Its eMovies And eMovies Extra Vs. TNT And CineMagic: Another Openview Vs. DStv Saga

Openview has been dominating the South African market for several years giving companies like MultiChoice a run for their money particularly for those residing on lower bouquets such as DStv Easyview as the once underachieving platform is about to go through some changes.

MultiChoice will be adding two new entertainment channels to the bouquet in the month of November, Magic Showcase and CineMagic which just helps build onto the number of alternatives in South Africa.

Openview offers less channels but they have managed to win a lot of audiences with the selection of sports, local dramas, international series, kids shows and movies. Now it appears as if MultiChoice has begun catching up to the free-to-view platform.

DStv Easyview only offered 1 movie channel TNT which has been having a bit of its ups and downs with the likes of Blade, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Final Destination, Anaconda and so forth. If it was for TNT Original Movies and All Elite Wrestling I don't how far the channel could have gotten.

Point is, TNT was at a disadvantage as Openview provided two movie channels eMovies and eMovies Extra which were able to juggle around a mix of emotions. eMovies had Pokémon, Mama Jack and Oh Schuks while eMovies Extra had Fast And Furious, Transporter and Rush Hour.

With the inclusion of CineMagic, I'm not expecting them to read each other's mind or become the sibling duo as these two fall under different grounds so the only thing that anyone should be excited about is the number of options available.

CineMagic is set to feature a mix of local and international films 18 hours a day leaving TNT to the remaining 6 hours. Although, a schedule hasn't been provided my guess would be the content is based from M-Net Movies and Mzansi Bioskop.

Over to the winners which there's none, you got to look at the benefits to the above brands to reach your conclusion. eMovies is very selective I guess that's what made them favourable on DStv, TNT has got All Elite Wrestling and CineMagic by my hunch has the local productions.

BBC Brit Vs. BBC UKTV: Recommendations And Major Improvements

Last month, BBC Studios and eMedia Investments unveiled a new free-to-air channel BBC UKTV which comes out of an existing brand which was later adapted to South Africa in order for more consumers to have access to the bouquet of content currently seen on DStv.

BBC UKTV is set to be a mashup of most other channels carried exclusively on DStv as it features reality shows like Top Gear and The Great British Cook Off, drama series like Doctor and Casualty and even a dedicated kids block so what's not to love about the channel.

While others may view it's seperate counterparts as repetitive but this one on the other hand comes with limitations as it means viewers would have to wait a while longer to view certain content. Of course, if there's one thing I guarantee makes it a winner is the quantity on the channel.

BBC UKTV had me thinking about the current linear offering on the DStv platform. As it is BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, CBeebies and BBC World News have been met with a lot of praise from families and kids alike but if there's one thing a lot of consumers would have mixed feelings for its BBC Brit.

BBC Brit has been active since 2015 following the termination of BBC Entertainment and offered several shows like The Graham Norton Show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Wipeout and Top Gear. Following the termination of BBC First, it's the exclusive home to dramas such as EastEnders and Downtown Abbey.

Point being made, BBC Brit was viewed more as a waste to DStv customers before inheriting the BBC First offering and even after welcoming that content viewer's interpretation of the channel hasn't seen much improvement and I mean the reasons are very much justified.

We all know certain channels have that mascot that takes most of the spotlight with BBC Brit it has to be Wipeout and Top Gear and I know these are popular franchises but is it really the version that got anyone excited.

And on to the drama slate, BBC First was able to offer at least 6 hours of entertainment with BBC Brit it's a mere two hours with 1 show getting more of the attention but anyone whose viewing the channel isn't a fan on how the channel chooses to rollout most of their content which is where I'm involving BBC UKTV.

Honestly, I feel it's high time that BBC Studios looks into perhaps merging or making BBC Brit adapt a similar form as it is not a lot of BBC Lifestyle and Earth is available on the channel just selected content unlike the one viewers will be getting from BBC UKTV.