e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

television station in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is the fifth terrestrial

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

in the country, following three channels that are operated by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation (that is SABC 1, SABC 2 and

SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

) and the privately owned subscription-funded M-Net. In 1997, the e.tv channel bought the broadcasting rights to broadcast

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

(EPL) matches and, later on, they also bought the rights to broadcast

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

matches. Besides SABC, it is the second-most watched network in the country, according to

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, ...

-sourced data.

History

Midi TV was the consortium that won the broadcasting licence in 1998 to operate the channel. It is majority-owned by black empowerment group

Hosken Consolidated Investments This is a list of companies traded on the JSE. The original compilation of the list was done in February 2006. __NOTOC__ ''Note: For companies without a listed external link there is at various financial information sites; please see artic ...

(via its subsidiary eMedia Holdings), with Remgro having a minority-stake. Hosken Consolidated Investments' major shareholder is the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union. The consortium has had many changes in ownership, however the dominant player has always been HCI: it had bought out minority black shareholders who had failed to repay loans they used to purchase the Midi TV stake.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

sold their 25% shareholding of the channel in 2001, concerned that they would never be able to exercise full ownership: South African media ownership law restricts foreign entities to owning no more than 25% of a television channel. Marcel Golding, a former trade unionist, was controversially forced to resign as the station's CEO in late October 2014, following the polemic purchase of shares he made in South African electronics equipment maker Ellies. HCI had insisted, in court documents, that the purchase of the R24 million stake in the electronics maker, which also produces digital set-top boxes, was without authorisation. Golding had, challenging his removal as CEO, stated that attempts to get rid of him was due to the ANC government wanting to control the station's news output through direct interference.

Controversy and milestones

In January 2001, controversy arose when e.tv showed floor plans and other blueprints for renovations of

Genadendal Residence Genadendal Residence is the official Cape Town residence of the President of South Africa, situated on the Groote Schuur estate in Rondebosch. It has been the official residence since 1994 when Nelson Mandela took up residence here rather th ...

, the official residence of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Thabo Mbeki, on air. The government responded by threatening legal action, citing that the station contravened The Protection of Information Act. In August, it was reported to be the fastest-growing channel in South Africa. After the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, e.tv joined other South African broadcasters in agreeing to continue broadcasting statements by

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. It was also the site of an anthrax scare in October. In 2002, the

Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) is a string complaints authority established by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to enforce a Code of Conduct for television and radio broadcasts in South Africa. The Co ...

exonerated e.tv from overstepping its code of conduct after complaints were received following its screening of series from the

Emmanuelle Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel ''Emmanuelle'' (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan. Character history Emmanuelle appeared as the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andrian ...

soft-core porn series. In June, it failed in its attempt to stop M-Net from acquiring a new broadcast licence. In 2004, e.tv was reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority, after launching a series of newspaper advertisements, in which the SABC was purported to be a "state broadcaster" and "lacking

editorial independence Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clien ...

." In October, the channel failed in its bid to force the court to allow a live broadcast of the proceedings of the

Schabir Shaik trial The Schabir Shaik trial was an important court trial in post-apartheid South Africa. The case, tried in the Durban and Coast Local Division of the High Court before Judge Hilary Squires, proved the fraudulent and corrupt relationship between Du ...

. In November, it was reported that Midi TV owed

ICASA The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the publ ...

R7 million in licence fees. In 2005, the channel was fined R55 000 for two offences of broadcasting 18-rated movies before 9pm. It was also prevented by a court ruling, which prevented it from airing a documentary concerning a prominent baby murder, but upon appeal, e.tv was ordered to show the documentary to the case's prosecutors for review. The station also fired prominent personality, Soli Philander, after a year's involvement. It also garnered controversy from conservative and religious groups, after it decided to broadcast softcore pornography late at night over the weekends. In 2006, it refused to air a controversial interview with

P.W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

before his 90th birthday, which both the SABC and M-Net refused as well. They also received 14 complaints after a contestant was injured in an episode of the local ''

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled ''Now or ...

