to change Friday night viewing for good".

American science fiction series The Flash casts former South African soap stars Neil Sandilands and Kim Engelbrecht in roles for upcoming 4th season.

The American science fiction series, The Flash, seen in South Africa and across Africa on M-Net's VUZU AMP (DStv 103), has cast the former South African soap stars, Neil Sandilands and Kim Engelbrecht in key roles in its upcoming 4th season.

Neil Sandilands who appeared in SABC2's 7de Laan before moving to America will portray The Thinker, and Kim Engelbrecht who appeared in SABC3's Isidingo and appeared in the South African filmed American science fiction series, Dominion recently, will appear in The Flash as The Mechanic.

The casting was announced on Saturday at The Flash' Comic-Con panel of the series that is shown on America's CW channel.

Neil Sandilands will portray the DC Comics villain Clifford Devoe, known as The Thinker, a metahuman with a mega mind who starts a battle over the course of the 4th season with The Flash.

The premise pits the "fastest mind alive" against "the fastest man alive" as The Thinker tries to "fix" what he feels is wrong with humanity.

Kim Engelbrecht will portray The Thinker's helper, the DC Comics character, The Mechanic, who helps him as an intelligent engineer designing devices for The Thinker.

M-Net dumps entertainment magazine show V-Entertainment after 8 years on VUZU AMP, says show's 'going on a break' but will return in future.

M-Net has decided to dump its youth-centric weekday entertainment magazine show V-Entertainment  on VUZU AMP (DStv 103) that it believes is no longer properly aligned to the youth entertainment culture, saying the show is abruptly "going on a break" but telling TVwithThinus that it isn't cancelled.

V-Entertainment served as VUZU's flagship daily half hour entertainment magazine show since 2009 when M-Net's GO channel rebranded as VUZU, and again transitioned to the premium channel VUZU AMP when that channel launched in October 2014.

V-Entertainment, produced by Don't Look Down Productions, as a South African pop culture version of E! News, gave rise to presenters like Lalla Hirayama while providing opportunities for people ranging from Nonhle Thema and Siya Ngwekazi, Dineo Moeketsi, Denise Zimba and Shelton Forbez.

The show inflicted brand and reputation damage when a new crop of presenters introduced in April 2016 didn't gel with viewers.

M-Net told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry that V-Entertainment isn't cancelled. Yet the show is going off the air after 8 years for a break, instead of staying on-air while doing a retool. V-Entertainment will end with a "special" hour long episode on Friday 30 June at 18:00.

According to insiders, a reformatted V-Entertainment is likely to return as a weekly episode from August but definitely won't be back as a weekday show. The show that's been seen on VUZU AMP and VUZU will likely also become a VUZU AMP show only.

"V-Entertainment broke boundaries and introduced audiences to fresh new talent," says Reneilwe Sema, M-Net's director of local entertainment channels. "Entertainment culture is always evolving and we must change along with it."

M-Net said "fans need not despair though, as the changes coming in August will reflect our aim of being at the forefront of innovative entertainment".

A fascinating new transgender reality series, Strut, starts tonight on Vuzu AMP - but M-Net won't show it or the new mini-series When We Rise to DStv subscribers elsewhere in Africa.

Another transgender reality TV reality series is being withheld from MultiChoice's African audiences, this time by M-Net that is showing the new series Strut on Vuzu AMP and the mini-series When We Rise on M-Net in Southern Africa but keeping it away from DStv subscribers elsewhere in Africa.

The fascinating new reality series, Strut, executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg, and described as "America's Next Top Model but with a twist" starts tonight on Vuzu AMP (DStv 103) and follows the lives of a group of transgender models.

Strut doesn't contain scenes of nudity, sex, strong language or violence and the revealing series shows the lives and challenges of transgender models like the male model Laith De La Cruz who was born female.

Strut will be shown on Vuzu AMP on DStv in South Africa and neighbouring countries as far up as Zambia. 

A scan of the various online schedules of DStv in various African countries show that from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania further upwards, including Nigeria, the Vuzu AMP version seen in those countries carry replacement content for Strut.

The same goes for the new historical documentary mini-series When We Rise, about the rise of the LGBT movement in America, currently being broadcast on M-Net. It's shown in South Africa and neighbouring countries, but not scheduled and replaced with other content on M-Net in Africa's other largest TV markets like Kenya and Nigeria.

