by Thinus Ferreira
Voyeur television returns on Sunday night for 71 days when Big Brother Mzansi starts as a 24-hour DStv pop-up channel for a 5th season and on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), including a titillating Shower Hour.
MultiChoice and M-Net hope that by reviving the South African version of the Endemol reality format, they can capture the same obsessed audience staying glued for the antics of a collection of housemates living together in a camera-filled house that have made the pan-African beamed Big Brother Naija an ongoing pay-TV success in recent years.
Big Brother Mzansi, returning after 7 years with new host Lawrence Maleka, will kick off this coming Sunday 23 January at 18:00 with a live, 2-hour season premiere episode shown on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and the Big Brother Mzansi channel on MultiChoice's DStv channel 198, introducing the various housemates.
After that, from 20:00, the Big Brother Mzansi channel will run for 24 hours per day for DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers, with a collection of daily shows and weekly highlights on Mzansi Magic.
The 5th season of Big Brother Mzansi is expected to end with another 2-hour, live finale announcing the winner which will be shown on the 24-hour channel and on Mzansi Magic on Sunday 3 April at 18:00.
In-between there will be daily, half-hour Big Brother Mzansi highlight shows on Mzansi Magic, starting on Tuesday 25, that will be shown at 22:30 from Tuesdays to Fridays, as well as an hour-long weekly Big Brother Mzansi highlights programme on Saturdays at 21:30, starting on 29 January.
Dstv subscribers will be able to watch who is getting nominated to possible get evicted in an upcoming week in live, half-hour Big Brother Mzansi nomination shows which will be shown on Monday nights at 19:30 from 31 January.
Big Brother Mzansi eviction shows will take place on Sunday evenings as live, hour-long episodes on Mzansi Magic, starting on Sunday 30 January.
There will be 4 pre-recorded Big Brother Mzansi Shower Hour episodes per week shown on Mzansi Magic, with the half-hour episodes tucked away as late-night shows from Mondays to Thursdays at 22:00.
Friday Night Games will be shown live as 2-hour shows on the Big Brother Mzansi channel on Friday nights from 19:00, starting 28 January.
Saturday Night Parties will be shown live as 2-hour shows from 21:00 on the Big Brother Mzansi Channel and Channel O (DStv 320), starting 29 January.
