M-Net abruptly ends Coronation Street and Emmerdale on M-Net City without warning as MultiChoice's DStv subscribers lose access to these British soaps for a second time in months.

by Thinus Ferreira

DStv subscribers have abruptly had the British soap operas Coronation Street and Emmerdale ripped away from them for the second time in months after M-Net stopped broadcasting these shows on its M-Net City (DStv 115) channel in February, without any explanation or warning to MultiChoice's pay-TV customers. 

Both Emmerdale and Coronation Street that were broadcast on ITV Choice until that channel shut down in mid-2020 on DStv, suddenly ended in February on M-Net's M-Net City (DStv 115) channel on DStv without any warning to followers.

This is the second time within a year that Coronation Street and Emmerdale just stopped and disappeared for DStv subscribers.

After the end of ITV Choice, followed by the shocking shutdown of BBC Studios' BBC First channel, MultiChoice and Jan du Plessis, director of M-Net channels, announced with fanfare that British content would be picked up through ITV Studios' distribution arm and be broadcast by M-Net on its set of channels.

In July 2020 M-Net announced that it had acquired both Emmerdale and Coronation Street that would start later in 2020 on M-Net City.

In September 2020, in response to a media enquiry from TVwithThinus asking what DStv subscribers will be getting in place of ITV Choice and BBC First in terms of British content after these channels were lost to subscribers, MultiChoice again reiterated this and said that "two of ITV's most-loved soaps, Emmerdale and Coronation Street, will return to M-Net City".

Less than half a year later Coronation Street and Emmerdale are abruptly over and gone.

TVwithThinus asked M-Net why Coronation Street and Emmerdale were suddenly ripped from the M-Net City schedule and why DStv subscribers got no warning.

M-Net in response to the media enquiry, says that "We also enjoyed the British line up with Coronation Street and Emmerdale, however the contracts for these series have not been renewed with us and also the seasons we licensed came to an end hence they are not playing anymore. Thank you for watching and do enjoy the other great shows we have to offer".

ALSO READ: M-Net tries to fix botched playout of The Capture on linear and MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up after errors with programme acceptance, although mistakes and subscriber complaints persist.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice acquires and moves ITV programming like Coronation Street, Emmerdale and The Chase to its M-Net channels on DStv after ending the ITV Choice channel.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 9 September 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:  

■ "Is this the best you can do for R900?"
DStv Premium subscribers continue to complain about the lack of value and quality content as BBC Studios' BBC First channel is also ripped away and subscribers say they have had enough of "junk viewing".

■ Another reader angry about the axing of ITV Choice and now BBC First, says DStv hasn't bothered to reply while having to pay R1000 monthly to watch repeats.
"What led MultiChoice to the belief thatno-one watched BBC First on channel 119?" asks the reader that wants to move from DStv to Netflix.


■ The disturbing photos from Ghana's trash-bad imitation TV version of M-Net and MultiChoice's Big Brother Naija.
Horrific production values as the so-called Biggy 237 trash show is marred by technical problems; contestant housemates sleeping in dirty, unkept room on student matrasses on the floor; organisers lied about the show being part of MultiChoice Ghana.


■ New BBC director-general Tim Davie against a switch to subscription.

■ New BBC boss Tim Davie to crack down on BBC staff posting their personal views on social media.
- Won't hesitate to shut down BBC TV channels if they no longer offer enough value.
- Says BBC has reached end of linear TV expansion.
- "There is still too much bureaucracy."

■ Star Wars actor John Boyega slams Disney and says he was pushed to the side.

■ How Netflix reinvented entertainment as well as corporate culture.

■ Covid-19 has wiped out 2020's new TV schedule in the United States.

■ Hollywood is filled with fear and loathing over the new stranglehold over cinema of video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

■ Andrew Lloyd Webber warns that the arts is "at the point of no return".

■ Away on Netflix is another mission-to-Mars TV drama that doesn't achieve liftoff.

■ Reporters from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Australian Financial Review flee China after media crackdown.


■ "Shame on you Unilever! Shame on you TRESemmé!"
eNCA (DStv 403) continues its slide into activism and blended in-news commentary, blurring the line between just reporting the facts in TV news bulletins and giving personal opinion.
- EFF political party harasses eNCA reporter Nobusuthu Hejana.
- EFF political party harasses eNCA reporter AGAIN.


■ South Africa's auditor-general (AG) questions the SABC's R63 million contract with 5 international news agencies - BBC, Reuters, Feature Stories, Associated Press (AP), and AFP awarded in 2017.

■ Ellen DeGeneres will address the behind-the-scenes scandal at her talk show on the air when the new 18th season starts.

■ Global pirate viewing will start on 30 October when the second season of Star Wars' The Mandalorian is released on Disney+ that hasn't yet launched or announced any launch date for Disney's video streaming service in South Africa or Africa.


■ What the end of Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E! (DStv 124) says about the changing TV industry in America.
- The internet today would not be what it is without the Kardashian influence.
- The influencer/creator culture we have today would not exist without Keeping Up with the Kardashians and The Hills and The Simple Life.


■ "Very bad form": Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pull out of a fundraiser linked to a video streaming rival to Netlifx after they had already said yes but are now producers for Netflix (subscription required).

- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's "money panic" played amajor role in their decision to sign a production deal with Netflix.
- Netflix viewers cancel their subscriptions after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their Netflix production deal.

Spring cleaning: Here are the 9 big changes coming to DStv channels from September and later this month.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service is doing some spring cleaning with multiple changes, channel additions and channel replacements, channel removals, as well as channel number changes coming into effect from today, with two more later this month.

The major changes revolve around MultiChoice and M-Net restructuring and reducing its M-Net Movies collection of channels, the SuperSport collection of channels being restructured into thematic and thematically named channels, BBC Studios' BBC First channel taken away, and the new option of a M-Net Movies add-on package being introduced.

Here are the changes:


1. Tellytrack, the South African horseracing channel, has moved from DStv channel number 239 to channel 249.


2. The BBC First channel that was available to DStv Premium subscribers has been axed from DStv as part of what MultiChoice calls "a refresh of its British entertainment line-up". Some of the British drama content that used to be on BBC First will now be placed on the BBC Brit channel.


