Entertainment magazine show, All Access Mzansi, return to Mzansi Magic for a 3rd season; keeps Mbali Nkosi and adds Lawrence Maleka, K Naomi and Dash.

A third season of the rebooted All Access Mzansi starts tonight on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) at 21:30, again with a group of new presenters in the form of Lawrence Maleka, K Naomi and Dash, along with Mbali Nkosi who is the only former presenter to remain.

The entertainment magazine show will continue to do lifestyle and entertainment inserts and interviews and to cover South African showbiz stories.

The current iteration of All Access Mzansi - now entering its third season and the previous two seasons since 2015 - is part of the third overall reset of the show.

"We look forward to switching things up with this new season of All Access Mzansi," says Reneilwe Sema, M-Net's director of local entertainment channels.

"We're not only introducing new hosts but viewers can also expect world class entertainment news and coverage, profiles of the hottest local spots in Mzansi and the recognition of excellence in the entertainment industry."

The new season of All Access Mzansi will include an "Event of the Week" insert, behind-the-scenes set visits of local South African shows across M-Net's range of TV channels on DStv, and some live performances from South African artists.

Lawrence Maleka was the presenter of the third season of Clash of The Choirs on Mzansi Magic.

K Naomi is a model and was a former Channel O presenter.

Dash is a former presenter on VUZU AMP's V-Entertainment.

Mbali Nkosi who had no experience when she started with All Access Mzansi (she was a former contestant in Big Brother Mzansi: Double Trouble) has grown and acquired TV presenting experience.

All Access Mzansi adds Mbali Nkosi, Nomzamo Mbatha and Anga Makubalo as presenters for reset entertainment magazine show.

I broke the news last month that All Access Mzansi will be returning to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) for a third try, and now the new presenters for the entertainment and lifestyle magazine show has been announced: Mbali Nkosi, Nomzamo Mbatha and Anga Makubalo.

The reset show will this time be produced by Burnt Onion Productions and will start on Friday 25 September at 19:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161).

None of the three have a pedigree as entertainment news reporters and none have experience of doing red carpet coverage or interviewing  personalities at lifestyle and entertainment events.

All Access Mzansi will now have to compete with a crowded field of entertainment news programming, ranging from Vuzu AMP's V Entertainment to BET's BET BUZZ, SABC3's  Top Billing, and E! Entertainment's E! News all vying for viewers' attention during a given week.

Viewers saw Mbali Nkosi as a contestant in Big Brother Mzansi: Double Trouble, soap actress Nomzamo Mbatha was seen in Isibaya and Anga Makubalo will be doing studio based interviews.

"When I came into the industry, I initially wanted to be a presenter. I feel that my acting career has prepared me for this amazing journey, All Access Mzansi is the perfect platform," says Anga Makubalo.

"This has been a long time coming for me, my hustle is finally paying off. I feel blessed and ready to take on this opportunity," says Mbali Nkosi.

BET Buzz getting into the local showbiz gossip and entertainment TV news game with Tamarsha Khanyile and Altovise Lawrence.

BET in South Africa is getting into the local showbiz, gossip and entertainment TV news game and will launch a new local weekday entertainment magazine show BET Buzz on 1 September with Tamarsha Khanyile and Altovise Lawrence who will alternate as presenters.

BET Buzz on Viacom International Media Networks International Africa's BET (DStv 129) will start on 1 September at 19:00 and on BET 2 (DStv 135) at 19:50 on weekdays with a mix of local South African, African, as well as international gossip and entertainment news snippets and interviews.

BET Buzz will be competition for VUZU AMP's (DStv 114) V Entertainment, E! Entertainment's (DStv 124) E! News and e.tv's Eksê Zwakala.

The suddenly red-hot gossip show genre is heating up as even Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) is reviving the twice cancelled All Access Mzansi for a third time, starting on Friday 25 September at 18:30.

Tamarsha Khanyile, a singer and radio DJ, previously presented for SABC1's similar Selimathunzi. The inexperienced and largely unknown Altovise Lawrence was the winner of BET's little publicised local reality show Top Actor earlier this year.

