The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) is now investigating e.tv's pornographic show Naked News that the broadcaster added to its schedule last month and that sees women taking all their clothes off and standing naked on the telly.
I told you last month RIGHT HERE about e.tv's new porno programme. Several groups and viewers have since complained to the BCCSA, that is now investigating the show.
Naked News is another ad supported show, or as the TV biz refer to it, an advertiser-funded production (AFP) - meaning that the advertiser or sponsor actually pays the broadcaster for the overall airtime and then uses and leverages it against what is usually product placement or tie-in commercial content. AFP's often land broadcaster in trouble because they relinquish control in a sense. AFP's have often - as now again - landed South African broadcasters in hot water, and it's usually e.tv and SABC3 who create problems for themselves by their continued dabbling with AFP's.
With e.tv first of all agreeing to the decision to broadcast Naked News and then actually showing it, e.tv is once again, incredulously, doing major harm to its reputation as a South African free-to-air broadcaster; doing incredible damage to its brand as a TV channel; and is pro-actively and deliberately destroying its remaining brand credibility as a reputable (even family friendly?) broadcaster. And just to make money.
Is it Bronwyn-Keene Young as e.tv's COO, or whoever at e.tv finally signed off on Naked News, saying: ''We'll gladly broadcast your product showing woman undressing and stripping naked on a public television channel irrespective on how it's impacting on our image as a TV channel, as long as you just pay us and give us money"?
[UPDATE Tuesday 10 May 16:36 - This question and quote is a rhetorical question - hence the question mark. It's a question asked by me, speculating on the motives behind e.tv management for possibly considering Naked News as on-air programming. It's my quote and shouldn't be taken to refer to anybody and is asking: is this what e.tv is thinking?]
Is e.tv really so desperate for cash that it can't make money without turning itself into an on-air stripper club? E.tv seems unperturbed and seemingly doesn't realize that broadcasting something like Naked News impacts on everything else it does - the credibility of its e.News division, the whole rest of e.tv's programming offering that immediately seems less wholesome, and the the perceived tasteless level to which the broadcaster would go to put lowbrow programming on-air just to make money. The e.tv executives who okay these decisions are not building the broadcaster's brand. They're stripping it of name as a credible South African broadcaster.
ALSO READ: Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) says e.tv isn't contravening regulations with Naked News.