3. Fashion One (DStv 178) that has been running outdated and old content on a loop, abruptly stopped broadcasting without warning a few days ago. MultiChoice that tried to engage the Fashion One owners has removed Fashion One with immediate effect from the DStv line-up.


4.  MultiChoice will add the tlnovelas channel as a pop-up channel on DStv channel 133 between 14 and 30 September that will broadcast an array of English-dubbed Mexican telenovelas.


5. MultiChoice will launch its new DStv Rewards loyalty programme for DStv subscribers in South Africa sometime this month but hasn't specified or announced a specific date for September yet. With DStv Rewards subscribers will earn upgrades, discounts and other vouchers depending on what bouquet and for the duration they've been subscribers.


6. M-Net and MultiChoice reduced its set of M-Net Movies channels from 6 to 4 TV channels which are also renamed to M-Net Movies 1 (DStv 104), M-Net Movies 2 (DStv 106), M-Net Movies 3 (DStv 107) and M-Net Movies 4 (DStv 108). The number of films shown won't be reduced but movies are structured better to decrease the number of repeats on DStv.


7. M-Net's kykNET Afrikaans channels division is making the December holiday pop-up channel fliekNET (DStv 149) a permanent Afrikaans film channel from today. The channel will broadcast classic Afrikaans films as well as new locally-produced Afrikaans movies.


8. MultiChoice has created an "Add Movies" add-on package for DStv subscribers that costs an additional R99 per month. DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Family, DStv Access, DStv EasyView, and DStv subscribers on the Indian packages can add the Add Movies add-on to their normal subscription. The Add Movies package has the M-Net Movies 1, M-Net Movies 2 and fliekNET channels and will also include possible M-Net Movies pop-up channels when DStv run them for a limited time.


9. The collection of SuperSport channels are getting names from today and channel number changes to help make it easier for DStv subscribers to know what type of content to expect on which channel.

The new SuperSport arrangement will go live at 12:00 on 1 September.

SuperSport's flagship channel, SuperSport Grandstand is now on DStv channel 201 and will carry the best of live sports content, with SuperSport Blitz on DStv channel 200 that will carry 24-hour sports news and highlights.

Channel 202 as SuperSport PSL will now carry Premier Soccer League (PSL) and other South African football, DStv channel 203 as SS Premier League will now carry English Premier League, UCL, UEL and international games, while SS LaLiga on DStv channel 204 will now carry LaLiga, UCL, UEL and international games.

SuperSport Football on DStv channel 205 will now carry soccer like Serie A, additional EPL, UCL, UEL and international games.

On SuperSport Variety 1 on DStv channel 206 SuperSport will broadcast cycling, swimming, additional golf, cricket, tennis, rugby and soccer. On SuperSport Variety 2 on DStv channel 207 SuperSport will show gymnastics, squash, sailing, hockey and additional football content.

On SuperSport Variety 3 on DStv channel 208 subscribers will find a variety of athletics, marathons, WWE wrestling, PSL and additional soccer coverage, while SuperSport Variety 4 on DStv channel 209 will showcase a variety of local sports ranging from school rugby and university sports, to netball, BNL, MDB and SRC, as well as WWE wrestling highlights.

DStv channel 210 now named SuperSport Action will showcase adrenalin sports like UFC, EFC, boxing, additional rugby and cricket, as well as cricket and motorsport, while DStv channel 211 as SuperSport Rugby is now the main channel for rugby including Springbok games, Super Rugby, the Currie Cup, test matches as well as Sevens matches.

DStv channel 212 as SuperSport Cricket will mainly house cricket coverage like the Proteas, ICC tournaments, international cricket games and IPL, while DStv channel 213 as SuperSportGolf is now where major golf tournaments reside like PGA Tour, the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour.

On DStv channel 214 is SuperSport Tennis with tennis like the Grand Slams, ATP 1000, ATP 250 and ATP 500; with motorsport like Formula 1, Formula E, Moto GP, Superbikes and Supercars on DStv channel 215 as SuperSport Motorsport.

DStv channel 236 will be the main home for WWE wrestling coverage, including WWE live events, WWE RAW, WWE SmackDown, WrestleMania and WWE SummerSlam.

BREAKING. MultiChoice dumps the BBC First channel from DStv from September, calls it a 'refresh of it British entertainment line-up'.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice is dumping the BBC First (DStv 119) channel from 1 September, spinning that axing the premium British TV channel supplied by BBC Studios is a "refresh of its British entertainment line-up".

MultiChoice is culling BBC First 3 months after it ended its contract with ITV's ITV Choice on DStv that was axed since June 2020 and got rid of the Sundance TV and SABC Encore channels at the end of May 2020.

MultiChoice isn't giving any reason for removing BBC First that is being removed after 5 years on DStv. Some BBC First content will now be moved to BBC Brit.

South Africa was one of an extremely small group of countries that got the complete new set of BBC Studios channels after its international realignment: BBC First, BBC Brit, BBC Earth, BBC Lifestyle, and CBeebies. Now it's being broken down again.

MultiChoice's removal of ITV Choice, BBC First and other foreign entertainment content is part of the pay-TV operator's cost-cutting measures it announced a year ago and reiterated recently in the latest MultiChoice financial year results, saying it's reducing international content that no longer "resonates" to focus on investing more in local content.

MultiChoice says "customers can continue to enjoy an increased range of British content on DStv’s suite of popular BBC channels as well as on M-Net, Catch Up and Showmax".

Cutting BBC First from DStv from September comes at the same time as MultiChoice and M-Net is also reducing its remaining M-Net Movies channels from 6 to just 4 from September.

"We are putting compelling drama and variety in one place and on one BBC channel and have increased acquisition of British content by adding titles to M-Net," says Yolisa Phahle, CEO of general entertainment & connected video at MultiChoice Group, in a prepared statement.

Nick Percy, executive vice president at BBC Studios for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, in a statement says "We would like to thank viewers for their support of BBC First over the past 5 years".

"BBC Brit will continue to offer some drama series as part of its schedule, and we will be looking for new opportunities that will allow us to continue to bring drama fans the full range of quality productions coming out of the United Kingdom."

