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South African viewers, once again it seems, will be left out cold when the new high-buzz TV drama Touch with Kiefer Sutherland that's been acquired by M-Net gets a global roll-out and will be starting in most of the world at the same date in March ... but just not here.
Touch has been developed as a TV show by Tim Kring who did Heroes and is being produced with a highly integrated social media component: Part of the TV show's dynamic will be that a global TV audience will be talking about it in real-time through all kinds of social media at the same time and about things happening inside episodes and from episode to episode as the story progresses.
FIRST LOOK: Watch the Touch trailer.
That means that it's absolutely crucial for the episode to be seen at the same time or within days in South Africa for M-Net viewers to actually experience and enjot the TV show to its fullest effect and how the production actually intends for Touch to be ''consumed''.
M-Net has the rights to the new show with Fox International Channels (FIC) Africa handling distribution, but I can reveal that M-Net is not currently going to start Touch here when it starts in America as a new weekly show on 18 March and simultaneously in 100 countries worldwide from 19 March.
The worldwide watching is exactly what Tim Kring and Kiefer Sutherland wanted for their new show - a global, unified worldwide audience to watch, discuss and talk about it at the same time.
FIC Africa had great success last year by showing The Walking Dead as well as Falling Skies op TopTV within days of episodes of both shows being broadcast in America. It made it possible for South African viewers to have an instant same-time social following and conversation about the show - as well as not being exposed to spoilers because there weren't any.
The 13 episode Touch is about a man (Kiefer Sutherland) whose son never speaks, but sees the world through mathematical formulae. Then he discovers that his son may have the power to see the future. The mute 11 year old son possess the ability to see things that no one else can and the patterns that connect seemingly unrelated events.
The date of 18 March - when the show starts in America and 19 March when the show starts globally to connect with a world wide audience - features very prominently in the pilot episode of Touch. That makes it even more important for M-Net to storywise and in keeping with the real-time feel of the show, start showing it then in South Africa. Britain, Germany, Israel, Russia and a huge number of countries in South America, Asia and Europe will start seeing Touch immediately.
At Mipcom's TV market in October last year Tim Kring said Touch borrows some elements from Heroes, in that this new drama will tell stories with an ''international scope through characters around the world who are interconnected in various ways. ''It's the emerging story of our time: we are more connected than we ever dreamed, both biologically and spiritually.''
Asked again earlier this week when exactly M-Net plans to start showing Touch and whether South Africa will also form a part of the 100 countries outside of America where Touch will start at the same time with coordinated worldwide distribution during the week from 19 March, M-Net didn't give an exact date.
''The global marketing campaign for Touch is relevant for territories in America, Latin America, Europe and Asia,'' says M-Net. ''M-Net and/or DStv will create its own awareness, publicity and marketing campaigns respectively, as and when the strategy comes into the channel's carefully planned schedule.''
''This is also determined within the agreement with the distributor with whom M-Net negotiates the licence.''
This answer from M-Net would indicate that South African viewers will not be seeing Touch at the same time as the rest of the world as a weekly show starting between 19 and 26 March. It would seem unlikely that Touch appears on the latest M-Net schedule for March which is where this new TV property would maximise the best value for M-Net on its investment and would work best for viewers as content consumers.