A BET Buzz omnibus will be broadcast on Saturdays at 19:40 on BET and 20:40 on BET 2.

EXCLUSIVE. All Access Mzansi a go for a third time - cancelled magazine show returning to Mzansi Magic for a 3rd time; with new production company.

You're reading it here first.

Magazine show All Access Mzansi is returning to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) - but it won't be the same show and it will be done by a new production company.

With Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) and NBCUniversal Networks International all getting into the local gossip and entertainment magazine show scene with BET BUZZ and the E! Specials on E! Entertainment, Mzansi Magic is reviving All Access Mzansi.

First a brief history: M-Net commissioned All Access as its Top Billing from Homebrew Films - then sadly abruptly cancelled it after two years.

Mzansi Magic then picked up All Access but modified it as a pay-TV type Selimathunzi, renaming it All Access Mzansi ,with new presenters.

Then Mzansi Magic cancelled All Access Mzansi after two years.

Then Mzansi Magic brought back All Access Mzansi - cutting the presenters and replacing them. Then All Access Mzansi got cancelled again, for a second time.

Now All Access Mzansi will return to Mzansi Magic ... for a third time. Again with new presenters ... for the third time. And now done by a new production company.

From what I understand and was told, All Access Mzansi will retain elements of the previous two versions but will be looking different yet again but still cover glamorous local events and gossip news and do celebrity profile interviews - the stock and trade of this programming genre.

All Access Mzansi will be back from Friday 25 September at 18:30 on Mzansi Magic and this time it will be produced by Burnt Onion Productions.

"The show's magazine type of content has rich, broad appeal - the entertaining, yet lighthearted viewing that our family audiences really enjoy," M-Net tells me in response to why the show is revived for a third time.

No word yet on the new round of All Access Mzansi presenters.

DIVA DRAMA: Dineo Ranaka dumps e.tv and Club 808 in exchange for Mzansi Magic's magazine show All Access Mzansi.

Drama queen Dineo Ranaka has dumped e.tv and the music magazine show Club 808 mid-season in favour of being a new presenter on Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) resurrected magazine show All Access Mzansi which has been "uncancelled".

It's highly embarrassing for e.tv and for the show currently in its third season.

The broadcaster, at e.tv's Winter Upfront 2013 just last week announced to the press that Thando Thabethe is joining Club 808 as only a field presenter as the show moves from July to a new timeslot on Saturday evenings.

e.tv told TV critics last week that the 23 year old Thando Thabethe will be joining as a field presenter and that Dineo Ranaka and Mo Flava will continue as the co-hosts of Club 808.

Now, a week later, Dineo Ranaka is done, and e.tv is doing damage control.

With Dineo Ranaka's departure, e.tv is upping Thando Thabethe from the announced field reporter position to co-host with Mo Flava to fill the gap left by Dineo Ranaka.

e.tv tells me Dineo Ranaka "will be leaving the show on Friday 21 June". Sources tell me e.tv and Club 808 became aware of Dineo Ranaka's decision to leave the channel and the music magazine show about two weeks ago but that it wasn't confirmed until now.

SABC3 went through a similarly embarrassing mid-season talent disappearance when Michael Mol suddenly upped and left The Dr. Mol Show with Tswelopele Productions which replaced him with Riaad Moosa mid-season and instantly renamed the show Doctor's Orders.

Thando Thabethe will now "officially start to co-present alongside Mo Flava on 28 June after Dineo Ranaka's departure," I'm told.

Dineo's Diary, the second season of Dineo Ranaka's reality show is seen on Vuzu, another M-Net supplied channel to DStv, similar to Mzansi Magic.

"The appearance of Thando Thabethe on Club 808 will bring a different dynamic to the show; her highly energised and engaging personality fits in perfectly with the show's audience," says Monde Twala, e.tv channel head in a press statement.

"Her vitality and youthful spirit is in tune with a show that has captured the pulsating global lifestyle and music trends," says Monde Twala.