"We have operated BBC branded channels on the DStv platform for over 20 years and remain committed to bringing our viewers the very best programming from the BBC and leading United Kingdom production houses".

MultiChoice says that the pay-TV operator "remains committed to maintaining its long-standing relationship with the BBC and will continue work with the broadcaster to ensure the best British entertainment for its customers, maintaining a great quality offering at the best value".


ALSO READ: MultiChoice and M-Net reducing and restructuring its M-Net Movies channels offering on DStv.

Coronavirus: ITV follows BBC and shuts down Coronation Street and Emmerdale soaps because of Covid-19 spread while all South Africa's TV soaps on DStv, e.tv and the SABC continue filming.

by Thinus Ferreira

The British soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale are also shutting down production from today in light of the fast-spreading Covid-19 pandemic although in South Africa TV production continues on all locally-produced weekday soaps seen on the SABC, e.tv and MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service despite an industry call for them to shut down immediately.

ITV announced that it is temporarily suspending production on Coronation Street and Emmerdale, both seen in South Africa on ITV Choice (DStv 123) because of the novel coronavirus that is rapidly spreading in the United Kingdom.

The BBC already completely shut down production its soaps last week including Holby City and Casualty both seen on BBC Studios Africa's BBC First (DStv 119) channel, as well as EastEnders seen on BBC Brit (DStv 120).

"ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March 2020," ITV says in a statement.

"We've been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the government’s latest health guidelines to ensure we have episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer."

"However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming. We'd like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months."

In South Africa broadcasters and pay-TV services like MultiChoice, the SABC and e.tv have not ordered the shut down of its locally-produced shows including the flurry of weekday soaps, with the country's largest studio complexes in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban who all remain operational with large casts and crews where collectively thousands of people work on sets in front of and behind the cameras.

Unlike cinemas in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere, both Ster-Kinekor  and Nu Metro have decided to keep their movie theatres open.


ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Stop filming and shut down TV shows right now urges South Africa's Independent Producers Organisation (IPO).

Call the Midwife on BBC First, Vera and Endeavor on ITV Choice renewed for further seasons in the United Kingdom.

Three British drama series, Call the Midwife from the BBC seen on BBC First (DStv 119), as well as Vera and Endeavor from ITV seen on ITV Choice (DStv 123) have been renewed for further seasons in the United Kingdom.

While the 9th season of Call the Midwife is about to start production in the United Kingdom, the BBC has renewed the series for a 10th and an 11th season that will be set in the late 1960s.

The 10th and 11 seasons will each have 8 episodes, as well as the usual Christmas specials.

"Even after all these years, it still feels as though Call the Midwife has more truth to tell, more tears to cry, more life to celebrate, and more love to give," says Heidi Thomas, executive producer, creator and writer of Call the Midwife.

"We are blessed with the best cast, crew and audience a show could wish for and I could not be more excited about our future."

Meanwhile ITV has renewed the Inspector Morse prequel, Endeavor with Shaun Evans, produced by ITV Studios's Mammoth Screen, for a 7th season. Endeavor's 7th season will take place in 1970 with production that will start later this year.

The 6th season of Endeavor started in February on Wednesdays at 20:00 on ITV Choice. 

Vera with Brenda Blethyn produced by ITV Studios' Silverprint and also seen on ITV Choice, will start production in April on 4 new film-length episodes.

BBC First on DStv does a rerun in April with a rejigged daytime schedule, showing previous seasons of several British drama series.

Nearly two weeks into April already, BBC Studios is announcing in a badly done press release (that was clearly not read through) that its BBC First (DStv 119) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform has a new daytime schedule since the beginning of the month.

BBC Studios says April sees BBC First "bring its favourite faces to its new daytime schedule".

BBC First viewers who will "now be able to indulge with some of the BBC most charming characters including from the nuns and midwives of Nonnatus House, East London through to the detective team on the island of Saint-Maire led by DI Jack Mooney". 

Almost two weeks in, BBC Studios says "for the duration of April, South Africa will be able to sit back and binge on iconic hospital dramas Holby City and Casualty, the hugely popular detective series Death in Paradise and Father Brown and heart-warming family drama series Call the Midwife".

Season 4, 5 and 6 of Death in Paradise is shown on weekdays at 12:00 on BBC Brit following Jack Mooney on the island of Saint Marie where he tries to solve mysteries and murders.

The first to 5th seasons of Father Brown is shown on weekdays at 12:55 on BBC First, based on the stories of GK Chesterton and following a crime-solving priest in the fictional Cotswold village of Kembleford in the 1950's.

Seasons 5 to 7 of Call the Midwife is broadcast on weekdays at 13:40 on BBC First, also set in the fifties and based on Jennifer Worth's memoirs about nuns helping pregnant women about to give birth and families in East London. 

The 29th season of Casualty can be seen on weekdays at 14:40 on BBC First in the world's longest-running medical soap filled with emergencies, romances and drama.

The 19th season of Holby City is on BBC First on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 14:40. This award-winning medical drama follows the lives of the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital.

How Africa's best TV curator, MultiChoice's content boss Aletta Alberts, keeps up with the massive amount of TV to watch - as she shares insights into the latest trends influencing shows.

As an extremely dedicated and very well-informed TV executive, she's Africa's most prominent, and possibly most powerful, TV content curator when it comes to television - but how does Aletta Alberts keep up and watch it all when the number of just the new American TV shows made per year have jumped from 210 series in 2009 to over 455 last year?

For over a decade since she joined MultiChoice in July 2006 as general manager of content, Aletta Alberts has held sway as the arbiter of what's ultimately gets to your screen in a local and international blurry, noisy, crowded TV-multiverse that is filled by a constantly, fast-evolving and every-increasing kaleidoscope of channels, shows, new TV genres, distribution methods and yes, more real, desperate housewives.

Having started as a production secretary in the late 80s, becoming an assistant producer, then a producer and working on large live shows, after which she transitioned to become SABC2 programme manager and eventually rose to SABC2 channel head, Aletta Alberts then joined Vodacom after which MultiChoice followed.

From her office in the airy MultiChoice City in Randburg, Johannesburg, Aletta Alberts is not just the content queen seated on the iron throne of TV land's intricate and sprawling television Westeros - she's actually George R.R. Martin.

