M-Net has grabbed the broadcasting rights for the cool new drama series The Last Ship and plans to start broadcasting it from Friday 2 January at 20:30.
While pay-TV broadcasters like StarSat, OpenView HD, e.tv and others complain that M-Net and MultiChoice has exclusive broadcasting rights agreements and "such" all-encompassing exclusive content licensing agreements that they can't get anything, there's several high-quality TV shows and other TV content nobody secures the rights of for South Africa.
Several of these TV shows go unseen in South Africa with local viewers who are waiting on any local broadcasters to pick up new shows like The Strain, Crossbones, Black Sails, Cedar Cove and When Calls the Heart for instance.
Any could have grabbed The Last Ship. They just didn't. For months.
And now M-Net has picked it up, meaning that DStv subscribers will be able to watch this engrossing new series in high definition (and most probably on DStv Catch Up).
As late as July this year TV with Thinus checked and lamented how no South African broadcaster has ye bothered to grap The Last Ship, a new drama series with Grey's Anatomy's "McSteamy" Eric Dane - a TV show which was anyone's for the taking if they're willing to pay for it.
M-Net is now planning to use The Last Ship - during an excellent time of the year when people want big, escapism television - to fill the gap between the third season of Arrow going on hiatus in the United States.
The 10 week gap before Arrow resumes on M-Net on 13 March 2015 will be used to play out the 10 episodes of The Last Ship which is based on William Brinkley's book.
Even more unintentionally great is how even more relevant and perfect The Last Ship - filmed before the year's big news events - will resonate and feel real to viewers.
Before Russia's renewed pan-continental and territorial aggression, before the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola in West Africa soon spreading to America and Europa and through several African nations, The Last Ship filmed and started broadcasting its episodes.
Now The Last Ship will feel very real to viewers with the series following the post-apocalyptic story of Commander Tom Chandler of the USS Nathan James whose ship and crew is pursued by Russians in a world where 80% of the population has died from a fast-spreading, super deadly disease.
While Dr Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra) tries to find a cure in a makeshift laboratory on board the ship, the crew is locked in a deadly quest for survival, water, supplies, food, fuel - and to race to various locations across the globe searching for whatever can aid Dr Scott in her work.
The show has already been renewed for a second season.
