Canal+ Increases Stake In MultiChoice To Almost 42%

French media group Canal+ today announced it has acquired additional shares In MultiChoice, the operator of Africa’s biggest pay-TV – DStv.

Following a significant increase in its ownership stake, Canal+ has triggered a mandatory offer to minority shareholders of MultiChoice Group. This action was necessitated after surpassing a predefined threshold established by the JSE.

In accordance with JSE regulations, when an individual or entity acquires at least 35% of a listed company, a mandatory offer must be extended to other shareholders under terms agreed upon with the main exchange.

Canal+ has put forth a mandatory offer to acquire all outstanding shares of MultiChoice Group not already held by the conglomerate. The proposed purchase price stands at R125.00 per share, payable in cash, signaling Canal+’s commitment to further consolidate its position within the media landscape.

Today, Canal+ announced it has increased its shareholding to 41.60% in MultiChoice.

Canal+ has acquired in on/off market transactions, a further 3,374,668 MultiChoice Shares, as follows:

• On Thursday, 18 April 2024, Canal+ acquired 18,633 MultiChoice Shares in on/off market

transactions for an average consideration of ZAR 116.00 per MultiChoice Share

• On Friday, 19 April 2024, Canal+ acquired 101,468 MultiChoice Shares in on/off market transactions for an average consideration of ZAR 115.99 per MultiChoice Share

• On Monday, 22 April 2024, Canal+ acquired 1,618,032 MultiChoice Shares in on/off market

transactions for an average consideration of ZAR 116.42 per MultiChoice Share

• On Tuesday, 23 April 2024, Canal+ acquired 342,678 MultiChoice Shares in on/off market

transactions for an average consideration of ZAR 116.83 per MultiChoice Share

• On Wednesday, 24 April 2024, Canal+ acquired 1,293,857 MultiChoice Shares in on/off market

transactions for an average consideration of ZAR 117.59 per MultiChoice Share

After the aforementioned trades are implemented, Canal+ will hold an aggregate of approximately

41,60% of the MultiChoice Shares in issue.

“Canal+ confirms that these acquisitions have already been disclosed to the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) as required under the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008 (Companies Act) and Chapter 5 of the Companies Regulations, 2011 (Takeover Regulations).”

Just weeks after revealing that Imtiaz Patel would remain as chairman to manage a potential deal with Groupe Canal+, MultiChoice Group has now announced Patel’s immediate departure from the position.

This decision arises amidst growing worries about corporate governance within the broadcasting company, currently under a takeover proposal by France’s Canal+.

In an unexpected turn of events, MultiChoice disclosed on April 2nd, after a board meeting ahead of the Easter weekend, that it was retracting an earlier statement regarding Patel’s planned resignation. The board had previously announced that Elias Masilela would assume the chairmanship starting April 1st.

“In view of the recent ruling by the Takeover Regulation Panel that required Canal+ to make an immediate mandatory offer to all MultiChoice shareholders…the MultiChoice board has reached an agreement with Imtiaz Patel to remain on as chair,” the company said at the time.

New Series Alert: Ajooni, eExtra's First Series From Star Bharat Debuts In May

eExtra, a general entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments that is home to international dramas from Turkey, Asia and India is set to rollout a new series titled Ajooni. eMedia has yet to release further details about the show.

But from what we presume here this could be a reference to the drama from Star Bharat. Of course, the reason we've been doubtful pertains to the misinformation regarding Broken Bonds and This Is Love.

The story Ajooni is set in Haryalipur, where the titular character and Avinash are to be engaged but then she accidentally meets Rajveer in the market and he falls for Ajooni - love at first sight. He starts stalking her and breaks her engagement with Avinash.

It starred Ayushi Khurana as Ajooni Bagga, Shoaib Ibrahim as Rajveer Singh Bagga, Drisha Kalyani as Meher Vohra, Pankaj Dheer as Ravindra Singh Bagga and Shraddha Singh as Harman Ravindra Singh Bagga.

Ajooni aired from 26 July 2022 to 23 August 2023 on Star Bharat with 316 episodes filmed each with a 22 minute duration. Now the series is slated to rollout on eExtra daily at 13:45 from 8 May with an 18+ age restriction, could censorship be included?