But like the monk who looms over the sprawling and intricate map in the Game of Thrones opening title sequence - filled with continuously turning cogs and a daunting number of moving parts over a vast area - how on Earth does even she manage to keep up, and up to date, as a content curator in a world where there's more TV made than ever before, in a realm where everything and all the main players are constantly changing?

TVwithThinus asked her a bit earlier this year at the MultiChoice Media Showcase where TV executives converged over a 2-day presentation to speak to the press about upcoming content and channels.

Aletta Alberts not only shared how she keeps up with the avalanche of TV content, but also shared her fascinating insights into the latest TV trends shaping and impacting the television industry and the new shows that DStv subscribers are getting to see.

"Obviously we see the channels all the time, we read the dailies, we go to television markets. And I must say that our channel partners - often we go to events with our channel partners - where there are other platforms. So Sky will be there, and all these big platforms. And we have continuous conversations with them," said Aletta Alberts.

"Then we're also very lucky to work for an organisation that every year we have a conference called 'The Business of Television' and at that conference we really bring the best that's out there to come out and speak to us and keep us up to date".

Courtesy of M-Net, Aletta Alberts said that she for instance would be attending an HBO Masterclass event to understand how that pay-TV outlet commissions drama for instance.

"Our jobs are really a lifestyle. It's not a job, you really eat and sleep with it," she said.

Film stars and showrunners
Aletta Alberts shared some fascinating insights about the big, current TV trends that are impacting what DStv subscribers are seeing on their TV screens, and will be seeing more of in future.

"If you think of the stars you've seen on TV in the last 18 months - it started with Glenn Close doing Damage a few years ago - and it just continued. Now we have Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. I think the Brits actually set the ball rolling if you think about this."

"Now if you're an A-lister or Hollywood star, if you're not in a TV series, you haven't quite made it," said Aletta Alberts who highlighted how showrunners are also becoming the stars.

"Then the next trend is that the creators of these shows are not in the background anymore, they are becoming the celebrities. If you think about the Shonda Rhimes, Terence Winter, Dick Wolf and so on, the list continues. Greg Berlanti for instance is responsible for a huge amount of TV shows."

"Then there's the movie producers and directors. Who would ever have thought you'd see Martin Scorsese doing a television series? And Steve Buscemini, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay. It just keeps getting better and better."

"Now even the Coen Brothers have entered the fray and they're in development with a series and that looks very, very interesting [the Western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs]."

'Then there's also actors turning down big film series - like 007's Daniel Craig stepping down and committing to a three season series for Showtime [Purity] - so really, really it's just getting exciting".

"Just out of Hollywood, since 2010, the amount of new television, it's just gone out of control. In 2009 Hollywood was making 210 . Last year at the end it was 455 series," said Aletta Alberts.

"Then on top of that, add the British series and the foreign series being made. So it's unbelievable," she said.

Brit-invasion and Indian telenovelas
"So every year when we go to Los Angeles, we see different trends. Last year it was basically movies that became TV series."

"Then we see remakes of previous series, some more successful than others. MacGyver for instance is doing well, globally."

"And then we're also seeing the growth of British series. We see those on specifically channels like BBC First (DStv 119) and ITV Choice (DStv 123) - and these series do incredibly, incredibly well."

"And then something that we don't often speak about, but sometimes I think in the United States they run out of ideas. And because the Brits are so good at what they do, we see a lot of duplication."

"So you might not know but House of Cards was a remake, The Office went to an American series, Broadchurch was remade, Shameless, Elementary - these are just a few examples of all the brilliant British stuff that have been remade."

"And then we see the trend of franchises. So we see the DC franchises. Every year we go to LA there's another two or three. And as they do the movies, the TV series pick up as spin-offs off of that."

"Then the big one on the African continent is the rise of the telenovela," said Aletta Alberts.

"For a while now it was Latin [Telemundo], but we see that now being completely overshadowed by the Indian telenovelas on Zee World (DStv 166)."

"The Indian telenovelas are incredibly popular across the African continent. I think the one thing that the Indian novelas got right was they did a lot of research on the dubbing."

"The dubbed it and the research told them they have to dub it into a South African Indian accent, which is different from other Indian accents. And I promise you that is the success of this."

"So I think if we had dubbed the Latin novelas into a Sofia Vergara type English accent it would probably sit better and would be more accepted."

"Also, not to leave out, is the Turkish novelas. You're staring to see those on FOX. It's a little bit more conservative, but they have incredibly, incredibly high production values and great stories that are taking the world by storm at the moment".


DStv getting more rights to in season stacking
"At MultiChoice we're working very hard to get more and more rights to series, to first of all having it on DStv Catch Up, and secondly to have 'in season' box sets of available episodes because consumers don't want to come in at episode 3 and the previous ones don't exist and then it's like a broken experience for you," said Aletta Alberts.

"We're really working very, very hard on that."

"Because we haven't had broadband [in South Africa], or broadband's been very expensive, 6 or 7 years ago we came up with this thing called the DStv Explora and it has X amount of hours available on its hard drive and we simulated that over-the-top (OTT) experience."

"But the reality of it is, is that it's got limited space and we can only put a limited amount of content on there."

"So we were very excited when the DStv Explora box could then connect to the internet and now we can have hours and hours on there - but more so the fact that we can put lots more hours on DStv Now. And we're working very hard to get, and to put most things on DStv Now," she explained.

On how MultiChoice decides what content goes where, Aletta Alberts explained that "we select the content and we do have data of what people view".

"So each device has got a different strategy. Because TV series is the most watched, the bulk of what sits on the box is series. We've got limited sport and movies - we only put the latest and the greatest movies on the box so as they come off of our premium channels, that's what goes on there. And then very selectively we've got reality, like big reality shows."

As the TV world continues to evolve, Aletta Alberts ended the trends session with a bit of a prediction: "In 5 years or 10 year's time, I don't think there will be decoders. Everything will sit behind an app."


■ The 7th season of Game of Thrones will see its season premiere episode simulcast on Monday morning, 17 July at 03:00 on M-Net (DStv 101) at the same time as in America, and with it then broadcast again on the same day at 21:35 during late primetime.