''; the station retorted, saying they "gave fair warning" to participants prior to the show, which was upheld by the BCCSA. The news reports of e.tv are sometimes critical of the SABC for having "close ties" to the ruling

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. Both print and outdoor campaigns by e.tv imply an inherent bias in the SABC's news coverage. More recently, e.tv joined a coalition of media outlets in a lawsuit to force the courts to allow live audio and/or video feeds to be broadcast from trials involving government officials and other prominent figures. Because of its liberal policies on adult content and its continual reinforcement of being free-to-air while it broadcast blockbuster movies, e.tv seems to have won the ratings war against SABC, especially on weekends.

Milestones

In 2003, the channel was awarded a contract from

Uthingo Uthingo Management (Pty) Ltd was the operator of the South African National Lottery until March 2007. It was formed in 1996 to compete for this right amongst a total of three consortia bidding for the licence. Uthingo is not tasked with the alloca ...

to broadcast the National Lottery results live. Starting in April 2013, the channel launched "e on Demand", a catch-up service that allows registered etv.co.za viewers to watch past episodes of their favorite TV shows as well as watch exclusive content. Many of e.tv's own productions are available to view including its popular weekday soap opera '' Rhythm City''. Beatlab was made available at the time on the platform. At launch,

StarSat StarSat (formerly TopTV until 31 October 2013) is a South African direct broadcast satellite television service that began broadcasting on 1 May 2010. StarSat is operated by On Digital Media, who were granted a pay-TV license by ICASA in Septembe ...

(formerly known as TopTV) had entered negotiations with the brand for their additional channels before proofing to be fruitful and were only fortunate to launch eKasi+ in 2015 as a replacement for

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. Later that year, e.tv was made available in HD on DStv with content added onto Catch-up. In 2017, eAfrica+ and eKasi+ were replaced with True African and eExtra from April. A month later, news circulated that the brand's 4 channels might be available on

before being made official a day before its launch. In 2018, True African and Beatlab TV were discontinued as part of realignment strategy to offer viewers fresh entertainment. The channel welcomed three additional channels which was their second news channel, OpenNews and their first reality channel,

eReality eReality is a South African reality television channel created and owned by eMedia Investments's e.tv for OpenView. The channel broadcasts 16 hours a day showcasing a mix of local and international nostalgic reality series and shows which neve ...

and a female centric channel,

eBella eBella was a South African Digital satellite television channel created and owned by e.tv's eMedia Investment for OVHD, Openview and DStv. History After eMedia Investments and Platco Digital successfully launched its OVHD, OpenView platform, t ...

. An Afrikaans block known as Kuiertyd launched on eExtra. In 2019, eBella was reintegrated to eExtra, OpenNews rebranded to e.tv News then e.tv News and Sports and

Rewind Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

launched. In 2021, the brand launched its own streaming service eVOD with some content moving exclusively to that platform alongside upcoming programming that haven't aired on their channels. In 2022, two more channels were added

Xposed ''Xposed'' () is the third studio album by Chinese singer G.E.M. Gloria Tang Sze-wing (born 16 August 1991), professionally known as G.E.M. (backronym of Get Everybody Moving) or Tang Tsz-kei (), is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter original ...

to replace Rewind while ePlesier launched as a new channel. On 31 March 2022, eTV Africa stopped airing on

and GOtv. In South Africa, e.tv remains on the platform alongside eNCA while eExtra, eMovies, eMovies Extra and eToonz no longer available on the platform until August 2022.

Programming

Local productions

In early days e.tv had a strong focus on local content. Many of e.tv's original productions received high ratings, beating those of the SABC. ''

Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

'', set in an arts college in Cape Town, started off on a high note when it first aired in 2000, but things soured when e.tv had a dispute with the production company, and several popular cast members left the show. Because of low ratings to other shows in its time slot, ''Backstage'' was cancelled as of the end of June 2007. ''Backstage'' was then replaced by " Rhythm City" which was set in the South African music industry. ''

Scandal! ''Scandal!'' (formerly ''The Voice'') is a South African soap opera produced by Ochre Moving Pictures and broadcast on e.tv. It is one of the most watched soapies in South Africa, contending with SABC 1's longest-running soapie '' Generations: ...

'', set in a mass media company in Johannesburg, experienced increased ratings after its timeslot was changed from 8pm to 7.30pm. In its previous timeslot, the soapie clashed with SABC 1's established soapie ''

Generations A generation is "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively." Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Gen ...

