Zee Africa updates Zee World on-air graphics and tagline, moves primetime start time to 5pm.

by Thinus Ferreira

Zee Africa has changed the tagline for Zee World (DStv 166) to "Living every moment" from July and expanded the channel's programming schedule with prime time now starting at 17:00 with 8 shows until 22:00.

Zee Africa says the channel refresh of Zee World for viewers across sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean islands that includes new graphics and an enhanced programming offering, "honours Zee World's legacy".

"It is important for us to remind our viewers who we are at the core while extending it out to all age groups and cultures across Africa" says Somnath Malakar, CEO of Zee Africa.

"The tagline 'Living Every Moment' represents what Zee has always stood for and continues to be the inspiration that the brand endeavours to deliver to its audiences."

Zee World's programming has expanded with prime time now starting at 17:00. New titles have been added at 19:30 and 20:30. From July, Zee World now broadcasts eight shows between 17:00 and 22:00.

Desiree Pillay, senior vice president for content and marketing at Zee Africa, says "Our channel refresh represents our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment that resonates with viewers across the continent, and we are doing it with flair".

"With a brand-new logo, a new tagline, and a whole lot of new shows, we invite our viewers to join us in 'Living Every Moment' on Zee World as we embark on this exhilarating new chapter together."

Paramount Africa adds Zee World to its sales portfolio as a TV channel from March.

by Thinus Ferreira

Paramount Africa, previously ViacomCBS Networks Africa (VCNA), is adding the Indian TV brand Zee World as a channel to its sales portfolio from 1 March.

Zee World, from Zee Entertainment Enterprises as the world's first English-dubbed Indian entertainment channel, is available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa and other African countries on DStv channel 166, as well as on GOtv on channel 25.

"The environment in which Paramount Africa operates necessitates a diverse, one-of-a-kind, and adaptive approach to commercialisation, distribution, promotion, and the incorporation of innovation in ensuring the success of our business," says Strini Naicker, vice president of commercial and content distribution at Paramount Africa.

"We are always open to new partnerships that will see us grow and also continue to offer content that resonates with our audiences."

Strini Naicker says that from March, Paramount Africa's stakeholders and partners will have an additional avenue and platform to promote their products and services. 

"The programming content on the Zee World channels are relatable and adapted to resonate with diversified consumers, which is what Paramount Africa strives for on a daily basis."

Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, says "Welcoming Zee World to our portfolio not only means a new audience, but it also delivers on some of our strategic objectives, to cater to a broader audience and live by our mantra of prioritising diversity and inclusion. This is an exciting partnership for the Africa business".

After launch of Zee Alem in Ethiopia Zee Africa says it's looking at further bespoke regional and language-specific channels for the continent in the future.

by Thinus Ferreira

Zee Africa, a division of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, says that it's growing collection of TV channels across Africa, is finding traction with the continent's viewers and that it's looking at possible expanding with further bespoke regional and language-specific offerings in the future.

Recently Zee Africa added Zee Alem as a new TV channel to its expanding offering on the Africa continent on 22 June 2020. Zee Alehm broadcasts in the Amharic language for Ethiopia.

"The uptake of Zee Amharic gives us the confidence to pursue more such regional opportunities.

We have tested waters in the regional space with programming in Swahili and Zulu languages and found a definite gap for Indian content," says Harish Goyal, CEO of Zee Africa & Asia Pacific.

"Zee Alem is the first channel launched in an African language and with the large amount of positive responses from our viewers, we are exploring new markets for similar launches in the future."

Zee already has two successful mainstream channels, Zee World in English and Zee Magic in French, which cater to Anglophone and Francophone viewers across the African continent.

"We have always strived to be innovative in our approach to new markets, which has opened up new opportunities to grow our local footprint on the continent," says Ratna Siriah, Zee Africa business head for Africa & Indian Ocean Islands.

Currently, there are 9 Zee channels across the continent with 6 bespoke feeds bring viewers a curated collection of the best of Indian content to Africa. 

Various Zee channels groupings are carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service in South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as on StarTimes' in sub-Saharan Africa and its StarSat in South Africa; as well as on Canal+ Afrique in sub-Saharan Africa

Bollywood bounces back as 4 Star Life primetime series are set to return from 8 June with new weekday episodes.

by Thinus Ferreira

Bollywood is bouncing back as international lockdowns restrictions regarding work and movement to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic are starting to ease with Star Life (DStv 167  / StarSat 550 / Openview 110) that has returned 4 series to its schedule with new episodes that will debut on 8 June.

In April 2020 Indian TV channels like Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV ran out of new episodes for several shows because of the Covid-19 international shutdowns that led to schedule disruption and schedules that were altered and shows replaced by repeats.

"Lockdowns are still in place in some form or the other in different parts of the world that is still impacting our various productions," Mayank Bharara, Star Life spokesperson tells TVwithThinus, "but we are doing everything possible to bring back our powerful shows for our audiences across Africa and so we will be bringing back 3 hours of original programming in June."