Peter Capaldi done with BBC's Doctor Who on BBC First in a shock announcement; will leave the Tardis at the end of 2017.

Peter Capaldi is done with the BBC's Doctor Who, becoming the latest exit for the BBC facing an ongoing exit of high profile on-air talent from TV shows ranging from Top Gear to The Great British Bake Off.

Peter Capaldi (58) made the shocking and surprising announcement on the BBC's BBC Radio 2 on Monday saying that "I've never done one job for three years before and I feel it's time for me to move on to different challenges".

Peter Capaldi's exit from Doctor Who comes after a dramatic viewership loss for the science fiction series the past few seasons, with Capaldi blaming the BBC for moving it to a later timeslot, and slamming the BBC for "undoubtedly" taking Doctor Who for granted.

The Scottish actor will finish out the year at Doctor Who, seen in South Africa and 6 other Southern African countries on BBC Worldwide's BBC First (DStv 119) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

The new season of Doctor Who will start in April, and Peter Capaldi will leave after the conclusion of the Christmas 2017 special episode.

Peter Capaldi told the shocked BBC radio presenter that his upcoming last season of Doctor Who will be "a huge event" with an "unexpected" turn of events. The season will "roll along in a vintage way" before it turns dark and emotional.

After three seasons of playing the space and time traveller since 2013, Peter Capaldi will exit the British science fiction series at the same time at the end of 2017 as the Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat who has been with the show since 2010 as lead writer and executive producer.

Peter Capaldi is the fourth actor to play Doctor Who since the BBC relaunched the sci-fi series in 2005, taking over after Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith played the inhabitant of the British blue police phone box.

In a statement that Steven Moffat released after Peter Capaldi's announcement, Moffat says "Peter's amazing, fiery, turbulent Doctor is still fighting the good fight, and his greatest adventures are yet to come. Monsters of the universe, be on your guard - Capaldi's not done with you yet!"

"Like Peter, I'm facing up to leaving the best job I'll ever have, but knowing I do so in the company of the best, and kindest and cleverest of men, makes the saddest of endings a little sweeter."

Now viewers are wondering who the 13th Doctor will be, and whether the BBC will finally cast a woman, a black man, or someone other than a white man in the iconic Timelord role.

BBC Worldwide Africa's boss says that after a year, the BBC's new global channels in South Africa on DStv 'has gone from strength to strength'.

A year after the relaunch of its channels portfolio and introduction of new channels in South Africa and in some African countries on MultiChoice's DStv, BBC Worldwide Africa's boss says the BBC's set of new global channels has gone from strength to strength.

BBC Worldwide introduced BBC First, BBC Earth and BBC Brit in mid-October and September 2015, in addition to the existing BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC World News.

South African DStv subscribers have access to the whole set, while selected African countries get some of the BBC Worldwide channels.

BBC Worldwide opened its African office in Johannesburg in January 2015 and in August 2015 appointed Shireez Latief as its first in-country senior marketing manager.

BBC Worldwide says in the past year - since the launch of BBC First, BBC Brit and BBC Earth that replaced BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge - BBC Worldwide has strengthened its presence in the South African market as the brand reached out to local audiences and introduced new viewers to the BBC's portfolio of content.

"It marks a year since the new global brands were launched to the South African market. Since then, the full channel portfolio on DStv featuring news, entertainment and lifestyle programming, has gone from strength to strength," says Joel Churcher, BBC Worldwide Africa's vice-president and general manager.

"BBC Worldwide continues to significantly invest in world-class, premium programming."

BBC Worldwide Africa recently won Loerie awards in the local advertising industry for ads for BBC Lifestyle's Great South African Bake Off and BBC Brit's Top Gear.

"This recognition across the continent reflects BBC Worldwide's commitment to the African market and understanding the importance of what matters most to our local African audiences."

DStv subscribers tired of Brit-peats, wonder why there's so many rebroadcasts on ITV Choice and BBC First. Here's how the best of British channels respond:

Are there just too many repeats of British series on BBC First (DStv 119) and ITV Choice (DStv 123) on MultiChoice's DStv service? Some DStv subscribers paying for the top-tier DStv packages feel so.

TVwithThinus hears from a lot of readers daily. Whilst every email is read, it's impossible to respond to each one individually (I do try with as many as I can) since there's simply not enough time in a day.

One complaint and a question that keeps popping up however, is DStv subscribers wanting to know why the repeats on BBC First and ITV Choice - premium channels for only the high-end tiers have such a high perceived repeat broadcast ratio.

BBC First is only for DStv Premium; ITV Choice is available to DStv Premium and DStv Extra subscribers.

TVwithThinus decided to ask both BBC First and ITV Choice about its repeats after Mike Westaway last week wrote me and again asked what so many other typical DStv subscribers have been asking the past few months.

Here is Mike Westaway's email:

"What is going on with BBC First and ITV Choice? So many repeats so soon after initial broadcasts. I understand the need for repeats but so many, so soon? I was thrilled to see Brit TV initially but have become very disappointed by what's happening now. They must have vaults overflowing with programmes never seen here because of sanctions, etc. Or is something else blowing in the wind?"


I reached out to both BBC First and ITV Choice to possibly hear from these channels what they want to say to Mike Westaway and other DStv subscribers watching these channels but feeling there's too many repeats.

BBC First on MultiChoice's DStv is a channel from BBC Worldwide and localised for a BBC Worldwide Africa channel feed. ITV Choice is run by ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE).

BBC First responded:
"BBC Worldwide showcase world class programmes across all five of the BBC channels in South Africa."

"We know our audiences like the shows we host and that there's a real appetite for them. We supply 1 600 hours of fresh content every year and we're in the business of mixing new content with old favourites."

ITV Choice responded:
"ITV Choice tries really hard to limit our repeats and this is something that DStv, as our platform monitor really carefully.  In fact, we rarely get complaints about repeats from subscribers or DStv."

"We do have very long running shows i.e. Judge Rinder, Catchphrase, Tipping point etc. These shows are produced with not only a great number of series, but they also include at least 8 episodes per series, so they do run for an extended time.  

"We have, however tried to break up the schedule by having a break in between, by showing Series 1 – 3 /4 and then after a break starting Series 5 to 8.

