Apple TV+ renews Foundation for season 4

Thinus Ferreira

Apple TV+ has renewed the science fiction drama series Foundation based on Isaac Asimov's book series for a fourth season that will start production in early 2026.

The third season finale will become available on Apple TV+ on Friday 12 September.

"There is no series quite like Foundation and and we feel lucky and honoured to be carrying the torch forward as co-showrunners into season four," says Ian Goldberg and David Kob, co-showrunners, in a statement AppleTV+ issued on Thursday night.

"We look forward to continuing the epic, emotional, storytelling that defined the first three seasons of the show, and to be working alongside some of the most talented, passionate creative partners in the business."

Matt Cherniss, Apple TV+ head of programming, in the statement, says "It’s been fantastic to watch Foundation become such a global phenomenon, with fans tuning in from every corner of the world".

"With each new season, the excitement around this trailblazing sci-fi epic just keeps building due to the bold storytelling and collective artistry of this extraordinarily talented cast and creative team. We're excited to keep exploring this universe together in season four".

Foundation stars Jared Harris, Lee Pace and Lou Llobell, along with Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton, Terrence Mann and Rowena Kingwith. 

The new addition in Foundation's third season dealing with the Mule storyline and the end of the Cleonic dynasty, were Cherry Jones, Brandon P. Bell, Synnøve Karlsen, Cody Fern, Tómas Lemarquis, Alexander Siddig, Troy Kotsur and Pilou Asbæk.

Foundation was originally produced for Apple TV+ by Skydance Television that has now folded into Paramount Television Studios.

Ian Goldberg and David Kob will executive produce Foundation season four with Bill Bost, Pace, Michael Satrazemis, Robyn Asimov and David S. Goyer.

Production on Foundation's fourth season will start in early 2026.

First teaser trailer: Season 2 will be Foundation's 'Second Crisis' on Apple TV+ from 14 July.

by Thinus Ferreira

The psychohistorian character of Hari Sheldon might be dead but actor Jared Harris is still very much alive in the upcoming second season of Foundation which will debut on Apple TV+ on 14 July and which just released its first teaser trailer.

The science fiction drama series based on the book series of Isaac Asimov will tackle the Foundation's "Second Crisis" during the second season, in the scientific outpost's growing battle with the waning Empire and its ruling emperor Cleon clones, portrayed by Lee Pace.

The second season, produced for Apple by Skydance Television and led by showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer, will have 10 episodes with the season that will start on 14 July globally, with a new episode released weekly on every Friday.

Although Hari Sheldon died during the first season, Jarred Harris will again appear as the creator of psychohistory through backflashes, as well as the version of him as an articial intelligence (AI) after hehad  uploaded his consciousness into the Foundation computer.

"More than a century after the season one finale, tension mounts throughout the galaxy in Foundation season two," says Apple TV+.

"As the Cleons unravel, a vengeful queen plots to destroy Empire from within. Hari, Gaal and Salvor discover a colony of Mentalics with psionic abilities that threaten to alter psychohistory itself," reads the season's official logline.

"The Foundation has entered its religious phase, promulgating the Church of Seldon throughout the Outer Reach and inciting the Second Crisis: War with Empire. The monumental adaptation of Foundation chronicles the stories of four crucial individuals transcending space and time as they overcome deadly crises, shifting loyalties and complicated relationships that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity."

Also starring the returning cast of Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton and Terrence Mann, the second season will introduce new characters including Isabella Laughland (Brother Constant), Kulvinder Ghir (Poly Verisof), Ella-Rae Smith (Queen Sareth of Cloud Dominion), Holt McCallany (Warden Jaegger Fount), Rachel House (Tellem Bond), Nimrat Kaur (Yanna Seldon), Ben Daniels (Bel Riose) and Dimitri Leonidas (Hober Mallow).

Apple TV+ renews Foundation for a second season, will feature characters of Hober Mallow, General Bel Riose and the Outer Suns.

by Thinus Ferreira

Apple has renewed its Apple TV+ science fiction series Foundation for a second season.

Showrunner David S. Goyer has stated earlier this year that he has mapped out a story for the series, based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation novel series, in order for the series to potentially run for 8 seasons.

"Since my childhood I've dreamed of how Hari Seldon and Eto Demerzel would look and sound - what Terminus and Trantor would feel like," David S. Goyer said in a statement released by Apple TV+ announcing Foundation's second season renewal.

"Now, with season two, our audience will get to visit more of Asimov's indelible characters and worlds, including Hober Mallow, General Bel Riose, and all the Outer Suns."

"I'm thrilled that a whole new generation of fans are reading Asimov's brilliant masterwork. We're playing the long game with Foundation and I'm grateful to my partners at Apple and Skydance for entrusting me with this epic. Buckle up. We’re about to fold some serious space."

Matt Cherniss, Apple TV+ head of programming, says in the statement "We have been so excited to watch global audiences embrace the captivating, suspenseful and breathtaking thrill ride that is Foundation."