At the time of publishing M-Net didn't yet respond to a media enquiry about why the 6-episode Strut and When We Rise isn't scheduled for broadcast elsewhere in Africa.

The blocking of Strut and When We Rise comes after several incidents of apparent censorship of specifically transgender and gay television programming in Africa.

In October 2015 the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered MultiChoice and Discovery Networks International to remove the transgender reality show I Am Jazz from the TLC Entertainment (DStv 135) channel. It affected the channel across the entire Africa, including South Africa who never got to see the show.

In May 2016 MultiChoice Nigeria forced NBCUniversal to pull all the remaining episodes of the second season of the reality show I Am Cait on E! Entertainment (DStv 124) from the channel's Africa feed, blocking viewers across the entire continent, including South Africa, from seeing it.

The show followed the life of the former Kardashian patriarch Bruce who is now known as Cait Jenner.

In July 2016 Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) said its "reassuring" DStv subscribers across the African continent that it won't broadcast the episode of the animated series The Loud House on Nickelodeon (DStv 305) showing two gay dads.

Why did M-Net put Emerald City on Vuzu AMP on DStv when this Games of Thrones like show clearly belongs on M-Net Edge?

A woman is shown stabbed and killed from the back, explicitly pierced by a sword. In a whore house soldiers are sexed. A woman (a witch actually) is shown blowing her brains out and toppling over, while three young women are seen jumping to their deaths in a "hanging" suicide.

In another scene a murdered soldier's chopped off pieces (head etc.) is shown, while winter is literally coming and has now arrived as snowflakes sift down because of a problem with magic.

If you think it's the latest new episode from the upcoming 7th season of Game of Thrones on M-Net Edge (DStv 102), guess again.

It's scenes from the inappropriately placed and scheduled new American fantasy drama series Emerald City on Vuzu AMP (DStv 102) on a channel where DStv subscribers in their content discovery process won't expect to find it, and where it doesn't actually belong.

The at times graphic show - now four episodes in and one of M-Net's Express from the US titles - has been placed on the youth-centric Vuzu AMP although its much more similar in nature in look, sense, feel and some graphic depictions, to fantasy dramas like Game of Thrones, Vikings and Beowulf.

Guess on what M-Net channel on MultiChoice's DStv these types of shows are actually shown.

Somebody at M-Net acquired Emerald City and didn't bother to actually watch it. For Emerald City isn't Vuzu AMP's The Vampire Diaries.

If you like more mature fantasy drama series you will like Emerald City, a sort of deconstructed and definitely post-modernist version of the classic story about Dorothy who gets whisked away by tornado to a mystical new land where she meets up with a hodge-potch group all looking for the Wizard of Oz.

The steampunk fantasy series has a lot of unfolding, surprising twists but the problem is that some viewers might not know of its existence on the Pretty Little Liars channel.

If only there were a bit of heart. If only there were a bit of bravery. If only there were a bit of brains.

Watching Emerald City on Vuzu AMP it feels as if M-Net wants viewers to watch content (and yes, Emerald City is good content) that people in the acquisitions and scheduling teams don't watch themselves. Or, if it is pre-watched, and still scheduled wrongly, then it borders on borderline incompetence.

If The Magicians (based on a book) and a series meant for mature audiences was shown on M-Net Edge - in which characters in a magical environment battle themselves, each other and adversaries to find answers and survive - why is Emerald City (based on a book) now a series meant for mature audiences placed on Vuzu AMP as a show in which characters in a magic environment battle themselves, each other and adversaries to find answers and survive?

Another issue: In America Emerald City is an NBC show. Strikingly the new TV season's biggest new hit drama series, This is Us, is nowhere to be seen anywhere in South Africa.

It begs the question: Why has This Is Us not been acquired by M-Net - or e.tv? A show in which American TV bosses have so much confidence that it was just renewed not just for a second but also for a third season?

And if This is Us (soo good!) is eventually seen in South Africa, how much of the entertainment value will be gone because viewers will already have been told, or have read somewhere about the emotional twists and fascinating plot twists that were all well guarded secrets in the first episode and subsequent hours of this terrific new series?

With both Emerald City and This is Us South African TV viewers are not being considered and served as paying TV customers as well as they should be.

If only viewers, like the Wizard of Oz, were able to quickly summon a witch (or a giant) to fix it, when something like this that's clearly a TV mistake, went wrong.