BREAKING. Dineo Ranaka, Nandi Mngoma and ProVerb the three presenters of the uncancelled and resurrected All Access Mzansi.

Dineo Ranaka is the third presenter joining the uncancelled and resurrected magazine show All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) with Dineo Ranaka who will  be seen with the singer Nandi Mngoma as well as the Idols presenter ProVerb when the show makes a comeback on Thursday 20 June at 19:30.

Mzansi Magic has so far ignored questions and media enquiries made weeks ago as to why the channel cancelled the Homebrew Films production at the end of 2012 saying at the time it was "moving towards more exciting content" more in line with Mzansi Magic's audience.

All Access Mzansi was already a retool from All Access which started on M-Net and was then shifted to Mzansi Magic as All Access Mzansi for two seasons where it was adjusted for a black urban TV audience. The resurrected show will now once again undergo changes when it returns on 20 June such as an interactive viewer element.

Viewers older than 21 will be able to invite All Access Mzansi to their own events. The requirement is that events need to be "fabulously trendy and unmistakably the place to be on that day" whether its a birthday, graduation, anniversary or something totally original. Requests can be send to info@allaccessmzansi.co.za for the show to possibly cover it.

About the new presenters' trio "we were looking for presenters who know what it's like to be in the spotlight themselves and are able to rbing that to the inserts and interviews they do, in a relaxed and informal fashion," says Yolisa Phahle, the channel director for special interest channels at M-Net in a statement.

ProVerb is again the presenter of the new season of the reality show Idols which will start on M-Net and Mzansi Magic as a co-production in July; Dineo Ranaka is a presenter on e.tv's Club 808 music magazine show and baring her tumultuous personal life in a reality show on Vuzu, another M-Net supplied channel on DStv.

"ProVerb, Nandi and Dineo fit that bill just perfectly and we're thrilled that they are going to be taking All Access Mzansi into a fantastic new world," says Yolisa Phahle.

The resurrected show will again do celebrity interviews and red carpet coverage, as well as tie-in synergy inserts with Idols such as contestant interviews but in the retooled version All Access Mzansi will ditch the more glossy and formal approach and interview style in favour of covering street and club events.

"I'm super excited that All Access Mzansi is returning to our screens and even more delighted to be a part of it again," says ProVerb in the statement, the only returning former All Access Mzansi presenter. (Pabi Moloi, Bridget Masinga and Jason Greer won't be back.)

"I'm thrilled that I've been blessed with an opportunity to host All Access Mzansi," says Dineo Ranaka, "the show, its producers and former presenters have set a high standard and I hope to suavely fit into that standard. I am looking forward to giving the best of me."

"I'm absolutely elated to be a part of such an amazing show, mostly becaue it is coming back bigger and better," says Nandi Mngoma who have been filming inserts for the past two weeks.

Nandi Mngoma follows ProVerb as a newly added presenter of the resurrected All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic back in a new guise.

Nandi Mngoma has now also been added as a new presenter to the cancelled and now resurrected magazine show All Access Mzansi which will be returning to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) on Thursday 20 June at 19:30.

As yet, there's been no official communication or publicity material about All Access Mzansi which will start on Mzansi Magic in less than 8 days' time.

The singer and ultra-thin Nandi Mngoma joins ProVerb whom TV with Thinus already reported last month will be back as a presenter on All Access Mzansi.

It's no co-incidence that ProVerb who is also the Idols presenter is once again a presenter on All Access Mzansi - the new season of Idols is starting in July on M-Net and Mzansi Magic as a co-production.

The pay-broadcaster wants another television vehicle to help push Idols promotionally with on-screen exposure and All Access Mzansi will once again do behind-the-scenes inserts as well as contestant interviews as the show did previously.

The former All Access Mzansi presenters Pabi Moloi, Bridget Masinga and Jason Greer are no longer part of the show.

The resurrected show which has undergone a revamp after Mzansi Magic cancelled it at the end of last year, saying the channel was moving towards "more exciting content" is produced by Homebrew Films. The new All Access Mzansi will once again cover celebrity news, interviews, music, sport and social events across South Africa.