"We know how long fans of these beloved Asimov stories have waited to see his iconic work brought to life as a visually spectacular event series and now we can't wait to showcase even more of the richly layered world, compelling storytelling and stunning world-building in season two."

Foundation is produced for Apple TV+ by Skydance Television with Robyn Asimov, Josh Friedman, Cameron Welsh, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost also serving as executive producers.

Robyn Asimov, Isaac Asimov's daughter, says "David Goyer's Foundation has surpassed all my expectations by bringing my father's philosophy and ideas to the screen in ways he could never do while staying true to his work".

"I know my father would have been proud to see his iconic story come to life through the show's visual beauty and the layered characters, understanding full well his words would need this cinematic translation."

"My father was deeply indebted to his fans, to their loyalty and always hoped his work would pass through to following generations."

"The Foundation series is fulfilling his wish (and mine) by introducing his work to a vast array of new readers. Given the cerebral nature of the Foundation books, this series is a tour de force."

Foundation on Apple TV+ will release the 4th episode of the first season on Friday.

Apple TV+ hasn't bothered to do any publicity or marketing for Foundation in South Africa or anywhere in Africa for Apple TV+ viewers, with no support for South African media around the series.

ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. How Apple axed Africa's press with the debut of David S. Goyer's adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation on Apple TV+.

Apple claims its AppleTV+ streaming service has less than 20 million subscribers and tells Hollywood's IATSE union it therefore doesn't need to pay production crews more.

by Thinus Ferreira

Apple, trying to get away from  having to pay workers more, has told a Hollywood trade union that its Apple TV+ video streaming service is doing much worse than rivals like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video and had less than 20 million subscribers by July this year in the United States and Canada.

Apple has never revealed any subscriber or user numbers for its Apple TV+ service that launched in late-2019 but Apple is trying to worm its way out of having to pay production crews more, claiming it has less than 20 million subscribers.

Apple told the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union - a union that represents TV and film workers who work in jobs like operating cameras, production designers, set builders, makeup artists and costume designers - that it only has 20 million subscribers in the USA and Canada, which according to an existing agreement allows Apple to pay IATSE crew a smaller discount-rate.

According to an IATSE spokesperson, under its current contract with Apple for Apple TV+ shows like Foundation, The Morning Show and Ted Lasso, high-budget productions are done on lower paying rates because Apple TV+ has less than 20 million subscribers in the USA and Canada.

IATSE is currently in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over a new contract, of which Apple is a member, in which it wants to do away with the discount rate.

The alliance negotiates on behalf of all of its members, including Apple's Apple TV+.

"Workers on certain 'new media' streaming projects get paid less, even on productions with budgets that rival or exceed those of traditionally released blockbusters," IATSE says in a press release, noting that negotiations had stalled.

David S. Goyer, the showrunner of the newly-released Foundation series on Apple TV+, for instance mentioned in interviews that the first season of 10 episodes of the new series had a massive budget similar to that of 5 movies. 

Apple is spending $15 million per episode on The Morning Show that entered its second season on Apple TV+.

IATSE says that it is getting ready for a strike, with ballots that will be send out on 1 October to its 150 000 members to authorise possible strike action.

"It is incomprehensible that the AMPTP, an ensemble that includes media mega corporations collectively worth trillions of dollars, claims it cannot provide behind-the-scenes crews with basic human necessities like adequate sleep, meal breaks, and living wages," IATSE says.

IATSE also objects to "excessively unsafe and harmful working hours, unliveable wages for the lowest paid crafts and consistent failure to provide reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays and on weekends".

"These issues are real for the workers in our industry, and change is long overdue. However, the explosion of streaming combined with the pandemic has elevated and aggravated working conditions, bringing 60 000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts to a breaking point."

"We risked our health and safety all year, working through the pandemic to ensure that our business emerged intact. Now, we cannot and will not accept a deal that leaves us with an unsustainable outcome."

IATSE originally agreed on a contract with video streaming services like Apple TV+ in 2009 under which these services would pay a lower production rate while they had under 20 million subscribers.

Although Apple's Apple TV+ has less than 20 million subscribers in the USA and Canada, Apple TV+ is available in more than 100 countries worldwide, including South Africa, although Apple TV+ doesn't seem to regard countries like South Africa as any kind of priority.

This means that Apple TV+ actually has more than 20 million subscribers globally, although the exact number isn't made known publicly.

ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. How Apple axed Africa's press with the debut of David S. Goyer's adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation on Apple TV+.

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. How Apple axed Africa's press with the debut of David S. Goyer's adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation on Apple TV+.

by Thinus Ferreira

Like Hari Sheldon's psychohistory that determined the creation of the Foundation to try and save the galaxy, Apple's decision to flat-out ignore Africa's media was also by design when it came to publicity support for press around the new drama series Foundation on Apple TV+.

With Foundation, based on the novels of Isaac Asimov, rolling out from 24 September on Apple TV+ as a new science fiction series on the streaming service, the Apple TV+ publicity team responsible for international press relations cut the African continent and South Africa's media out of access and previews.