"With the reduced workforce in studios, that is the maximum we can manage for now until lockdowns completely open."

On Star Life Family Affairs (18:00 to 19:00), Kulfi - The Singing Star (19:00 to 19:30), Made for Each Other (19:30 to 20:00) and Geet (20:00 to 21:00) are all back on the primetime schedule between 18:00 and 21:00.

While all 4 of these shows are back, they're showing repeats and have been rolled back a few episodes to that viewers can get a recap of where the stories were before the shows went into repeats and left the schedule.

On 7 June all 4 of these shows will align back to the point where they were on Star Life when they stopped.

"From Monday 8 June 2020 we will have all-new episodes of these 4 shows," says Mayank Bharara.

Between 21:00 and 23:00 where Star Life had The Inseparables and A Perfect Lie, the TV channel has now brought back Game of Love from 28 May due to public demand, after the end of Chasing My Heart.

"This show launched when we launched the channel in 2018 and has been our most successful show so we should have good viewership during this timeslot too," says the channel.

MultiChoice abruptly shuts down and deletes its existing DStv press portal for the media during Covid-19 coronavirus crisis without warning.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice on Thursday 2 April 2020 abruptly shut down and deleted its DStv press portal where it has been hosted without bothering to warn or tell the media beforehand anything about it or what they need to do now.

TVwithThinus still access MultiChoice's DStv press portal hosted at https://press.dstv.com/login on Wednesday afternoon, and again on Wednesday night but by Thursday morning it was suddenly gone and deleted.

The login page, saved as a browser favourite simply returning a "404 Not Found" page without any explanation as to what happened or what's going on, causing massive stress and confusion under several in the media who are dependend on using the site to report and communicate about content on DStv's satellite pay-TV platform.

MultiChoice, unilaterally and without bothering to tell the media, dumped its DStv press portal without giving the press in South Africa no advance warning that it's shutting down its press portal, nor what they have to do,or any explanation why.

The user group - including journalists and editors online, working at newspapers, magazines, in radio and TV, and covering television and ranging from TV writers, TV critics, DJs and social media influencers - received no advance warning from MultiChoice that it is shutting down its press portal, nor what they have to do, or any explanation why.

It's unclear whether the DStv press portal contract termination - possibly the latest misguided and short-sighted cost-cutting measure inside MultiChoice - was ordered by Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, or Mark Rayner, MultiChoice South Africa CEO.

The ordered DStv press portal shutdown and resultant shock, fear and chaos under the media who had no idea that it would be happening and got no communication from MultiChoice about it, comes during a particularly sensitive time in South Africa with the growing Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic spreading in the country and globally and where the media in all spheres requires better and more communication - not less - than ever before.

The DStv press portal that already migrated to a new site once before, hosts an extremely precious and valuable archive  - constantly updated - that is a precious and highly-functional publicity material reservoir ranging from monthly schedules and highlight documents, show and cast publicity images, press releases and media statements, show and channel logos and a myriad of other useful information for channels ranging from Al Jazeera to Zee World.

Besides the information from third-part channels hosted on DStv, MultiChoice's DStv press portal carried information about all of M-Net's own packaged channels ranging from M-Net and Mzansi Magic, to 1Magic, to the carousels of M-Net Movies and kykNET channels.

In a instant on Thursday MultiChoice ripped it all away from South Africa's press without warning or any indication as to what they are supposed to do.

On Thursday TVwithThinus emailed and asked MultiChoice's corporate communications team headed by Joe Heshu, MultiChoice group executive for corporate affairs, and Reggy Moalusi, executive head of corporate affairs at MultiChoice South Africa, to please restore the DStv press portal.

They were told and reminded that the DStv poress portal is something that is crucially-important and used a lot by a lot of press in South Africa - many of whom won't yet realise that it's gone from where it used to be, with no idea of what's wrong when they suddenly and urgently need to access it.

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice's communications team on Thursday - including MultiChoice SA CEO Mark Rayner and Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice CEO for general entertainment, when the decision was made to remove and destroy the DStv press portal where it has been and where it has been hosted, and why this was not communicated to anybody who is highly dependent on it.

MultiChoice was also asked why the pay-TV operator decided to do away with the existing DStv press portal during such an extremely sensitive time and stressful period in South Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic when the South African government and others implored that as much information as possible be kept and made available to the media and the public.

By Friday afternoon at 14:00 there was no response yet from MultiChoice to any of the questions.

On Friday evening a MultiChoice representative in a phone call said that the DStv press portal has been moved to a new website. MultiChoice gave no explanation why this has happened or why it has been done, or why it has been done now.

It's unclear whether media knows they have to go to a new website, or have to take the time to register again. It's also highly unlikely that the richly populated publicity material, the "Latest News" section without having to search containing latest press releases and announcements, or archived material including monthly schedules and the vast collection of high-res images, will be available on a new site.

