by Thinus Ferreira
The pirates have come for Love Island South Africa with all 3 episodes of M-Net's controversial reality show that MultiChoice doesn't want subscribers to see on DStv Catch Up that have been uploaded to the interwebs and where an untold number of people are now globally watching, downloading and sharing the series, including Sunday's technically flawed premiere episode.
MultiChoice has not made any of the 3 episodes of the widely panned South African adaptation of the ITV Studios format available on its DStv Catch Up service by Wednesday afternoon - except for the second episode of Love Island SA that was only available for a few brief hours between Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon.
However, people globally now have access to Love Island South Africa through pirate viewing on the internet including the debut episode that can be watched in pristine 1080p high-definition clarity.
Excluding locally-produced Netflix South Africa series carried on global servers and available for illegal viewing on torrent sites, Love Island South Africa produced by Rapid Blue has now become only the second South African series after Survivor SA, an Afrokaans production also done for M-Net, to be so sought after for whatever reasons that episodes have been illegally ripped and uploaded for sharing to the internet.
TVwithThinus checked to verify the content and if it's really Love Island SA episodes but haven't downloaded anything and won't be publishing any links.
The much-maligned debut episode of Love Island South Africa is indeed viewable through services like Google Drive uploads and even includes at least one unlisted upload on YouTube where viewers can stream it with all its flaws in 1080p clarity and where it has garnered hundreds of views already by Wednesday afternoon.
There also exist handy-cam filmed Love Island SA episodes with pirates who had apparently turned video cameras to their TV screens and uploaded copies of episodes of this to the internet.
With an expanding digital video economy, piracy in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa is a fast-growing problem for not just MultiChoice and M-Net delivering subscription television services across the continent, but for all broadcasters desperately trying to protect their content and intellectual property (IP).
M-Net didn't respond to a media enquiry made earlier on Wednesday seeking comment about the Love Island SA piracy issue but comment will be added here if received.
M-Net was asked what it is making of the fact that people are sharing and illegally watching the 3 episodes that have so far been broadcast and what actions, if any, M-Net has been taking, and to how many sites and services it had already sent possible cease-and-desist copyright infringement takedown notices to.
Since the start of the show and again on Wednesday M-Net was asked as part of an ongoing interview request to please make executives available to speak about and answer questions about Love Island SA.
MultiChoice and its PR company Aprio have rebuffed interview requests to talk to M-Net executives and Rapid Blue producers for them to explain what the cause of the various persisting issues are around the local adaptation of the ITV Studios reality format show.
After 3 days there's also been no virtual press conference from the pay-TV broadcaster to take questions or any statements from Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice Group CEO for general entertainment and connected video; M-Net CEO Nkateko Mabaso; M-Net director Jan du Plessis; or Kaye-Ann Williams as M-Net's head of local productions.
At Rapid Blue, also responsible for The Bachelorette SA currently on M-Net, Love Island SA is overseen by executive producers Adi de Lancey and Duncan Irvine, series producer Abigail Clark, series director Nadia White, and Kim Thwaites as head of production.
Love Island SA on Tuesday lost its main sponsor LottoStar - presumably partly responsible for the show's R1 million and other prizes - while parody accounts have also sprung up on social media.
