■ Mikhail Lesin, the founder of the Russian TV news channel RT (DStv 407) dead in a hotel room.
Apparently died from a heart attack in Washington hotel room, but conspiracy theories now swirl.
■ India news channel NDTV (DStv 413) apologises for disastrously wrong coverage.
NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy apologises for totally botched Indian election coverage; "we've never made such a big error - we've made big errors - but not as big as this one"; blames pollsters' statistics.
- NDTV which just posted its Q2 results, is actually still running at a loss as a TV news channel.
■ Turkey dramatically clamping down on freedom of speech gives CNN Türk a massive fine for simply having someone voice opposition to the government.
- Meanwhile TRT World starts as Turkey's new state-run 24-hour TV news channel, mimicking CNN International with its on-screen lower-third graphics.
- The Istanbul based news channel will have studios in Washington, Kuala Lumpur and London.
■ Snowpiercer the movie adapted as a new science fiction TV series.
■ The Daily Show has dropped and lost 38% of its viewers with Trevor Noah.
Hollywood Reporter chart reveals the new pecking order and where the Comedy Central (DStv 122) late-night show now fits in ratings wise.
■ South Africa's StarSat from StarTimes expands into Zambia.
Enters the market with extremely low monthly subscription packages to compete with MultiChoice's DStv.
■ "Poor people will get 100% subsidies for set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television migration," says embattled communications minister Faith Muthambi.
Says poor households earning less than R3 200 per month will get one of the 5 million STBs needed for the switch from analogue to digital migration.
■ The Netflix effect: More streaming means more and better TV shows.
Internet video economics and the growth in video-on-demand (VoD) services mean more,original, and higher-value production TV shows.
- Netflix boss says there's not "nearly enough TV content".
■ And why the Golden Age of "Peak TV" isn't going to end soon.
There's just more and more great, original TV shows: Why there's no TV bubble to burst.
■ Moronic Nigerian lawmakers "alarmed" over "immoral" content on DStv.
Clueless and out-of-touch Nigerian politicians who know nothing about television nor broadcasting condemn MultiChoice Africa and wants more censorship of DStv. Political idiots in Nigeria worried about the "spate of uninhibited display of obscenities and uncensored programmes on the Nigerian airwaves".
■ The "Age of Denial" of American broadcasting TV.
American broadcasters no longer want to admit shows are bad and are cancelled - they now just give "reduced episode orders".
- How broadcasters are now cancelling TV shows without you knowing.
■ Jeremy Clarkson of BBC's Top Gear "showed a lack of respect" to colleagues.
Script editor who've worked on Top Gear for 13 years trashes the disgusting Jeremy Clarkson in his new book, saying he let the crew down and his apology was "half-hearted".
■ Wendy Williams Show on BET (DStv 129) extended for several more years.
Although the actual talk show's contract hasn't been extended itself, it's basically a formality as a 7-year extended contract has been signed between Wendy Williams and Lionsgate.
■ Shonda Rhimes doesn't know how Grey's Anatomy will end but has the end of Scandal! planned.
Creator and writer of both shows seen on M-Net (DStv 101) in South Africa where Scandal! is renamed The Fixer, doesn't know how Meredith Grey's story will end, but is sure of what will happen when Scandal! eventually finishes.
