Viacom's Nickelodeon orders a Latin-American spin-off animation series of The Loud House, Los Casagrandes.

Viacom's Nickelodeon (DStv 305) has ordered a Latin American animation spin-off series from its The Loud House series, entitled Los Casagrandes.

Los Casagrandes will likely show up on Nickelodeon's African TV schedule eventually, unless the series contains or shows a gay character - something that saw The Loud House being banned in Kenya in East Africa by that country's over-zealous censorship board and that resulted in Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) and MultiChoice pulling the series off the air for DStv subscribers across Africa, including South Africa.

Nickelodeon ordered a first season of 20 episodes of Los Casagrandes, following a girl, Ronnie Anne and her family as they adjust to life in a big city, Great Lakes City, where they now live with their big, loving and chaotic multi-generational family, the Casagrandes.

In Los Casagrandes Ronnie Anne makes new friends, build stronger bonds with her relatives and explores the endless possibilities of city life. Bobby helps Grandpa Hector run the family’s corner store, and becomes familiar with the neighborhood’s quirky characters.

"Nickelodeon is proud to expand The Loud House universe by offering a new perspective on family life with Los Casagrandes," says Chris Viscardi, Nickelodeon's senior vice president of animation production and development, in a statement.

"There's no better time than today to tell stories about a kid growing up in a loving, multi-generational , diverse family."

Mike Rubiner who is the co-executive producer of The Loud House will also serve as the executive producer of Los Casagrandes, with animator Lalo Alcaraz who will be a cultural consultant.

ANC political party demands more coverage from the South African public broadcaster; says ministers and SABC board members shouldn't be allowed to call and give journalists coverage 'instructions'.

The ANC political party in South Africa says it demands more coverage than what it's getting from the South African public broadcaster, and says the struggling SABC has to be protected from editorial interference like ministers and SABC board members who shouldn't be allowed to call journalists directly and give them orders and "instructions".

The ANC on Monday afternoon made its submission at the SABC's inquiry into SABC News editorial interference that was closed to the media, and afterwards held a press briefing.

The ANC and its ministers are interestingly not taking any responsibility for the near-collapse of the SABC, with the ANC as the governing party and its corrupt ministers and deployment appointments that are directly to blame and responsible for the horrific destruction, dilapidated state, financial woes and many of the multiple crisis that the SABC has found itself in and is battling currently.

Zizi Kodwa, the ANC's head of the presidency, said at the press briefing that the ANC demands more coverage on the SABC ahead of the 2019 general elections in South Africa.

"The ANC enjoys 62% - how that gets carried out in terms of editorial news is something one way or another it must show," said Zizi Kodwa.

Zizi Kodwa said the ANC wants proportional coverage according to voting percentages to give the ANC the most airtime on the SABC.

Zizi Kodwa said the ANC is concerned about ministers and SABC board members who directly interfered in SABC editorial coverage.

"We think we must protect the corporation from such influence, board members who can just at the drop of a pen, can call a journalist." According to Zizi Kodwa not even ministers have the right to directly call journalists and give "instructions".

Pule Mabe, ANC spokesperson, said the ANC political party supports press freedom and an independent SABC, saying "We came here to make that kind of a presentation and to assert the view we will do everything in our power to protect that press freedom".

eNCA's Pindai Dube released after the TV news channel's foreign correspondent was arrested in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique on Saturday.

The eNCA (DStv 403) reporter Pindai Dube has been released a day after he was arrested in Cabo Delgado in Mozambique where the foreign correspondent from Zimbabwe was covering military uprisings in the country.

Pindai Dube, along with a driver and interpreter, were arrested on Saturday but released on Sunday after urgent appeals to Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa, as well as the EU ambassador.

Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA's managing director and editor-in-chief, said Pindai Dube has been released thanks to Amnesty International's intervention following the reporter's arrest.

Pindai Dube was held at the Wimbe police station in Mozambique while covering the recent attacks of Islamic insurgents in Mozambique.