"If MultiChoice wanted to shut down or move the DStv press portal the very least they could have done would have been to inform the journalists and editors making use of it personally, and at least a month before the time. That is basic," a journalist and TV critic who uses the site constantly told TVwithThinus on Thursday evening.

"MultiChoice is absolutely beyond ridiculous".

Another user remarked: "I don't like the new one it's so empty".

Coronavirus: Bollywood goes on a break as Indian TV channels Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV switch to series repeats because of Covid-19.

by Thinus Ferreira

With Bollywood in lockdown multiple shows seen in South Africa across several Indian TV channels have been affected by the spreading global Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic with series on channels ranging from Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV that have run out of new episodes and been replaced by repeats.

On Star Life (DStv 167  / StarSat 550 / Openview 110) all new shows have the schedule skids since the studios in India and South Africa and their filming, dubbing process and distribution operations have all shuttered as part of national lockdown periods in both countries.

Star Life switched to a binge-block rebroadcast schedule from 1 April 2020 of already-aired series for the next to months until at least the end of May 2020 with A Perfect Lie, Family Affairs, Kulfi, Made for Each Other and The Inseparables that all abruptly stopped airing new episodes.

Once new episodes become available, the last few aired episodes of these shows will repeat again before new episodes are possibly shown. Star Life continues to show daily Bollywood films at 15:00

The Star Life prime time schedule has now changed to two episodes daily of The Crossroads at 18:00 until 19:00, followed by 5 consecutive episodes daily of Forever Yours until 21:30, and then 3 episodes daily of Chasing My Heart between 21:30 and 23:00.

With production and international content distribution from within India shut down, on Zee World (DStv 166) the just-started Jodha & Akbar has been removed from the schedule indefinitely. The telenovela Ring of Fire has also been removed and replaced by a rebroadcast of Gangaa at 20:00 with Jodha & Akbar replaced by a rebroadcast of Twist of Fate at 21:00.

A repeat of Mehek has replaced Lies of the Heart on weekdays at 17:00, while Lies of the Heart at 22:00 is a rebroadcast of the series.

New episodes are still available for the recently started Our Perfect Place broadcast daily at 18:00 in its usual timeslot and the second season of Deception which continue daily in the 19:00 timeslot.

The schedule of Glow TV (StarSat 570 / Openview 140) has also been dramatically impacted by the global Covid-19 national lockdowns and the inability to get content out of India.

Glow TV has switched to a programming strategy for now of repeats of the past two week's episodes of its Indian series True Love, This is Love and Young Love.

ZEEL appoints Sunita Uchil to head up its new co-productions and co-development division.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has promoted Sunita Uchil to executive vice president of its new international co-production and co-development division at ZEE.

ZEE is looking at doing more international co-productions, for instance Mehek that recently started on Zee World (DStv 166) in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, with Zee Africa that smartly utilised the back-end infrastructure of an existing Bollywood show before it shuttered to recreate and create a customised version for African audiences by inserting an African cast.

Sunita Uchil in her new role based in Mumbai, India, will work with production companies around the world to co-create and produce both scripted and non-scripted programming.

Sunita Uchil was previously Zee’s chief business officer for international ad sales and global syndication and led Zee's international syndication division since its inception in 2012.

Here she spearheaded several co-production series, including the company’s first global blue-chip documentary, The Life of Earth from Space, on which she served as an executive producer.

Sunita Uchil developing both scripted and factual co-productions including the recent African drama series Deceptive Measures, an adaptation of popular Indian drama series Pavitra Rishta and Oba Nisa, an adaptation of the popular Zee TV series Tujhse Hai Rabbta (Cosmic Connection) which launched in Sri Lanka.

Sunita Uchil says "Stories are my passion and I am grateful to our CEO and ZEE for giving me the space to bring new global stories to light".

"True to our motto - that together we are extraordinary - I aim to seek out and partner with the best producers in the world to create compelling content which will be enjoyed by audiences worldwide."

Amit Goenka, CEO of international broadcast business at ZEEL, says "Sunita is a special creative and business executive, with strong content and commercial visions, along with the fortitude and ability to implement them".

"She has not only built up our international ad sales and syndication businesses, she has been instrumental in finding the right projects for successful co-production projects. We are excited to see what she does in this new role and expect she will bring all her experience and creative acumen to the role."

'The entire Soweto watches us': Zee Africa boss, Harish Goyal, on the origin-story and growth of the Zee World channel that has now led to the first-ever Bollywood drama series, Mehek, that includes an African cast.

Mehek, a new African-infused Bollywood telenovela starting on 6 April at 21:00 on Zee World (DStv 166), is an African first and marks a bold step forward for Zee World that has just turned 4 years old, testing the appetite and demand under African viewers to see black characters reflected back in Bollywood and introducing a cross-cultural love-story romance in a first-ever Africa-Bollywood drama series adaptation.

