Insidus Plus : October 2021

Updated: Utsav Next Target Could Be The Star Channels Currently On DStv, StarSat, Zuku TV And Openview + Disney Channel And Disney Junior Could Go Off Air Sooner Than Expected As Disney Shifts Its Focus Towards Streaming

Later this week, Disney and Star in India announced that they would exit from the English general entertainment industry which resulted in the termination of most of their channels with Hindi channels taking their spot.

The Walt Disney Company revealed plans to close 100 international Disney channels before the FY22 with more Disney Channels expected to close in Europe as streaming looks to be the brands top priority.

The likely reason for Star's demise is due to Disney+ since The Walt Disney Company took the Star branding for their streaming service so Star India keeping it for English viewers would only cause confusion.

Earlier this year, the UK & Europe rebranded their Star channels to Utsav with the changes applicable to viewers of those regions. Of course, there's several signs that the branding will be duplicated in more countries.

Vijay TV is the only channel internationally to use that adapt to that branding and Star India is seemingly testing out the Utsav branding through the StarPlus and Star Gold channel in Africa.

Star Life being the only English channel in Africa will have to create some distance from Star India or join the party seeing that they're exiting the audience it's catered for.

The European counterpart manages the Star channels in Africa so it seems logical for the Utsav branding to enter the region the question would have to be why delay the switch, could Star Life have some involvement perhaps?

The Disney Africa Facebook page stopped promoting content from Disney Channel and moved it to the Disney Africa Channels page (formerly Disney Junior Africa) with the main page likely to be used as a portal to promote Disney+.

The UK, Asia, Italy and Australia already lost Disney Channel and Disney Junior so it doesn't seem far fetched to think the same fate awaits the Disney Channels in Africa.

The Walt Disney Company is set out to be another Netflix. Even if that means cutting the cord of several channels in markets where cable is dominating the circuit.

In November, Disney Channel and Disney Junior have seemingly hit the reruns button with the main channel airing reruns of Gigantosaurus.

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tvN's Parent Company CJ ENM Joins The Anime Business As They Partner Up With Toei Animation

Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM has entered into a strategic partnership with leading Japanese animation studio Toei Animation as it continues to expand its global footprint. Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate across both their libraries and team to create new product including television series, films and animation. The tie-up will also allow both to tap each other’s regional markets.

CJ ENM is is Korea’s foremost film and television studio, cable operator and music producer. Best known for multiple Oscar winner Parasite, the company’s film credits also include Snowpiercer and Miss Granny. Series credits range from Crash Landing On You to Goblin: The Lonely And Great God and Hospital Playlist while it is also behind music format I Can See Your Voice; stage credits include the Tony Award winning Broadway production Kinky Boots.

CJ further has a strategic investment in David Ellison’s Skydance Media and is currently co-producing a drama series with the U.S.-based company. It is also involved in the production of the TV-adaptation of Parasite with HBO.

The company has been on a global expansion push over the past year looking to form partnerships with content creators in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Toei has produced numerous series including the Dragon Ball Z and One Piece franchises as well as Galaxy Express 999 and Sailor Moon. Its library numbers 13,100 episodes, including 255 feature films and 288 television series.

The two partners will now work closely to co-produce premium content that appeals to a global audience, be it new projects or those based on existing IP. They have formed a task-force with creatives from both sides to accelerate production.

“Toei Animation’s IP has great potential for transmedia or cross-media storytelling, as they have an existing strong global fandom and appeals to a wide range of age groups. We are also excited to see how CJ ENM’s original content that expands over 5,000 different IPs will be able open new doors of creative possibilities for Toei Animation,” said Jongmin Yi, Senior Vice President of CJ ENM’s Content R&D Center. “Through this strategic partnership, we plan to develop never-seen-before transmedia contents in both Korea and Japan.”

Added Takashi Washio, Executive Officer and Executive Producer of Production Department at Toei Animation, “We look forward to working with CJ ENM, a company that has been recognized for its borderless content and its influence in shaping some of the new trends in the global media entertainment landscape. Combined with Toei Animation’s know-hows from a wealth of experience and accomplishments in producing global animation hits, we are confident that the two companies will be able to create synergy to create global mega-hit contents.”

CJ ENM currently has a content agreement with MultiChoice's Showmax for their K-Dramas and they are pushing to get DStv to bring back tvN.

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ViacomCBS: Could BET Africa Be On The Chopping Block?

BET has been available in Africa for nearly a decade offering a range of shows such as Real Husbands Of Hollywood, The Wendy Williams Show, Being Mary Jane and The Westbrooks.

As years passed, BET has slowly become redundant with most of their lineup consisting of repeats. Wendy which serves as the sole purpose of the brand is often M.I.A.

Earlier this year, Monde Twala, senior vice president and general manager for ViacomCBS Networks Africa and peer lead BET International, announced the end of BET as a linear pay-TV channel in the UK as they divert the brand's focus toward streaming.

It wouldn't surprise me if the same fate awaited BET in Africa perhaps it will even have more success online than it could as a linear service as ViacomCBS continues rolling out Paramount+ across Europe.

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Insidus Plus

Updated: Utsav Next Target Could Be The Star Channels Currently On DStv, StarSat, Zuku TV And Openview + Disney Channel And Disney Junior Could Go Off Air Sooner Than Expected As Disney Shifts Its Focus Towards Streaming

tvN's Parent Company CJ ENM Joins The Anime Business As They Partner Up With Toei Animation

ViacomCBS: Could BET Africa Be On The Chopping Block?

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