Monday, February 10, 2025

NBCUniversal International Networks silent on E!'s ongoing embarrassment on DStv: Why E! Live from the Red Carpet isn't 'Live' at all


by Thinus Ferreira

NBCUniversal International Networks doesn't want to comment or explain why DStv subscribers in South Africa and across the African continent are made to watch any of its supposedly pre-show E! Live from the Red Carpet as belated afterthought programming.

While still calling it E! Live from the Red Carpet on its schedules, NBCUniversal International Networks for quite a while now no longer has its E! Live from the Red Carpet coverage from various Hollywood award shows either live, or showing it on E! (DStv 124) for Africa before awards shows.

What exactly is the purpose of watching people doing arrival interviews pre-show or pre-game, when it's only shown long afterwards "post-game", when even the winners have been reported, the awards shown has been seen, and social media had its wave of clips? 

On Monday 3 February - long after the 2025 Grammy Awards was already shown live from Los Angeles - the South African PR company of NBCUniversal International Networks sent out a press release to inform the media that "E! Live from the Red Carpet: The 2025 Grammy Awards, E!'s signature red carpet coverage from this weekend's Grammys will air on E! tonight at 19:00".

Of course the press release for this E! programming was far too late and wholly irrelevant to any 2025 Grammy coverage that had already been done days before and during the weekend.

Yet E! also had no problem in trying to tell South African media, which it apparently wanted to tell DStv subscribers in turn, to watch something called "live" that was already old, stale and definitely not live.

On Monday last week, TVwithThinus asked NBCUniversal International Networks, through a media query made through the PR agency, why the E! Live from the Red Carpet shows are no longer shown live.

A week later and after waiting seven days there's been no response from NBCUniversal International Networks.

It's of course not just the Grammy Awards where NBCUniversal International Networks decided to foist off a live pre-show on E! thatis only shown days later as recorded after-filler to DStv viewers. 

It happened - and happens - with all of the other award shows as well - like last month's supposed E! Live from the Red Carpet for the Golden Globe Awards which was also first shown on E! the Monday evening after, and September's 76th Primetime Emmy Awards where E!'s awful pre-becomes-post programming embarrassment was also very, very obvious.

The regression of NBCUniversal International Networks to no longer showing E! Live from the Red Carpet as actually "live" is sadly not happening as something on its own.

It is taking place alongside the broader zombification trend of the programming of pay-TV channels of which E! is one.

Groups again call for withdrawal of South African government's flawed SABC Bill


by Thinus Ferreira

South African organisations are once again calling for the withdrawal of the fatally flawed SABC Bill.

The completely irrelevant and disastrous SABC Bill proposes the creation of a second SABC with a separate board appointed by a minister and is filled with other failure prescripts.

This SABC Bill has become a point of in-fighting between South Africa's minister of communications who is from the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party and ordered it withdrawn in November 2024.

Then there is Khusela Diko who is from the African National Congress (ANC) political party and is doggedly fighting that the SABC Bill should go ahead and be processed in her role as chairperson of parliament's portfolio committee on communications.

After having done so previously, the SOS Coalition, Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), The South African Editors' Forum (Sanef), and the Campaign for Free Expression (CFE) are all once again calling for the withdrawal of the SABC Bill.

It's not just these civic organisations that have repeatedly said and explained why the SABC Bill is bad and not workable - so has the industry.

The organisations have written to the speaker of parliament, South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as parliament's portfolio committee on communications to explain and emphasise "the importance of the separation of powers doctrine and respecting due process".

"After months of advocacy for the withdrawal of the SABC Bill, SOS, MMA, Sanef and CFE welcomed the decision by Solly Malatsi, minister of communications and digital technologies, to withdrawn the bill," they say.

"However, we are now deeply disappointed by the prolonged delay on the part of the speaker of parliament in gazetting the withdrawal of the SABC Bill and ongoing unlawful, unconstitutional interference by the cabinet in the withdrawal of the Bill."