Mehek came about when Zee Africa was presented with the opportunity to adapt the Bollywood telenovela Zindagi Ki Mehek (Essence of Life) from Zee after filming in India but before the studio sets in Delhi got struck and while the Indian cast was still available.

Zee Africa jumped and in record-time got an African cast from South Africa together who went to Indian to film new scenes and an integrated story.

With new scenes filmed at a furious pace between October and December 2018 using the same directors and writers, Zindagi Ki Mehek was re-edited with the newly written script and filmed scenes to create the re-imagined and adapted version, now localised for African audiences with the Gabela family inserted.

While Mehek (still) refers to Mehek (Samiksha Jaiswal), a passionate chef who falls in love, Mehek now include the Gabela family that moved from Africa to India after son Dennis (Kamogelo Mogale) has been accused of a crime, father Eddie (Ndaba ka Ngwane), mom Leleti (Nomava Kibare) and daughter Norah (Shonisani Masutha) who falls in love with Karan.

Talent agency Thespians provided the actors for the Gabela family with agent Marius Meyer who lived together in the same accommodation in India for the duration of filming.

"Our extraordinary journey started 4 years ago on 3 February 2015 when we launched Zee World," said Harish Goyal, the CEO of Zee Africa & Asia Pacific, at Thursday evening's media launch event of Mehek in Johannesburg.

"Zee World was launched with 4 fresh hours per day, Monday to Friday. Then, within a year, we introduced our 5th fresh hour and it became 5 new hours per day during prime time during 2016."

"Then, last year we started with new content from Monday to Sunday on Zee World. We are one of those very few companies who did this where we brought fresh hours on Saturday and Sunday. So we did something that was different, and this delivered the performance" for the channel that is now available as an HD channel across sub-Saharan Africa.

"Zee came to the African continent and South Africa 20 years back. When we came 20 years ago we thought Bollywood and Indian drama will appeal to South African Indians, so we brought on channel 452 the channel ZEE TV on MultiChoice's DStv," said Harish Goyal.

"Programming was in Hindi with English subtitles and we remained happy and content for 13 years. Then we discovered that the content has a very big appeal under African viewers - African mainstream viewers who watch it."

"So we were chasing 1.5 million South Asians where actually the market was 1 billion Africans. What we discovered was that the content has to be brought in a language that Africa understands. The research that we did 7 years ago showed that there's a great cultural relevance between India and Africa - our joint love of food, music, dance, and family values."

"People thought there must be a big cultural difference between India and Africa and the answer is no; there is a very big cultural relevance. Finally, when we launched Zee World, the results show that the entire Soweto watches us,' said Harish Goyal.

"We started asking in 2016, 'When are we going to start seeing ourselves on the channel?' That is when the idea started of bringing local content to Zee World. Of course it takes time. Finally, we're starting to see African stars with Indian stars, working in India."

'We have brought Africa and India together'
Ratna Siriah, head of business at Zee Africa, at Thursday evening's launch event said "a big thank you to my marketing and programming team in Africa and the producers in Indian who made Mehek happen in a very, very short time".

"The African actors know how difficult it has been for them as well - and everyone pulled through."

"The journey of Mehek - as Harish Goyal spoke about the journey of Zee World - finally it had to come to that. Mehek is here because of the success of Zee World in Africa that we have seen," said Ratna Siriah.

"The key question we started getting from viewers was 'When will they see themselves as part of Bollywood?' I think with Mehek that is what we have finally achieved where we have brought Africa and India together on one screen."

"This has happened for the first time in the history of Bollywood series. This hasn't been done before. This is the first innovative step; something that Zee has taken."

The story of Mehek
"The story of Mehek revolves around an orphan girl called Mehek. Mehek in Hindi means 'fragrance' and you associate that word with food; the fragrance of food, the fragrance of flowers - everything that is nice and beautiful is called mehek," explained Ratna Siriah.

"So you could have a person who has a beautiful personality and I would say 'The mehek of that person is beautiful'. So it's a fragrance that comes from everything that is beautiful."

"So Mehek's whole story revolves around cooking. The story has love, it has betrayal. It has revenge, it has forgiveness. And now to add into the mix of all that we have the Gabela family from Africa that's arrived in India and they are trying to find their place in a country where the culture at the outset looks very different."

"Slowly they come to know, as we've learnt here in South Africa and Africa, that it's not all that different - that we all can live together.

"In Mehek the family's daughter Norah (Shonisani Masutha) is not at all happy when the family moved to India at all and you will see her throw all sorts of tantrums. But of course, she finds a very hot someone ..."

"The family finally makes India their home and you will see all of that in Mehek that has over 200 episodes with a new episode daily. There's a lot of drama coming in Mehek."

"The story of Mehek puts a spotlight on the connection between Africa and India," says Ratna Siriah.

"Our dances may be different, but our passion for dancing is the same. Our families may be different, but our respect for our elders is the same. Our fashions may be different, but our flair for colours is the same. Finally, our food may be different, but our love of food is the same - and that is what Mehek bring together on Zee World as our latest series."