BREAKING. All Access Mzansi 'uncancelled'; Mzansi Magic channel bringing the 'revamped' local magazine show back.

You're reading it here first. 

I can break the news that the cancelled magazine show All Access Mzansi is "uncancelled" and will return to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) after M-Net dumped the weekly glamarama magazine show at the end of last year because according to the channel it had run its course.

M-Net and Mzansi Magic axed All Access Mzansi after just two years on the air on the channel, after it was revamped from being All Access on M-Net (DStv 101). All Access got dumped from that channel initially and was retooled for a black urban TV audience and renamed All Access Mzansi.

Mzansi Magic blamed budget contraints and said it was moving towards "more exciting content". Now the "more exciting content" for its future is apparently more of what Mzansi Magic had in its past.

Mzansi Magic channel executives have now apparently had a change of heart and decided to make a U-turn on last year's decision.

I can reveal that All Access Mzansi, produced by Homebrew Films, is now set to suddenly return to Mzansi Magic on Thursday 20 June at 19:30 to once again cover celebrity news, interviews, music, sport and social events across South Africa.

It's not clear whether any of the former All Access Mzansi presenters such as Pabi Moloi, Bridget Masinga and Jason Greer will return.

ProVerb however will be back according to sources and All Access Mzansi interestingly also gets revived just in time to tie in again as a behind-the-scenes on-air exposure vehicle for the new 9th season of Idols which will start on the M-Net and Mzansi Magic channels in July of which ProVerb is of course also the presenter.

It's not clear in what way All Access Mzansi will be revamped in terms of look and feel and logo and presenter corps in order to serve Mzansi Magic's black viewership better or more in the way channel executives now have in mind when it debuts in a new way in June. Mzansi Magic's publicity person refused to answer the most basic questions about All Access Mzansi last week after a media enquiry.

I wanted to know why All Access Mzansi is resurrected after Mzanzi Magic said it was cancelled. What was the process behind deciding to return All Access Mzansi to the air, and what happened to bring it back? These and several other questions Mzansi Magic doesn't want to answer.

"We have revamped the show and further details on the new look will be made available to the media in the next few weeks," a Mzansi Magic rep tells me.

CANCELLED. All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic cancelled; Top Ten a gonner too as the TV channel 'moves towards a new period'.

Broadcasters simply loathe using that word but I can tell you that All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) has been cancelled and won't be back; My Top 10 on Mzansi Magic is a gonner too.

The Mzansi Magic channel's top brass feels that both shows have run their course.

All Access Mzansi, produced by Homebrew Films, used to be All Access on M-Net before that show was cancelled after just over two years on the air by the pay-TV broadcaster on the M-Net channel (DStv 101).

A derivative, repurposed show for a black urban audience under the banner of All Access Mzansi was then started for Mzansi Magic with new presenters. Now after another two years All Access Mzansi is also over.

"All Access Mzansi and My Top 10 have enjoyed a great run on the channel since launching two years ago and as Mzansi Magic moves towards a new period, we look forward to launching more exciting content," the TV channel tells me.

INTERVIEW. As All Access Mzansi enters its 2nd season 'content and opportunities are getting better and better,' says producer.

The second season of the local weekly entertainment magazine show All Access Mzansi has just started on Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) with presenters Jason Greer and Pabi Moloi.

I asked Paul Venter, All Access Mzansi producer from Homebrew Films about the second season of the show, the new black male presenter All Access Mzansi wants to add, what has happened to Tammy-Anne Fortuin, whether the show is going to change this season, and how the show has adjusted moving from M-Net to the Mzansi Magic channel.

With the shift and relaunch of the show as All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic, what has been some of the big things over the course of the first season that the show had to adjust to and perhaps learnt from the experience of making a ''new'' show for basically a newly started TV channel?
Paul Venter: The only real shift for us was the target market. We now exclusively focus on content that will appeal to a black market audience ages 25 to 49. And if anything, it is an absolute joy, as the target market is so clearly defined.

