M-Net finally finds its plus one

Cape Town – M-Net finally got a plus one. Like Bridget Jones, M-Net that's turning 30 years old in October, is finally getting its plus one with MultiChoice adding a M-Net Plus 1 time-shifted channel to DStv from June.

The M-Net Plus 1 channel will be an exact replica of the existing M-Net (DStv 101) channel on DStv, but with programming running one hour later on channel 901 on DStv.

M-Net Plus 1 will only be available to DStv Premium subscribers. The addition of the channel means that DStv's audio channels are all moving from June.

Audio channel numbers will now start at channel number 750, with the radio channels from DStv channel number 800 onwards. These changes will happen automatically.

M-Net Plus 1 is MultiChoice's first time-shifted channel, a channel type often and primarily used elsewhere in the world by pay-TV operators especially for movie genre channels.

When On Digital Media (ODM) launched its TopTV service in May 2010, it carried several "+1" channels that has since been dropped and abandoned since it relaunched under the StarSat brand.

With M-Net Plus 1, the Randburg-based pay-TV broadcaster is essentially creating its own version of "South African daylight saving time" for South African viewers - the introduction of which the kulula airline unsuccessfully canvassed for a few years ago.

DStv subscribers can now use and watch the M-Net 101 channel during winter, and the M-Net 901 channel during summer when the sun in South Africa sets much later and families often adjusts to a later time frame.

"As M-Net (on channel 101) currently caters for a diverse audience with different lifestyles and viewing time preferences, we believe that the addition of M-Net Plus 1 will be welcomed by many of our viewers," says Jan du Plessis, the director of M-Net channels.

"While our prime-time scheduling is at convenient times for the majority of our series lovers, there are also many people - especially parents with young families, who can only start watching television a little later."

"With M-Net Plus 1, viewers who don't have PVRs can now continue to enjoy linear television and stay on top of M-Net's excellent series."