After losing carriage in Southern Africa, Mo Abudu's EbonyLife TV also loses its exclusive carriage agreement with MultiChoice Africa on the rest of the African continent, switches to China's StarTimes.

After Mo Abudu's EbonyLife TV (DStv 165) channel got dumped from MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa, and the other countries across Southern Africa, at the end of June, EbonyLife TV is now jumping to StarTimes with the Chinese pay-TV operator that is active in Africa that is picking up EbonyLife TV from August.

EbonyLife TV is losing is exclusivity on MultiChoice Africa's DStv, although the channel will remain available on DStv in parts of East Africa and in West Africa like Nigeria where the channel is most-watched.

EbonyLife TV has however signed with China's StarTimes to carry its Nigerian entertainment offering. 

What it means is that Mo Abudu's channel will have dual carriage in Nigeria on DStv and StarTimes Nigeria, as well as on DStv and StarTimes in other West and East African countries. The big switch is in Southern Africa where EbonyLife TV will only be available on StarTimes which has a smaller audience reach than what DStv has.

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus last week that EbonyLife TV is being removed from DStv in South Africa and across Southern Africa because the channel's content doesn't resonate enough with DStv subscribers, saying "EbonyLife TV resonates the most with our customers in Nigeria, which is why it will only be available there from 1 July".

It's not yet clear whether EbonyLife TV that was on DStv in South Africa, will become available on StarSat - StarTimes's South African operations. StarSat, asked on Monday whether EbonyLife will be added, told TVwithThinus it will have to hear from StarTimes' headquarters in Beijing, China.  

EbonyLife TV is also launching the EbonyLife ON app, a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service making the channel's content available directly to consumers.

In a statement EbonyLife CEO, Mo Abudu, said she was proud of the end of the exclusive channel carriage agreement with MultiChoice and that EbonyLife TV is switching to the StarTimes that is "a force to be reckoned with".

"EbonyLife TV is proud to announce that from 1 August 2018 they will be broadcasting on the StarTimes network thereby ending its exclusive arrangement with DStv," says EbonyLife TV.

"This is an exciting time for us. StarTimes is a force to be reckoned with in Africa. It is a privilege for EbonyLife to have an additional home with the network. Together with the global reach of EbonyLife ON, we will have the potential for millions of more people to enjoy our gripping dramas, riveting talk and fun entertainment shows."

Justin Zhang, managing director of StarTimes, says "it made sense to include them in the StarTimes family and to continue delighting customers with engaging, original content".

Justin Zhang says "this collaboration is a win-win for both parties – StarTimes will improve its offering by providing an additional, first-rate channel to users and EbonyLife TV gets an opportunity to broadcast to an even greater number of viewers".

The Nigeria-based channel, which was founded in 2013, now produces 1,000 hours of English-language content a year.

EbonyLife TV that launched in 2013 and was added in South Africa in 2014, is Nigerian based and produces around 1 000 hours of English language TV content annually.

David Rees leaving SABC2's 'boring' 7de Laan where the actor whose character is being written out, says he fell asleep on set.

The actor David Rees is leaving the SABC2 soap 7de Laan that he describes as so “boring” that he fell asleep on set but says this time he wasn’t fired which is what happened when he left the soap Egoli on M-Net (DStv 101) where he played the character of Niek Naudé.

The SABC2 soap produced by Danie Odendaal Productions confirmed that David Rees is leaving the show after two years, saying “David was a valuable part of 7de Laan over the past two years and his contribution is highly appreciated.” The actor who wasn’t on a full-time contract won’t be part of the new upcoming season’s production but it’s not yet clear why he is leaving the show.

David Rees who turned 50 in February is still filming 7de Laan scenes until 31 July and his property developer Chris Welman character will make his on-screen exit in the weekday soap on 19 October.

On Sunday David Rees told the Afrikaans newspaper Rapport that it suits him perfectly to leave 7de Laan since he sometimes fell asleep on the 7de Laan set because of the boring soap. 