''. In 2015 the channel introduced new dramas such as '' Ashes to Ashes'', ''

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 households (366.83 per km²) make Matatiel ...

'', ''

Umlilo "Umlilo" is a single by a South African DJ professionally known as DJ Zinhle, released on , the single features vocals from female singer Rethabile Khumalo with production from Mvzzle. Umlilo has been certified multi-platinum and within its ...

'', '' Z'bondiwe'', ''

Gold Diggers Gold digger is a term for a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold ...

'', ''

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

, Broken Vows'' and '' eKasi:Our Stories'', '' Imbewu: The Seed'' and ''

Isipho ''Isipho'' is a South African supernatural drama series created by Busisiwe Ntintili. It is List of e.tv original productions, an e.tv original production co-produced by HerbVision Multimedia and The Ntintili Factory for South African free-to-a ...

'', reality shows like ''Blame it on Fame'', ''Rolling With'', ''Katch it with Kanyi'', ''Coke Studio Africa'', ''Step Up or Step Out'', ''Reality Check'', ''Superdance South Africa'' and '' Durban Gen''.

International content

In South Africa, e.tv formerly hosted some

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

shows like ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'', '' Six Feet Under'' and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

''. From January 2016, e.tv is the first free-to-air channel in South Africa to air the hit shows and dramas such as ''Empire'', '' Devious Maids'', '' How To Get Away With Murder'', ''The Fixer'', ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'' and '' Hawaii Five-O''. In September 2017, ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' moved from

SABC3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

to etv. The channel also airs '' America's Funniest Home Videos'', '' Family Feud'', Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge, ''Minute to Win It'', ''MTV Fear Factor'', ''

Little Big Shots ''Little Big Shots'' (also known as ''LBS'') is an American variety television series co-created and produced by Steve Harvey and Ellen DeGeneres. The series features children demonstrating talents and engaging in conversation with the host. ...

'' and '' Judge Judy''.

Craz-e

Craz-e is the children's slot for the channel, airing selected content specially curated. The slot is aired weekdays from 14:30 CAT as a two-hour programming block. Initially it was a separate block for teens, the second one being named Littl-e for preschoolers, until they were merged in 2018. The slot was particularly popular for its local shows: Sistahood, Frenzy, Shiz Live and Craz-e World Live, which were discontinued in 2019. Littl-e's local offerings such as ''Cool Catz'' and ''Siyabonga Gogo'' were also discontinued, although reruns still air on eToonz. Craz-e gave rise to new fresh talent such as Zola Hahlatse and

Pearl Modiadie Pearl Modiadie (born December 29, 1987) is a South African television presenter, radio DJ, actress and producer best known to TV audiences for presenting the SABC1 music talk show Zaziwa. Life and career 1987-2009: Early life and education Pea ...

Movies

Over the years, e.tv still dominates the weekend ratings war with movies against the SABC, due to having multiple deals with various distribution companies. Some movies first premiere on the e.tv channel before moving on to

eMovies eMovies is a 24-hour South African digital satellite television free-to-air movie channel created and owned by eMedia Investment's e.tv for the Openview platform. eMovies Extra is a sister companion channel. History The network launched on 16 ...

eMovies Extra eMovies is a 24-hour South African digital satellite television free-to-air movie channel created and owned by eMedia Investment's e.tv for the Openview platform. eMovies Extra is a sister companion channel. History The network launched on 16 ...

Kuiertyd

On 15 July 2019 the channel introduced Turkish dramas in their primetime slot with the first being Die Vreemdeling. Thereafter the channel started airing reruns of past and present Turkish dramas from eExtra.

