The underperforming MagicWorld channel on MultiChoice's DStv shut down, rebranded and replaced by M-Net Family from 1 July.

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Another M-Net produced TV channel which has been under performing for years is getting the chop with MagicWorld (DStv 162) which is getting axed and replaced by the new M-Net Family on channel 162 on DStv from 17:00 on 1 July.

The mostly non-descript channel and its schedule of mostly rerun content, languished in a type of brand limbo - caught on the border between M-Net's South African identity and the M-Net content produced in and for the rest of Africa.

As such MagicWorld struggled to draw DStv subscribers who had a hard time grasping the channel's exact positioning and what they could possibly find there in terms of shows.

The MagicWorld channel logo changed several times over just the past four years, with confusing information to subscribers as to how the channel line-up and its schedule changed and got tweaked - an indication of how executives themselves struggled to define the channel and couldn't quite figure out what to do with it and how to more precisely focus and define it position.

Now MagicWorld will be a family channel with family viewing as its focus under the stronger M-Net Family name.

"MagicWorld has been discontinued. It has undergone a rebranding. As from 1 July the channel will no longer exist," an M-Net insider told TV with Thinus earlier the week.

Yolisa Phahle, M-Net CEO for Southern African confirmed it on Thursday, saying in a statement that "M-Net Family will feature carefully curated content that has proved to be popular family entertainment or that has never been seen on the DStv Family package before".

Alluding to MagicWorld not making the grade and hence the rebranding to M-Net Family, Yolisa Phahle says "It's our mission to craft top-notch M-Net channels that excite our kaleidoscope of audiences and M-Net Family is the perfect compliment for the array of M-Net general entertainment channels that currently includes M-Net 101, M-Net Edge and M-Net City."

Asked why MagicWorld has been scrapped, M-Net says "the pay-TV environment across sub-Saharan Africa has evolved rapidly over the past year or so. M-Net is always looking at different ways to enhance their offerings."

The revamped M-Net Family channel will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact, DStv Extra and DStv Family subscribers.

Reruns of the cancelled M-Net soap The Wild is currently running on MagicWorld and will continue on M-Net Family, but M-Net says the channel will continue with international content, like the current American talk show The Talk and the telenovela Champs.

M-Net says M-Net Family will have "a variety of high quality international content - from drama and reality series to movies - while some hit local shows and a kiddies programming block will also form part of the great family buffet of entertainment".

On Saturdays and Sundays at 18:00 M-Net Family will have a family movie, as well as series omnibuses throughout the day.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 11 June 2015.

A beautiful article about how network TV is dying ...
but how everyone seemed to have forgotten to actually tell network TV in America that.

1 162 people complain about Sky News' bitchy Kay Burley.
Viewers complain to the British broadcasting regulator over rude Kay Burley interview.

The real reason why people hate pay-TV operators (and cellphone companies).
Because they're middle men.

MultiChoice Nigeria assures over content and service.
After the controversial court case of MultiChoice's drastic price hike which the court threw out, the pay-TV operator wants to start repairing some of the damage to its public image.

The SABC is a caricature of a public broadcaster.
Commentator Eusebius McKaiser says the SABC has become a "useless state broadcaster" more than anything else.

How hiring works at the SABC.
Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola's hilarious satirical sketch about employment at the SABC.

Nonn Botha angry after SABC removed her.
Was yanked off the air two months ago; didn't even yet get any formal letter or email telling her she's removed from the airwaves.

New American reality TV low with NBC and Discovery's Bear Grylls.
In The Island a constipated contestant has to dig poo out of his butt - kilograms of crab, bark and coconut on national television.

Oprah Winfrey's OWN scraps plans for the reality show about the man with 34 children.
Tasteless trash-television of man who has 34 kids with 17 women "won't be moving forward".

BREAKING. StarSat hit by yet another service blackout, this time a technical problem with decoders, StarSat says its resending a new code.

The StarSat pay-TV operator in South Africa has gone down again on Wednesday evening for thousands of StarSat subscribers with the latest blackout continuing into Thursday, this time due to a technical problem with decoders.

