M-Net's MasterChef SA judges Peter Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng jump to new 5th season of Justin Bonello's Ultimate Braaimaster on e.tv as judges.

M-Net's MasterChef South Africa judges Pete Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng are jumping to rival free-to-air broadcaster e.tv and will now be judges on the new fifth season of Ultimate Braaimaster.

The new fifth season of the local braai series, of which previous seasons have also been broadcast on The Travel Channel (DStv 179), starts on e.tv on Sunday 5 February at 16:00 with the first episode taking place at Cape St Francis.

The two former well-known chefs' faces from M-Net's cooking reality show who will now popping up as judges in the e.tv outdoor cooking competition show alongside presenter and judge Justin Bonello.

Pete Goffe-Wood, the executive chef and CEO of Kitchen Cowboy, and Benny Masekwameng, Tsogo Sun's executive chef, will now bring their wit, sometimes acerbic remarks and death-stares that made them a viewer favourite on M-Net's MasterChef SA to Ultimate Braaimaster.

Ten teams of two will once again compete against each other across South Africa in various weekly braai challenges during a national braai road trip that saw the show traverse 7 000km.

"e.tv is proud to be broadcasting yet another exciting season of Ultimate Braai Master,"says Marlon Davids, the managing director of e.tv's channels division.

"The award winning show will give our viewers an introspective look into our unique cooking culture while exploring the magnificent landscape of South Africa."

While M-Net ended MasterChef South Africa in 2015 and dismantled the expensive and specially constructed Nederburg test kitchen after three seasons and a local celebrity edition, local food competition shows remain popular with pogrammes like the series Kom Ons Braai on Media24's Afrikaans lifestyle channel VIA (DStv 147), Chopped South Africa on the Food Network (DStv 175) and The Great South African Bake Off on BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174) that concluded its second season. 

In the new 5th season of Ultimate Braaimaster, produced by Cooked in Africa Films, teams travelled to tourist attractions like the Drakensberg Mountains, Gamtoos River in the Eastern Cape, Letsatsi Game Lodge in the Free-State and Wavecrest Hotel&Spa in the Wild Coast.

The teams will explore extraordinary methods of surviving and consuming food prepared entirely on the fire.

The Teams
Spice girls - Pretty and Precious Zondo from Durban.
Monante Cuisine - Two chefs from the Saxon Hotel, Surprise Mogano and Corvin Pietersen.
The Muttonheads - Durbanites, Tersian and Tarlan Baker.
The Explorers - Gugu Ngobese and Samkelisiwe Cele from Springs.
Ebony & Ivory - Brian Muller and Sfiso Nsele are both chefs residing around Kruger National Park.
Pretty Griddy - The team made up of a butchery manager and a housewife from Somerset West consists of Desiree IIngram and Peter.
Smoke n’ Hot - Randhir Parbhunath and Surika Singh a sales manager and beautician from Stanger and Chatsworth in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Salty Flames - Chanel Marais from Milnerton Ridge in Cape-Town and Nick Perfect from Amanzimtoti.
Outlaws - Wouter Pretorius and Bertus de Vos, two brother-in-laws from Pretoria North and Randburg.
Empire - Belinka Forbes and Merle Rancke both from the Western Cape.

SABC2 adds new talent show Showville; 26-episode reality competition format will visit South Africa's small towns looking for local stars.

SABC2 has added a new reality talent search show, Showville, which it hopes will help boost the channel's lackluster weekend schedule and viewership and which will start on Saturdays at 20:00 from 7 November.

A second season of Showville is already planned for 2016.

Showville, an international format, is somewhat like SA's Got Talent, and will be scouring South Africa's "overlooked" towns to find contestants with interesting talents whose skills are put to a "town vote".

SABC2 has been without a big-buzz reality talent show since it gave up on the Rapid Blue produced show after two seasons in 2012, which e.tv took over with great success.

While SABC1 added The X-Factor SA, SABC3 successfully revived Strictly Come Dancing and M-Net continues with the evergreen Idols, SABC2 hopes that a local version of Showville - an international format series from Sony - will bring the channel some of the buzz and ratings its been missing out on.

SABC2 is even bringing back Rob van Vuuren as co-host for Showville, who used to be one of the hosts of SA's Got Talent while that show was carried on SABC2. He will co-present Showville's 26 episodes with Bontle Modiselle.

The first season of Showville on SABC2 will only visit the three provinces of the Western Cape, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal for the first season and the production is currently working through the town selection.

Townsfolk in Gauteng and other provinces will be included for the second season next year.

