AMC+ To Launch Streaming Service Across Europe In 2023, No Indicator On When Or If It Will Roll Out In The UK And Africa

Even more American prestige TV is headed to Europe. This week it was announced that AMC+ will find its way onto small screens in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets.

AMC Networks’ executive vice president Levente Málnay — who was speaking at the NEM Dubrovnik European TV conference — revealed that the streaming platform will be available to CEE customers in 2023.

The streaming service combines original programming along with series and movies from various other AMC-owned streamers and studios, including Shudder , Sundance Now, BBC America, IFC, and more. So the content on the service already has significant international influences but Málnay added that as AMC+ expands, it would focus on balancing specific regional content with its own U.S.-based programming.

 

The news comes at a time of expansion for the fledgling platform. AMC+ began streaming in June 2020 and grew its reach to the Australian market last year. As of the end of the first quarter, AMC’s combined streaming services — both under the AMC+ umbrella and the individual services — have reached 9.5 million global subscribers.

Málnay indicates that the streamer will take “baby steps” when planning larger-budget offerings, but he also suggested that local dramas may be in development as well. In Q1, AMC saw 3% year-over-year revenue growth, but profits dropped by almost 15% for the same period, due in large part to the enhanced investment in content creation. Domestically, AMC has also worked to ensure subscribers can easily find its streaming channels, making them paid add-ons to services such as Amazon Prime Video and YouTube TV.

 

An AMC+ release will bring hit shows like modern classics “The Walking Dead ,” “Better Call Saul,” and “Mad Men” to CEE.

Additionally, in April, AMC+ announced that it would be enhancing its offerings by bringing a new movie from corporate sibling IFC Films to the streaming service every week immediately following its theatrical release.

AMC+ is a premium streaming bundle that includes the best from AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and IFC Films Unlimited containing original, award-winning series, popular movies, festival favorites, plus horror, sci-fi, true crime, and thrillers. You can subscribe to AMC+ for $8.99/month (R153.84/month) or save over 40% with the annual plan for $59.88/year (R1005.88/year).

Development Hell: The Pending The Third Season To Star Life's The Evil Eye

The Evil Eye was the first and one of the few attempts Africa got to supernatural on Star Life alongside A Magical Love Story which came amidst a pandemic with the second season was also filmed in such a climate.

Since its abrupt end, some viewers can't stop boasting about the show that it got to a point where they advertised fake repeats and even listed Bengali adaptation Nojor (pictured above) as The Evil Eye season 3.

Ever since A Magical Love Story ended, there hasn't been a site of venomous snake or anything supernatural on Star Life even on Zee World as regional stations are the closest to viewing them dubbed while others are distributed in their original language with subtitles.

 

Amidst the phasing out of these shows sources state that Star Life picked up Bold And Beautiful and The Evil Doom which were scheduled for a late 2021 to mid 2022 release which never came to pass.

Joining that trio was the fake third season of The Evil Eye which is now considered a new season but supposedly on a new Indian entertainment channel that was set to replace Star Life.

This supposed channel was said to focus on Bengali which is similar to Hindi in an attempt to "differentiate" the offering from StarPlus but hey some of the content from Bengali are remakes to the Hindi content and vice versa.

 

The thing about this was Disney Star the owners of these brands already operated a Bengali channel Star Jalsha which is niche I mean every market has their niche. In South Africa, it is Tsonga, Sepedi and Siswati as Zulu, Afrikaans and Ndebele dominate the region.

The question would have to be why trade one group for another if the plan was to replace wouldn't it be better to source areas like Telegu, Tamil and Malayalam as they also reside in the Bollywood community under the Disney Star.

Zee TV had every chance to launch such a channel but instead opted for reruns channel, Zee One.

Roundups #74: Magnum Pi Revived By NBC For Two Seasons, eVOD Welcomes Two New Local Productions An Eye For An Eye And uMbali, And StarTimes Upload New Channel W-Sport

Magnum lives on for another two seasons

NBC has ordered two seasons of “Magnum P.I.” following the drama’s cancellation at CBS in May after a four-season run.

The broadcaster has ordered 20 new episodes of “Magnum P.I.,” which an option for more, and intends to break those up into Seasons 5 and 6 of the series.

The reboot of the beloved 1980’s action series debuted Season 4 back in October on CBS. The show is described as a modern take on the original series centering on Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez), a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator.

