Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 23 September 2015


Tutankhamun drama series will film in South Africa from mid-October.
Sam Neill and Max Irons will star in the 4-part drama from ITV Studios based on Howard Carter and his discover of the boy-king pharaoh's tomb. ITV Studios Global Entertainment will distribute the show internationally.

BBC making big drama about (fall of) Troy.
Fall of the City will start later this year as an epic new drama series.

After America's ESPN dumped South Africa and Afric on DStv
times are getting tough as ESPN prepares to fire up to 300 ESPN workers.

Massive job cuts also coming to Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257).
Falling oil prices to blame for the Qatari TV news channel set to sack hundreds of workers worldwide soon. Internal email warns staff to get ready for "painful cuts".


"Hlaudi Motsoeneng is our Messiah".
Must-read laugh of the day: SABC employee Lungelo Gumede writes in The Sowetan that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is "the best boss we have ever had" and that at the SABC under Hlaudi Motsoeneng "hundreds of employees were freed from slavery".
Oh, and before Hlaudi, SABC employees allegedly were "forced to pay bribes to get shifts" and female workers allegedly were "forced to do sexual favours". You can't make this stuff up.


New DStv changes are unfair...
...says South Africa's commissioner of the Competition Commission, Tembinkosi Bonakele. Speaks in Namibia about how MultiChoice in Africa took out the most popular TV channels from the cheaper package and moved it to the more expensive package.

The clock is ticking for the SABC's "Teflon man".
The controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng is facing a speeding bullet in the case before the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Don't get attached to FOX's new Minority Report.
The new science fiction drama Minority Report on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) is a failure - only 3.1 million viewers and in basically last place, this show is basically doomed just like last year's Almost Human. Meanwhile the fascinating Blindspot coming to M-Net (DStv 101) is tops.

Minority Report lacks imagination with its old and boring vision of the future. And how TV executives secretly now know within 15 minutes whether a new show will survive or get cancelled.


The new American TV season is already stumbling says AdAge.


Scream Queens is bad and a howler says The Los Angeles Times.
The new drama starts tonight on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 125) in South Africa. It's a missed opportunity and bad says TIME.  Scream Queens on FOX is bad and flat and Scream Queens goes from good to really bad quickly.


How long before it starts happening in South African television?
In America, actors and producers now "live-tweet" along with episodes and debut episodes to do publicity and help hype up interaction and awareness for TV shows.


"When you hear the term MultiChoice Content Showcase what comes to mind is boring"
For me as part of the South African press what comes to mind is the word "exclusion".
Anyway, who knew the SuperSport volleyball session in Mauritius rained out off?
All the gifts given to the press at the MultiChoice Content Showcase - like the Canon EOS Digital SLR camera.


Bloomberg Television is adding Bloomberg as a new morning show.
No word on whether it will be seen on Bloomberg Television (DStv 411) in South Africa and Africa when it starts on 5 October with David Westin and Stephanie Ruhle.

When Aaron Spelling ruled Television.
Your must-read, long-read article of the day.


MultiChoice celebrates 20 years of DStv in Uganda...
...with a party last Thursday night at the new MultiChoice head office and customer care centre in Kampala. Meanwhile there's a big "Multichoice" spelling mistake on its own dedication plaque.


Really? Sean Penn sues Empire co-creator Lee Daniels for $10 million.
Claims defamation and says Lee Daniels accused him of domestic violence in a comparison with Terrence Howard. Of course tied up Madonna in the 80s and physically assaulted her for hours - but you forgot about that.

ShowMax has no plans to increase its price.
The South African streaming video-on-demand (VOD) service will remain at R99 per month.

Trevor Noah will "re-introduce" The Daily Show as a 4-day miniseries.
The Daily Show will return on Comedy Central (DStv 122) as a 4-part series. "We're dividing the week into a four-part miniseries that will set the tone for what we hope the show will be," Trevor Noah tells Rolling Stone.