Towns which are already included in Showville's first season range from Ceres, De Doorns, Montagu, Ladismith, Uniondale, Sedgefield and Albertinia to Simon's Town, Darling, Piketberg, Riversdale, Genadendal and Bredasdorp to Gansbaai.

The South African version of Showville is a co-production between two production companies, Okuhle Media and Cooked in Africa Films, with executive producers Louise McClelland and Peter Gird.

"We're looking for unusual quirky acts - jugglers, magicians, uni-cycling clowns, comedians - we're not excluding singers and dancers - everyone is welcome to audition," says Louise McClelland from Okuhle Media.

"We will share the, often magical, real stories behind the talent, reminding ordinary South Africans that there is always something extraordinary around every corner if we care to look for it."

"We as a team, have chased this format for more than two years now and the fact that it has become a reality is thrilling for all of us," says Peter Gird from Cooked in Africa Films.

"Talent shows are entrenched into our diverse culture and so we can't wait to see who will come out to entertain South Africa."

"We're hoping that when people from small towns across the country hear Showville is coming to their town, that they'll be inspired to get out their tap shoes, dust off their juggling balls and consider taking their singing in the shower to centre stage," says Maritha Greenland, SABC2 commissioning editor.

"From the auditions to the coaching, through to show night, SABC2 will be there to capture each memorable moment," says Maritha Greenland.

As Showville visits small towns, Rob van Vuuren and Bontle Modiselle will choose four finalists whose performances are put to a town vote to decide who wins R10 000.

The finalists will receive coaching and mentoring before a big performance in the local town hall or community centre where residents will then vote for their favourite performer on the night.

BREAKING. Ultimate Braai Master moving to e.tv from SABC3, no explanation as yet why the show is jumping TV channels.

The advertiser-funded show Ultimate Braai Master is moving to e.tv and leaving SABC3 for its 3rd season; there's no explanation as yet as to why the Justin Bonello fronted reality braai show is changing South African TV channels.

People can now enter for the the third season of Ultimate Braai Master which closes on 21 February. The competition will start in May and the season will be broadcast on e.tv this year in time for the year's summer time braai season.

With the change in channels, the show, produced by Cooked in Africa Films, will likely no longer be integrated with appearances on SABC3's breakfast show Expresso, (although Pick n Pay remains a sponsor of both shows) and no longer do synergy appearance such as SABC3's Top Billing.

However there will likely be new cross-promotional avenues on e.tv itself as the new Ultimate Braai Master channel, such as that channel's breakfast show Sunrise, and programmes on the OpenViewHD (OVHD) platform's TV channels which are run by e.tv's sister company Sabido.

The third season of Ultimate Braai Master has a new judge in the form of executive chef, Petrus Madutlela who will joins presenter Justin Bonello and executive chef judge Bertus Basson.

Petrus Madutlela is currently in London but will return to South Africa in May once filming on the third season starts.

In this new season 15 teams will travel across 9 000 km of South Africa. Justin Bonello calls the road-trip "a life-changing experience".

Shortlisted contestants will have to show their braai skills at four regional auditions taking place during March in Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Durban and Cape Town after which 15 teams will eventually be selected to take part in the competition and the filming of the show in May.

South Africa's Cooked in Africa Films production company signs global distribution deal with Off the Fence (OTF).

The South African production company Cooked in Africa Films has signed a multi-million rand distribution deal for a range of high quality TV shows with the global distributor Off the Fence (OTF).

The deal includes the Cooked series as well as the spin-off Getaway to Africa, Exploring the Vine about tree winemakers and Charly's Cake Angels currently on SABC3 on Saturdays at 16:00.

Also included in the distribution deal is Going Solo: Madagascar which follows adventurer Riaan Manser as he attempts to kayak around the Indian Ocean island; the Fresh Living TV makeover show; and The Ride of the Peacemaker (SABC3, Mondays, 20:00) a horse-journey adventure reality series following the trail of Dick King between Durban and Grahamstown.

''Broadcasters around the world are hungry for premium content and are increasingly supporting a branded entertainment model, where brand and advertising messages don't compromise entertainment and production values," said Peter Gird, partner and executive producer of Cooked in Africa Films.

''I believe this deal represents Cooked in Africa's coming of age, and will serve to leapfrog us into the next phase of our growing business," says Peter Gird. ''Part of our current strategy is to extend our content footprint around the world, including breaking into the highly competitive North American market. By partnering with OTF, our expectation is to expand our international base through the company's worldwide network."

Cooked in Africa Films has already done shows for M-Net and the SABC, BBC International, National Geographic and has recently signed a primetime TV deal with the Discovery Channel in Canada.