"Solly Malatsi followed due process by formally notifying the speaker of the National Assembly in writing about his withdrawal of the Bill. The speaker must gazette the withdrawal of the SABC Bill and has no authority to overrule the minister's decision."

"We urge the speaker, the committee and the cabinet to respect the separation of powers doctrine and proceed with the formal gazetting of the SABC Bill's withdrawal in line with the Constitution and the rules of the National Assembly as any continued deliberation of the SABC Bill by the committee and parliament in general would be unlawful."

CNN at digital crossroads after years of turmoil as a 'brand in decline'


by Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times

When Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he stressed how the C stood for cable, making it the first channel to be named after the then-nascent TV delivery system.

But more than four decades later, the pay-TV business that provides CNN with well over half of its revenue is sinking fast. CNN Chairman Mark Thompson's mission is to adapt to a cord-free future.

Thompson's plan comes after years of ownership changes, top management shakeups, staff cutbacks, declining TV ratings and a loss of the swagger the network had when it sparred with the first Donald Trump administration.

CNN even had to deal with public criticism from David Zaslav, chief executive of its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, who pushed for booking more Republicans.

Last month, Thompson pressed the reset button by announcing a staff cut of 200 employees on the TV side and a $70-million investment into new products aimed at digital media users.

Thompson, a former BBC and New York Times executive, called the moves a response "to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America consume news".

CNN executives have long recognized the need to commit to a post-pay-TV world. The company launched a direct-to-subscription service in 2022 with CNN+, which management at the time said represented the future of the company.

Ownership changes derailed that plan and now Thompson is charged with reviving it.

He said CNN will launch a new lifestyle-oriented product later this year and develop a linear news stream for digital users. Thompson set a goal of generating $1 billion in digital revenue by 2030 as cord-cutting erodes the steady stream of funding that pay-TV subscriptions provide. 

CNN has hit ratings lows in recent years, drawing fewer viewers than Fox News and MSNBC, and has seen its revenue decline by half between 2021 and 2023 after having its most profitable year ever in 2020. CNN's digital transformation is taking place after several body blows to its public image.

Recently Jim Acosta, a popular CNN journalist known for his combative stance when covering American president Donald Trump left the network instead of taking a new shift at midnight.

On 17 January CNN had to pay millions of dollars to settle a defamation lawsuit from a security consultant who was named in a 2021 story about black market war profiteers operating in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal.

CNN also remains in the crosshairs of president Donald Trump and the political right, who have made the network the poster child for their attacks on the mainstream press.

Donald Trump's oft-repeated phrase "fake news" was invoked in the arguments against CNN during the recent defamation suit trial.

"Right now, you think of their brand as in decline," said Jeff McCall, a professor of communications at DePauw University.

"The layoffs; that's a problem. And it looks really bad when you lose libel suits."

Many of the economic challenges facing CNN are happening throughout the traditional TV business.

Streaming services now account for half of all United States TV viewing and pay-TV subscriptions have been in a steady decline. The trend is now taking its toll on traditional TV news, with big name news personalities taking pay cuts or heading for the exit.

"One thing we do know about the future, it's not going to be the same money," said one CNN veteran not authorised to comment publicly.

While morale is low inside of CNN due to the latest round of layoffs, some insiders said they are hopeful about Thompson's transformation plan based on his track record at the New York Times, widely considered the most successful digital subscriber-based news business.

"If anybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's Mark Thompson and his team," said Jon Klein, a former CNN president who has been at the helm of several tech start-ups. 

"He dragged the BBC into the internet era and the New York Times into the digital subscription era really well."

CNN's strength has always been breaking news and the network's ability to quickly get live pictures from anywhere in the world and provide analysis. But it remains to be seen if CNN can get consumers to subscribe for products outside of live news coverage.

The New York Times already had an audience with the habit of buying a paper for content that goes beyond the news, such as puzzles and recipes, which the company developed into standalone money-making digital offerings.

The short-lived CNN+ was designed to offer a broad range of programming on topics such as food and wellness while building on its longtime strengths in politics and international affairs. 