Development Alert: Dora Renewed For Season 2 On Nick Jr. And Paramount+

Paramount+ has renewed the animated preschool series Dora for a second season. The iconic Latina heroine returned this month in the CG-animated revival series produced by Nickelodeon Animation. 

Dora, based on the original series Dora the Explorer, follows everyone’s favorite bilingual explorer, Dora (Diana Zermeño), and her best monkey friend, Boots (Asher Colton Spence) as they embark on epic adventures in a fantastical rainforest. Guided by trustworthy Map (Anairis Quiñones), Dora and her friends must work together to overcome many obstacles while being challenged by the sneakiest fox, Swiper (Marc Weiner). Kathleen Herles, the original voice of Dora the Explorer, voices Mami.

“Kids and family programming is consistently one of the most popular genres on Paramount+ and we’re thrilled that our audience has already embraced Dora,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+. “It’s an incredible opportunity to introduce this beloved character and iconic franchise to a whole new generation.” 

Dora is currently available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and also on Nick Jr. internationally.

Dora is produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, California, and created by Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh Valdes. Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Rich Magallanes serve as executive producers. Henry Lenardin-Madden serves as co-executive producer, and Alejandro Bien-Willner serves as story editor. Marielle Kaar is Nickelodeon’s Executive in Charge of Production for the series. Dora the Explorer was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner.

“Our audiences have embraced the new Dora series with open arms, and it’s incredible how she continues to capture the imaginations of preschoolers around the world with her extraordinary rainforest adventures,“ said Ramsey Naito, President, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation. “We can’t wait for kids to discover all of the new fantastical places and colorful characters in the second season while learning and playing along with their good friend Dora.”

Bomber Shorts: NickMusic Being Burned Off On Weekday Mornings On Nicktoons, Guddan Unexpectedly Resurfaces On Zee World And A Rebroadcast Of Ana's Revenge And El Baron Launch On Telemundo Across Africa m

NickMusic's demise on weekday mornings 

NickMusic is a basically a youth oriented version to the current MTV that features a mixture of local and international hits catered toward a younger demographic. Internationally, it operates as a programming block (if not TV show) and 24 hour channel.

Since its inception on Nicktoons, the show has been going through numerous timeslot changes and in recent months getting phased out from the lineup. Usually Nicktoons would restart NickMusic from the beginning but now it can go unnoticed for several months. 

As some readers are aware, NickMusic airs daily at 16:10 and from May 6th these episodes will air in its repeat slot at 09:00. I don't get why they'd want to air new episodes that early when a majority of the channel's viewers aren't tuning in.

Another why let The Casagrandes get another timeslot as the channel had become bloated with its repeat alongside SpongeBob SquarePants. Is this the channel's way of axing shows perhaps or another way to view it as a liability?

Zee World to hit a new low with a rebroadcast 

A rebroadcast of the first season of This Is Fate was currently airing on the channel weekday afternoons at 3pm. Zee World suddenly decides to yank the show of the schedule for a rebroadcast of Guddan from the third season. 

Now why let Guddan back on the channel particularly from season 3 considering this is the first time reruns come on it would have made a lot more sense to restart from season 1 unless the channel has something else on the cards.

Telemundo is offering double the Zee-nanza

Unlike Zee World, Telemundo is no stranger to rebroadcasts as primetime had continued to plummet on the channel with 22:00 remaining the sole survivor with Come Back To Me. As two reenter the channel for a share of repeats, Ana's Revenge and El Baron.

Ana's Revenge followed a young woman who decides to avenge the death of her mother.

El Baron followed a young Mexican dreamer and rebel helps Pablo Escobar change the world of drug trafficking forever.

Ana's Revenge will air daily at 21:00 replacing The Chosen Granddaughter while El Baron replaces Queen Of Miami at 23:00 from 7 May.

Ultraview's Future In Doubt As OUTtv Proud Launches On eVOD With The OUTtv Channel Coming Off Openview By The End Of April

OUTtv will be coming off the subscription Ultraview platform on Openview at the end of April. eMedia Investments has yet to mention a replacement for EDGE consumers unless that's being discontinued as FUSE would be the only TV channel currently priced at R75 per month.