ALSO READ: The first Bollywood TV production with African actors in the cast and filmed in India, Mehek, to premiere on Zee World in April.
ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 30 photos of the media launch of Zee World's Mehek drama series in South Africa as the first to feature the inclusion of an African cast.
ALSO READ: ZEEL's Zee World channel celebrates 4 years in Africa with phenomenal viewership growth for its Bollywood content; first locally-produced content to be broadcast from April 2019.

IN IMAGES. 30 photos of the media launch of Zee World's Mehek drama series in South Africa as the first to feature the inclusion of an African cast.

On Thursday evening Zee Africa held a media launch for Mehek, its adapted new drama series, filmed in India, and set to start on the Indian-focused entertainment channel Zee World (DStv 166) on Saturday, 6 April at 21:00 as the first-ever Bollywood TV production to include African actors from South Africa as part of the cast.

The landmark drama series for Zee World includes African actors Shonisani Masutha, Kamogelo Mogale, Ndaba ka Ngwane and Nomava Kibare and will broadcast 7 days a week on Zee World.

The purple-colour infused media launch took place at The Venue Green Park in Morningside, Johannesburg with the South African executives from ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Ltd. (ZEEL), the South African cast of Mehek, and media in attendance.

ALSO READ: 'The entire Soweto watches us': Zee Africa boss, Harish Goyal, on the origin-story and growth of the Zee World channel that has now led to the first-ever Bollywood drama series, Mehek, that includes an African cast.

ALSO READ: The first Bollywood TV production with African actors in the cast and filmed in India, Mehek, to premiere on Zee World in April. 

ALSO READ: ZEEL's Zee World channel celebrates 4 years in Africa with phenomenal viewership growth for its Bollywood content; first locally-produced content to be broadcast from April 2019. 

The first Bollywood TV production with African actors in the cast and filmed in India, Mehek, to premiere on Zee World in April.

Mehek, a new drama series filmed in India, is set to premiere on the Indian-focused entertainment channel Zee World (DStv 166) on Saturday, 6 April at 21:00 as the first Bollywood TV production to include African actors as part of the cast.

The landmark drama series for Zee World includes African actors Shonisani Masutha, Kamogelo Mogale, Ndaba ka Ngwane and Nomava Kibare and will broadcast 7 days a week on Zee World.

In February Zee World celebrated its 4th anniversary as an African TV channel run by ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Ltd. (ZEEL), with the channel that has shown a steep upward growth in ratings and revenues over the past 4 years.

Mehek revolves around an aspiring chef looking for love, as well as the various members of a black family from Africa looking for a better life in India, faces the various challenges and tribulations this new journey brings as well as unexpected romantic entanglements.

Mehek is the story of a young girl from Delhi, whose love for cooking is closely tied to her mother's memories. She was raised by her aunt, Kanta, after her parents died. Then there is Shaurya (Karan Vohra) a rich and arrogant restauranteur. Their paths cross, leading to an unlikely relationship - but all is not what it seems.

Meanwhile Eddie Gabela (Ndaba ka Ngwane), a successful businessman from Africa moves to Delhi with his wife Leleti (Nomava Kibare), daughter Norah (Shonisani Masutha) and son Dennis (Kamogelo Mogale).

Dennis has been implicated in a serious crime and whilst the family knows he's innocent they are helpless to save him from these false accusations and decide to leave Africa for his safety.

Norah's love life, however, takes an interesting turn when she meets and falls in love with Karan in India. Their relationship is a colourful imbalance of love and betrayal as the couple forges a life together in India in a groundbreaking Africa-meets-India storyline.

"Mehek represents an important and evolutionary part of Zee World's commitment to providing relevant, exciting and innovative content to its viewers," says Harish Goyal, the CEO of Zee Africa & Asia Pacific.

"Zee is proud of this production and of our African actors; furthermore, it will undoubtedly set a strong foundation for similar productions in the future."

Ratna Siriah, head of business at Zee Africa, says "The decision to develop a Bollywood production with African actors stemmed from Zee World's unequivocal success in Africa and the love showered by our audiences for the channel".

"Zee World has enjoyed tremendous growth throughout the years and Mehek was the obvious next step."

Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's executive head of content strategy, says "The MultiChoice Group understands the importance of local content to our subscribers".

"As Africa's leading content producer and most loved storyteller, we are delighted that our channel partners such as Zee share this in this vision and investing in showcasing local talent in new innovative ways."

ZEEL's Zee World channel celebrates 4 years in Africa with phenomenal viewership growth for its Bollywood content, first locally-produced content to be broadcast from April 2019.

The Indian-focused channel Zee World (DStv 166) is celebrating its four-year anniversary this month celebrating phenomenal viewership growth, with the first locally-produced content set for broadcast from April 2019.

Zee World's 4th anniversary is an important milestone according to ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Ltd. (ZEEL) with Zee World that has seen tremendous growth for its African viewership.