There's been no help or assistance for the show whatsoever - despite media requests.

With showrunner David S. Goyer serving as Foundation writer and executive producer, there is a reason why Apple TV+ users based in South Africa and across Africa won't see or read any interviews with David S. Goyer or any other of the Foundation crew or cast, and why there will be a lack (if not complete absence) of Foundation reviews from African TV critics and very little else in terms of coverage: Apple TV+ doesn't seem to care about Africa.

A while ago TVwithThinus reached out to Susana Voets at Apple TV+, heading up international publicity at Apple TV+ for shows like Foundation, requesting help and assistance with the new series, including asking for digital screeners to watch and preview the show for review purposes. 

No help was forthcoming. 

Besides no interviews offered or set up with the producers or cast and the exclusion of Africa's press from group media sessions, at the very minimum it should have been possible for Apple TV+'s PR team to help local South African media and to make Foundation episodes available as screeners, similar to what was done for other media, and as an established practice by broadcasters in their media relations around preview content.

Apple TV+ was unwilling.

Hence no screeners for the media in Africa. No letter to the press in Africa from David S. Goyer about Foundation like what was sent to media elsewhere.

While American PR support for Apple TV+ content is handled separately by publicists like Fabrizia Mauro, Ashley Sugarman and others, Apple TV+ has different people doing international publicity for the same content like Susana Voets.

The Apple TV+ international PR part arranged interviews with David S. Goyer and others, including the lead cast attached to Foundation like Lee Pace, Jared Harris, Lou Llobell (who partly grew up in South Africa) and Leah Harvey, with international media ranging from Canadian to British press - even a virtual group media briefing last week including India's media. 

Conspicuously absent in Apple TV+ PR plan and support: Africa.

According to Apple's flawed presumed calculus, there are presumably not enough Apple users or existing or potential Apple TV+ users/viewers in South Africa or across Africa, for any concerted PR push around Foundation or any other series on its streaming service like The Morning Show to be deemed "worth while".

Sadly, it doesn't seem as if Apple TV+ or the Apple TV+ international PR team wants to bother with media, media coverage, or journalists covering television, in Africa.

Perhaps the effort of dealing and interacting with media in South Africa and Africa and helping them is probably not worth it in Apple's estimation.

For Apple, Africa is apparently just that far-off place on the world map where child labour has been used to mine Cobalt for years for Apple's rechargeable lithium batteries in its devices - not a place where media would conceivably be interested in giving coverage about Apple TV+ shows or where it would be worthwhile to work with press around a show based on a seminal science fiction book series.  

ALSO READ: Africa not good enough for Doctor Who, as the British scifi TV show goes on a 'global' 7 cities tour but blatantly shuns one continent.

R2919.95 - the cost of watching it all in South Africa ... and counting.

by Thinus Ferreira

It now theoretically costs a South African viewer, as a pay-TV subscriber, R2 919.95 per month, excluding data charges, just for the ability to access all of the available television content on offer in the country - a cost that will definitely climb further as more video streamers launch over time.

Realistically speaking it's highly likely that there is no such person in South Africa paying, or willing to pay R2 919.95 per month but the theoretical exercise is indicative of what is costs now to watch all of the collective content that used to be more curated and bundled under fewer subscription television services like MultiChoice's DStv.

The cost calculation does however underscore the rapid way in which TV content splintering has accelerated in South Africa as Africa's most sophisticated TV market. 

This splintering of licensing rights across various streaming services is rapidly leading to ever greater audience fragmentation and is constantly making it more difficult - and more expensive - for viewers to watch television, and for audience research and TV ratings agencies to track them.

Here is the breakdown of what it costs in August if you wanted to capture all of the available TV content offered in South Africa from all of the notable pay-TV providers and video streamers in South Africa through a monthly subscription fee.

While some offer various discounts, free trial offers and day rates, for the sake of this theoretical exercise the cost of the most comprehensive monthly subscription package is used, or "basic" streaming plan, as watched on a TV set, and while there may be some overlap of content, a service is included if it offers a selection of some exclusive TV content not found on any of the others:

- DStv Premium: R829

- StarSat Max: R299

- Deukom: R725

- AcornTV: R79

- Amazon Prime Video: R79.99

- Apple TV+: R84.99

- BritBox SA: R99.99

- DEOD: R39

- eVOD: R29.99

- Marquee TV: R179.99

- NET Afrikaans: R79

- Netflix SA: R99

- PrideTV: R79

- Showmax: R99

- TelkomONE: R49

- VIU: R69

- Vodacom Video Play: R99

The pricing of the streaming service CineMagic at R5 per day, Frightfan.tv's R25 per horror film, Netflix Premium, music streamers, as well as free streaming services, and Openview requiring a once-off decoder cost of R600, are not included in this list or calculation. 

Showmax is included as a free add-on for DStv Premium subscribers, so its R99 price has also not been added to the overall calculation.