 

eVOD loads to two new local productions

Since it's inception in 2021, eMedia Investments mentioned spending R100 million on local productions with 10 movies rolling out on a yearly basis of which 6 have been released with a further 2 being released this month, An Eye For An Eye and uMbali.

An Eye For An Eye scheduled for release on 19 July follows the story of a man who was framed for his brother and police officer's death while uMbali will be released two days after An Eye For An Eye follows the titular character who murdered a man who attempts to raped her.

The movies are said to contain a lot of life lessons and characters viewers can relate to. On top of that, both productions will carry intriguing chapters leaving viewers curious to find out what's happening next.

A new sports making a surprising debut on the StarTimes platform

 

Earlier in the year, the female based sport channel W-Sport was added on the StarTimes app as part of what appeared to be a trial phase as they worked on rolling out the sports channel on other platform.

After 7 months, consumers on StarTimes will get access to England’s Barclays Women’s Super League, Germany’s Frauen Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, the Netherlands Vrouwen Eredivisie, Australia’s W-League and the recent ICC tournament.

“W-Sport’s vision is to be the global leader in women’s sports broadcasting and to passionately champion equality and diversity. W-Sport’s content will entertain, engage and inspire audiences and the next generation of young female athletes and players” said Kelly Butler, CEO W-Sports.

More Reasons To Believe eToonz Is Performing At Max Capacity

eToonz is currently the only kids channel to be based in South Africa following the discontinuation of M-Net's K-TV and StarSat's (formerly Top TV) Top Kids channel. The brand is currently operated by eMedia Investments on the free-to-view Openview platform.

eToonz doesn't offer original content but its free-to-air status deems it reliable but some consumers mainly children with shows like Thomas And Friends, Peppa Pig and Bob The Builder for preschoolers while older kids get Power Rangers, Winx Club and Dawn Of The Croods.

Since its inception to the market, eToonz hasn't gotten much praise as consumers complain about the bulk of rehashed content on e.tv and the content which is exclusive can be tiresome not because of the content in general but how the general chooses to rollout content.

 

eToonz is not the only kids channel in the globe to rollout on a 24 hour basis and have less weekday programming even China Central Television (CCTV) CCTV 14 roll out content in that form while other brands found on pay platforms will roll them out 5 days a week.

Despite the outcome of the channel, it happens to be the least watched or underrated brands amongst eMedia's stable that it's hardly spoken of in annual results and its also one of the longest running channels beside eMovies while eNCA is registered under their pay company e.Sat.

All the details presented make it seem like an underachiever but what if there was more reasons the channel is still on and getting content what if eMedia found another way to determine its performance in the market even without DStv.

 

In the United States, a general entertainment channel like HBO can pull 5 million viewers while kids brand like Cartoon Network can generate almost half a million viewers. Could that be the case for most kids brands in South Africa particularly eToonz I mean Cartoon Network generates over 300000 views a month?

Most consumers that watch TV are adults as they are the ones paying for these devices and not all of them have children and ones that do either let them hog the screen for a limited time while others are doing basic kids stuff like playing outside or finishing up schoolwork.

Taking that to account, eToonz is performing at max capacity or at least for most kids stations if anything it being regional clouds it from its full potential and with DStv it kind of helped eased the burden.

Olympic Channel To Close By The End Of September

The decision, which comes a year after the Comcast-owned broadcaster folded its domestic NBCSN sports network, is seen as reflection of the decline in interest for some linear channels in favour of the streamers.

 

It has yet to be decided where NBC will place the Olympic Channel content – the games themselves remained with the broadcast network – though a candidate could be NBC’s own streaming service Peacock. Earlier this year, Peacock streamed all live events from the Beijing games.

Olympic Channel offers original programming, live sports events, news and highlights including the various world championships for Olympic sports which was distributed internationally through the likes of SuperSport.

The Durban FilmMart Institute Announce Its Official Animation Programme For The 2022 Edition

After expanding into the animation space in last year’s edition, the animation focus at the 13th Durban FilmMart has grown substantially with the help of funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by GIZ in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut to support the cultural and creative industries (CCI) in South Africa and a number of other countries in Africa and the Middle East through various projects since 2018.