Zee World achieved its highest rating ever in South Africa and Africa in September 2018 which grew more than 200% since the channel's launch in February 2015 as African viewers tune in to the dedicated Bollywood content broadcast across the continent.

The journey of Zee World from 2015 to 2019 has shown a steep upward growth in ratings and revenues alike, says ZEEL.

Zee World launched with 4 fresh hours, Mondays to Fridays in 2015 and then added an additional 5th hour in 2016, along with showing 5 series 7 days a week since 2018.

The latest innovation for Zee World is its first locally produced content that will be broadcast from April 2019 on the channel.

Zee World now available in high definition (HD) to MultiChoice's DStv subscribers in Southern Africa.

The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa's (BRCSA) recent results of its brands and services survey (January to June 2018) listed Zee World amongst the "channels that are rapidly gaining traction in South Africa".

According to ZEEL, Zee World continues to remain among the top 3 channels in South Africa and the number one most watched channel in key markets in West & East Africa including Nigeria and other Southern African Development Community countries in Africa.

"Zee World is undoubtedly a success story; our continuous growth shows that we have captured a very important and loyal viewership," says Harish Goyal, CEO Africa & Asia Pacific.

"We will build on this by consistently providing innovative and engaging programming to our viewers."

Zee Entertainment's general entertainment channel Zee World switches to HD on MultiChoice's DStv.

Zee Entertainment's general entertainment channel Zee World (DStv 166) is switching to a high definition (HD) broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform from Thursday, 15 November.

"We're extremely excited to bring our most popular shows in high definition to our viewers," says Harish Goyal, CEO of Asia Pacific and Africa at Zee International.

"The crisp viewing will undoubtedly add a level of enjoyment to the shows." 

Zee says its switch to HD reconfirms Zee World's growing popularity in the Southern African marketplace.

The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa's recent results of its brands and services survey (January to June 2018) listed Zee World amongst the "channels that are rapidly gaining traction".

Zee World programming include the drama series, Twist of Fate chronicling the life of Abhi whose accident has turned his life around, causing him and Pragya to be pulled apart. However, despite trials and tribulations standing in the way of their joy they stand firm in their pursuit of happiness.

Gangaa tells the story of a young girl, married off as a child bride. She suddenly becomes a widow and orphan when both her husband and father die on her wedding day. Sent to a home for widows, she finds herself fighting injustice as she is forced to life a mundane life with no future.

Young Dreams celebrates adolescence, depicting the lives of two teenage girls, Gunjan and Rachna.

More South Africans say they watch Showmax than Netflix, although video streaming remains tiny under consumers - 73% say they haven't watched any streaming content for the past week.

More South Africans say they're watching Showmax than rival Netflix South Africa – but by just a smidgen, although Netflix's video streaming service is more popular in the top "supergroups" of consumers, while Naspers' SVOD leads in the two middle groups.

A new survey of the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) looking at brands and services in South Africa that just released the results, surveyed 3 154 South Africans from all socio-economic levels in urban and rural South Africa between January and June this year.

South Africans said SABC1 is their most often watched TV channel, that eNCA (DStv 403) on MultiChoice’s DStv is their most often watched TV news channel, and that SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) is their most often watched sports channel.

The survey also reveals the interesting rise in the growing popularity of TV channels making inroads and carving away at the SABC’s television dominance.

While SABC1, followed by e.tv, SABC2 and SABC3 are still the biggest and most often watched channels, e.tv’s set of free-to-air channels like eMovies and eExtra are rapidly gaining traction, as is the Indian-infused Zee World (DStv 166). 

M-Net’s Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) is the TV channel that leads the charge on smartphones as the most watched channel on this type of device.

YouTube is by far the most viewed streaming service in South Africa, with more South Africans saying they're making use of Showmax often, than those indicating they're using Netflix – but by a very narrow margin. 

While 24% of users said they've used YouTube in the past week, 5% indicated that they've accessed Showmax, and 4% said they’ve accessed Netflix. 

One percent accessed other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video. A whopping 87% said they use YouTube most often, followed by 6% for Showmax, 5% for Netflix and 2% for other.

With new, segmented so-called Socio-Economic Measure (SEM) "supergroups" that have replaced the outdated Living Standards Measure (LSM) that advertisers and marketers use to target and identify South African consumers, the survey reveals that Netflix is the most preferred and used video streaming service in South Africa's three top consumer "supergroups" of 3, 4 and 5 – the wealthiest consumers.

In SEM supergroup 5, 22% of people said that they have watched Netflix in the past week. 

In SEM supergroup 4, 17% of people said they have watched Netflix in South Africa in the past week and it was 36% for supergroup 3. 

That was more than for Showmax that had 17% viewing under SEM supergroup 5 in the past week, 15% for SEM supergroup 4, and 32% for SEM supergroup 3.

Showmax however outranked Netflix in the lower end of the consumer market where Showmax is more popular than Netflix. 