David Rees however noted that he wasn’t fired from the TV show this time, which was the case when he left the Franz Marx produced Egoli on M-Net, saying “This time I’m not fired like years ago at Egoli when I played Niek Naude and caused trouble”. He told Rapport “I’m not fired. I’ve just been written out of the storyline.”

David Rees revealed that on the 7de Laan set “I sometimes fell asleep during scenes simply because I was bored. I’ve never been just an actor. I’ve always done other stuff as well”.

He’s now going to work for a company specialising in using blockchain technology to finance various projects and is getting married on 21 December to the accountant Lina Pentz.

The Welman family made their appearance in the fictional Hillside community in June 2016 when Chris and his wife Mariaan (Deirdre Wolhunter) who is currently in jail, returned to South African with their three adult children, Rikus (André Lotter), Alexa (Carina Nel) and Amorey (Kristen Raath). 

In May 2016 David Rees told the Huisgenoot magazine that “I really, really wanted this role. I was so happy when I got it”.

FOX moves start of its prime time schedule an hour earlier from July in its fight for more viewers.

Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) is changing the prime time line-up of its FOX channel from today, moving all prime time shows from this evening an hour earlier in its fight for more viewers.

FNG Africa says that "the quest for maximum eyeballs in a tightly contested viewing time band will see FOX shift prime time shows to start an hour early" from 2 July.

FOX Africa as one of the more premium entertainment pay-TV channels competes with M-Net's M-Net (DStv 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channels, BBC Studios Africa's set of channels and e.tv's offering during prime time, for roughly the same group of most highly-prized pay-TV viewers in South Africa.

FOX Africa says its schedule change is in response to viewer demands.

The FOX channel (DStv 125 / Cell C 201 / StarSat 131) from July is moving its animation block earlier on weekdays, anchored by the long-running satire show The Simpsons now starting on weekdays at 16:10.

The triple animation block will include American Dad (weekdays at 16:35) and Family Guy (weekdays at 17:00) to complete the animation stack.

The animation block on FOX will be followed by double bills of How I met your Mother from 17:25, followed by double episodes of the drama series Hawaii Five-0 that joins the line-up on Mondays to Fridays from 18:15, and Mondays to Thursdays at 19:05 from the first season.

Drama series The Gifted on Mondays, Lee Daniels’ Star on Thursdays, Grey’s Anatomy on Tuesdays and Rogue on Wednesdays will now all move to the 19:55 timeslot on FOX. 

On Fridays, there is yet another double episode broadcast of CSI: Miami at 19:05.

FOX is repeating the science fiction drama series Legion on Mondays at 20:45. In the same timeslot from Tuesday to Friday FOX will show the forensic drama series Criminal Minds.

FOX is doing repeats on weekends at 18:00 of The Gifted, Grey’s Anatomy, Rogue, Star and CSI: Miami for viewers who have missed it during the week.

Stacking animation marathons will run from 13:50 to 17:35 on Saturdays on FOX.

On Saturdays repeats of Hawaii Five-0 are scheduled from 08:35 and again on Sundays from 19:45 to 22:45.

PCCW Global quietly shutters its video streaming service, ONTAPtv.com, less than 3 years after it launched with big promises.

ONTAPtv.com has quietly shuttered its video streaming service with no word or explanation as to why, as it became the latest victim in South Africa's fiercely-contested subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) war where operators are all going after the same digital video eyeballs.

ONTAPtv.com that launched in September 2015 through PCCW Global, the Hong Kong telecom KHT's international operating division, and made big claims and promises lasted less than than 3 years.

ONTAPtv.com's website now simply says "We are currently reviewing the ONTAPtv.com service. Details to follow in due course."

When ONTAPtv.com launched with 2 500 movies and episodes of TV shows it said it would add new content regularly and made promises about branching out into original local productions.

ONTAPtv.com and PCCW Global didn't respond to media enquiries made the past two weeks about the ONTAPtv.com service and why it has been shut down.

ONTAPtv.com joins failed SVOD attempts like Altron's disastrous Altech Node and Tiso Blackstar's VIDI that tanked and MTN that shuttered VU after they all ran into trouble with a tepid uptake under users.