"We certainly do repeat titles i.e. Poldark where it is scheduled in a prime-time slot and then repeated again in daytime."

"On some of our top performing shows, we may repeat a series on request from DStv.  There could also be other reasons for repeats, when we buy international rights to a show, we may have an obligation on the number of hours we broadcast for."

BBC Worldwide starts selling adverts on BBC First; propelled to number one international drama channel on DStv thanks to ITV Studios' Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge.

BBC Worldwide that runs BBC First (DStv 119) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service in South Africa and some other African countries is now selling airtime for commercials on the channel.

BBC First launched in October on DStv as part of the relaunch and rebranding of the BBC Worldwide set of channels including BBC Brit and BBC Earth that replaced BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge.

Commercial airtime is now available on BBC First since Sunday 14 February, and with BBC First's first quarter ratings that's available.

Since its launch in October 2015 as a premium British drama channel, BBC First is now ranked as the number two international drama channel on MultiChoice's DStv among LSM8 to 10 Adults, and number two under LSM9 to 10.

Episodes of Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge on BBC First - both shows from ITV Studios that BBC Worldwide acquired for its channel - helped BBC First to attain enough DStv viewers to make it the number 1 international channel on DStv among all Adults, and the number 1 international drama channel on DStv respectively.

Furious DStv subscribers in Kenya angry about not getting BBC Worldwide's BBC First, BBC Earth channels; MultiChoice says its 'too expensive'.

Furious DStv subscribers in Kenya are angry and outraged with the satellite pay-TV provider MultiChoice for refusing to give them new channels BBC First (DStv 119) and BBC Earth (DStv 174), saying these channels from BBC Worldwide are "too expensive" to carry.

With the change and split from BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge to BBC First and BBC Brit and BBC Earth, Kenya's DStv subscribers are up in arms about losing out and being unable to continue to watch content and shows they've been seeing until now.

While DStv Premium subscribers in Kenya are paying for a premium DStv service, they're not getting BBC First which is now the BBC Worldwide channel showing series like Downton Abbey and Doctor Who for instance, or BBC Earth which is the factual entertainment and documentary channel that replaced BBC Knowledge.

DStv subscribers in Kenya only get BBC Brit - but that channel doesn't have the sought-after and most liked new British entertainment programming.

Kenyan DStv subscribers no longer have any way of watching or keeping up with British series and programming, suddenly cut off from Brit telly they've watched and followed like the soap Eastenders.

Gone is the ability of these DStv subscribers in Kenya to follow and keep up with shows like Luther, Sherlock, Peaky Blinders and new shows like Wolf Hall, Atlantis and the upcoming War and Peace that's all shown just on the new BBC First.

DStv subscribers in Kenya says MultiChoice lied when the satellite pay-TV provider said shows like soap Eastenders would be back and that South African DStv subscribers are "favoured" over Kenyan subscribers.

While MultiChoice in South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are carrying BBC First, the BBC Worldwide channel is not given to DStv subscribers in countries like Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria or Tanzania - as well as dozens others.

MultiChoice in Kenya says BBC First is "too expensive" to give the premium BBC Worldwide channel to DStv subscribers in the country and that MultiChoice can't make a "fair commercial return" if BBC First and BBC Earth are made available.

BBC First and BBC Earth have been made even more "unaffordable" in Kenya according to MultiChoice due to the dramatic currency devaluations that's been taking place in Kenya, as well as several other African countries.

"MultiChoice Kenya had to make the commercial decision to not acquire BBC First and BBC Earth as these channels proved to be too expensive for the business to gain a fair commercial return and would have affected our long term sustainability," says MultiChoice Kenya.

"Negotiations for these channels have been further exacerbated by the inflationary effects of a devaluating currency, which made the acquisition of these channels unaffordable."

"We acknowledge that our Kenyan viewers are disappointed at missing certain BBC programmes only available on BBC First and we sincerely apologize for this."

"Subscriber satisfaction is a high priority for us. Unlike free-to-air, our business model is dependent on subscriptions. If we lose subscribers it negatively impacts our revenue. The ability to offer our subscribers what they want to watch, at the price points they can afford, is always a delicate balance."

"Rightly so, we are in the process of looking at all the options available to us to address the complaints we have received. We are not able to provide timelines at this point. Please bear with us while we review this situation," says MultiChoice Kenya.

BBC Worldwide says its new channels BBC Brit and BBC Earth are 'instant winners' with DStv subscribers; response from audiences 'very promising'.

BBC Worldwide says its rebranded BBC Brit (DStv 120) and BBC Earth (DStv 184) global genre channels in South Africa launched with strong overnight ratings during the channels' first week on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in the first week of September.

According to DStvi/Kantar audience ratings, BBC Brit was up 83% in all day share under LSM 7-10 males and showed a 173% improvement in this demo during daytime viewing compared to the 2015 viewership of BBC Entertainment which the channel was previously known as until the end of August.

BBC Worldwide says BBC Brit "overtook established rivals to rank in the top three of its international broadcaster competitive set for key audiences" in terms of overall share.

BBC Worldwide didn't provide similar information for BBC Earth which replaced BBC Knowledge but said BBC Earth reached "the highest proportion of audiences in its key competitive set for LSM 8-10" and that the ratings ranking of the new channel - now available in HD on DStv, "rose by four places" compared to BBC Knowledge during its final week in August.

BBC Worldwide calls BBC Brit and BBC Earth "instant winners".

"I'm delighted with BBC Brit and BBC Earth's performance so far," says Joel Churcher, the general manager and vice president for Africa at BBC Worldwide.

"The response from South African audiences is very promising and we're looking forward to seeing the channels continue to grow over the coming months."

The third new channel, BBC First will launch on 18 October on DStv.

There's been unhappiness from DStv subscribers on lower tiered subscriptions who are upset at MultiChoice's "restructuring" of the BBC bouquet.

Angry DStv subscribers feel that the new realignment of channels means they won't get the content that used to be on BBC Entertainment, since its replacement, BBC First, will be a premium channel for DStv Premium only.

DStv Extra subscribers are losing access to shows like Downton Abbey and Doctor Who that's moving to BBC First. The quality kids channel CBeebies is however opened to DStv Compact subscribers that was previously only for DStv Premium.

