eReality And eSeries Become 24 Hour Channels Ahead Of DStv Debut

A few months ago, Canal+’s MultiChoice tested eReality and eSeries as potential new channels on DStv after years of availability exclusively on eMedia’s Openview platform. On top of their anticipated debut, these channels are set to become 24-hour services from 2 November.

They will join eExtra, eMovies and eMovies Extra as the only TV channels in eMedia’s portfolio operating around the clock. This will leave eToonz, ePlesier and eXplore as the remaining channels that do not broadcast 24 hours a day.

The development was spotted by an Openview viewer who checked the upcoming week’s programme guides for both eReality and eSeries and noticed that existing shows already occupy the 01:00–06:00 slot.

These changes arrive just as MultiChoice prepares to add the remaining eMedia Investments TV channels to DStv.

When a broadcaster decides to make such adjustments, several factors usually come into play.

First is viewer demand. Since these channels launched, many Openview consumers have wanted more hours in the day. People at work when *Judge Judy* or *The King of Queens* air often miss out without the extra slots.

Yet eMedia Investments has been relatively late to expand hours in this way, so pure viewer demand alone may not fully explain the move. The timing points more strongly to the upcoming DStv rollout.

There was almost certainly discussion behind the scenes during negotiations. MultiChoice likely wanted eMedia to reconfigure some of these channels. The reason they were never 24 hours previously is straightforward: eMedia simply did not have enough programming to fill the schedule.

Look at DStv channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Universal TV — they regularly run marathon blocks during the week to fill the day. It is reasonable to assume that similar plans are now underway for eReality and eSeries.

I would bet that, just as eSeries currently functions as an overflow channel for eReality and selected e.tv programmes, something similar will happen with eExtra. In the past the channel carried dramas such as *High Society Scandal* and *Empresses in the Palace*; those or similar titles could return.

On eReality, the existing eKasi block is a natural candidate for expansion with the extra overnight hours.

With the possible addition of eXplore to DStv, it will be interesting to see whether eMedia Investments looks to make these channels available in more MultiChoice territories. At present, eXplore is already viewable in seven other African countries thanks to its inclusion on Openview Stream.