It leaves Discovery Digital's Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD), Cell C's black, PrideTV.co.za, Google Play Movies, Netflix with Netflix South Africa (and available across Africa), Amazon's Amazon Prime Video and Naspers' Showmax run under the MultiChoice umbrella (and available across Africa) to duke it out for the small but growing number of South African and African users who are willing to pay for video streaming, pay for data and have access to fast enough internet.  

Vodacom will be next to launch a new subscription video-on-demand entertainment service that will include Showmax as well as Netflix.

"Vodacom will launch a new content service in the coming weeks that will offer a variety of content, a Vodacom video service and access to certain third-party content," Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy told TVwithThinus.

Vodacom said the new service will be competitively priced and will be supported through discounted data use options.

Vodacom's as yet unnamed VOD platform has been months in the making and follows the launch of Cell C's black VOD service that launched in November 2017 and that has seen impressive growth.

Another SABC board member, Victor Rambau, resigns just 8 months after he was appointed for a 5-year term.

Another SABC board member, this time Victor Rambau, has resigned from the board of the public broadcaster, just 8 months after his appointment in October 2017 for a 5-year term.

The struggling South African public broadcaster now has 3 vacant SABC board spaces to fill in the cumbersome SABC board appointment process.

Why Victor Rambau dumped the SABC board after months and years before the completion of his term is not yet known but his resignation letter is dated Friday 29 June.

Victor Rambau had no broadcasting or public broadcasting experience when he was shortlisted and selected by parliament's portfolio committee on communications and the appointment rubber-stamped by the South African president.

"I can confirm that the president has received Victor Rambau's resignation," said Khusela Diko, presidency spokesperson in a statement on Sunday. "The president has accepted the resignation and trusts that parliament will speedily fill all vacancies on the SABC board".

Victor Rambau is the latest in a spate of resignations from the new SABC board.

After being nominated by the portfolio committee on communications in September 2017, Nomvuyiso Batyi withdrew before the rubber-stamping decision could be made by the National Assembly.

SABC board member Rachel Kalidass resigned in November 2017 when she exposed how the SABC board wanted to push through an unqualified person for SABC CEO.

Febe Potgieter-Gqubule resigned after she was elected to the ANC political party's national executive committee in December 2017.

MultiChoice SA CEO Calvo Mawela on why DStv subscribers can't pick the TV channels they want: 'The model just doesn't work'.

Individual DStv subscribers can't each just pick their own TV channels as they choose because the model doesn't work, says MultiChoice South Africa CEO, Calvo Mawela.

In an interview on SABC News Calvo Mawela explained why DStv subscribers in South Africa and across Africa can’'t each pick only the TV channels each one of them want, and why MultiChoice bundles TV channels in a few bouquets.

"The model doesn't work. The model just doesn’t work," said Calvo Mawela.

He cited Canada that "went through a very rigorous, time-consuming regulation change in Canada where they insisted that pay-TV operators need to do a la carte. Guess what? Today there is no uptake because consumers end up paying more for the same number of TV channels that they're getting today".

"So it came up to a zero-zero sum where they went through this whole process. What consumers don't understand is that we look at our research across the market and then what we do is that we bring everybody together with different tastes of content."

"In that way we attract a much larger audience and then prices come down. That's how we do our packaging in order to ensure that we keep prices down, that will attract a bigger audience because we've got children, we've got sport, you've got movies and all other content that we have."

Calvo Mawela said that "consumers – probably because they're not exposed to other markets that are trying this type of thing where it's failing horribly, like in Canada that just introduced this" are not aware of how pay-TV works.

In August MultiChoice will be dumping the former Gupta-owned ANN7 from DStv that recently changed its name to Afro Worldview and changed ownership hands to Mzwanele Manyi, with MultiChoice that says it hopes to announce the new local TV news channel replacing Afro Worldview before then.

"We are targeting to make sure that we make an announcement before the expiry of the current contract so that we can people an opportunity to know exactly what's coming next," said Calvo Mawela.