South Africa is the first territory in the world to launch all three of BBC Worldwide's new genre brands and follow the successful European debuts of BBC Brit and BBC Earth in Poland, the Nordics, Hungary, Romania and Turkey earlier this year.

BBC First launch in Australia in mid-2014 and in Belgium and the Netherlands earlier this year. BBC Earth launched in Latin America on 1 September and will launch in Asia on 3 October.

INTERVIEW. Joel Churcher on the BBC channels changing in Africa: 'Making them future-proof, sharp, consumer-facing, and playing to our strengths'.

The BBC's channels from BBC Worldwide are changing in South Africa and across the African continent, with the introduction of BBC First, BBC Brit and BBC Earth, sitting alongside the existing BBC Lifestyle, kids channel CBeebies and BBC World News.

In a wide-ranging interview about the BBC channels changing, I spoke to Joel Churcher, the vice president and general manager for Africa.

Joel Churcher spoke about the decision, the work that went into it, provides insights about the content aspects and considerations - and he reveals what's most exciting for him about the looming BBC channels change.


Why the decision the change and launch all of the new BBC channels from BBC Worldwide at the same time instead of changing just one like BBC Knowledge first to BBC Earth and using a phased approach?

Joel Churcher: It makes sense for us to do all at once as one big bang from a marketing perspective. 

But this is also a global roll-out and if you look at what happened in other markets, not all of those markets took all the channels for their own reasons.

The affiliate partner already maybe had a drama channel or already had a natural history channel, whereas with MultiChoice they’re a big fan of the BBC channels, so it's a discussion we had with MultiChoice and they said ‘great, we want all of it’. 

So it makes sense for us to launch it all at the same time. So South Africa as you know is the first country to get all three global brands as well as keeping CBeebies, BBC Lifestyle and BBC World News. So South Africa gets the full 6 BBC channel portfolios.

Why the decision to turn BBC Knowledge which becomes BBC Earth into an HD channel, and how does that make that channel better?

Joel Churcher: Firstly as a premium broadcaster all of our stuff is shot in HD. 

And again its up to the affiliate partner to decide if they’ve got enough capacity to broadcast this from their satellite to the consumer in HD or SD. 

Obviously we can deliver all of our new stuff in HD and in fact some of our natural history stuff is being shot in 4K.

So it makes sense if we’re filming natural history in HD which is probably how its best being enjoyed, to play it out in HD, but not all our affiliate partners around the world have that capacity. MultiChoice has limited spectrum on their ssatellite in order to play it out, so of the channels they want in HD, they chose the natural history one to be played out in HD.

For DStv subscribers who might not have access to BBC First when that starts, would some of that content eventually become available on BBC Brit as well?

Joel Churcher: Under the filters of the channels, they’ve been very much curated to play to BBC strengths. 

In research about two years ago when we looked at our global offering, it was decided that we’ve got three pillars that we’re really good at: premium drama, factual entertainment and the third one is natural history.

So those three global brands were born out of those research strengths. BBC Brit is obviously factual entertainment, using the spirit of Top Gear and that sense of humour. BBC First is a pure drama channel and on that you will only get the best of British or the BBC’s drama offering.

Natural history fits on BBC Earth, but I should say that Earth isn’t just a natural history channel, there’s a lot more to it – documentaries on questions about how did we get to be here, what it is to be human.

The BBC is platform agnostic. We make a billion pounds a year in selling our TV shows to some of the biggest broadcasters on the planet. Drama will sit on BBC First if that channel is in that market, but drama certainly as a TV sales business certainly goes all over the world.

Certainly my vision in Africa is to offer our content wider than the MultiChoice family.

So of course the MultiChoice subscriber will always get first run brand new stuff because that’s what they’re paying for. 

But as you know, we’ve done deals with VIDI [Times Media Group], we’ve done deals with M-Net, with [Naspers’] new SVOD player ShowMax, so it goes to say that over the next five years as Africa gets its mojo as over-the-top (OTT) players, there will be other opportunities to watch BBC drama outside of BBC First.

How much work went into this – I don’t know what the word would be – realignment or alignment to eventually roll out the new BBC brands in Africa? Because it was first Australia for BBC First and now then some BBC channels across Europe and now Africa. It’s actually very quick that these new brands are coming to this continent as well. How much work did it entail?

Joel Churcher: We’re methodical and we have to be. 

There are so many stakeholders involved here from a corporate communications, from a corporate brand perspective, from a content perspective in terms of what we’re buying and what we’re making, our partnerships with our indies – there’s over 200 that we support in the UK, and obviously looking at our affiliate partners as well. So, an awful lot.

Research was done about what our three strengths were and try to build and curate and embody those strengths and not just be pure about it but also have some stretch as well - so there’s flexibility in local markets.

In Poland they launched BBC Brit and BBC Earth. There isn’t a BBC First. In Australia there’s a pure drama channel; and there is in Benelux. 

And I believe the Benelux BBC First is a lot darker as a drama offering; they enjoy quiet drama a lot more than other markets. So there’s a lot of flexibility for us to make sure that we tailor the offering to our consumers wherever they are in the world.

Research was carried out by international agencies in New York in terms of the brand identity and the messaging that these brands will roll out globally.

The beauty and brains in London they worked effortlessly to work to get these brands so they could not just deliver and house content but also so they became more consumer-facing so that we future-proof ourselves and business for the next 5 to 10 years, so that if pay-TV in other parts of the world takes a nose dive, then these brands can live outside of a linear TV space.

So BBC Earth is a live event and a cinema experience in Japan. So an awful lot of work, discussion and partnerships have gone in to make sure that these brands are future-proof, that they look sharp, that they’re consumer facing and that they play to our strengths.

BBC Worldwide has made great inroads to bring a lot of the content quicker to BBC Entertainment for instance over the past few years. Will that still be a part of the value offering for BBC First? How important is it for viewers in Africa to get content quicker,or is it not yet such a priority for them?

Joel Churcher: It’s always important for us to make sure that content arrives to the audience as soon as we can.

It’s very much our ambition to make sure that they get it as close to the UK TX as possible.