In April StarSat was hit by a blackout which for two days saw the Woodmead based pay-TV platform go dead caused by a broken fibre link at the uplink site in Slovenia used by On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA running StarSat.

StarSat says subscribers are experiencing the blackout and service interruption and smartcard problems due to a technical problem with StarSat decoders.

TV screens are telling StarSat subscribers that their legitimate cards with a paid-up subscription "is not authorised" - an image of black TV screens with the few sentences on it that StarSat subscribers seized on to start posting on social networks.

It's not clear how StarSat subscribers who've paid go about for a refund for the time period they were not receiving a signal.

"There is a technical problem with some of the decoders which the technicians are investigating. It involves a new code that is being resent to these decoder boxes which should rectify the problem," StarSat tells TV with Thinus.

The new problem for the operator which is battling sporadic, regular technical problems impacting its subscriber base, is occuring as some executives are in Beijing, China for the 5th African Digital Development Seminar, sponsored by StarTimes.

StarSat subscribers are complaining, like in April, about the lack of StarSat customer service, the bad customer service centre they're struggling and are unable to get through to when there's a crisis, and slamming StarSat for getting "worse from bad".

Once again the telephone number of StarSat's customer care centre was "unobtainable" when called on Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning - similar to what happened in April.

It seems to indicate that ODM and StarTimes Media SA did little in the past two months to learn from April's damaging incident to implement a better system during a service outage to handle the larger volume of anxious StarSat subscribers seeking help.

"Where is the customer service?" asked Dave Eddington on StarSat's Facebook page.

"My decoder is blocked but to date I can't get hold of you. If you phone you must hold but no-one answers the phone. This service sucks big time," said Hilda Kruger.

"Please Starsat, tell us what's happening and we will understand. However avoiding us makes us mad. Please talk to us, Starsat," begged Kennis More.

"The sad part to all of this is that no message is showing to apologise for this inconvenience that is caused," remarked Noluyanda Msila.

Ben 10 returning to the Cartoon Network in 2016 with a new version exactly 10 years after it started; will be seen on DStv before America.

Ben 10 is returning to the Cartoon Network (DStv 301) next year with new episodes and a new look as the animation show gets reset for a new generation of young viewers exactly a decade after it first began in 2006.

Cartoon Network Studios will produce a brand-new Ben 10 which will start in 2016 on Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network.

Interestingly, the new Ben 10 will first be seen on Cartoon Network's global versions like on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform across Africa and on the version of the channel elsewhere in the world, before starting on the Cartoon Network in the United States in 2017.

The original Ben 10 was a ratings hit, and spawned multiple live-action movies, an animation movie, as well as additional animation series like Ben 10 Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse which all saw the character grow and develop.

The new Ben 10, revolving around the 10-year old kid hero Ben Tennyson who can transform into different aliens for different tasks and different fights as he tries to protect the galaxy, will have both fan-favourite as well as many new aliens.

The new Ben 10 will start when Ben, his cousin Gwen and Grandpa Max travel the country during summer vacation when Ben finds the mysterious Omnitrix which allows his to transform into various aliens.

"We decided it was time to introduce Ben to a new generation of kids," says Rob Sorcher, Cartoon Network chief content officer. "Ben 10 has been an overwhelming success story across all media platforms and we know kids around the world will be eager to see the reinvention of this beloved character."

So far the Ben 10 franchise has raked up more than $4.5 billion in global retail sales to date thanks to toys, clothes, interactive games and of course the show.

Trevor Noah's Twitter scandal was 'very unpleasant' for Viacom and Comedy Central bosses; admits Trevor's Twitter feed wasn't vetted.

The Comedy Central boss has admitted that Trevor Noah's Twitter scandal which broke the day after he was announced as the new host of The Daily Show was "very unpleasant" and that everyone forgot to look and vet at Noah's Twitter history.

At the Promax BDA conference in Los Angeles, Doug Herzog, Viacom Music and Entertainment Group chief, said that everyone forgot to look at Noah's Twitter feed and wasn't aware of the bad sexist and anti-Semitic jokes he had made.

