M-Net Movies
M-Net Movies is a group of South Africa-based film-only television channels launched as Movie Magic in 1995 and broadcast across Sub-Saharan Africa on pay TV satellite services DStv and GOtv. The channels broadcast films/movies based on genre as well as clips featuring behind-the-scenes look at previous, current and future breakout box office hit films.
| M-Net Movies | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 1995 (as Movie Magic) 2005 (as M-Net Movies) |
| Network | M-Net |
| Owned by | MultiChoice |
| Picture format | 16:9 (SDTV, HDTV) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Language | English, Afrikaans |
| Broadcast area | Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg |
| Formerly called | Movie Magic (1995-2005) |
| Website | See below |
Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DStv | 104-111; 139 |
| Streaming media | |
| via DStv Now | Same as its TV platform |
History
MultiChoice through M-Net launched two M-Net film/movie channels, Movie Magic 1 and Movie Magic 2 a day after the launch of its pay television satellite service DStv. In order to unify/expand the M-Net brand, the channels were renamed respectively M-Net Movies 1 and M-Net Movies 2 in 2005. [1] Two additional film channels, M-Net Stars and M-Net Movies Action (which on launch replaced M-Net Action (then actionX) which launched in 2006), were later launched. In October 2012, the previous film channels were expanded to six channels which grouped films according to genre.[2] These channels, along with the pre-existing Action, Stars and Zone, made for a total of nine movie channels. In June M-Net Movies Action was made an HD channel, followed by M-Net Movies All Stars, both only in Southern Africa, in October 2016.
As of 1st September 2020, M-Net stopped giving their movie channels names and went with the numbering system and reduced the number of movie channels from 6 to 4 channels.[3]
Channels
Currently and since 2016, there are six M-Net Movies channels:
- M-Net Movies Premiere HD
- M-Net Movies Smile HD
- M-Net Movies Action+ HD
- M-Net Movies Action SD (Rest of Africa)/HD (Southern Africa)
- M-Net Movies All Stars SD (Rest of Africa)/HD (Southern Africa) (replaced M-Net Stars)
- M-Net Movies Zone SD (Rest of Africa)/HD (Southern Africa)
A seventh channel M-Net Movies Showcase was later dropped by M-Net on 1 April 2017 with the aim of creating limited run pop-up channels, airing films ranging from those starring Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone and Will Smith. On 1 June 2017 it was replaced by Sundance TV. On 1 December 2017, M-Net Movies Zone was made available in HD to all households who owned a HD capable decoder such as the DStv Explora, HD Decoder, HD PVR and were on the all DStv packages. M-Net Movies Zone is the only channel airing on the GOtv service via its Max and Plus packages.
As of September 1st, 2020 M-Net Movies stopped giving their movie channels names and reverted back to adding numbers to the channels alongside reducing the number of movie channels to four. Two of the movie channels are premium channels while the other two are accessible on more packages.
References
- "Super Brands: M-Net" (PDF). 10 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- "Multichoice | New channel numbers and more HD for DStv customers - detail". MultiChoice. 2015-05-18. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- "MultiChoice and M-Net reducing and restructuring its M-Net Movies channels offering on DStv, makes fliekNET permanent and adding KIX as a martial arts film channel". TV With Thinus. 31 July 2020.
External links
As of January 2016, all M-Net Movies Channels are under the sub-domain of the M-Net website;