No official announcement yet but South African viewers are soon going to get to see the special one hour documentary on the "Blade Gunner" and girlfriend killer Oscar Pistorius - most probably on TLC (TopTV 453 / DStv 172) after Discovery Networks International acquired the broadcasting rights of the quick turnaround documentary.
The broadcasting rights of the British documentary Oscar Pistorius - What Really Happened? which was a huge ratings hit in the United Kingdom recently has just been sold to Discovery in America where it will be shown on TLC as Blade Runner: The Untold Story.
Discovery Networks for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region has also scooped up the one hour special from Passion Distribution, which is sure to make a massive viewership splash when it's shown in South Africa.
A broadcasting date and time is not known and neither which title of the documentary will be used for Africa and South Africa, although it's highly likely that Discovery Networks CEEMEA will be showing it on the TLC channel, available on both MultiChoice's DStv as well as On Digital Media's TopTV.
The case of Oscar Pistorius having shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and now on trial for alleged premeditated murder continues to garner international media attention and commands rapt attention and interest from South Africans.
The Oscar Pistorius documentary features never before seen footage, exclusive interviews and access to those closest to Reeva Steenkamp, including her best friend Gina Meyers and was produced by Mentorn media. Rick Edwards is the presenter.
If the Oscar Pistorius documentary is placed on TLC (as opposed to The Discovery Channel or ID: Investigation Discovery - both also run by Discovery Networks CEEMEA) it would be the 4th high profile programming stunt on TLC within just 6 months which has so far each time lured record ratings and has suddenly propelled TLC into the realm of "must watch" channels.
At the end of 2012 Discovery Networks CEEMEA and TLC suddenly wowed South African and African viewers with an Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls TV documentary special, quickly followed by an Oprah's Next Chapter Justin Bieber interview and early this year another Oprah's Next Chapter Lance Armstrong interviewed which scored off the charts in record ratings and the biggest viewership numbers for TLC in South Africa ever.
Given the huge interest in Oscar Pistorius and the murder case, the TV special is clearly set for huge ratings in South Africa, whether its scheduled for TLC or for one of the other Discovery channels.