"Truthfully, it never occurred to us," said Doug Herzog, who admitted that his boss immediately wanted to know if Trevor Noah's Twitter past was vetted before the announcement was made that he would be taking over from Jon Stewart on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

“We did not, and of course that's the first thing my boss asked me."

Doug Herzog was however adamant that there were no plans to replace Trevor Noah after the controversy erupted.

Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) will bring The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from 29 September to Comedy Central (DStv 122) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, less than a day after episodes are broadcast.

About Trevor Noah's Twitter jokes Doug Herzog said that "when we looked back on it, many of them were taken out of context, some just weren't funny enough, and I think that's where a lot of people's problems were with it."

"I'm not sure what we really could have done. I'm not sure we would have said, 'Wait that guy's not for us because he made that joke five years ago in response to something that happened that day.' I'm not sure what we would have really done. But it should be a lesson to us all."

Doug Herzog said he watched Twitter explode. "It was unpleasant. But that's a very particular dark place." 

He said Viacom and Comedy Central should have been more prepared. "We should have been more mentally prepared for how people would react when the announcement was made, no matter who it was. And there was certainly an unfortunate misstep in there."

"Trevor will go on, and there will be people who love him the first night, there will be people who hate him the first night, but he's coming back for night two, he's coming back for night three. He's going to be there for a long time," said Doug Herzog.

"From the very moment we saw him, and I think Jon felt the same way, we said, 'This guy is going to host The Daily Show some day.' I don't think anybody expected that day to be as soon as it turned out to be," said Doug Herzog.

"The Daily Show now demands somebody who's funny, who's insightful, who's smart, who understands world events and the news. It's not everybody who can bring all that together. We thought Trevor was one of the few guys who could, and who could speak in their own distinctive voice. I believe Trevor has that," said Doug Herzog. "Ultimately, we thought he was the right guy for the job."

Sky News moving and repositioning global correspondents Dominic Waghorn, Mark Stone and Robert Nisbet.

Sky News (DStv 402) is moving correspondents Dominic Waghorn, Mark Stone and Robert Nisbet with replacements for each of them.

Dominic Waghorn, Sky News' United States correspondent in Washington has been appointed as diplomatic editor. Sky News hasn't yet said who is replacing Dominic Waghorn as US correspondent.

Mark Stone, Sky News' Asia correspondent is being moved to Brussels where he will become Sky News' new Europe correspondent. Katie Stallard will replace Mark Stone as Asia correspondent, based in Beijing.

Robert Nisbet who has been Sky News' Europe correspondent has been appointed as political correspondent in the United Kingdom. Sky News says Robert Nisbet will bring his wealth of experience to cover the political scene in the UK.

"Dominic, Mark, Katie and Robert are first class journalists who'll bring a huge amount of expertise and journalist endeavour to their new roles, offering our customers the very best analysis from their respective beats," says Jonathan Levy, the director of news gathering for Sky News.

SABC1, SABC radio stations doing the Walk for Freedom on Youth Day, 16 June; youth concert set for Kabokweni Stadium in Mpumalanga.

SABC1 and some of the SABC's radio stations will go big for Youth Day on 16 June, this year doing an SABC Walk for Freedom next Tuesday under the theme of "Take The Next Step".

The Metro FM Walk for Freedom will start at the Morris Isaacson High School in Mphuthi Street to the Phefeni Senior Secondary School in Vilakazi Street, Soweto at 08:00 on Youth Day.

The Walk for Freedom in Limpopo will start at the Peter Mokaba Alma Mater School to the University of Limpopo's stadium.

In Mpumalanga the Walk for Freedom will start at the Kabokweni Stadium at 06:30 with SABC1 and the SABC radio stations Ligwalagwala FM and Ikwekwezi FM that will have a music concert after the walk where DJ's Kwesta, Heavy K, Bricks, Spectacular and Naves will perform.

SABC1 will be covering the event here from the SABC marquee for several of the SABC1 youth magazine shows.

StarSat snags exclusive sports rights; new sports channel Star Sports Premium to go live on StarSat before the end of June.