In SEM supergroup 2, 30% of people said they've watched Showmax the past week (compared to 21% for Netflix), and 6% of SEM supergroup 1 respondents indicated that they've watched Showmax in the past seven days, compared to 4% for Netflix.

The survey makes clear how small video streaming services are still in South Africa, with 73% of South Africans in the survey saying they have not watched any video streaming content in the past week.

Star Networks launches the Indian-fusion Star Life channel on DStv and Openview with Bollywood content as new competitor for GLOW and ZEE TV in Africa.

Despite a crowded TV channels field already offering similar content, Star India will launch Star Life on MultiChoice's DStv and GOtv, as well as eMedia Investment's Openview free-to-air satellite-TV service, on 27 August as a new Bollywood content channel.

Star Life, from Star Networks that is wholly-owned by 21st Century Fox, will compete with channels like GLOW and ZEE TV's existing offering of impressive ZEE Africa TV channels like Zee World and Zee Bollymovies.

Star Network didn't bother to say why or how Star Life would be different than existing competitors and what it would specifically offer viewers and Star Life didn't reveal any of the actual content, on-air talent or any titles that would actually be seen on the channel.

No channel schedule was shared, with no show or film highlights mentioned, but Star Life will be in English, and will run for 24 hours per day.

Star Networks apparently created Star Life exclusively for African audiences.

The Star Life channel looks as if it originated out of the Star Life OK channel that used to be available in South Africa for a while before it was removed, and last year relaunched and rebranded under the Star Bharat name in India.

Star Life will be a high definition channel on DStv in South Africa on channel 167 but standard definition elsewhere in Africa, and will be "showcasing a fusion of the very best family dramas, celebrity dance shows and blockbuster movies from Star's famed library of A-list Bollywood movies, adapted in English for local audiences".

Star Networks says "Star Life is appealing to a broader audience and brings to Africa extraordinary journeys of ordinary people, progressive story lines, inspirational characters and compelling dramas - produced to the highest international production standards".

Guarav Jandwani, the senior vice president and business head for the United Kingdom and South Africa for Star Network in a prepared statement says "At Star we believe in creating stories for the world, stimulating imagination and showcasing the limitless power of ordinary people".

"We have seen the need for quality Indian cross-over entertainment and with Star Life we are proud to bring to Africa engaging programming, in English, which will leave our viewers inspired, rejuvenated, moved and delighted."

"We are delighted to partner with DStv and Openview, the best platforms in the region, making Star Life the most widely available channel in its genre in Southern Africa".

How Africa's best TV curator, MultiChoice's content boss Aletta Alberts, keeps up with the massive amount of TV to watch - as she shares insights into the latest trends influencing shows.

As an extremely dedicated and very well-informed TV executive, she's Africa's most prominent, and possibly most powerful, TV content curator when it comes to television - but how does Aletta Alberts keep up and watch it all when the number of just the new American TV shows made per year have jumped from 210 series in 2009 to over 455 last year?

For over a decade since she joined MultiChoice in July 2006 as general manager of content, Aletta Alberts has held sway as the arbiter of what's ultimately gets to your screen in a local and international blurry, noisy, crowded TV-multiverse that is filled by a constantly, fast-evolving and every-increasing kaleidoscope of channels, shows, new TV genres, distribution methods and yes, more real, desperate housewives.

Having started as a production secretary in the late 80s, becoming an assistant producer, then a producer and working on large live shows, after which she transitioned to become SABC2 programme manager and eventually rose to SABC2 channel head, Aletta Alberts then joined Vodacom after which MultiChoice followed.

From her office in the airy MultiChoice City in Randburg, Johannesburg, Aletta Alberts is not just the content queen seated on the iron throne of TV land's intricate and sprawling television Westeros - she's actually George R.R. Martin.

But like the monk who looms over the sprawling and intricate map in the Game of Thrones opening title sequence - filled with continuously turning cogs and a daunting number of moving parts over a vast area - how on Earth does even she manage to keep up, and up to date, as a content curator in a world where there's more TV made than ever before, in a realm where everything and all the main players are constantly changing?

TVwithThinus asked her a bit earlier this year at the MultiChoice Media Showcase where TV executives converged over a 2-day presentation to speak to the press about upcoming content and channels.

Aletta Alberts not only shared how she keeps up with the avalanche of TV content, but also shared her fascinating insights into the latest TV trends shaping and impacting the television industry and the new shows that DStv subscribers are getting to see.

"Obviously we see the channels all the time, we read the dailies, we go to television markets. And I must say that our channel partners - often we go to events with our channel partners - where there are other platforms. So Sky will be there, and all these big platforms. And we have continuous conversations with them," said Aletta Alberts.

"Then we're also very lucky to work for an organisation that every year we have a conference called 'The Business of Television' and at that conference we really bring the best that's out there to come out and speak to us and keep us up to date".

Courtesy of M-Net, Aletta Alberts said that she for instance would be attending an HBO Masterclass event to understand how that pay-TV outlet commissions drama for instance.

