by Thinus Ferreira
For the first time in decades M-Net
risked not having the Oscars televised on DStv this year but the pay-TV
operator that struggled to conclude and sign a broadcasting rights agreement
for the 93rd Academy Awards will likely announce on Friday that it will show
the awards show and its pre-show, both done from the train station in Los
Angeles, this year.
By Friday morning Sunday night's 93rd
Academy Awards, taking place from both the Dolby Theatre but primarily from Los
Angeles' Union Station train station this year, was still conspicuously absent
from MultiChoice's DStv electronic programme guide (EPG).
There's also been no promotion or
marketing of the Oscars on any M-Net channel or other platforms to help drive
viewership on the last day of the working week to the weekend's award show,
with South Africa's My Last Octopus that is a nominee in the Best Documentary
Feature category.
M-Net issued no press release like it did annually in
previous years that it had acquired the Oscars, or broadcasting times, raising
suspicions that M-Net failed to secure the Oscars for broadcast in South Africa
and across the rest of the African continent for the first time in decades.
Neither MultiChoice nor M-Net offered
any immediate official comment early on Friday morning in response to media
enquiries but insiders told TVwithThinus that M-Net will have the Oscars but
technically is still waiting for the broadcasting rights deal to be signed.
According to the contract, M-Net will
only be able to do promos for the Oscars from Friday after around 11:00 with the DStv EPG that
will only be adjusted later.
With the official Oscars ceremony
taking place on Sunday 25 April at 20:00 in the United States with Steven
Soderbergh as Oscars producer, M-Net will show the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony live from
America at 02:00 South African time on Monday morning 26 April on M-Net Movies
1 (DStv 104) as a simulcast.
Steven Soderbergh is going to try and
use Union Station to bring a cinematic experience to this year's Oscars,
filming it like a movie and not a TV show, at 24 frames per second, with
panoramic widescreen cinema shots.
Also included in M-Net's Oscars deal,
according to sources, is this year's special 90-minute official pre-show, also
done from the train station.
This pre-show special, entitled Oscars: Into the
Spotlight will have Ariana DeBose and the comedian Lil Rel Howery as the
presenters and will start at 00:30 SAST on M-Net Movies as a live broadcast.
Oscars: Into the Spotlight
will highlight the nominees' journey to this year's awards show, give
viewers around the world an inside look at the upcoming awards.
It will also bring the Oscars' music to
viewers for the first time ahead of the show with Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom
Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton, Molly Sandén and Diane Warren who will
all be performing the 5 nominated original songs nominated this year in their
entirety during this special.
M-Net plans to show the 93rd Academy
Awards during primetime on Monday 26 April at around 22:30 on its M-Net (DStv
101) channel, with proper ad breaks.
E! (DStv 124) will also have 2021
Oscars red carpet coverage starting on Sunday 25 April at 23:00 with Giuliana
Rancic and coverage continuing until 02:00 on Monday morning.
Official comment from M-Net and
MultiChoice will be added here if received.
UPDATE Friday 23April 2021 15:29 - MultiChoice's PR company Atmosphere finally issued a statement to all media, confirming that M-Net will show the Oscars as I reported earlier today - however MultiChoice says it will be shown live at 03:00 on Monday morning.
The Oscars starts at 20:00 EST in the United States on Sunday night, which is 02:00 South African time on Monday morning. No word on how MultiChoice and M-Net derived at the time of 03:00 or whether it will be showing the Oscars one hour delayed.
UPDATE Friday 23April 2021 15:47 - MultiChoice's PR company Atmosphere is responding to a media enquiry about the time confusion and says the time has been corrected to 02:00 on Monday morning for the 93rd Academy Awards.
At this time the Oscars still don't appear on the schedules and MultiChoice's DStv EPG for either the M-Net (DStv 101) or the M-Net Movies 1 (DStv 104) channels.