It took half a decade but the type of television that pay-TV operator On Digital Media (ODM) has been lacking most is finally on its way: sport and exclusive rights to sporting events, with a new sports channel Star Sports Premium launching within weeks.

Sport broadcasts, although one of the most expensive to procure, remain one of the real drivers of pay-TV subscriber growth.

After five years of no real sport cache to brag about, StarSat - formerly branded TopTV - is finally making headway with sports which could turn the fortunes of the embattled Woodmead based operation around.

After finally abandoning its misguided plans for controversial porn channels, ODM could soon find subscribers signing up for the sports rights it secured.

With live sports broadcasts come subscribers. It is something insiders say ODM should have been focusing on and what should have happened in early 2010 before TopTV launched in May 2010: acquiring sports rights and exclusive sporting events, as well as the creation of a set of strong sport channels similar to SuperSport available on MultiChoice's DStv.

Now a new sports channel, Star Sports Premium - already running elsewhere in Africa - is set to start and will bring South African viewers exclusive sporting events.

Star Sports Premium started on 1 June elsewhere in Africa - like Nigeria - and plans are underway to unveil another three other sports channels soon.

StarSat tells TV with Thinus that the aim is to make Star Sports Premium available on the StarSat platform in South Africa by the end of June at the latest, pending channel approval from the broadcasting regulator.

Star Sports Premium, already up and running in other African nations where China's StarTimes platform is operating, is currently awaiting channel authorisation in South Africa from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

Its debut will mean the end of South African pay-TV subscribers automatically finding all major sport events on SuperSport and DStv, with StarTimes which has secured broadcasting pay-TV rights - some of them exclusive - to major sporting events ranging from football, motor sport and volley ball to boxing and table tennis.

StarSat is currently showing the FIFA under 20 World Cup games until 7 July, live from New Zealand. In August there will be the German Bundesliga. StarTimes secured the broadcasting rights for the next five seasons (2015 - 2020) with nine live matches per day from August.

StarTimes also acquired the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 for July, as well as the International Champions Club which starts in July and runs to August with teams like LA Galaxy, Barcelona, Real Madrid Chelsea and others.

The FIFA under 17 World Cup Chile will be on StarSat from October to November and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 June will also be broadcast.

Boxing fans can see the Glory22 event with boxers from seven countries competing in various weight divisions.

Motor sport enthusiasts can watch the World Rally Championships in Italy and Poland in June and July.

StarTimes has also bagged the rights of the Volleyball Championship from 2015 to 28 January 2018 with all matches broadcast live. The year ends off with the World Table Tennis competition from October to December 2015.

"We are very excited to have signed an exclusive deal with FIFA (Pan African), the Bundesliga, ICC, World Table Tennis championships, Euro qualifiers, and the Kenyan National Football Teams," says Gary Rathbone, the director of sport at StarTimes.

"Our aim is to offer not just soccer, but a variety of sport on our platform," says Gary Rathbone.

kykNET and kykNET Musiek expand across the United Kingdom, becomes available on Freeview HD as pay-TV channels.

kykNET (DStv 144), the popular Afrikaans language TV channel provided by M-Net to MultiChoice's DStv has been added to the United Kingdom's Freeview HD, the UK's digital terrestrial television (DTT) service.

Although there's been no announcement from kykNET as in 2013 when it first became available in Britain on TalkTalk's YouView TV service, it's now possible for people across the UK to watch kykNET and sister channel kykNET Musiek (DStv 146) and get access to Afrikaans language programming through yet another platform.

Only people with internet connected Freeview HD boxes in Britain can get kykNET however, the channel is streamed by broadband to connected Freeview devices and they remain pay-TV channels and are not free, requiring a monthly subscription.

The two kykNET channels, along with two Japanese TV channels, are brought to viewers in the UK by THEMA, a Canal+ group company specialising in distributing foreign TV channels, and the media services and infrastructure provider Arqiva.

kykNET which started in South Africa in 1999 became available in the United Kingdom in October 2013 on TalkTalk's YouView TV service and switched to high definition (HD) broadcasts in August last year.

Viewers looking for kykNET and Afrikaans TV content now have another option in the UK to watch kykNET and kykNET Musiek.