Can someone please just help MultiChoice and whoever is doing the DStv programming promos (and clearly not actually watching TV) to get it right?

Whoever is doing MultiChoice's in-house promos for various DStv programming clearly isn't watching television.

The embarrassing problems and actually very obvious mistakes continue unabated on DStv with problematic promos for programming from various channels that makes from cringe-watching and eye-rolling.

MultiChoice is quick for instance to run a promo to tell viewers to tune in for the "bloodsuckers" of the 7th season of The Vampire Diairies on Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) on Wednesdays at 21:30.

Whoever received and checked the promo at MultiChoice and then scheduled it for high rotation is clearly clueless and from looking at it, I can tell that no proper verification and quality control took place, and whoever made it doesn't know better or doesn't care either.

After I last month noted the embarrassing mistakes in DStv on-air promos don't think they've gone away.

Watch the DStv promo fillers for a while and you can almost invent a drinking game around it - like guessing what channel's programming promo will have a mistake, or what type of mistake it's going be.

It's sad that for instance a promo for MultiChoice is made to market DStv and Vuzu AMP, goes through several people, wrongly passes through several gatekeepers who presumably is tasked with checking every detail; and that it then ends up on air - and is wrong.

Who signs off on these mistakes? Who gets paid money to get stuff wrong? It's like continuing to bring the wrong food to someone's table in a restaurant.

On and in television, what is shown and what you show is your brand.

If it's wrong, then your brand is wrong and off-message. It speaks to your reputation, to whether the picture that is printed on the outside wrapper correlates to the product inside.

If you cared and actually followed or even watched the show you want other people to watch, you'd know that a cast pic of The Vampire Diaries with Nina Dobrev for the 7th season is passé (and wrong and old).

The dear Nina Dobrev left The Vampire Diaries at the end of the 6th season already - she announced it way back in April, and her final appearance was in mid-May. DStv didn't get the memo.

How do you prevent this? You employ and use people who actually watch television (there's lots of them), or you check things against and read this thing called "Wikipedia".

How on earth does a promo board for Veep from M-Net Edge (DStv 102) with Julia Louis-Dreyfus for instance make it to air on DStv (and get used often) saying "Vice president of the United" with a word missing, and get used for such a long time with nobody noticing, caring or correcting it?

To the point that Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character actually becomes the president in the story and the same promo still being used, saying, "vice president of the United" ...

A large part of television, like the fashion industry, like what Plascon and Dulux sell, like Pantene, is how things look. It's the currency. What does it mean and convey when what you show - like in a promo - is wrong and has mistakes in it?

Is it mere nitpicking? Is it overhyping? Why bother about the details of things? Why care? Why shouldn't everyone just be fine with generalised almost-right images and not-quite-right promos?

Think of what Coco Chanel once famously said: "Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman."

On-air promos, especially on and for DStv should be impeccable. Just like the "real" content, for instance an episode of a show, it sells the brand too.

It's so incredibly painful to think that there's people who work in television who are not actually watching television, people working with television who don't really care about it, and people selling and marketing television who don't actually know or themselves engage with the actual content of it.

It's a shame.

Programming changes as M-Net pulls disastrous Wicked City; M-Net's NCIS Los Angeles, Vuzu AMP's Supergirl, FOX Crime's Legends impacted by Paris terror attacks.

M-Net is pulling the disastrous and cancelled Wicked City off its programming line-up while the weekend's terrorism attacks in Paris are also impacting South African viewers with programming changes regarding episodes of several shows across a number of TV channels and services.

After disastrously low ratings and scathing reviews from TV critics, M-Net is dumping the new crime drama anthology series Wicked City that was supposed to start on M-Net (DStv 101) on 30 December.

Meanwhile the horrific terror attacks in Paris saw British and American broadcasters pull this week's episodes of multiple shows set in Paris and dealing with violence or revolving around terrorism themes. The changes are directly impacting what South African viewers will see - or not get to see - this week.

The Britcaster ITV dumped Sunday's latest 4th episode of the visceral shock-drama Jekyll and Hyde with the latest episode which is added to Naspers' ShowMax subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service within 24 hours after it is shown in the United Kingdom.

With no new Jekyll and Hyde episode shown, there's no new episode for ShowMax of the horror series, with no announcement from ITV as to when the graphic episode revolving around a kidnapping with a gun will be shown.

