TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 19 October 2020.

 

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:  

■ MultiChoice Nigeria suddenly allows DStv subscribers and GOtv subscribers unencoded access to all TV channels, leading to fake news claims that MultiChoice has been hacked by Anonymous.

- Of course the same thing happened in August in South Africa as well when MultiChoice South Africa gave DStv subscribers complete access to all TV channels as well, saying it was a technical mistake.

- MultiChoice Nigeria says in a statement that it is upgrading its system until 16:00 on Monday afternoon and decided to rather open all TV channels for DStv subscribers and GOtv subscribers on all packages than having to deal with subscribers who complain about problems.

- Even DStv subscribers who no longer have a DStv subscription are able to watch DStv and all of the TV channels.

■ Shocking: Bangladesh supreme court that advertisers can now do sponsored TV news and headlines in TV channels.

■ Netflix's new teen vampire series is being called the gay Twilight.

First Kill will tell the story of a lesbian vampire who falls in love with a lesbian vampire hunter.

■ Mark Burnett is the American TV producer who shaped Donald Trump's image long before he became president of the United States. Now he's lost his touch with a string of TV flops.

■ Netflix has hiked prices in Australia and Canada - is the United States next?

■ Netflix is making a documentary about the protests in Belarus.

■ Public hearings will continue and end this week in Zimbabwe as 14 applicants apply for 6 new commercial TV channel licenses.

■ Some of the new shows set to go global as Covid-19 changes TV.

■ The British have replaced sex for TV watching during the Covid lockdown period.

■ A second Covid-19 wave will likely boost the subscriber numbers of all video streaming services, including Netflix that will again be reporting numbers this week.

■ Kim Kardashian at 40.

■ Reality TV is inching closer to The Running Man - and nobody seems to care.

Although our world has not devolved into a Stephen King nightmare, we're not moving in the opposite direction either.

■ Netflix doing a documentary on the Saqqara archaeological find of 59 sealed sarcophagi in Egypt.

■ A profile piece on Bada Akintunde-Johnson, the country manager in Nigeria of ViacomCBS Networks Africa.

■ TV news in a video streaming world.

The news part of the television business - more so than entertainment - is in a particularly bad place.

■ Netflix facing backlash for "cancelling everything worth watching".

■ The SABC gives trade unions Bemawu and CWU a last chance before massive retrenchments will start at South Africa's struggling public broadcaster.

600 workers to get fired soon after consultations between the SABC and unions collapsed on Friday.