The company made a $100-million investment, which included the hiring of well-known names including Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Kasie Hunt. (CNN also pursued MSNBC stars Rachel Maddow and Ari Melber.)

After a heavy promotional campaign, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on the service just nine days after taking over CNN. The new company was looking for quick ways to reduce its $54-billion debt load, and CNN+, spearheaded by its ousted president Jeff Zucker, was an easy target.

After scuttling CNN+, Warner Bros. Discovery put a CNN feed, much of it from its international channel, on the company's entertainment streaming service Max. 

The stream generated complaints from cable and satellite carriers who pay fees to offer CNN to their customers, reflecting the delicate balance of developing a product for the future while most of the revenue is tied to a declining business.

According to people familiar with the plans, CNN+ would have offered a streaming version of the network's linear channel as soon as 2026 - an opportunity to turn cord-cutters and cord-nevers into digital subscribers. 

There is no date set on when such a service will be available on Thompson's watch.

Thompson's memo acknowledged that streaming CNN on Max is not the long-term answer. But the performance of CNN coverage on the service has provided insight into what might work best on a standalone platform.

Former CNN executives note that the plan Thompson laid out in his 23January memo is not that far afield from the quickly jettisoned CNN+. Thompson even rehired Alex MacCallum, the well-respected interim chief digital officer when CNN+ was launched. 

She left along with many others hired for the service in 2022 after it was shuttered.

CNN already has a large digital audience on CNN.com, which has started charging monthly fees for heavy users. 

In a statement, the company expressed confidence in the next phase of its digital plan. "Given our brand and reputation, the incredible talent at our disposal, and the spirit of innovation and commitment that has always been a hallmark of CNN, we truly believe that we have what it will take to make sure this great news organization succeeds," a CNN representative said.

CNN will now have to prioritise growing its digital business while trying to maintain its traditional TV channel at a time when ratings are often driven by the tribal political preferences of the audience.

Navigating the unsettled landscape will be tricky for CNN, as every move it makes is scrutinized by social media and right-wing outlets.

Jim Acosta's exit exemplified the polarization that CNN faces.

The journalist was known for his aggressive questioning of the Trump administration, which at one point pulled his White House credentials.

Acosta was asked to give up his daytime program and anchor a live two-hour shift starting at midnight when many viewers are asleep. The take-it-or-leave-it graveyard shift offer was largely seen internally and among many CNN fans as a capitulation to Trump, who immediately took to social media to celebrate Acosta's departure.

Many critics and even a few former CNN executives believe the network was overzealous at times in its aggressive and often critical coverage of the first Trump administration. But CNN reached its highest viewership when it was considered part of the resistance to Trump.

The environment has only gotten more heated as even fact-checking the president now generates accusations of bias.

While it may be virtuous for consumers to say they want straight news without opinion, Nielsen ratings show otherwise. 

Fox News, which provides hours of pro-Trump commentary daily, has been the most watched cable network of any genre for eight consecutive years and now regularly pulls in the most viewers for the type of breaking news coverage that CNN used to ow.

During Chris Licht's brief tenure as head of CNN, he acted on Warner Bros. Discovery executives' demands to bring more conservative viewers to the network.

As a result, a large segment of the audience fled and the ratings have not recovered. In 2024, MSNBC beat CNN on major news events including election night and the Democratic National Convention for the first time ever.

CNN now relies heavily on Scott Jennings, a pundit who regularly echoes Trump talking points. (Jennings has also been tapped by Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to add a right-leaning voice to the newspaper's editorial board.)

One former CNN executive who did not want to speak publicly about his previous employer, said there's "only anti-Trump and Trump and the hard part for the network is to thread that needle."

But Klein believes a digital relaunch gives CNN a second chance to establish its value among consumers. 

"They've been a stellar brand far longer than they've been in the dumps," he said. "Ask people, 'What does CNN mean?' and a vast majority will say, 'the best breaking news coverage' and 'they help me understand the world.'"


Paramount halts MTV Europe Music Awards for 2025 ahead of possible Skydance buyout


by Thinus Ferreira

Paramount Global has put a stop to several of its events for 2025, including the 2025 edition of the MTV Europe Music Awards (MTV EMAs) ahead of its possibly buyout by Sundance.

