Later in the episode a character goes to get an abortion. Lovely television for early in the morning.
Is anybody at M-Net in Randburg actually watching what the pay-TV broadcaster is broadcasting?
Either nobody is, or somebody is and just don't care.
In America this episode of Scandal, in South Africa called The Fixer, came with an on-screen "viewer discretion advised" message that the episode contains "adult content" where it is shown at 21:00 (in South Africa it's shown at 19:30).
That should have told M-Net that the episode of the series, shown here in later prime time, should not have early morning repeats - especially since its age restriction is 16 V.
Of course M-Net's standards and practices people are clearly oblivious to the gratuitous torture scenes and just went ahead and repeated the episode.
It's adult content which M-Net apparently has no problem showing not just during the day, but early during the day, and it's wrong and disgusting and likely a contravention of the Broadcasting Code of Conduct.
M-Net says in response to broadcasting this morning's repeat of The Fixer that "M-Net abides by the BCCSA Code of Conduct for subscription broadcasters and every single episode of all programmes are viewed and rated by our Programme Acceptance department before going onto our channels".
"According to these BCCSA rules and guidelines, programmes with a rating of 16V, as is the case with this specific episode of The Fixer, can be broadcast before the watershed, which is 20:00 for pay-TV and 21:00 for free-to-air broadcasters," says M-Net.
"We also have a parental control option available on our decoders that protects children from age-restricted content when set by parents. The episode's rating was communicated to viewers before the show started," says M-Net.
Is some viewer or M-Net subscriber going to lodge a complaint at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA)? I don't know.
What I do know is that my week started off on a disgusting note due to M-Net, pandering to a new low with showing salacious stuff at a time it shouldn't and not even caring.
I find it revolting and disgusting that M-Net has so little respect not just for its viewers but cares so very little about its own product that nobody at M-Net who watched this episode thought that it shouldn't be repeated and shouldn't be shown again at any time period other than late primetime or later.
What's more sickening than the callous behaviour of utterly irresponsible broadcasters like M-Net showing gratuitous torture television like this in the early morning, is that South African viewers who perhaps don't know better, are just forced to take it - watching what they think is appropriate to be shown, when in fact it's not.
Perhaps it's not torture to an oblivious M-Net, but it's definitely torturous and shocking viewing for me. You don't want to put your television on early on a Monday morning and then be greeted with someone drilling a hole with a power tool into a gagged man's knee cap.
It's not the M-Net I want, it's not the M-Net I like, and it's definitely not the M-Net that M-Net should be.
