As M-Net celebrates 30 years of timeless magic

Africa’s pioneering TV channel, M-Net, is about to hit a milestone birthday– the big 3-0! In October 2016, it will be thirty years since the very first M-Net subscribers connected their newly-acquired analogue decoders. This was a major entertainment breakthrough at the time giving viewers access to a brand new world of great television.

To celebrate the milestone, M-Net will be launching the ‘on-screen birthday bash’, M-Net Movies Blockparty on DStv 109. The channels will run for the entire month of October playing everyone’s favourite comedy movie hits, the latest comedy shows and handing the mic over to the world’s best stand-up comedians. The channel will be rolling out the red carpet for comedy greats Seth Rogen, Eddie Murphy, Amy Schumer, Jim Carrey, Leon Schuster, Steve Martin, Austin Powers, Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Lawrence and many more.

“M-Net would not have been where it is today without the loyal support of our viewers,” says M-Net’s CEO Yolisa Phahle. “M-Net Movies BlockParty will have something for everyone and provide shows for the whole family to enjoy together. Comedy is always popular and we would like our viewers to have some fun, so we look forward to celebrating our big birthday with as many people as possible.”

What started as one analogue channel has grown into an array of more than 40 channels (including Africa Magic, Maisha Magic East, Jango Magic, Zambezi Magic and M-Net Edge), addressing the viewing needs of diverse audiences in almost 50 countries across the African continent.

In curating and creating the very best content and channels for DStv customers, M-Net also boasts an impressive and long list of revolutionary moves and “firsts”– from being the first to screen movies without ad breaks to bringing local versions of blockbuster reality shows like Big Brother Africa, The Voice and Idols to our shores, producing multiple language-specific TV channels, going HD and adding events-driven pop-up channels as well as services like “Express from the US” giving DStv customers the best content from around the world first.

M-Net Movies BlockParty will be screened around the clock for 30 days. Each night there will be seriously funny classic series, side-splitting and raucous stand-up comedy shows.

Apart from the M-Net Movies BlockParty pop-up channel, M-Net is also producing an exclusive TV special about the history and evolution of the network, as well as the way in which it has developed the African film and television industry and positively changed the lives of many people. Apart from the M-Net Movies BlockParty pop-up channel, M-Net is also producing an exclusive TV special about the history and evolution of the network, as well as the way in which it has developed the African film and television industry and positively changed the lives of many people. This nostalgic TV special gives viewers the opportunity to hear from M-Net’s biggest stars and will be screened on several of the M-Net channels in early November.