It's not as if SABC3 channel execs are fretting, they're more resigned to the fact that the South African public broadcaster's only commercial TV channel will not really be going into 2011 with a bang - but more with a case of boring.
I can exclusively reveal that SABC3 is deliberately not starting any new prime time dramas, planning big TV events, or bringing out the big guns for the start of next year because the channel that will broadcast the Cricket World Cup from February for a few months don't want to start new buzzworthy shows, have it on for just a month and then not have those viewers come back when the shows return in April.
Besides a new season of The Tyra Banks Show starting and the second season of Top Chef, the SABC3 schedule will be lackluster in January 2011 . . . and deliberately so. ''It's foolish to start new shows for just a month, then have them disappear for months during the Cricket World Cup - that's already creating chaos on the SABC3 schedule, then have the shows come back, and viewers not wanting to watch shows that has already started months ago that they can't or won't get into,'' an insider tells me. ''The cricket is throwing us out,'' whispers another well-placed SABC3 source from inside Auckland Park to me. ''We don't want to start new things [in January]. It will just be a waste.''
I can tell you that SABC3 will be broadcasting the Cricket World Cup until April 2, which means that the bulk of the first quarter of 2011 will be littered with pre-emptions, last minute changes and somewhat of a programming and scheduling nightmare. The earliest that SABC3 (besides January) will thus have a ''normal'' looking schedule, will be from April 2011.
