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In an eye-popping move more expected from a pay TV broadcaster such as M-Net, than from a free commercial TV broadcaster, South Africa's e.tv has scooped the broadcasting rights to James Cameron's massive 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic and scheduled it cleverly for later this week in which the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ship.
Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will be on e.tv this Thursday at 20:30 - with further extremely clever and brilliant pre-planned programming by e.tv.
Titanic will be followed Thursday night by an episode of Seconds from Disaster at 00:15. This National Geographic series which has been running on e.tv, reveals extremely brilliant TV programming precognition on the part of e.tv.
The Seconds from Disaster episode immediately following Titanic will be about the Titanic - an episode from the series specially held back and kept out of the normal episode order, to be shown in the exact week, and on the same day, on e.tv as the movie as a double barrel TV salvo.
ALSO READ: Titanic at 100 on South African television: Your complete and comprehensive TV guide to all Titanic programming.
In stark contrast M-Net - which probably should have made sure that it had Titanic - doesn't even have any other Titanic related programming at all. Even the high quality, new 4 part mini-series from Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame went to BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) where it will start on 15 April - the kinds of programming M-Net subscribers who pay for premium television, would expect to see on the M-Net channel.
Besides M-Net none of the other M-Net run movie channels on MultiChoice's DStv - M-Net Movies 1, M-Net Movies 2 or M-Net Stars - has anything remotely Titanic related scheduled.
M-Net is usually very and more programming clever when it comes to tying entertainment titles to quasi-current events. The first movie on M-Net for 2012 was for instance 2012.
The other pay TV operator in South Africa, TopTV, also doesn't have any Titanic related programming on any of its own "Top" self-compiled channels for April such as Top One, Top Explore, Top History or Top Movies. TV programmers and schedulers - as everywhere in media - are expected to be on top of the prevalent zeitgeist when it comes to planning special events television andmonthly and weekly themes in advance of play-out.