CBS pulled the latest episode of the 7th season of the forensic crime drama NCIS: Los Angeles entitled "Defectors" with no word from CBS on when the episode will be shown.

In South Africa M-Net is 3 weeks behind America with the forensic crime drama shown here on Friday nights at 20:30 and it's a sure bet that South African viewers also won't be seeing the episode in three week's time which revolves around the terror group ISIS recruiting young women as terrorists.

Monday's 4th episode of Supergirl has also been pulled and replaced by CBS impacting Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) in South Africa and Africa which is showing the same episode as in the United States on a weekly basis.

There's been no word from Vuzu AMP, an M-Net channel, but it's absolutely a sure thing that the planned Supergirl episode in which Kara deals with bomb explosions in National City won't be shown on Vuzu AMP on Thursday.

FOX International Channels (FIC) and FIC Africa are changing the episode of Legends which also saw the latest 3rd episode of the second season of the drama series abruptly pulled by the TNT channel in America.

The latest Legends episode entitled "The Legend of Curtis Ballard" was yanked since it's set in Paris and deals with Martin (Sean Bean) looking for someone while a peaceful protest is on the verge of turning violent.

"As a result of the recent tragic events in Paris, the originally scheduled episode of Legends has been postponed. Our thoughts and condolences are with the victims and their families," said TNT in a statement.

The same episode of Legends in the United States is shown in South Africa weekly on Thursdays on FOX Crime (DStv 126 / StarSat 132) at 20:30. FIC Africa is replacing it on Thursday with a repeat of the second season's premiere episode.

"Because Legends is screened close to the U.S. broadcasts and since the episode in question was pulled from the schedule last night in the United States, Africa will be putting replacement programming in Legends' place this week. There is no specific date at the moment when the episode (3) in question will be played," FIC Africa tells TV with Thinus.

Meanwhile viewers have had a hard time keeping up with TV news channels since the electronic programme guides (EPGs) on MultiChoice's DStv and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat have failed to keep up with special reports, and announced and adjusted programming focusign on the aftermath of the Paris attacks.

Over the weekend Infinity Media's ANN7 (DStv 405) dropped its own programming and switched to the channel feed of the French 24-hour TV news channel France24 which is a news channel only available on StarSat. 

France24 has been lauded for its incisive and comprehensive coverage of the Paris attacks since Saturday and has started broadcasting its live channel feed for free on YouTube.

M-Net's Vuzu AMP on DStv gets new dramas Quantico, Heroes Reborn, Power, and more How to Get Away with Murder in 2016.

Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) has acquired the new dramas Quantico, Heroes Reborn, Power and will have some more How to Get Away with Murder.

M-Net's Vuzu AMP announced the new dramas and acquisitions at the MultiChoice Content Showcase held just over a week ago in Mauritius.

So far only one journalist from Africa who attended it wrote about Vuzu Amp's shows and the actual programming announcement.

South Africa's press and TV critics were not invited and didn't attend, and Vuzu Amp's marketing and PR division didn't release the channel's upcoming programming announcement details to South Africa's press (so they couldn't write about it, even if they wanted to).

However, here is what Vuzu AMP viewers can look forward to on the DStv channel, which is as applicable for viewers in South Africa, and of course for the rest of the continent:

Quantico - starts 28 September 2015
This new drama looks incredible and its strange that it's allocated to Vuzu AMP and not to M-Net (DStv 101) - it belongs on M-Net.

I saw a few minutes of the first episode in July and was blown away. The new drama follows the lives of new FBI recruits training at the Quantico base in Virginia.

Someone is a secret double agent (we don't know who); people are romantically involved with each other; there's overtones of 9/11 (and a conspiracy theory); someone is ejected in the first episode and thrown out of the programme - and although i saw just a few minutes I love this show already.

Heroes Reborn - starts 29 September
Yep, SABC3 which had Heroes doesn't have this new, reset 13-part mini-series which starts in America on 24 September and on Vuzu AMP on 29 September.

Again, why this is on Vuzu AMP if M-Net has Resurrection, Under the Dome, The Whispers, Game of Thrones, Arrow and Gotham and other such shows, beats me.

It's becoming harder to tell and just know what would be on M-Net and what would be on Vuzu AMP because Vuzu AMP's channel positioning (or M-Net's - depending on your point of view) seems off.