American media report that Paramount is halting the MTV EMAs in 2025, along with some of its other awards shows like the CMT Music Awards, the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Mexico and the MTV MIAWs which won't be taking place this year either.

Paramount Africa had a tie-in of sorts the last few years with the MTV EMAs.

The MTV EMAs added the category of Best Africa Act since 2005 for a few years - which was discontinued, and then added back in since 2010 for the MTV EMAs.

This happened because Paramount Africa started the MTV Africa Music Awards and spun out the award for the MAMAs, but then the MAMAs got cancelled and indefinitely postponed due to a lack of money, prompting the return of the category back to the MTV EMAs to keep Africa represented.

In some years past, Paramount Africa used to send some South African media, as well as some influencers, to the MTV EMAs as the event jumped from year to year to various European countries although they didn't really do much there as they would travel with nominated artists from the continent who went to go attend the awards.

Last week Bruce Gillmer, Paramount's president, music, music talent, programming and events, media networks and chief content officer, music, Paramount+, in a memo, told Paramount Global staff the MTV EMAs is off the schedule for 2025.

"We are pausing a few events for 2025, as we look to reimagine and optimise our events slate going forward," he wrote.

"These include the MTV EMAs, MTV MIAWs, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Mexico, and CMT Music Awards."

"Our world-class events remain a key component of Paramount's music offering as we continue to raise the bar in delivering iconic, unforgettable performances and moments that drive pop culture."

"We have the best team in the business, and we are grateful for your hard work and dedication in bringing these events to life."

In November 2024 at last year's MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester, England, South Africa's Tyla won three awards, including Best African Act, Best R&B and the Best Afrobeats category.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

SABC issues tender for a PR fixer to repair its image and reputation after 'chronic failures in corporate governance'


by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster has once again issued a tender looking for a service provider who will have to put in "considerable effort" to fix the "chronic failures in corporate governance which caused severe reputational damage to the SABC brand". 

The SABC is technically insolvent and owes over a billion rand to the parastatal signal distributor Sentech and millions more to other service providers.

The SABC now wants a PR company to repair the public broadcaster's image and who has expertise in corporate image rehabilitation and reputation management. The SABC has an in-house corporate communications team and staff.

The public broadcaster has in previous years also advertised and paid companies millions of rand to try and improve its corporate image who would appear, work but not really engage the media meaningfully, make empty promises and then just disappear again.

Besides not really knowing how to do the work properly, these previous PR firms also found it hard if not impossible to put a shine on a SABC that persistently failed to sort out the various issues that led to its ongoing brand damage and poor reputation in the first place.

In 2020 the SABC as part of its last massive retrenchment process, decided to get rid of the various TV channel publicity teams that communicated with the press about SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3. 

Instead of groups of three, the public broadcaster for the past five years made do with just one publicist for all three TV channels and their programming, that has had little impact as other broadcasters and video streaming services scaled up their communication efforts with appointments and using external PR companies. 

"Going forward, one of the key priorities that the SABC aims to put considerable effort on is the restoration of its public image and trust among its audiences, industry counterparts, advertises and the plethora of stakeholders with whom the broadcaster enjoys affinity," the SABC notes.

"One of the ways in which the broadcaster can reclaim its reputation and display its dominance and credibility as an industry leader is to solicit the services of experts in the field of corporate image and reputation management."

Media engagements that the SABC wants the PR company to do are among other things research surveys, celebrity endorsements, influencers and "competitions", as well as online PR with dedicated blogs and "online editorial".

The successful bidder should develop strategic PR plans "to enhance the SABC's corporate reputation and address any identified reputational risks, and come up with recommendations for "proactive reputation management strategies and tactics".

Applications for the PR tender closes 18 February 2025.