Sports

e.tv previously secured broadcast rights of the

and the

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's various shows; which aired on weekdays and weekends, these received the highest ratings in their timeslots. WWE rights are currently held by

's Supersport. As of August 2019, e.tv acquired broadcasting rights of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. The decision comes after Kwese Free Sports ceased broadcasting on the Openview platform. However, they only broadcast one live match every Saturday on

e.tv News e.tv News & Sport (also known as eNews and Sport or simply News and Sport) was a South African free-to-air digital satellite television news and sports channel created and owned by e.tv's eMedia Investments. Previously named OpenNews, it was the ...

instead of e.tv or eExtra. The channel recently signed deal to also broadcast

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. E.tv also holds domestic rights to the American

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

eNews

In 1998, e.tv launched its very own dedicated news division from Cape Town called "eNews" which went LIVE at 7pm daily. eNews "Morning Edition" which was a morning news bulletin was also broadcast on e.tv at the top of each hour during its iconic breakfast show called the "Toasty Show". From the early 2000's, eNews was widely becoming popular for its 7pm daily news bulletin - "eNews Prime Time". Following the need for more rolling coverage on news developments and breaking news, several other bulletins were launched on e.tv; -eNews Sunrise, which was a cross over from the e.tv breakfast show called "Sunrise". This bulletin featured the mornings news headlines at every 30 minutes between 5:30am and 8am on weekdays. -Newsday, which was primarily a lunch time news bulletin at 1pm on weekdays. In 2008, following the launch of its sister channel eNCA (then known as the eNews Channel), "Newsday" was simulcast on e.tv at 1pm. -eNews Prime Time, which was a 7pm news bulletin featuring the days top stories, business news, sport and weather. From 2016 to 2018, eNews Prime Time was re-launched under a more dynamic news bulletin called "eNews Direct" in a new time slot at 8pm on weeknights and at 7pm on weekends. -eNews Late Edition, which was a late night news bulletin featuring the days top stories, business news, sport and weather at 10pm. The Late Edition news bulletin ended in 2014 and is no longer broadcast on e.tv. -eNews Early Edition, which was a 5 Minute update on the days news headlines at 6pm on weekends. The Early Edition news Bulletin ended in late 2017 and is no longer broadcast on e.tv. As of 5 August 2019, e.tv consolidated and combined its 1pm and 8pm bulletins along with the OpenNews channel and renamed the OpenNews channel and eNews bulletins to

. Since August 2019, the daily news bulletin was rebranded as "e.tv News" and is presently broadcast at 8pm on weeknights featuring the days top stories, business news, sport and weather. The weekend edition called "South Africa Tonight" features a simulcast at 7pm from e.tv's sister channel eNCA. In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in early 2020, e.tv News added a

special report Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a news, current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in ...

at 6:30pm on weeknights featuring

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

updates and developments on the pandemic. As of 2022, e.tv no longer broadcasts a lunch time news bulletin at 1pm.

Video on demand

The

Video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

(VOD) offer of the E.tv is available on several platforms: * Web: Free VOD has been collected under the E.tv eVOD brand. *

Mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

: eVOD are available on several South Africa mobile networks.

Sister channels

Current channels

* eNCA Also referred to as eNews Channel Africa. A 24-hour

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

news broadcaster which focuses on both

n and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n stories. The broadcaster became the nation's first & most-watched 24-hour news service when it launched in June 2008. e.tv first ever news channel that is available exclusively on

. *

A movie channel showcasing family friendly movies mixed with dramas and romance. * eExtra A general entertainment channel offering a variety of telenovelas as well as other programming. *

A second movie channel showing mostly action and thriller movies * eToonz A children's channel featuring past and current programs seen on e.tv kids block, Craze. *

It promises to be a binge watchers paradise with thrilling real-life stories, fascinating characters, and raw human emotion. There's something compelling for everyone. *

It cover a range of genres, including lifestyle, food, music, art, and general entertainment. It will also broadcast certain sitcoms and dramas. * ePlesier A reruns channel playing Turkish dramas seen on other stations.

Former channels

ReWIND Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

A rerun channel playing content from e.tv and its other set of channels * News and Sports A second news and first sports channel from eMedia Investments that launched exclusively on

Openview HP OpenView is the former name for a Hewlett-Packard product family that consisted of network and systems management products. In 2007, HP OpenView was rebranded as HP BTO (''Business Technology Optimization'') Software when it became part of the ...

. *

A female-based channel featuring a mix of reality, lifestyle, and telenovelas. * Beatlab TV A music channel offering a mix of local and international hits. * eNolly+ A pan-African channel displaying content from around Africa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:E.Tv English-language television stations in South Africa Television channels and stations established in 1998 Television stations in South Africa Mass media in Cape Town