South Africa also doesn't yet have access to the video streaming services of Paramount+ from ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal's Peacock, WarnerMedia's HBO Max or Discovery Inc.'s Discovery+, with Disney+ that will launch from around June 2022, and with the SABC that plans to launch its service by the end of its current financial year that ends 31 March 2022.

Streaming the great unbundling

Ironically, consumers who have begged traditional, direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV services like MultiChoice to "unbundle" its packages and to let DStv subscribers only "pay-per-channel" and for the content that they want to pick and choose, are now getting their wish granted - although it's happening through an unbundling fuelled by the arrival and growth of over-the-top (OTT) streaming services.

It's also turning out to be a lot more expensive.

Consumers who already have to juggle a lot of different subscriber login details for different apps and services will have to contend with keeping a list of even more account and subscriber details as more video streaming services join the list, leading consumers to "forget" to cancel free trails or to cancel debit orders. 

Consumers also have to try and navigate their way through an increasingly complex content discovery process, trying to figure out where they can watch what, or which service has the specific content they're looking for.

A consumer who wants to watch a specific show - for instance the new upcoming science-fiction drama series Foundation based on Isaac Asimov's books starting in September on Apple TV +; or Schumacher, the F1 documentary on the German racer Michael Schumacher and his career in the sport releasing on Netflix in September - must pay a separate subscription fee just for that service in order to watch that content.

While the subscription fee charges quickly add up for the consumer, it's also creating big new challenges for South Africa's TV industry.

The Broadcasting Research Council (BRC) of South Africa is facing the growing challenge - similar to what Nielsen in America is experiencing - of trying to accurately track viewers and households across a growing range of streaming services.

Meanwhile, local and international streamers have to try and keep the incentive of "binge-watching" behaviour going and to try and limit user churn, by commissioning and acquiring a constant raft of new content.

Then there are also traditional pay-TV like MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net that used to gobble up the bulk of international content, as well as broadcasters like the SABC and e.tv, that have simply been blocked and prevented from acquiring certain overseas content even if they have the money and are willing to pay for it.

Global entertainment conglomerates are now using their own studios - that used to distribute shows and films internationally - to create new shows that they're keeping for their own streaming services.

It means means that South African viewers can't see a show, for instance The Mandalorian on Disney+ or FBoy Island or Gossip Girl on HBO Max since those streamers are not available in this region yet and are not available to be sold by the studios.

Apple TV+ rolls out trailers for The Morning Show's second season and Foundation.

by Thinus Ferreira

Apple TV+ has released official trailers for the second season of The Morning Show that is adding Will Arnett as a TV talent agent, as well as its ambitious Foundation science-fiction series, with both shows that will start in September.

Following the dramatic events of season one of The Morning Show that is set behind-the-scenes of a tumultuous American morning show, the 10-episode second season of the series executive produced by and starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will premiere globally on Friday, 17 September on AppleTV+.

The second season starts off with The Morning Show co-anchor team of Alex (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) in a whirl after they revealed a sexual harassment corporate cover-up at the UBA TV channel.

Julianna Margulies joins as Laura Peterson, a UBA anchor who is like a Devi Sankaree Govender investigative TV journalist who starts to influence Bradley as a type of mentor figure.

Will Arnett has also joined the show as Doug Klassen, the talent agent of Alex. The arrival of the global Covid-19 pandemic and the wearing of masks also features in the second season as an evolving story element.

Foundation

Apple TV+ also unveiled the official trailer for Isaac Asimov’s iconic award-winning Foundation novel series that will be coming to screen for the first time, with showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer, and that is set thousands of years in humanity future living on millions of planets across the galaxy.

The first season of Foundation follows a group of exiles who discover that the Galactic Empire is falling and tries to save it through the scientific concept of psychohistory that can broadly predict how humanity as a collective will behave.

After Dr Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, he and a band of loyal followers venture to the far reaches of the galaxy to establish The Foundation in an attempt to rebuild and preserve the future of civilization.

Enraged by Hari's claims, the ruling Cleons - a long line of emperor clones - fear their unrivaled reign may be weakening as they're forced to reckon with the potential reality of losing their powerful legacy forever.

Foundation will start on 24 September worldwide with the first two episodes that will be made available, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday.

MultiChoice's growth plan unpacked: Less investment in international content with overseas shows now funnelled through storefront streamers, bigger investment in the local content the SABC is unable to produce.

by Thinus Ferreira

Read between the lines and MultiChoice's two-prong plan for future DStv subscriber growth becomes clear: The pay-TV operator is cutting down on spending on acquiring international content and now wants to funnel access to overseas content through storefront streamers like Netflix, while at the same time it will be doubling-down with a heavy focus on the creation of new local content by filling the void left by the SABC.

MultiChoice released its financial results for the 6 months until the end of September 2020 and revealed that the Randburg-based pay-TV operator had passed 20.1 million active pay-TV subscribers. 

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO, in a radio interview on Thursday evening, said "Our strategy is to pivot to more local content" and that "our focus on local content is doing well". 

