Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:
■ Turkey bans the comedy series Modern Family.
Pay-TV operator beIN is fined, censored and Modern Family ordered off of the beIN Series channel because Modern Family ... features a child born out of wedlock - something not allowed on Turkish television.
■ A clueless Ellen DeGeneres getting backlash for begging Kevin Hart to host the 2019 Academy Awards after he was dumped as Oscars host for homophobic comments.
■ In emotional criticism, Don Lemon on CNN says Kevin Hart on Ellen "turns himself into a victim instead of acknowledging the real victims of violent and sometimes deadly homophobia".
■ Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Hart's conspiracy theories only make things worse.
■ Ellen DeGeneres' interview with Kevin Hart was an insult and clueless celebrity overreach that sends a toxic message.
■ Where are Kevin Hart's past apologies? An investigation.
■ Shock seeing Ellen DeGeneres throwing her weight behind Kevin Hart's self-victimisation.
■ Why is Ellen DeGeneres trying to rehabilitate Kevin Hart as Oscars host?
■ Who died and made Ellen DeGeneres the gay pope?
■ Ellen DeGeneres is getting blasted for calling Kevin Hart's critics "trolls" and "haters".
■ What Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Hart are missing by calling critics "haters".
■ Ellen DeGeneres: Girl, what?
■ Huge problems on the "chaotic and troubled" set of the drama series SMILF seen on Showmax amidst allegations of abusive behaviour, race separation of writers, and violations of industry rules.
And some important questions as to why ABC Studios, the Walt Disney Company, producers and agents are apparently doing little or nothing about it.
■ Content discovery on TV remains terrible with little help from pay-TV operators giving viewers a wasteland of irrelevant recommendations and outdated menus. Can adding hyper-detailed metadata about TV shows and episodes, including descriptors about a show's mood, theme, characters, and scenarios help?
■ Palestine Television's offices in Gaza ransacked, equipment destroyed.
■ 8 tricks to improve the image on your new TV set.
Tips include choosing your TV set's settings in darkness, and of course it's important to switch off "motion smoothing"switch off "motion smoothing" (also referred to as "motion control", "TruMotion" and the "soap opera effect".
■ Pay-TV operator Sky in the United Kingdom is working on some updates for 2019 that MultiChoice in South Africa should be considering.
A guide for individual users of the same decoder for better personal recommendations, a safe Kids Mode and others.
■ Insider claims that E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic at E! Entertainment (DStv 124) has become a diva.
Giuliana who is not an E! favourite under staffers, behind-the-scenes apparently "only talks to people she thinks are important" and has become notorious for tantrums over her wardrobe and styling when doing award show red carpet coverage.
■ Sky News (DStv 402) campaign to force televised debates between political candidates moves forward.
Sky News' Make Debates Happen petition finally gets 133 000 signatures from the public in the United Kingdom to force the British parliament and MPs to consider a motion for a debate to set up a commission to make televised debates with UK political party leaders a permanent TV fixture.
■ 15 TV shows that are still worth watching in 2019.
■ MultiChoice Zimbabwe having problems with their payment system for DStv subscribers in Zimbabwe.
■ The truth about TV sex scenes.
■ The trends that could shape TV viewing in 2019 from NPR's TV critic.
■ Cameroon censors and bans TV channel Vision 4 for a month.
■ Free TV sets! Hundreds of cargo ships containers that have flatscreen TV sets wash ashore on the Dutch islands bringing a windfall for treasure seekers.