While the dividing line between M-Net and M-Net Edge is clear, Vuzu AMP is trying to  - or feels like it is - becoming a "M-Net 2", instead of being its own thing.

The exact same type of shows should always be only on the one type of M-Net channel I feel so you instantly know where future, similar shows are going to show up.

Anyway, there's a lot of new humans in Heroes Reborn who discovery they have super powers, and a few familiar older faces will also return. And this time you'll be able to watch it in high-definition (HD) and series producer Tim King is back as executive producer.



Power - starts 31 October

Uhm, just kinda one question: Why is this show on Vuzu AMP and not on M-Net when its totally, completely not aligned to Vuzu AMP and an ill-fit when M-Net has Suits, House of Cards and Mr. Robot?

Power, which is more like FOX's Empire and Tyrant, is gritty - but actually great (and ironically also stylish but in a strange way).

Power is also definitely not a youth television show - meaning its not actually suitable for Vuzu AMP.

Power suffers by comparison with Empire, but definitely still watch it. It's actually very good, and very much the same, although lesser known. Two seasons ( 8 episode first season, 10 episode 2nd season) are done and the show has been renewed for a third.

Power, a Starz drama like Black Sails on History (DStv 186), revolves around successful executive James "Ghost" St. Patrick who has a wonderful Manhattan penthouse and owns the nightclub Truth. But the truth is that he runs a drug empire - and now he wants out.



I wonder what would happen if you did a marketing focus group and had young and old people who've watched M-Net and Vuzu AMP and put them in a room, then show them Quantico, Heroes Reborn and Power, and ask them to guess what TV channel each show would be on.

I'm sure they would say M-Net for all of these besides perhaps Heroes Reborn, which could also easily be M-Net.

Besides these shows, How to Get Away with Murder (yet another extremely oddly Vuzu AMP allocated show that's an ill fit) will be back from 11 January 2016 for a new season.

BET Buzz getting into the local showbiz gossip and entertainment TV news game with Tamarsha Khanyile and Altovise Lawrence.

BET in South Africa is getting into the local showbiz, gossip and entertainment TV news game and will launch a new local weekday entertainment magazine show BET Buzz on 1 September with Tamarsha Khanyile and Altovise Lawrence who will alternate as presenters.

BET Buzz on Viacom International Media Networks International Africa's BET (DStv 129) will start on 1 September at 19:00 and on BET 2 (DStv 135) at 19:50 on weekdays with a mix of local South African, African, as well as international gossip and entertainment news snippets and interviews.

BET Buzz will be competition for VUZU AMP's (DStv 114) V Entertainment, E! Entertainment's (DStv 124) E! News and e.tv's Eksê Zwakala.

The suddenly red-hot gossip show genre is heating up as even Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) is reviving the twice cancelled All Access Mzansi for a third time, starting on Friday 25 September at 18:30.

Tamarsha Khanyile, a singer and radio DJ, previously presented for SABC1's similar Selimathunzi. The inexperienced and largely unknown Altovise Lawrence was the winner of BET's little publicised local reality show Top Actor earlier this year.

A BET Buzz omnibus will be broadcast on Saturdays at 19:40 on BET and 20:40 on BET 2.

EXCLUSIVE. The Real Jozi A-Listers coming to VUZU AMP on DStv; will the 'cast' be gay, vapid, American ... or actually be B-Listers?

You're reading it here first. 

It's not clear whether they will all be gay like The A-List: New York and The A-List: Dallas but one of the new shows which will be coming to VUZU AMP (DStv 114) will be the new reality show The Real Jozi A-Listers.

There's not a definite starting date yet for The Real Jozi A-Listers on VUZU AMP and I've been told there's some drama behind-the-scenes already with securing talent but the show could make for some interesting viewing if the show is able to find interesting personalities.

Shows like Rich Kids of Beverly Hills on E! Entertainment, Dineo's Diary on Vuzu and several of The Real Housewives versions suffer from vapid, self-centered and boring personalities or really bad production values - or a combination of both - which often self-sabotage these shows and make them unwatchable or a joke.

For The Real Jozi A-Listers to work the contestants characters will have to be real A-Listers - yet these true A-Listers with their platinum credit cards value their privacy tucked away behind high-walled mansions in exclusive suburbs and are often not willing to partake in something like a banal B-grade reality show.