Are there certain segments and inserts that viewers gravitate to more or like more? How do you determine the mix of any given week's episode and is it difficult to find something of everything to sprinkle in there that you're looking for?
All Access Mzansi is and has always been a celebrity, events and entertainment programme, so we keep the mix around this every week. But yes, as with any magazine programme, the scoops are extremely popular, and exciting: if I have to make an exception of one insert, it must be Kimora Lee Simmons at ZAR in Cape Town - it was a major scoop and hit the proverbial ''bulls-eye'' with our target market!

The show has now been renewed for a 2nd season. Anything new or different coming up either in the way the show is produced or the way it looks, or what viewers will see in terms of content or will the 2nd season be more focused on solidifying and building on the first season?
It takes a magazine programme at least 6 months to settle on a channel and I think it would be unwise to change and mess with the formula so early into its Mzansi Magic lifespan. The brand is getting out there more and more, and content and opportunities are getting better and better as we prove our commitment to quality content and professional broadcasting.

There was talk that All Access Mzansi is looking for a black male presenter. Is that still on or not? What happened and what's the latest with this process?
It was never a driven search for a presenter, but with content getting more and more and events happening all over the country, we realized it would be easier on production to have a bigger presenter pool. More news about this will follow soon.

Is it ta-ta Tammy-Anne Fortuin? Where is Tammy-Anne Fortuin and what is she going to do?
Tammy is in New York at the New York Film Academy where she will be studying for the next 4 years. She will however stay on our ''books'' – so to speak – and our first insert with her from New York is scheduled to be produced very soon. And with all the contacts she will be building in New York….

The show has evolved numerous times on M-Net, and seems to be doing the same now on Mzansi Magic. In what sense do you think the show will be different or have evolved from the first episode of All Access Mzansi that was on Mzansi Magic?
The show's look and feel stayed exactly the same since the first episode on All Access Mzansi on 21 April 2011 and we are keeping the look, feel and production qualities exactly the same for the future episodes.

All Access Mzansi II, Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107)

M-Net sells 4 shows - All Access Mzansi, Cooking with Siba, Tinsel and Naija Sings to Africa HD for broadcast in America.

M-Net has licensed over 300 hours of the pay broadcaster's high definition (HD) TV shows to the new TV channel Africa HD that will be broadcasting in America and the Carribean from 2012.

M-Net has licensed the two Mzansi Magic shows Cooking with Siba and the entertainment magazine show All Access Mzansi to Africa HD, as well as two Nigerian soaps - Tinsel and the reality show Naija Sings.

''This partnership reflects M-Net's global strategy supporting the expansion of our HD programming  library into territories worldwide,'' says Mike Dearham, M-Net's head of sales and library. ''These shows are a true reflection of the diverse array of programming that is currently being produced on the African continent.''

Africa HD says the nascent broadcaster is looking forward to possibly expanding the number of M-Net shows on the channel in future. "We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship as Africa HD expands its global footprint,'' says James Makawa, CEO of Africa HD.

Programming note: All Access Mzansi venturing inside the Idols mansion Thursday evening with contestants in the bath tub.

You're seeing it here first.

I can tell that the weekly local entertainment magazine show All Access Mzansi will be visiting the Idols mansion in this Thursday's episode on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) at 20:00 - and I have this exclusive first look at what you'll see.

All Access Mzansi presenter Bridget Msinga will be exploring the mansion this Thursday evening and talk to the remaining Idols contestants in ''MTV Cribs'' style. Of course I blabbed RIGHT HERE last month that the contestants are staying in the exact same Northcliff mansion as last year for this 7th season.

In September last year presenter Jason Greer visited the Idols mansion as well during the previous Idols season but this time it's Bridget Masinga's turn to show viewers the Idols contestants' home away from home.

Why is Crushanda Forbes and Dene Vorster in the bath tub? Bridget Masinga will tell you.

And what exactly is there in Crushanda Forbes' closet that she doesn't want Bridget Masinga to see?

ALSO READ: 2010 - Take a peek inside the Idols mansion and how it looks from the inside.