Ultraview launched as a pay tier to the current free-to-view Openview platform comprises of two packages each with their own set of entertainment. Spice TV is a Bollywood package offering Zee Family and Star Select from India's largest broadcasters while EDGE is youth oriented for OUTtv and FUSE.

eMedia Investments has yet to disclose any further details on subscriber numbers for Ultraview but it is believed to be small bunch. Majority coming from Spice TV due to the existing involvement from Zee One and Star Life which serve as sister channels to the channels in question. 

EDGE would air in the later nights between 9pm and 11pm where consumers are either watching Uzalo on SABC 1 or Isitha: The Enemy on e.tv. Besides that viewership within these hours particularly for such channels are usually low.

Although OUTtv would be signing off from Openview this isn't necessarily a goodbye as the latter would be allocated on eMedia Investments other platform, eVOD. Similar to MultiChoice and NBCUniversal's endeavors with Showmax its likely that further content will surface on eMedia's other channels.

Prior to the introduction of OUTtv Proud, there were rumours flying around that OUTtv would be debuting a streaming service in the market. As companies are looking to consolidate and further reduce spending costs this was the probably the best chance OUTtv had in terms of survival. 

Press statement about OUTtv Proud

OUTtv Proud is proud to announce its exciting new home on the popular eVOD streaming platform. eVOD users can now see the popular and colourful OUT tv content at no extra cost.

After captivating audiences on Ultraview, OUTtv Proud is taking its critically acclaimed slate of content to the ever-growing world of streaming. eVOD viewers can now enjoy a wide range of colourful programming, from captivating dramas and comedies to thought-provoking documentaries and reality shows on South Africa’s first FAST channel.

“OUTtv Proud is already highly popular in the United, States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom and we look forward to building on that success in South Africa,” said Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv. “South Africa has a rich, dynamic and vibrant LGBTQ+ community and we are excited to partner with eMedia to bring the world’s best LGBTQ+ TV series, movies and documentaries to them.”

New Series Alert: Jhanak Coming This May To Star Life

Star Life, a general entertainment channel operated by Disney Star that is home to various Bollywood drama series and movies all of which are dubbed in English is set to rollout another series in the coming months titled Jhanak.

Jhanak follows the titular character as she faces many challenges and obstacles in her life due to her poor background, but she never gives up on her passion. She meets Anirudh, who offers her support and encouragement, but fate separates them. 

It stars Hiba Nawab as Jhanak Raina, Krushal Ahuja as Aniruddha Bose, Chandni Sharma as Arshi Mukherjee, Dolly Sohi as Srishti Mukherjee, Sachin Verma as Shubh Basu and Kajal Pisal as Tanuja Basu.

The Hindi drama debuted on November 20, 2023 on StarPlus and 80 episodes have reportedly been filmed. It was met with a lot of praise by viewers and even surpassed the rankings of Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin better known as Lost In Life.

Jhanak will air daily at 18:00 CAT from 24 May replacing Faltu which comes to a close days prior. Zee One is also slated to air a new show titled Never Late For Love in the month.

Development Alert: Kelders Van Geheime Will Have A Simultaneous Broadcast On eExtra, Elif And Other Primetime Shows From Kuiertyd Revert Back To Previous Timeslots

Last month, it was reported that e.tv will be debuting its first original Afrikaans soap Kelders Van Geheime from 6 May. This comes after SABC failed to replace one of their longest running shows 7de Laan in 2023 and moved further Afrikaans content to SABC 3. 

Kelders Van Geheime, which is based on the wheelings and dealings of the community that lives on Soebatskloof (a wine farm in the Cape), focuses on three families. As they stand together to earn their bread and butter – and a glass of wine!

As some readers are aware, the show will be airing at 18:00 on e.tv replacing Ouma Sarie. This is the same timeslot SABC 2 aired 7de Laan which garnered 800,000 viewers while Ouma Sarie pulled 1.8 million viewers which is almost double. 

As we're browsing the schedule, there's no daily repeats (for now) as the bloated e.tv has stuffed its schedule with eExtra's scraps. But as we turn to eExtra there is a listing for Kelders Van Geheime weirdly enough its a simultaneous broadcast from e.tv.

When e.tv airs the show at 18:00, eExtra will be airing the exact same thing probably to avoid competition with Elif which airs 30 minutes later at 18:30. Everything Turkish on eExtra from Doodsondes (19:30), Chrysalis (20:30) and Die Put (21:30) join the list.