Friday, February 7, 2025

South Africa's actors guild says country's president chooses American studios and streamers and neglects local artists, unpaid crews and ignores copyright reforms


by Thinus Ferreira

The South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) on Thursday slammed South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and said the country's president has chosen to be on the side of American studios, streamers and broadcasters while neglecting the plight of local South African artists, the alarming rise in unpaid crews, and ignored copyright reforms.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his 2025 State of the Nation Address in South Africa on Thursday evening in parliament.

SAGA called out president Cyril Ramaphosa for what the organisation calls the neglect of South Africa's cultural and creative industries, unpaid crews and ignored copyright reforms, saying that the sector demands action.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa has never acknowledged the grievances of South Africa's cultural and creative industries," said SAGA.

"We have witnessed an alarming increase in incidents of non-payment of cast and technical crew, numerous reports of health and safety violations, criminal complaints of human trafficking, and deteriorating work conditions in an increasingly hostile production environment. But not a word from the president," the organisation noted.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa's stubborn defiance of the Constitutional Court order of September 2022 to amend parts of the Copyright Act of 1978 that violates the human rights of people with disabilities, is very revealing."

"In fact, South African creatives generally suspect that president Ramaphosa chose not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill specifically to give assurance to American studios, streamers, and broadcasters that their commercial interests in South African film and TV productions remain subject to their monopolies."

SAGA said "The president has worked hard at ignoring our sector, and now that the final decision on the Copyright Amendment Bill sits with the Constitutional Court, actors who are desperate for the statutory right to earn royalties, are only too pleased that our fate lies with a competent authority and not with a bewildered, indifferent, and indecisive president."

Actor Nicky Rebelo noted that "American, British, French, Italian actors all receive residuals or royalties when the work that they have done is repeated or sold to other channels".

"But I never receive any residuals or royalties. I don't think that's right. I think it's time that we in South Africa were treated like other actors around the world."

SAB ordered to pull Brutal Fruit TV ad over showing and encouraging glass bottles and bringing and drinking alcohol on a beach


by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has ordered South African Breweries (SAB) to remove its "Be in the Moment" TV commercial for Brutal Fruit since it shows not just glass bottles which is prohibited on South African beaches but also depicts people bringing and drinking alcohol on a beach which are also illegal.

SAB aired its Brutal Fruit TV commercial on Warner Bros. Discovery's Discovery (DStv 121) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.

The Brutal Fruit TV commercial was filmed by Giant Films with Emma Lundy and Cindy Gabriel as executive producers, with Joe Public as the agency.

According to the ARB, SAB's Brutal Fruit TV commercial depicts a glass bottle of Brutal Fruit on a colourful beach towel, as well as scenes and a setting in which a group of people are drinking Brutal Fruit

In response to a complaint from a DStv subscriber, SAB's Brutal Fruit told the ARB that the Brutal Fruit glass bottle depicted on the beach is closed and was only displayed "with the intention of showcasing the brand, and at no point did any of the people in the commercial consume the product on the beach".

Brutal Fruit said "it continues to encourage responsible disposal of bottles with appropriate guidance labelling to this effect appearing on packaging".

The ARB said it can't rule on the display of a Brutal Fruit glass bottle depicted on a beach, but said SAB and Brutal Fruit's argument "that the bottle is closed and alcohol is not begin consumed in the beach scenes is a little disingenuous".

"A hypothetical reasonable consumer watching the commercial as a whole and not pausing scene-by-scene as the directorate did, will view the commercial in its entirety, depicting friends enjoying Brutal Fruit together in various settings, and will not isolate the beach scenes, will not analyse each frame and conclude that alcohol is not consumed on the beach."

According to the ARB, it is "a stretch for the advertiser to assert that because the bottles are closed it is used to highlight the brand and does not encourage drinking on a beach".

The ARB in its ruling noted that Clause 3.3 of Section II states that advertisements must not contain anything which might lend support to criminal or illegal activities, nor should they appear to condone such activities.

"There is no doubt in the mind of the directorate that watched as a whole, the commercial condones and in fact encourages bringing alcohol to the beach and consuming it on the beach. This is illegal".

The ARB directorate found that SAB's Brutal Fruit TV commercial contravened Clause 3.3 of Section II of the Code and ordered SAB to remove the Brutal Fruit ad in its current format from wherever it appears.

