by Thinus Ferreira
The SABC has added another entertainment magazine show, The Sauce to the SABC1 schedule, barely promoting it and with little publicity effort.
The SABC didn't bother to share or send out even a basic press release for The Sauce produced by Bonngoe Productions, and there were no roundtable interviews or any publicity push for the show.
Ironically and sadly - but unexpected for the SABC - the show is about the local entertainment industry, but the SABC wasn't able to actually engage with the local entertainment industry properly about it.
Last week, two days before the broadcast of its first episode on TV the SABC suddenly had a lunch event for The Sauce in Johannesburg for some Johannesburg media only (who likewise did little to absolutely no reporting about it but will probably be invited again), although SABC1 is a nationally-seen channel.
Nomalanga Shozi is the presenter of The Sauce. On Wikipedia it says she was in Rhythm City, the now-cancelled soap on e.tv, and is a TV and radio presenter and an actress. In 2018 Nomalanga Shozi went to Las Vegas to cover the backstage area and red carpet of the 2018 BET Soul Train Awards and hosted BET Breaks.
The SABC complained in parliament earlier this month that the money it has spent from its last government bailout failed to lift ratings for any of the new shows produced by that money.
The Sauce is another great example of that where the SABC makes content and doesn't bother to properly publicise or promote it with the media through anything remotely resembling proper PR. It's as if it doesn't exist although it costs a lot of money to make it.
The Sauce is apparently an entertainment show, like E! News, doing "takedowns of everything celebrity, entertainment news, influence and lifestyle" with a "tongue-in-cheek comedic approach".
It sound and looks stale and dated and completely from a bygone 2000s era like trying to redo Nicky Greenwall's The Showbiz Report that was on e.tv. Another here-today-gone-tomorrow show or will The Sauce survive for longer than a season?
