Me (TV channel)

Me (M-Net Essentials)
Country	South Africa
Broadcast area	Sub Saharan Africa
Network	M-Net Series (formerly)
Affiliates	M-Net
Headquarters	Johannesburg
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i HDTV; (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	MultiChoice
Sister channels	M-Net; 1max; Abol TV; Africa Magic; Akwaaba Magic; Channel O; SuperSport; KykNET; Maisha Magic; M-Net Movies; Mzansi Magic; Zambezi Magic;
History
Launched	1 April 1998; 26 years ago
Replaced	Vuzu (merge)
Closed	31 March 2024; 7 months ago
Former names	The Series Channel (1998–2005); M-Net Series (2005–2013); M-Net Series Zone (2013–2015); M-Net City (2015–2021);
Links
Website	Official website
Availability
Terrestrial
DStv	Channel 115
Streaming media
	DStv App

M-Net Essentials,^[a] branded on-air as Me, was a South African pay television channel originally launched by M-Net on 9 July 2013 as M-Net Series Zone, one of three channels from the parent M-Net Series channel.

It rebranded as M-Net City in 2015 and as Me in 2021, the latter from a merger with Vuzu. It currently broadcasts on satellite television service DStv on channel 115.

History

The channel began on 1 April 1998 as The Series Channel, eventually rebranded as M-Net Series to align with the parent M-Net channel in 2005.

On 9 July 2013, the channel broke into a three-channel network consisting of M-Net Series Showcase,^[2] M-Net Series Reality and M-Net Series Zone. M-Net Series Showcase was touted by M-Net as "its main network for the launch of current serial programming, M-Net Series Reality airing reality television programming and M-Net Series Zone (this channel's adopted name) airing delayed programming from M-Net. However, within a year of launch, the channel formats of M-Net Series Showcase and M-Net Series Reality failed and got respectively rebranded as Vuzu Amp and M-Net Edge on 13 and 20 October 2014.^[3]

As "M-Net City" (2015–2021)

On 6 April 2015, M-Net Series Zone was rebranded as M-Net City #115,^[4] the channel number suffix getting dropped the following year.

Typically, M-Net City featured reruns of international television serial programming previously aired on parent channel M-Net along with some homegrown shows, the former M-Net Edge, and sister channel 1Magic (rebranded from Vuzu Amp on 1 March 2018) and Mzansi Magic.

As "Me" (2021–2024)

On 1 October 2021, M-Net announced that Vuzu would be merged into M-Net City and be rebranded as Me effective from 1 November.^[5]

M-Net City signed off the air after 29 October for a 2-day channel reel promoting the premiere of its successor, along with Vuzu, with the successor assuming its channel run 3 days later at 16:00 CAT. As of 23 June 2023, the channel's official website designates the channel as M-Net Essentials whiles still maintaining its Me on-air branding.

The channel ceased operations on 31 March 2024, along with 1Magic.