David Letterman just got dumped - to South African viewers who are wondering what happened to the The Late Show with David Letterman on Sony Entertainment Television (DStv 127), I can reveal that the late night talk show won't be back and has been pulled from the line-up by the channel which will not be showing it anymore.
Sony Entertainment Television introduced The Late Show with David Letterman to South African TV audiences on DStv with great fanfare, and was the first American TV talk show to have its broadcasting date of episodes moved up dramatically.
The show was the first America talk show to have weekday episodes broadcast in South Africa just a week behind transmission dates in America. Earlier in the year South Africans tuned to The Late Show with David Letterman to watch the South African group Die Antwoord perform on his show recorded in the Ed Sullivan theatre in New York.
Shocked viewers asked me what has happened to David Letterman in South Africa and why the show disappeared from the SET schedule apparently without warning. It's because the channel will no longer continue with the distribution contract.
"The Late Show with David Letterman will no longer be airing on Sony Entertainment Television on DStv channel 127 as from 30 December," Sonja Underwood, territory director for Africa channels at Sony Pictures Television tells me in response to a media enquiry.
"Sony Entertainment Television is not renewing the licence for the show," says Sonja Underwood. No reason has been given.
