The Estate: The latest on SABC3's ongoing rigmarole with 7pm - what you'll now see from tonight after The Estate: Rewind got dropped after just a week.

by Thinus Ferreira

Set to inflict both confusion and viewer whiplash, SABC3 is once again removing The Estate from its schedule from this evening after just a week's episodes of The Estate: Rewind was shown, suddenly replacing it with a rebroadcast of SABC1's drama series Family Secrets.

The third season of The Estate, produced by Clive Morris Productions, was supposed to continue seamlessly on S3 after the end of the second season but issues around the recommissioning process meant there will now be a gap of two months before viewers will see new episodes of the ratings-challenged show.

Earlier this month SABC3 announced that the third season of The Estate would start on 1 July. Then S3 announced that it has been brought forward to 20 June.

SABC3 initially planned to fill The Estate's timeslot with a rebroadcast of the SABC1 series Family Secrets with Khanyi Mbau, Katlego Danke, Vusi Kunene and Robert Whitehead and said that it would start on 18 April.

Then S3 suddenly announced that Family Secrets would no longer be on but that the channel would instead be showing a repackaged version of the first two seasons of The Estate, entitled The Estate: Rewind. The channel said that Family Secrets would now start on S3 on 16 May.  

The Estate: Rewind started Monday a week ago in the 19:00-timeslot with five episodes shown but has now suddenly been pulled from the schedule.

SABC3 abruptly removed The Estate: Rewind after just a week and will now start showing Family Secrets from today, Monday 25 April. There is no indication of when The Estate: Rewind will now start, or resume.

Pat van Heerden, SABC3 channel head, in response to a media query about the constant chopping and changing of the S3's 19:00-timeslot after this week's latest change to the timeslot, told TVwithThinus that "The Estate season 3 was supposed to be delivered for the channel in April".

"The recommission process started in July last year but delays occurred in the processes at SABC resulting in a gap on-air."

"The gap on-air increased as more delays occurred, meaning that the channel had to find solutions. Each time the date got pushed out the channel has to identify solutions and part of the problem is that we have no new stock in local drama to replace The Estate with."

"We are very keen for The Estate to be back on-air as it is a tentpole for the channel's schedule and as soon as this occurs the channel will stabilise."

ALSO READ: SABC3 fills its 2-month prime time The Estate telenovela gap with a repackaged rebroadcast titled The Estate Rewind.

ALSO READ: SABC3's troubled The Estate going off-air for over 2 months.

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

ALSO READ: SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season. 

ALSO READ: SABC1 returns the remaining first season episodes of SABC3's struggling telenovela The Estate to its schedule in March with a double bill conclusion on 8 April.