The SABC once again left viewers shocked, bewildered and angry after SABC3 on Monday night turned what was supposed to be the start of the new The Amazing Race into amazing grace when the reality show failed to start and viewers were shown a gospel music programme due to non-delivery of the series from the overseas distributor.
Last night's scheduled start of the 25th season of The Amazing Race was supposed to mark the first time that SABC3 would be showing both Survivor and The Amazing Race concurrently on the channel, instead of alternating the hit American reality TV shows.
SABC3 viewers were however left flabbergasted when instead of the advertised, scheduled and promoted The Amazing Race, SABC3 suddenly showed an unscheduled gospel music programme at 19:30 in the middle of prime time on the SABC's only commercial TV channel.
The struggling and severely ratings-challenged SABC3 will once again have to pay back all advertising revenue and do "make goods" to advertisers who bought TV ad spots during the 19:30 hour for programming and a viewer demographic that didn't materialise and wasn't what they were promised.
The SABC that still promoted The Amazing Race on Monday in early prime time and on social media, failed to tell viewers what is going on when The Amazing Race didn't start, resulting in flummoxed SABC3 viewers tuning out and away to TV fare on other channels.
According to SABC sources, the public broadcaster on Friday discovered that the season's tapes didn't arrive from the foreign distributor Disney Media Distribution (DMD) with the SABC that decided to broadcast a gospel show during the Monday evening timeslot instead.
The SABC will decide today or tomorrow whether to push The Amazing Race out or not.
Zandile Nkonyeni, head publicist for SABC TV channels, didn't respond to a media enquiry on Tuesday morning about The Amazing Race no-show, why the show didn't start, when viewers can expect to see the show and what the SABC wants to communicate to its viewers.
In July SABC3 infuriated viewers when it abruptly cut and self-edited the debut episode of the new Survivor season, Survivor Worlds Apart into two, showing only half an hour of the first episode and the rest the following week with no on-screen advisory, apology or explainer of what happened.
The start of the preceding Survivor season on SABC3, Survivor San Juan Del Sur on 4 April met a similarly botched fate with the programme that didn't start after SABC3 became embroiled in unexplained technical problems. The no-show disrupted SABC3 entire prime time schedule line-up from 19:30 for over three hours.
On Monday SABC viewers vented as SABC3 again did a silent night and left viewers in the dark about unexplained programming changes.
"Where is Amazing Race?" asked Mr Dee. "You just change your line-up and don't inform us."
Marcus Danzel said "No Amazing Race. No explanation? No nothing?" while Humaira Rangiah said "Soul Sunday was yesterday".
@SABC3 where Is amazing race?You just change your line up and don’t inform us views?— Mr Dee! (@derailed_gp) September 25, 2017
#sabc3 No Amazing Race? No explanation? No nothing? Yerr— Marcus Danzel (@KLEEBO1) September 25, 2017
So what's going on with the no show of the promised Amazing Race? Why no explanation? The usual incompetence, no surprise really— FireflyTheTravelGuy (@FireflyAfrica) September 25, 2017
@SABC3 guess who has made a blunder again! What has happened to amazing race!!!— Gary Piater (@Garypiater) September 25, 2017
What happens to The Amazing Race? Soul Sunday was yesterday 🙄— Humaira Rangiah (@humaira_gp) September 25, 2017