The Real Jozi A-Listers could be a redemption vehicle for instance for someone like an Oscar Pistorius who is was a real A-Lister - yet often these productions acquire the Reeva Steenkamps of the world - the people in some way attached to the real A-Lister but not in their own right yet an A-Lister.

Where Clifton Shores on Vuzu showed the beauty of Cape Town and was beautifully filmed, it's biggest failure in attracting and keeping viewer attention was that the "cast" were predominantly American girls, making it difficult for South African viewers to relate.

VUZU AMP is not yet willing to say who will appear in The Real Jozi A-Listers or what the episode order is; hopefully the show on the new TV channel supplied by M-Net and starting from 13 October at 17:00 won't be a waste of time.

VUZU AMP's wonderful 'Adventures of Captain Makhamisa and the Vuzu Amp Starship' promo for M-Net's new TV channel on DStv.

Sis Petunia knows how to iron, but she also knows how to push buttons and activate the VUZU AMP disseminator to get rid of boring television in the Mzansi galaxy.

That is what viewers see in the hilariously cool new M-Net promo "The Adventures of Captain Makhamisa and the VUZU AMP Starship" for the new channel which will be launching on 13 October at 17:00 on MultiChoice's DStv.

The funny on-air promo, inspired by Star Trek and filled with little details and attention which makes it worth watching again and again is simply excellent and very well done - especially given the fact that the creatives and producers behind the scenes had a very small budget to pull of a science fiction premised promo to raise awareness for a hip and happening, trendy new TV channel.

In the cute and clever promo set on the gleaming white bridge of the StarShip VUZU AMP, Captain Makhamisa discovers bored TV viewers in Sector 2.

The bridge crew then zaps them with the VUZU AMP disseminator to bring joy, laughter and happiness to their lives on the couch in front of the television.

Captain Makhamisa brings just the right touch of Captain Kirky over-dramatisation in his black captain's chair (more reminiscent of the emperor's chair in Star Wars than Star Trek actually), while the set and special effects are amazing for such a minute and a half promo.

Funny vernacular thrown in, hilarious facial expressions and acting, a send-up of well-known and beloved TV tropes and the starship's helm officers who are are hilarious in their "this is a real job that I'm taking very seriously" approach, make the VUZU AMP promo an instant TV pop culture classic creation.

The VUZU AMP launch promo advert was conceptualised by the creative agency Black River FC and directed by Jono Hall and Louis Minnaar from Darling Films.

Filming took an entire day. To build the spaceship bridge set and to make the cool costumes complete with VUZU AMP logo "was a group effort" I'm told, "with ideas from directors Louis Minnaar and Jono Hall as well as constume designer Joel Janse van Vuuren".

"The set design was done in approximately a week and the graphics in the screens as well as the final spaceship took about two weeks to finalise. The brain behind all of this belongs to Louis Minnaar".

Producing the promo, there was a limited budget and the team had to employ clever design ideas to achieve the desired look.

"The iPad were borrowed from friends and family; an old chair was converted into the captain's chair; the emergency button is actually a Tupperware cap; the director brought the pink counch for the cactus scene from his house".

"It was all taken a step up in post-production. Furthermore, the actors were allowed to improvise on set where they wanted to".

The end result is a really brilliant and funny promo.

Would it be too much to ask that VUZU AMP perhaps make some more cool Starship VUZU AMP vignettes once the channel is up and running on DStv to introduce, joke with, and bring awareness to some of the shows that DStv subscribers will be able to see on the channel?

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK. The VUZU AMP channel logo - with a 'stroke of genius' - takes the existing VUZU logo one fat line further.

You're seeing it here first. 

TV with Thinus can exclusively reveal the brand-new channel logo of VUZU AMP, the new general entertainment TV channel from M-Net that will start on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform for DStv Premium subscribers on 13 October at 17:00.

VUZU AMP will start on DStv channel 114 on the channel where M-Net Series Reality previously was.

The VUZU AMP logo design is very clever - cleverly taking the existing VUZU logo, which will remain a TV channel, and "enhancing" it with one broad stroke.

With one fat line down - lets call it literally a "stroke of genius" - the existing VUZU logo cleverly adds and becomes a sideways "A" at the end for the "Amp" part (or an inverse "V") (or a long shadow) (or a doubling up of the existing image, meaning more VUZU).

Besides the very smart and simple symbol extension, VUZU AMP also adds a slogan: "Out of this world TV".