“Over the last few years there has been an exponential increase of animation productions in Africa. Despite the scarcity of training and development opportunities for animation professionals, there has been notable interest by international networks and broadcasters to purchase African animation content as they see the huge potential of unlocking African consumer markets,” says Magdalene Reddy, General Manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute. “Recognising the growth, skills and energy of the animation industry and the value it brings to the creative economy, DFM has opened up an enlarged space for animators in the 2022 programme.”

The animation programme includes a partnership with Tshimologong through which 10 animation creatives will be given the opportunity to participate at the DFM Pitch and Finance Forum.

 

“Tshimologong is proud to partner with DFM. This is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate festivals collaborating to raise the opportunity and voice of digital creatives in Africa. We have got to create a clear value chain of how a creative can determine the pathway of getting support for their projects based on its stage of development. The broader ecosystem is strengthened through this form of partnership,” says Lesley Donna Williams, CEO Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct.

The animation projects in the market are as follows:

Fiction series:
Aminah's Journey (Nigeria) - Producer and Director: Brian O Wilson
Grit (Nigeria) - Producer and Director: Ajibola Adewole-Oyebokun
Hovers (South Africa) - Director: Bokang Koatjia
Knittyville (South Africa) - Producer and Director: Clare Louis
Lolo (South Africa) - Producer: Sithembiso Mpehle and Director: Jeani Varty
The Memory Keepers (South Africa & Côte d'Ivoire ) - Producer: Deidre Jantjies and Director: Roland Oka

Documentary Series:
Jupiter's Cogitations (Burkina Faso) - Producer: Stephanie Launay Director: Moumouni Sodré
Fiction Features:
Kinafo (Côte d'Ivoire) - Producer: Alexandre Charlet Director: Adja Mariam Soro
OKIKI - The Legend of The Half God (Nigeria) - Producer: Joseph Eseme Director: Brian O Wilson
PTD (Prepared To Die) (Nigeria) - Producer and Director: Esther Kemi Gbadamosi
Prior to the Pitching Forum the 2022 DFM projects will receive mentorship assistance from producers and professionals. The mentors for this year are - Vanessa Sinden, award-winning producer of both live action and animated films with more than 20 years of filmmaking experience, and Oliver Catherin who has produced, among others, Kiki of Montparnasse, which won a César for best short animation film. He is also one of the co-founders and administrators of the European Animation Awards (Emile Awards).

 

In collaboration with African Animation Network, the Animation industry sessions at this year’s DFM will feature across both the virtual and physical events; the virtual stream will focus on distribution, production, funding and gaming, while the physical stream will look at distribution, and industry development in the film industry within South Africa. The animation discussions will highlight not just the nuanced differences between animation and live action terrains but engage on the challenges and opportunities that exist for film professionals through animation storytelling mediums.

The speakers for the online segment of Animation @DFM will include discussions with Jérome Soffo Simo (Yaoundé African Cinema Animation), Ariane Suveg (Cartoon Network), Diana Rosu (Accra Animation Film Festival), Tendayi Nyeke (Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire), Francis Y Brown (Animax FYB Studios), Nick Wilson (Fupitoons) and Ziyanda Macingwane (KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission). Emmy-nominated animation writer and director Mike de Seve from Baboon Animation INC, will present in the DFM Conversation series. de Seve has worked extensively in both television and feature films, has been named as a headline speaker in the DFM Conversations stream. A director and writer at Dreamworks, he has honed his craft as a story consultant and project developer across the globe.

REGISTER NOW
DFM 2022 will be presented under the theme ‘Revolution Evolution: Changing the Narrative’ as both an online and physical programme during the period 22-31 July. Registrations are open for both online and physical participation at Durban FilmMart. Visit https://
durbanfilmmart.co.za/dfm-event-2022/ to review the participation options, and to explore the full programme of activities and opportunities on offer.

 

The DFM animation programme is supported by the project “Cultural and Creative Industries”, which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in cooperation with the Goethe-Institute. By promoting the development of entrepreneurial, digital, creative, and technical skills through training programmes and by strengthening the ecosystem, the project aims to improve employment and income opportunities for creative professionals Africa and in the Middle East.

The Durban FilmMart Institute receives principal funding from the Durban Film Office and the eThekwini Municipality. The DFM 2022 event is kindly supported by the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission and Wesgro.