He also said "We are very clear about our strategy: We will continue to grow our traditional satellite linear TV business; at the same time as with people going online, we want to 'own the habit' of people moving online and that the products we have online are competitive."

In a TV interview, Calvo Mawela said "Our focus on local content and sports seems to be working very well and we are doubling down on that and reducing our international content spend and that is what is going to make sure that this business continues to grow into the future".

In MultiChoice's investor's call on Friday, Calvo Mawela said "We believe that whether organically or through third-parties, offering our customers not just a TV package, but an ecosystem of entertainment options will be fundamental to our long-term success, and to making our customers lives more convenient".

"Our aim is to lead in content and specifically invest more in local content, to drive new opportunities to leverage our scale, and expand our entertainment ecosystem, and to deliver subscriber growth and accelerate the uptick of our OTT products."

Here is the first part of the plan:

MultiChoice will be launching its new DStv Explora Ultra decoder next week with Netflix as the first third-party subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) app that DStv subscribers with an existing Netflix account can log into, or subscribe and unsubscribe to. 

DStv subscribers will be able to pay in rand through tacking Netflix onto their monthly DStv bill.

Netflix is the first of presumably several international streamers that MultiChoice would add over time.

In its Thursday financial results MultiChoice said that it "will be adding another major international

subscription video on demand (SVOD) service soon". It will very likely be Amazon Prime Video.

So this is what is happening and where things are going: Instead of M-Net acquiring and paying for Star Wars: The Mandalorian for instance - a show it can't get even if it were willing to pay the licensing price - MultiChoice could add The Walt Disney Company's Disney+ streaming app for DStv subscribers in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa so that through this way - and it is the way - they could get their fix of "Baby Yoda" while the rest of the world are watching and buzzing about it. 

The same goes for other major video streamers like Amazon Prime Video, WarnerMedia's HBO Max, ViacomCBS's Paramount+, Discovery that plans to launch a streamer in 2021, and others.

It is also why internationally distributed channels from Disney XD to BBC First have been disappearing from DStv this year.

MultiChoice has come to the realisation that it will no longer be able to effectively compete with acquiring international content as it was able to in the past because of seismic shifts in the international content distribution game that has been upended because of the advent of streaming services.

While those hot, premium, must-see series and films have always been on M-Net (DStv 101) for decades, some of that content has become exorbitantly expensive. MultiChoice must pay for this in foreign currency, and secondly, it is increasingly simply not available to buy.

In a massive shift, Hollywood studios are no longer piping some of their most sought-after content properties through their international distribution pipes to linear TV channels but putting it exclusively on their own streaming services - their "new channels" if you will - with their own streaming services like Disney+ as their main focus.

The Lord of the Rings fantasy TV drama is currently being filmed in New Zealand, billed as the most expensive TV series ever, while Foundation based on Isaac Asimov's science fiction series is filmed in the UK for Apple's Apple TV+ for instance.

It would be unbearable and unthinkable for MultiChoice not having these series for their DStv customers when these new buzz-worthy shows launch. And as things stand, neither The Lord of the Rings or Foundation, nor a flurry of other shows currently in development and filming, are available. 

By adding various streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as soon as possible - with DStv subscribers subscribing and unsubscribing to their own unique collection of streaming apps as they seek out specific series - MultiChoice will pivot to once again being able to claim that it is the "home" of the best international content - without having to directly pay or source it.

By offering Netflix, Amazon Prime and others as streaming add-ons, MultiChoice will now - once again - be able to market itself as "DStv: The home of The Lord of the Rings through Amazon Prime Video", or "MultiChoice brings you Stranger Things through Netflix".

Here is the second part of the plan:

Meanwhile MultiChoice is doing heavier and heavier lifting when it comes to local content. 

The weakness of the out-of-pocket South African public broadcaster, unable to produce enough and quality local content, has been MultiChoice's gain which completely took the gap and will be exploiting the inabilities of the SABC on the local content to an ever-larger degree.

MultiChoice is producing more, and better, local content for its various M-Net packaged channels in South Africa from M-Net, to 1Magic, the Mzansi Magic channels and its set of kykNET channels - and it's set to do even more.

MultiChoice is taking the gap to give DStv subscribers want they want - more local content - with a heavy future focus of ramping up and rolling out even more local content. MultiChoice is doing this while the bulk of the bloated SABC's budget goes to paying staff as its biggest expense line item, leaving it unable to make the local content it needs to attract audiences.

MultiChoice Africa has likewise rapidly been duplicating M-Net's South Africa success across sub-Saharan Africa - even as far as Ethiopia. 

Using the same blueprint with ongoing success, MultiChoice has launched and will launch even more regionalised channels in various African countries where it's filling up the programming grids with localised format adaptations of reality shows, original telenovelas, talk shows and new drama series using local producers and on-air talent.

In these countries - like with Date my Family Uganda on Pearl Magic in Uganda, or Zambia's first telenovela Zuba on Zambezi Magic - MultiChoice and M-Net are pipping crumbling local broadcasters to the post who are unwilling or unable to create the local content they should be making.