M-Net Edge starting on DStv on 20 October and VUZU AMP starting on 13 October at 17:00 for DStv Premium subscribers.

You're seeing it here first.

M-Net Edge (DStv 102) will launch on 20 October at 19:00 replacing the discontinued M-Net Series Showcase on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, while VUZU AMP (DStv 114) will start on 13 October at 17:00 in the place of the discontinued M-Net Series Reality.

M-Net Edge, a sister-channel to M-Net on DStv channel 101, will be the more risque family member and will only broadcast for 11 hours per day - from 18:00 to 05:00.

M-Net Edge will carry buzz worthy but titillating shows like Orange is the New Black, Masters of Sex, as well as new seasons of American Horror Story, Defiance and The Americans that M-Net says subscribers "would prefer not to watch with the entire family".

VUZU AMP will have new drama series like The Flash with episodes broadcast soon after the new show starts on 7 October in the United States, and further seasons of The Vampire Diaries, Devious Maids, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, So You Think You Can Dance and Pretty Little Liars.

Vuzu shows like the entertainment news staple V Entertainment, 10 over 10 and Dineo's Diary is apparently also moving from Vuzu to VUZU AMP.

"M-Net Edge and VUZU AMP are taking the curation of top-notch premium television content to an exiting new level," says Yolisa Phahle, M-Net's CEO for South Africa in a statement announcing the two new M-Net channel's names.

"These two contrasting entertainment channels have been created to make it easier for viewers to find out what to watch, where to watch it and at what time".

"As there is now more choice than ever, it is important to create channels that are clearly positioned, allowing viewers to find what they feel like [watching] as fast possible," says Yolisa Phahle.

"Both channels will schedule a combination of first-run programming and iconic shows with schedules designed to correlate with the latest worldwide viewing trends".

TOLDJA! M-Net ready to launch M-Net Atlantic and Vuzu Amp on DStv in October; M-Net kills off struggling M-Net Series Reality channel.

M-Net is readying the launch of two new channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform from October - channels which, according to insider sources, will likely be called M-Net Atlantic as well as Vuzu Amp.

TV with Thinus can reveal that M-Net is ending M-Net Series Reality (DStv 114), moving the bulk of that channel's content to Vuzu Amp, and is moving talk show Ellen to the main M-Net channel (DStv 101) at 17:00.

"M-Net Atlantic" or M-Net Series Atlantic is meanwhile replacing M-Net Series Showcase (DStv 113).

The move is part of a major restructuring of the M-Net Series TV channels. The year old M-Net Series trio of channels have been underperforming to expectations and viewership since it launched on DStv a year ago.

M-Net Atlantic will be modelled on the Sky Atlantic channel of BSkyB in the United Kingdom, and Vuzu Amp will be a spin-off channel of Vuzu. Both channels will be broadcast in high definition (HD) on DStv. 

The names of these two new TV channels on DStv might be different when launching in October - M-Net is refusing to reveal names, and the schedules remain under wraps.

M-Net is admitting that the two new channels are being added to DStv, one day after the DStv Local Content Showcase on Monday where MultiChoice and M-Net executives were repeatedly asked about changes coming to the M-Net Series channels and flat-out refused to talk or give any detail about it.

M-Net says the first channel - without mentioning a name like M-Net Atlantic - "will be the bold, irreverent sibling of the ever-popular M-Net channel 101, renowned for its blockbuster, fresh content from around the globe".

According to M-Net this channel will be an "unlimited playground for those who are avid followers of highly-acclaimed and award-winning but often eyebrow-raising and thought-provoking, edgy content - in the vein of Game of Thrones, House of Cards, True Detective, Orange is the New Black, Breaking Bad and Nurse Jackie".

The channel - like Sky Atlantic - will be a repository of HBO, Netflix and Showtime dramas that M-Net plans to bring to viewers quickly, similar to what the pay-TV broadcaster has been doing the past few months on the main M-Net channel.

In addition to fresh seasons of this type of content from America - meaning from the "other side of the Atlantic Ocean" - hence the play on the likely inclusion of the word "Atlantic" in the channel name - M-Net Atlantic will be the home of cult fare such as Sopranos and Six Feet Under, which will be broadcast daily.