"Our jobs are really a lifestyle. It's not a job, you really eat and sleep with it," she said.

Film stars and showrunners
Aletta Alberts shared some fascinating insights about the big, current TV trends that are impacting what DStv subscribers are seeing on their TV screens, and will be seeing more of in future.

"If you think of the stars you've seen on TV in the last 18 months - it started with Glenn Close doing Damage a few years ago - and it just continued. Now we have Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. I think the Brits actually set the ball rolling if you think about this."

"Now if you're an A-lister or Hollywood star, if you're not in a TV series, you haven't quite made it," said Aletta Alberts who highlighted how showrunners are also becoming the stars.

"Then the next trend is that the creators of these shows are not in the background anymore, they are becoming the celebrities. If you think about the Shonda Rhimes, Terence Winter, Dick Wolf and so on, the list continues. Greg Berlanti for instance is responsible for a huge amount of TV shows."

"Then there's the movie producers and directors. Who would ever have thought you'd see Martin Scorsese doing a television series? And Steve Buscemini, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay. It just keeps getting better and better."

"Now even the Coen Brothers have entered the fray and they're in development with a series and that looks very, very interesting [the Western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs]."

'Then there's also actors turning down big film series - like 007's Daniel Craig stepping down and committing to a three season series for Showtime [Purity] - so really, really it's just getting exciting".

"Just out of Hollywood, since 2010, the amount of new television, it's just gone out of control. In 2009 Hollywood was making 210 . Last year at the end it was 455 series," said Aletta Alberts.

"Then on top of that, add the British series and the foreign series being made. So it's unbelievable," she said.

Brit-invasion and Indian telenovelas
"So every year when we go to Los Angeles, we see different trends. Last year it was basically movies that became TV series."

"Then we see remakes of previous series, some more successful than others. MacGyver for instance is doing well, globally."

"And then we're also seeing the growth of British series. We see those on specifically channels like BBC First (DStv 119) and ITV Choice (DStv 123) - and these series do incredibly, incredibly well."

"And then something that we don't often speak about, but sometimes I think in the United States they run out of ideas. And because the Brits are so good at what they do, we see a lot of duplication."

"So you might not know but House of Cards was a remake, The Office went to an American series, Broadchurch was remade, Shameless, Elementary - these are just a few examples of all the brilliant British stuff that have been remade."

"And then we see the trend of franchises. So we see the DC franchises. Every year we go to LA there's another two or three. And as they do the movies, the TV series pick up as spin-offs off of that."

"Then the big one on the African continent is the rise of the telenovela," said Aletta Alberts.

"For a while now it was Latin [Telemundo], but we see that now being completely overshadowed by the Indian telenovelas on Zee World (DStv 166)."

"The Indian telenovelas are incredibly popular across the African continent. I think the one thing that the Indian novelas got right was they did a lot of research on the dubbing."

"The dubbed it and the research told them they have to dub it into a South African Indian accent, which is different from other Indian accents. And I promise you that is the success of this."

"So I think if we had dubbed the Latin novelas into a Sofia Vergara type English accent it would probably sit better and would be more accepted."

"Also, not to leave out, is the Turkish novelas. You're staring to see those on FOX. It's a little bit more conservative, but they have incredibly, incredibly high production values and great stories that are taking the world by storm at the moment".


DStv getting more rights to in season stacking
"At MultiChoice we're working very hard to get more and more rights to series, to first of all having it on DStv Catch Up, and secondly to have 'in season' box sets of available episodes because consumers don't want to come in at episode 3 and the previous ones don't exist and then it's like a broken experience for you," said Aletta Alberts.

"We're really working very, very hard on that."

"Because we haven't had broadband [in South Africa], or broadband's been very expensive, 6 or 7 years ago we came up with this thing called the DStv Explora and it has X amount of hours available on its hard drive and we simulated that over-the-top (OTT) experience."

"But the reality of it is, is that it's got limited space and we can only put a limited amount of content on there."

"So we were very excited when the DStv Explora box could then connect to the internet and now we can have hours and hours on there - but more so the fact that we can put lots more hours on DStv Now. And we're working very hard to get, and to put most things on DStv Now," she explained.

On how MultiChoice decides what content goes where, Aletta Alberts explained that "we select the content and we do have data of what people view".

"So each device has got a different strategy. Because TV series is the most watched, the bulk of what sits on the box is series. We've got limited sport and movies - we only put the latest and the greatest movies on the box so as they come off of our premium channels, that's what goes on there. And then very selectively we've got reality, like big reality shows."

As the TV world continues to evolve, Aletta Alberts ended the trends session with a bit of a prediction: "In 5 years or 10 year's time, I don't think there will be decoders. Everything will sit behind an app."


■ The 7th season of Game of Thrones will see its season premiere episode simulcast on Monday morning, 17 July at 03:00 on M-Net (DStv 101) at the same time as in America, and with it then broadcast again on the same day at 21:35 during late primetime.