At the same time MultiChoice is opening up new production avenues for not just local filmmakers in these countries specifically but also creating new opportunities for its own graduates from its successful and growing pan-African MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice passes milestone of 20 million subscribers across Africa despite Covid-19, says it will focus on expanding its video streaming ecosystem.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice launches its new DStv Explora Ultra decoder offering Netflix in South Africa but not yet Amazon Prime Video.

Apple TV+ drops first teaser about Isaac Asimov's sprawling Foundation sci-fi series.

by Thinus Ferreira

Although the series will only be released in 2021 Apple TV+ has surprised viewers by releasing a first teaser of the upcoming science-fiction drama Foundation, based on Isaac Asimov's iconic book series.

Although production of the epic series filmed in Ireland by Skydance Television as that country's largest TV series ever, was shut down in mid-March because of the growing global Covid-19 pandemic, the series with showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer has clearly done a lot of filming and post-production work already.

The 10-episode first season of Foundation is based on Isaac Asimov's seminal science fiction series about a mathematician in the far-flung future, when mankind has spread through the entire galaxy, predicting the fall of the Galactic Empire and setting up a way to limit the duration of the destruction to preserve humanity.

There are 6 books in the series with Foundation that was first published in 1951.

The official logline from Apple about Foundation is that "the series will revolve around the thousand year saga of the Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it".

Mathematician Hari Seldon invents psychohistory which can broadly "predict" human behaviour and behavioural patterns on a massive scale, and he constructs a plan to shorten the predicted new "dark age" of the Galactic Empire by setting up the "Foundation".

With this "predictability power" Hari, of course, becomes a threat to the galactic government that doesn't understand what he's trying to do, setting of sprawling interplanetary intrigue with a lot of surprising twists and characters who often are not who they initially appear to be.

In the teaser for the Apple Original, David S. Goyer gives a glimpse into the making of the epic saga, that stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon; Lee Pace as Brother Day; Lou Llobell as Gaal; Leah Harvey as Salvor; Laura Birn as Demerzel; Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk; and Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn.

"People have been trying to make Foundation for over fifty years," says David S. Goyer.

"Foundation was an enormous influence for Star Wars. It was the greatest science fiction work of all time. The story is sprawling, it unfolds over the course of a thousand years. If ever there were a company that was hoping to better people's lives through technology, through connectivity it's Apple. And that's something very much that Asimov was hoping to do."

Coronavirus: Multiple American TV shows shutting down production as TV industry in United States staggers under growing Covid-19 impact.

by Thinus Ferreira

Multiple American TV shows are shutting down production, with many more expected to halt filming for weeks, as the TV industry in the United States brace for the growing fallout and abrupt societal change forced by the rising spread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 in that country and globally.

So far no South African TV productions have shut down although M-Net is considering whether to continue with filming and possibly changing the island location of the upcoming 8th season of Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island produced by Afrokaans.

On Friday morning MultiChoice and M-Net were still set to continue and go ahead with Saturday's 7th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards taking place in Lagos, Nigeria as well as the 2020 DStv Mzansi Viewers' Choice Awards taking place at The Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg with thousands set to attend the two live broadcast award shows.

The National Film and Video Foundation's (NFVF) 14th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) is also still on for 27 and 28 March at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

By late Thursday over 35 American TV shows seen in South Africa and counting - ranging from scripted drama series like Grey's Anatomy, NCIS and the variouos Chicago series; to reality series like The Amazing Race, to daytime talk shows like The Wendy Williams Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Ellen, and even late night shows like The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - have ceased production.

As the growing coronavirus pandemic is rapidly spreading in the United States following the same alarming trajectory as it has in Italy, American TV channels, studios and production companies are shutting down production to try and limit the spread of the virus.

On Thursday NBCUniversal ordered almost all of its vast range of shows from several studios and Universal Television to temporarily shut down, including Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, F.B.I. and New Amsterdam all seen on M-Net (DStv 101) along with the daytime talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit seen on Universal TV (DStv 117) also shuttered.

"The safety and health of our cast, crew and employees is our top priority," says NBCUniversal in a statement. "Where possible, we are pausing production for two weeks as a precautionary measure, following which we will reassess and determine an appropriate start date. In some cases, we are accelerating plans to wrap up physical production."

The three NCIS series seen on M-Net and Universal TV are taking a production break as well, with CBS Television that has told the cast and crew of The Good Fight (also seen on M-Net) to stay home. 

Survivor seen on SABC3 and M-Net have postponed production and filming of the upcoming 41st season that was supposed to start later this month.

Production on the second season of The Morning Show on Apple TV+ has shut down, as well as on its Isaac Asimov science fiction series Foundation produced by Skydance and currently filming in Ireland, with Riverdale seen on M-Net and filmed in Vancouver in Canada also shuttered after a crew member was in contact with someone who has the virus.