Vuzu Amp, Vuzu Amped or Vuzu AMP - the second planned channel, is a spin-off of Vuzu which just turned five years old and will be "curating" content as a South African and African version of the VH1 style reality shows and drama series.

DStv subscribers will see "glitzy" celebrity centred shows and local reality shows on this channel, together with series like The Vampire Diaries and The Fixer.

"This is an exciting, progressive move on the pay-TV front," says Yolisa Phahle, M-Net's CEO for South Africa.

"Across the globe television and other entertainment platforms are evolving at breakneck speed as a result of new technology and changing consumer preferences".

"As a company M-Net has its finger on the pulse of these developements and we will continue to evaluate, adjust and reshuffle our channel offering accordingly for the benefit of the viewer".

Yolisa Phahle says DStv subscribers shouldn't fear about the disappearance of their favourite shows due to the termination of M-Net Series Reality, saying the move to change M-Net Series Showcase into a new channel and the new Vuzu channel "allows us to curate the greatest content in an even better way".

As Vuzu turns 5 years old, is M-Net ready to have the TV channel spawn a baby possibly called Vuzu Amp in September?

Vuzu (DStv 116) turns 5 years old today; so is pay-TV broadcaster M-Net ready to spawn a brand-new spin-off TV channel called Vuzu Amp around September?

That is what I've heard.

Vuzu replaced GO five years ago when that youth entertainment channel from M-Net faltered and failed to meet rating and performance targets.

Where Vuzu as a youth-tainment experiment initially had clearly defined boundaries and saw M-Net shift all youth entertainment TV drama shows to Vuzu, that presice and channel content proposition has blurred over the past few years.

Vuzu has become a sort of "all-sorts" TV channel over the past five years - making it impossible to predict exactly what type of TV content and shows would end up on Vuzu.

While V Entertainment remains a standard local production bringing Vuzu viewers youth-tainment-showbiz info on a weekday basis and anchors the line-up, the rest of Vuzu - including erratic and often badly done scheduling - is frequently all over the place.

The content of the Vuzu schedule has blurred over the past few years, resembling an often perplexing melange of disparate content and shows, akin as to if a TV executive mixed chunks of America's VH1, Bravo and E! Entertainment channels together.

The newly somewhat famous, the wannabe famous (both Americans and South Africans) and those past the prime of the fame shelf life, litter the Vuzu schedule.

The result is somewhat of a witches' brew of largely B-grade, often pandering American reality, sometimes have-to-watch, sometimes why-on-Earth? shows.

These Vuzu has spiced up with an equal measure of often questionably low production, local reality fare ranging from Vixens and Nonhle Goes to Hollywood, to Cream Cartel and TV trash supreme, Dineo's Diary.

If there's perhaps an overall theme to Vuzu its that it caters to viewers largely less interested in living their own lives than gawking through a tabloid prism at the lives of others - and the more histrionic the telenality on display, the better.

It's the channel of Mob Wives Chicago, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette; Bachelor Pad, RuPaul's Drag Race, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Mo Love and Gold Diggerz and inappropriately allocated shows like Sleepy Hollow (while Teen Wolf and Hart of Dixie are on M-Net Series Showcase and The 100 and Beauty & the Beast are on M-Net).

TV shows, TV stars and TV channels age of course in dog years; in reality Vuzu is actually closer to 21 than 5.

It's no wonder then that sources have been telling TV with Thinus that a second Vuzu TV channel is in the works which will be compiled and supplied by M-Net. It will presumablybe for MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform where Vuzu is currently residing on the line-up.

I've been told the possible name for the second Vuzu channel is Vuzu Amp (VuzuAmp? VuzuAMP? Vuzu AMP?) and should launch around September or October in South Africa.

I made a media enquiry to M-Net last week and asked whether M-Net can confirm that there's been discussions for another Vuzu channel, whether that is accurate, whether Vuzu Amp is the proposed or talked about name, and whether such a channel would start around September or October, or whether nothing of this is true.

M-Net says "at this stage we can't deny nor confirm that there are plans to launch a new channel or channels. If we do in fact launch a new channel or channels, this will be communicated to media".

TV with Thinus also reached out to MultiChoice; such a platform would presumably carry such a channel, and asked the same, whether there has been or is any discussions around another Vuzu channel, and whether Vuzu Amp is the proposed name.

"We don't comment on plans to launch new channels," says MultiChoice. "Any new channels will be communicated to the media when we are ready to announce".