M-Net couldn't be bothered to answer the questions I put to the pay broadcaster days ago in a media enquiry when I broke the news RIGHT HERE on Monday that the soap The Wild will be moving from 18:00 to a new timeslot of 19:00 from 16 January.
Yet M-Net just put out a general press release sayingexactly everything TV with Thinus told you that ''M-net's groundbreaking soap, The Wild, will move to a later timeslot on DStv from 16 January.''
Not known, and what I specifically asked about, was whether the timeslot change would affect on the M-Net digital channel on DStv, or also M-Net's terrestrial analogue channel which would have meant that eNuus gets bumped from 19:00.
''The timeslot change applies to satellite viewers - M-Net and M-Net HD on DStv - only. M-Net's terrestrial viewers (those with set-top boxes that only have M-Net) will still have their soap hour from 18:00 to 19:00, with The Wild at 18:00 and Binneland at 18:30,'' states M-Net's just-released general press statement, citing ''recent market research and feedback from fans of the series'' as the reason for showing The Wild later from 2012.
''M-Net was very comfortable with the 18:00 timeslot, but had to take note of the increasing requests from satellite viewers to relook the schedule,'' says Pierre Cloete, M-Net's channel head. ''Lifestyles have changed considerably over the past few years and viewers let us know that they are often still in traffic on their way home, preparing dinner, or spending time with their kids at 18:00. By 19:00 they can sit down, relax and start enjoying what's on television.''
M-Net says that ''the majority of terrestrial viewers love having an Afrikaans soap at 18:30 followed by eNuus at 19:00''. The press release also states that M-Net will have a The Wild special, entitled The Wild: The Story So Far on Wednesday 11 January at 20:30 - a summary catch-up show detailing what has been happening in the soap since it started in April.