Amazon Studios has shuttered production on the second season of the fantasy series Carnival Row on Amazon Prime Video, currently filming in Budapest, Hungary. 

The 16th season of Shondaland's Grey's Anatomy, also seen on M-Net, also ceased production on Thursday in America, while Netflix ended work for now on the final season of Grace and Frankie.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert seen on e.tv that on Wednesday said it's going without a live studio audience decided to rather shut down entirely, as did The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers which are not seen in South Africa. 

The Wendy Williams Show on ViacomCBS Networks Africa's BET (DStv 129) also initially said on Wednesday it would continue without an in-studio audience in New York but also decided to shut down completely, saying "The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority. Considering the current escalation of the coronavirus, production will be put on hold, indefinitely."

ViacomCBS also pulled the plug on its annual 2020 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards set for 22 March 2020 in Los Angeles.

Apple set to join the video streaming TV wars as it gets ready to announce its original content plans at Monday's 'Show Time' event.

Apple is finally set to join the video streaming TV wars as Apple Inc. gets ready to announce its original content plans on Monday at its "Show Time" event.

Apple Inc. is joining the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) race that will add yet another option for video content consumers globally and in a market like South Africa and Africa where video streaming services like MultiChoice's Showmax, Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video,Viu, Cell C black, Acorn TV, TV2GO and others are battling it out to attract subscribers, with more waiting in the wings like Disney+

Apple sent out invitations to the press for a "special event" on 25 March it calls "Show Time" that will take place inside its Steve Jobs Theater at its Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, strongly hinting that it will be about Apple's video content service.

Please join us for an Apple special event
at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.

March 25, 2019
10:00 a.m.

The email played a short film reel countdown animation on opening. pic.twitter.com/a2COFjMIpA

— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) March 11, 2019

Monday morning's event at 10:00 in California will be live-streamed globally from 19:00 South African time.

Apple has invested over $1 billion the past year in commissioning original TV shows, chasing Netflix and Amazon Studios is ramping up the production of TV series and attaching big name producers from Steven Spielberg to Oprah Winfrey.

Apple has already announced projects and investments in a flurry of over 20 brand-new scripted TV shows that will add to the avalanche of content on existing SVOD services and the TV channels carried on the services of traditional pay-TV operators.

Nobody knows exactly what Apple's video content streaming strategy is and whether Apple will announce a Netflix-like service for Apple TV or a pay-TV service, whether TV shows will be made available for free for users of Apple devices, or how its distribution will work - through its own apps or using existing pay-TV services and platforms.

If Apple is launching it's own streaming service, what will it look like, and how much will it cost?

Here is what Apple has already poured money into - and up until this point, Apple has not publicly released a single on-set still, show publicity photo, image teaser trailer or a second of footage of any of these TV series in development and in production:

Amazing Stories: A new reboot of the science fiction anthology series, again with Steven Spielberg as executive producers.
Are You Sleeping?: A crime series about podcasts of true crime cases with Octavia Spencer and with Reese Witherspoon as executive producers.
Calls: An adaptation of a short-form French series where the emphasis is on audio storytelling.
Central Park: An animated musical comedy.
Defending Jacob: A thriller-adaptation of William Landay's novel with Chris Evans.
Dickson: A growing-up series about the life of the poet Emily Dickinson, with Hailee Steinfeld.
For All Mankind: A science fiction series set in space from Ronald D. Moore.
Foundation: A science fiction series based on the novel series of Isaac Asimov, produced by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman.
Home: A documentary series about exceptional homes.
Little America: An anthology series revolving around immigrants.
Little Voice: A romantic dramedy series with J.J. Abrams as executive producer.
Losing Earth: A series based on the story of Nathaniel Rich published in The New York Times magazine and as a book about the history of climate activism.
Magic Hour: A mystery series loosely based on the real-life story of Hilde Lysiak.
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends: Jennifer Garner and J.J. Abrams reteam for the first time after Alias for this series based on the life of Amy Silverstein.
Pachinko: A series spanning several generations following a Korean family, based on the novel by Min Jin Lee.
See: A science fiction drama series.
Shantaram: A series based on Gregory David Robert's novel about a man's life in Bombay.
Swagger: A drama series inspired by the life of basketball player Kevin Durant.
The Morning Show: A backstage drama series set behind-the-scenes at a fictional American morning show with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell.
Time Bandits: A reboot of the classic film by Terry Gilliam.
Untitled Brie Larson series: A drama series based on the life of the undercover CIA-agent Amaryllis Fox.
Untitled Colleen McGuinness series: A comedy series based on Curtis Sittenfeld's You Think It, I'll Say It short story collection.
Untitled Damien Chazelle series.
Untitled M. Night Shyamalan series: M. Night Shyamalan is the executive producer and will be writing the first episode of this thriller-series that will undoubtedly incorporate weird twists.
Untitled Oprah projects: Oprah Winfrey closed a multi-year partnership with Apple to produce an array of original content.
Untitled Snoopy series: Short-form animation series based on the dog character from Peanuts.
Untitled Richard Gere series: A drama series based on the Israeli show Nevelot.
Untitled Rob McElhenny and Charlie Day series: A comedy series revolving around a worker at a video game studio.
Untitled Simon Kinberg and David Weil series: A science fiction series.