Two-episode wedding on kykNET's Binnelanders as characters of Dr Jonker and Tracy tie the knot


by Thinus Ferreira

A two-episode TV wedding starts today with the characters of Dr Tertius Jonker, played by Reynardt Hugo and Tracy Smith, played by Melinda Viljoen, who will get married in this evening's episode of the Afrikaans soap Binnelanders on kykNET (DStv 144)

The wedding will be shown on Friday 7 February's episode at 19:30, with the wedding reception being shown on Monday 10 February on kykNET.

"The wedding dress is hanging in the closet, the wedding cake has been ordered - in short, everything's been organised," says Elsje Stark, Binnelanders producer about the TV wedding.

"The groom is even planning a special surprise for his bride. Now everyone has to hold thumbs that everything goes according to plan ..."

Binnelanders which is celebrating its 20th anniversary later this year as a TV soap is produced by Stark Films for kykNET and filmed at Stark Studios in Johannesburg.

South Africa's Encounters documentary film festival adds three Cape Town filmmakers to its board before 27th Encounters edition in June 2025


by Thinus Ferreira

The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has added Premesh LaluOdette Geldenhuys and Shameela Seedat to its board.

The 2025 Encounters Film Festival is set to take place from 19 to 29 June in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Premesh LaluOdette Geldenhuys and Shameela Seedat join the existing board members Moroba Nkawe, Tiny Mungwe and Toni Monty, with Mandisa Zitha, as Encounters director.

"We are delighted to welcome three upstanding South African filmmakers onto the Encounters board, each of whom brings a wealth of knowledge around issues in which the film festival engages, as well as experience within the making of films," says Mandisa Zitha, Encounters director.

"What is particularly useful to the festival is that the board now comprises members from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban – creating a broad net of influence across the country."

The new board members are author, filmmaker and academic Premesh Lalu, attorney and filmmaker Odette Geldenhuys and the human rights lawyer and filmmaker Shameela Seedat all from Cape Town.


They join existing board members film guarantor Moroba Nkawe from Johannesburg, filmmaker and arts administrator Tiny Mungwe from Durban, and film producer and entertainment law expert Toni Monty from Durban.

 

Premesh Lalu is a researcher and former director of the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). He authored the book Undoing Apartheid (2022) and has had two films Looking for Ned and The Double Futures of Athlone featured at Encounters.

 

Odette Geldenhuys is a pro bono attorney and a multi-ward-winning documentary filmmaker (The Shore BreakHere Be Dragons). She serves on the boards of ProBono.Org and the Khayelitsha Youth and Community Trust.

 

Shameela Seedat is a human rights lawyer turned documentary filmmaker, known for Whispering Truth to Power and African Moot. She has produced for NGOs, published on law and social justice, and served as a Documentary Filmmakers' Association board member and international film juror.

 

Current members are: Moroba Nkawe who is the founder of Maru Film Services, specialising in risk management for the film industry. With more than 15 years of experience, she has worked across Africa as a producer and production executive and also serves on the board of the South African Film Academy.


Tiny Mungwe is a filmmaker and arts manager, founder of film and TV company CTRL ALT Shift, who until recently worked with STEPS, producing Generation Africa, a documentary series of 25 films across 16 African countries.


Toni Monty is a film industry leader with 20 years of experience, formerly leading the Durban Film Office and Durban FilmMart. She has supported more than 200 African projects through her work with the Mart, and continues her work at A.M. Afrika.


"This is a strong, film-minded board that understands the challenges of documentary filmmaking, and the important role that documentary films play in society," says Mandisa Zitha.


"Documentaries help drive societal awareness and change, especially in an era dominated by misinformation and fake news."


"Through in-depth research, compelling storytelling, and visual evidence, documentaries bring attention to pressing environmental, social and political issues that might otherwise be overlooked or misrepresented."


"In a time when trust in media is often questioned, documentary filmmakers serve as vital truth-tellers, shaping a more informed and conscientious society."