However, under the TV business model, a lot of the content we provide on our channel isn’t ours. We have to go buy it; making sure that that channel offering reflect what the audience likes. The best example is Downton Abbey. Not ours. It means we have to buy it. We have to enter negotiations with NBC. 

Top Gear for example is ours. So the fact that we can do a simulcast day and date is a great example of how we can do that.

But a lot of stuff we do, and Lifestyle is a great example – a lot of that is content we buy specifically for Lifestyle for South African viewers. 

But that involves under the TV model us going out and negotiating with content producers and other distributors and making sure that we’re getting that content. But that can take time. 

So something can play out on ITV on Monday night. We have to sit and negotiate for the next three months to get it on our channel in South Africa and that is why viewers might experience some lag time between the UK TX and South Africa.

What makes you the most excited about the coming change and what are you personally looking forward to the most? Not perhaps in terms of programming but of this next new BBC chapter?

Joel Churcher: I can give you my best example which is managing to get our content down into DStv Compact. So BBC Brit is now a Compact channel. So DStv channel 120 is now DStv Compact. And that can sit next to BBC Lifestyle.

So BBC Brit, although its enjoyed by young adults and women, it’s very much curated and put together as a “male” channel; that will then offset BBC Lifestyle as a female channel. And there you’ve got two brilliant Compact channels from the BBC. So that opens up a massive more viewership for us.

The other exciting thing for me is CBeebies. CBeebies has always been stuck up in the rafters as a DStv Premium channel, and that’s now going down into Compact as well, so we can wow our fans – our preschoolers – and it obviously means that our content can be seen by a lot more South Africans that we have over the last 7 years.

We've got two up in DStv Premium – BBC First and BBC Earth, and two down in Compact – BBC Brit and BBC Lifestyle, along with CBeebies and BBC World News which goes across the continent. That’s the most exciting thing.  

Tired BBC channels on DStv finally getting its much needed facelift: Here's some of what BBC First, BBC Brit and BBC Earth will show.

The tired and dated BBC channels on MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV platform is finally getting a much needed makeover and facelift just 4 months after the brilliant Brit export ITV Choice launched on DStv, with BBC Worldwide now promising better and fresher content sooner, and better category funneling.

BBC Worldwide says the BBC channels improvement will be happening "with an increased investment into new content".

After BBC Worldwide's PR company in response to a media enquiry said at the beginning of this month there's no date for the upgrade and change to the BBC's set of commercial international channels, BBC Worldwide suddenly announced today that it's happening at the end of this month.

It means an end to the appalling and old BBC Entertainment which evolved out of BBC Prime, a fatigued looking channel still showing old programmes like Who Wants to be a Millionaire UK from 2001 and which took forever to bring new seasons of hit shows like Downton Abbey to African viewers.

The stuffy and boring BBC Knowledge is getting a much needed make-over with a shorter, more apt name of BBC Earth. The channel is also finally getting upgraded to high definition (HD) status on DStv on channel 184 from 1 September - the way factual and natural history content really needs to be seen, similar to Discovery Channel.

BBC Worldwide didn't say whether BBC First, launching on 18 October on DStv channel 119 and which was first launched in mid-2014 in Australia will also be shown in HD on DStv, although it should be.

BBC First - as its name implies - should be rolling fresh and quality British drama content to DStv Premium subscribers much sooner from now on than what BBC Entertainment did.

BBC First and BBC Earth will be available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact subscribers.

BBC Brit will start on 1 September on DStv channel 120 and will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact and DStv Extra subscribers.

The red and grey logo-ed BBC Brit, replacing the pink BBC Entertainment, will target male viewers.

BBC Lifestyle, the kids channel CBeebies and BBC World News remain unchanged.

"The content hosted on these channels is designed to reach a diverse pan-African audience, reflecting a wide range of voices, ages and cultures," says Joel Churcher, the general manager and vice president for Africa for BBC Worldwide.

"Our DStv customers will be delighted with the addition of even more compelling BBC content," says Mark Rayner, the chief operating officer (COO) for MultiChoice South Africa.

BBC First, DStv channel 119, from 18 October
■ BBC Worldwide promises "hugely popular and critically acclaimed series" on this channel which first launched a year ago in August 2014 in Australia and then other parts of the world.
■ Doctor Who that was on BBC Entertainment is now moving to BBC Brit but is now moving to BBC First with the 9th series with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman starting on this channel.
■ Wolf Hall has Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance. This historical drama based on Hilary Mantel's prize winning novel, chronicles the rise of Thomas Cromwell who became King Henry VIII's chief minister.
■ Peaky Blinders is a new 6-part gangster drama with Cillian Murphy operating in Birmingham during the aftermath of World War I.
■ The Missing is an 8-part mystery thriller with James Nesbitt as Tony Hughes, the father of a missing boy in France who sets off on a manhunt for his child.

BBC Earth, DStv channel 184, from 1 September
■ BBC Earth is a brand name first used by the BBC since 2009.
■ BBC Earth will now be shown in HD.
■ In David Attenborough meets President Obama, viewers can see a frank discussion of the future of the planet and what can be done to protect it.
■ Human Universe features Professor Brian Cox exploring the nature of consciousness and language development, as well as the human need to search the unknown.
■ Life Story is from the BBC Natural History Unit. Sir David Attenborough narrates this wildlife documentary series. It tells the story and often perilous journey of animal life.
■ Life Below Zero follows the drama and hardships experienced by four Alaskan households in the long, dark, freezing winter.

BBC Brit, DStv channel 120, from 1 September
■ BBC Worldwide's aim with BBC Brit is to "capture the maverick spirit of our premium factual entertainment programmes".
■ In Duck Quacks Don't Echo presenter and comedian Lee Mack hosts a panel show that explores bizarre and fascinating facts.
■ Life is Toff is part reality show, part comedy. Cameras tell the story of the private lives of the aristocratic Fulford family over the course of a year.
■ In The Moaning of Life presenter Karl Pilkington discovers other cultures to see how they deal with death, marriage, children, careers and happiness.
■ Youngsters is a new comedy drama set in the United Kingdom's urban music scene. It follows the journey of two teenage boys, Yemi and Jay, and their quest to break into the music industry.