BREAKING. Apple gives a series order for a science fiction TV drama based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation books.

Apple has given a series order for a science fiction TV drama based on author Isaac Asimov's sprawling Foundation book series.

Apple gave a straight-to-series order for the long-gestating project that Skydance Television brought to Apple in April this year.

Apple gave Skydance a development deal earlier this year for a possible straight-to-series Foundation pick-up and will now proceed to make an entire first season.

David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman will be the executive producers and showrunners of Foundation, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross who will also be executive producers.

Skydance Television that is also responsible for the first season of Altered Carbon that became available on Netflix and Netflix South Africa in March, will produce a 10-episode first season of the as-yet-untitled Foundation series.

The official logline from Apple about Foundation is that "the series will revolve around the thousand year saga of the Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it".

The fascinating Foundation story is set far into mankind's future when humanity has spread out across the galaxy inhabiting millions of worlds (without ever finding extra-terrestrial life) spans across several millennia and dozens of characters.

Mathematician Hari Seldon invents psychohistory which can broadly "predict" human behaviour and behavioural patters on a massive scale, and he constructs a plan to shorten the predicted new "dark age" of the Galactic Empire by setting up the "Foundation".

The mesmerising story, filled with major twists and dramatic, unexpected turns, concludes with a few books detailing a highly adventurous journey of an intrepid group trying to find the origins of humanity, apparently a place called Earth.

Apple the latest to try and adapt Isaac Asimov's sprawling Foundation science fiction saga as a TV drama series.

The long-gestating TV development looking for a possible series pick-up of Isaac Asimov's sprawling science fiction saga, Foundation, has finally found a home Apple.

In 2014 HBO and Warner Bros. TV tried to work together to bring the groundbreaking and massive science fiction saga of Isaac Asimov's Foundation book series to television which would have been written and produced by Jonathan Nolan - but nothing came of it.

For years - just like with George R.R. Martin's sprawling fantasy Game of Thrones series, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (now to be made into an at least 5 season series by Amazon), and George Lucas' Star Wars as a possible TV series (now to be made a TV drama series by Disney), Asimov's Foundation was considered simply too big and complex in scope to be made into a TV series given budget and special effect constraints.

But no more. As premium broadcasters and streaming services are upping the ante on each other and splurging on mega TV projects in the medium's Peak TV era, all of those formerly "undoable" are now being chased and produced for the viewership, subscriber growth and revenue, prestige, and reams of press coverage they bring in.

Now Apple has grabbed a TV series adaptation of Foundation that will be produced by Skydance Television, with Apple that has given Skydance a development deal for a possible straight-to-series Foundation pick-up.

David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman will be the executive producers and showrunners of Foundation, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross who will also be executive producers.

Skydance Television is also responsible for the first season of Altered Carbon that became available on Netflix and Netflix South Africa last month.

The fascinating Foundation story is set far into mankind's future when humanity has spread out across the galaxy inhabiting millions of worlds (without ever finding extra-terrestrial life) spans across several millenia and dozens of characters.

Mathematician Hari Seldon invents psychohistory which can broadly "predict" human behaviour and behavioural patters on a massive scale, and he constructs a plan to shorten the predicted new "dark age" of the Galactic Empire by setting up the "Foundation".

The mesmerising story, filled with major twists and dramatic, unexpected turns, concludes with a few books detailing a highly adventurous journey of an intrepid group trying to find the origins of humanity, apparently a place called Earth. 

Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' books saga developed as a TV series for HBO by Jonathan Nolan - report.

In a fascinating and groundbreaking development HBO and Warner Bros. TV are apparently working together to bring the groundbreaking and massive science fiction saga of Isaac Asimov's Foundation book series to television which will be written and produced by Jonathan Nolan, The Wrap reports.

The sprawling, hugely influential, and highly acclaimed book series has never been made into a film or film series or TV show and spans as rich and dense a mythology and characters as The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones and could very likely be as successful as a long-running TV or film project - especially in the hands of HBO which would give it proper financial and creative support together with Warner Bros. capable TV studio.

The fascinating story set far into mankind's future when humanity has spread out across the galaxy inhabiting millions of worlds (without ever finding extra-terrestrial life) spans across several millenia and dozens of characters.

Mathematician Hari Seldon invents psychohistory which can broadly "predict" human behaviour and behavioural patters on a massive scale, and he constructs a plan to shorten the predicted new "dark age" of the Galactic Empire by setting up the "Foundation".

The mesmerising story, filled with major twists and dramatic, unexpected turns, concludes with a few books detailing a highly adventurous journey of an intrepid group trying to find the origins of humanity, apparently a place called Earth. 

According to The Wrap, the Foundation TV series has been in development for the last several months between HBO, Warner Bros. TV and Jonathan Nolan.