Now the matter in question, considering e.tv is already airing this at 18:00 it would have made sense to air it by 20:00 or 22:00. Again, e.tv has all these other repeats some like Chrysalis have afternoon repeats on eExtra so Kelders Van Geheime could air in that spot.

Another issue why are we just killing off timeslots for simultaneous airings on e.tv (e.g. Annekan Die Swa Kry). eExtra also offers Asian and Bollywood programming those could have been inserted there to avoid any conflict with the programming. 

Annekan Die Swa Kry and even Kelders Van Geheime could have aired around 15:00-17:00. No need to kill off viewers on eExtra unless there's households that aren't picking up e.tv which would make zero sense.

New Series Alert: Justice League Action And Jessica's Big Little World To Rollout In May On Cartoon Network And Cartoonito Across Africa

After debuting on Cartoon Network in most parts of the world by 2016, Warner Bros. Discovery suddenly decides to license the show for the network in Africa 8 years later. It was made available on Toonami 4 years after it debuted in other countries. 

It follows Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other superheroes join forces to form the Justice League that aims to fight villains. The series will air daily at 17:50 CAT from 6 May on Cartoon Network and similar to other countries no daily reruns. 

Unlike Teen Titans and Beware The Batman that were heavily ignored by Cartoon Network. Justice League Action is getting some exposure now the issue here most of the channel's audience at the time had grown up and probably aren't tuning into the network.

Not that Justice League Action is doomed to fail or anything as Cartoon Network has a huge fanbase in the market but some consistency would have helped now those who use it to view the network by 2016 are probably missing out.

Warner Bros. Discovery in some markets opted to further distance themselves from the preschool content. This was revealed by the one of the crew members of Craig Of The Creek, as Jessica's Big Little World will not be moving forward with a second season. 

The series follows the titular character as she navigates her way through a world where everything seems much bigger than she is; inspired by the grown-ups around her, she persists in conquering monumental children's tasks.

Jessica's Big Little World will air daily at 17:00 CAT on Cartoonito from 6 May will daily reruns at 07:35 CAT and 13:55 CAT.

MultiChoice Has Announced Imtiaz Patel’s Exit As Chairman, Just Weeks After Saying He Would Stay On In The Role

Just weeks after announcing that its chairman, Imtiaz Patel, would stay on to oversee a possible deal with Groupe Canal+, MultiChoice Group on Tuesday announced Patel’s exit from the role with immediate effect.

The move comes amid concerns about corporate governance at the broadcaster, which is the subject of a takeover bid by France’s Canal+.

In a surprise move, MultiChoice said on 2 April — following a board meeting before the Easter weekend — that it had rescinded a previous announcement that Patel would step down, with board member Elias Masilela due to take up the chairmanship from 1 April.

“In view of the recent ruling by the Takeover Regulation Panel that required Canal+ to make an immediate mandatory offer to all MultiChoice shareholders … the MultiChoice board has reached an agreement with Imtiaz Patel to remain on as chair,” the company said at the time.

“The board believes there is significant benefit in continuity at this time, and Mr Patel has agreed to extend his tenure until the conclusion of the Canal+ transaction or such sooner date as may be determined in light of progress on the transaction,” it said then.

Now, just three weeks later, Patel is stepping down – this time apparently for good.

Explaining why Patel is leaving, just three weeks after the board decided he should stay on, MultiChoice told investors that at the time of the announcement on 2 April, discussions were in their final stages on key terms of the proposed transaction with Canal+.

‘Next phase’

“These culminated in MultiChoice and Canal+ entering into a co-operation agreement on 7 April and issuing a firm intention announcement on 8 April, with the material terms of the proposed transaction recorded in these documents,” it said.

“Given these developments, the progress that has been achieved thus far and the fact the independent board has been constituted and will fulfil its obligations under the takeover regulations, the proposed transaction has now shifted to the next phase.

“The board and Mr Patel have therefore agreed that now would be an appropriate time for Mr Masilela, the current deputy chair, to be appointed as chair as planned and for Mr Patel to step down from the board with effect from the date of this announcement.”

Patel will remain as an adviser to the group on a consultancy basis as originally planned, it said.