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| The cast of new drama series Umlilo |
Rhythm City moves to 19h00 |
Press Release
2015: e.tv Prime Time gets a revamp
TX: Monday, March 2015
Get ready for an all new e.tv schedule, some exciting changes are in store for e.tv prime time in March. Viewers are in for a treat, the channel will serve up a host of locally inspired and scintillating shows to diversify the prime time line up.
It is a feast of some of the finest local shows, anything from telenovelas, local crime dramas to gritty reverting rural dramas. Across the different shows, prime time will be dominated by some of the most renowned talent in South Africa.
This new content is a neatly packaged profile of the South African society, the stories we know at face value. e.tv goes in depth into the complexities of the multi-cultural community we are, a vision that the channel gets closer and closer to realising with each additional show.
"It is important to note that in the past five years South African television has had a commendable increase in the output of local content. e.tv aims to be at the forefront of this growth by not only introducing a high number of new and local genres, we have also have improved story-telling, production and directing. This ensures that our content is competitive and I'm certain our viewers will enjoy the new prime time schedule that has been in planning for a few years," enthused Monde Twala, Managing Director for e.tv Channels Division.
FEAST ON THESE CHANGES:
- The 8PM slot gets a face-lift with a brand new Telenovela, a first for e.tv. The telenovela will take over the 8PM slot Monday to Thursdays for a whopping 104 episodes. It premieres on Monday, 2 March 2015. Get ready to welcome back familiar talent on a mysterious journey back to the small screen.
- For those blue Mondays, we have a special kind of heat in the much-anticipated drama series Umlilo which also premieres on Monday, 2 March at 9PM. This drama has all sorts of sparks, from some of South Africa’s favourite actors to the storyline that resonates with a complex South African reality: polygamy.
- Club 808: Make Some Noise moves up the ladder to kick-start the Friday a little earlier at 6PM. The 8PMslot is taken over by the 1st season of the Cape Town detective series Traffic!, starring Bonnie Henna and Bongo Mbutuma. The drama series will play once a week on the Friday slot.
- One of e.tv’s most successful soapies Rhythm City moves to a new time slot, 7PM weekdays to complete the one and a half hour local drama slot. Backed by some of South Africa’s most celebrated creative talent, the soapie is a blend of authentic South African stories that span the breadth of South Africa’s youth experience.
- Making way for Rhythm City will be the eNews English bulletin which moves to 8:30PM to ensure that we wrap up all of the days’ news. Please note that the English news play at the same time as previously on weekends; this change only affects weekdays.
- The popular 6:30PM weekday slot will be reserved for eNews Izindaba, our Zulu news package which airs on e.tv Mondays to Fridays.
- The much loved raw talent of eKasi: Our stories, season 6, moves to Tuesdays at 9PM, thirty minutes later than its current time. On 7 April a new rural drama Matatiele takes over this slot. The drama is based and shot on location in the Matatiele village, Eastern Cape.
"This level of programming aims to set trends, get viewers to expect more from channels. We are on strategy mode, we need ideas and partners to realise these goals. The aim of these programmes is to invest in the development of local content as part of celebrating our legacy, protecting and preserving our cultures. The local film industry has the responsibility to ensure that we tell relevant and resonating local stories.
"The list is very long for 2015. Every year we make sure that we go big, fresher and better. We are happy about the natural growth of our channels, we want more, and we want to grow bigger. Our vision still remains; to be the destination of choice,” concluded Twala, Managing Director for e.tv Channels Division.