kykNET adds new daily news summary show kykNET Verslag from 6 April at 21:30; moves actuality themed shows later to 22:00.

After cancelling its breakfast morning show Dagbreek after just two years and shortening the running time of the programmes of its recently introduced late night timeslot, kykNET (DStv 144) will debut kykNET Verslag from 6 April.

kykNET Verslag, a summary of the day's most talked about events, will be broadcast from Mondays to Thursdays at 21:30 as a new half hour programme on M-Net's Afrikaans language TV channel supplied to MultiChoice's DStv, and will be repeated in the mornings at 06:00.

The changes come five months after the different themed late night timeslot, with programmes ranging from news to comedy and talk, was introduced in October 2014.

Besides Insig which remains an hour in duration, all the other actuality programmes on kykNET in the themed timeslot strand are cut to half an hour and also moved half an hour later to start at 22:00. Thursday's Flits which was to be cancelled will now remain, but the format shaken up. Friday's VrydagNag Laat, a satirical show, remains cancelled.

From 6 April, on Monday nights, Rapport editor Waldimar Pelser will continue to present Insig for an hour from 22:00 on kykNET, a news and actuality show looking at news and political events shaping the country as well as interviews with newsmakers.

On Tuesdays Winslyn, now at 22:00, is reduced to half an hour and business woman presenter Santie Botha is gone. Co-presenter Divan Botha remains and will now anchor the show focused on entrepreneurs and business ventures and looking at the South African economy.

On Wednesday Prontuit, now at 22:00, is reduced to half an hour and presenter Mariëtta Kruger is gone. Co-presenter Kabous Meiring remains in this talk show interviewing interesting South Africans.

On Thursday Flits, now at 22:00, was to be scrapped but will now remain, but with a changed focus. Previous co-presenter Yvonne Beyers from Huisgenoot magazine remains, Fanie Cronjé is gone and Bouwer Bosch joins the show.

From 10 April at 17:30 kykNET adds Aktueel Bestes, a weekly digest which is a collection of shorts culled from the week's various shows in the late night timeslot.

According to Karen Meiring, M-Net's director of Afrikaans channels, the adjustments are being made to better accomodate kykNET's target market interested in actuality programming.

"We trust that these moves will see an even bigger increase in viewership within the next couple of months".

BREAKING. kykNET cancels its breakfast show Dagbreek after 2 years; culling its new weekday 21:30 late night timeslot after lackluster reaction.

You're reading it here first. 

kykNET (DStv 144) is cancellings its breakfast show Dagbreek after just two years and cutting back dramatically on the shows for its new late night timeslot strand at 21:30 introduced just 4 months ago.

According to sources kykNET is readying dramatic scheduling changes, cancelling its weekday breakfast TV show Dagbreek. The channel might return a new breakfast type show with a new name and format later.

kykNET is also culling its recently introduced late night actuality TV strand, halving the shows' time and outright axing some programming.

On Monday insider sources told TV with Thinus that Dagbreek ("Daybreak"), kykNET's breakfast morning show is over just over two years after it was started in November 2012.

According to sources, the Afrikaans TV channel run by M-Net on MultiChoice's DStv is also culling its late night timeslot strand at 21:30 on weekdays since viewership has been lackluster despite the huge investment.

The late night actuality slot with different themed late night show ranging from news to comedy and talk was introduced with great fanfare in October 2014.

It has however largely failed to perform during the past four months with kykNET viewership for the new shows which has been lackluster despite the introduction of several fresh faces and on-screen talent, new sets and several hours of original, first-run programming nightly.

kykNET is now scaling back its offering at 21:30 on weeknights and will be trying something else.

According to sources all of these kykNET shows like Prontuit, Winslyn and VrydagNag Laat (VNL) are getting cut down from an hour daily to half an hour shows, except Monday's Insig with Rapport newspaper editor Waldimar Pelser which will remain an hour in duration. Flits on Thursdays is getting cancelled outright.


kykNET: A new breakfast programme in the pipeline
On Tuesday kykNET, asked whether Dagbreek has been cancelled and why, tells TV with Thinus that "Dagbreek will take a temporary break from April," saying "a new breakfast programme is in the pipeline and an announcement about it will be made soon".

kykNET gave no indication of how long there won't be a breakfast show from April on the channel, or why Dagbreek is over.

Asked whether the late night timeslot shows on kykNET are being cut down to half an hour except for Insig with Waldimar Pelser and Flits being cancelled completely kykNET only says "the late night programmes built on the Dagbreek premise are also affected but a lot of it is retained."

"More information about the late night schedule from April will be known soon," says kykNET.

kykNET says the channel believes "there's a lot of potential to grow our late night audience with a fresh and innovative offering consisting out of the right mix of actuality, lifestyle and entertainment".

SABC3's morning show Expresso pokes fun at its competitors Morning Live on SABC2, Sunrise on e.tv, and Dagbreek on kykNET.

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Expresso, SABC3's morning show between 06:00 and 08:30, has been poking fun - cleverly and tongue-in-cheek - at the breakfast's show's competition on South African television where Expresso is up against SABC2's Morning Live, e.tv's Sunrise and kykNET's Dagbreek on weekday mornings.

Without mentioning the competition by name, Expresso expertly made use of double entendres or puns as the blurry logos and clips of the competition were flashed in the promo which the show played to TV critics, journalists, editors and advertisers at SABC3's most recent quarterly press screening.

"We don't want to be all serious with just two; be too tired as the sun rises, or just be so flat as the day breaks," said Expresso presenter Ewan Strydom in the voiceover as e.tv's Sunrise and kykNET's Dagbreek were flashed.

"We want to heat up the screens as we bump out the stale and switch on to three for some fun and fresh new beginnings."

"Expresso will get the nation motived in 2013 with the express health. The show will get viewers inspired to life their best life through daily tips, advice, healty eating and incentives."

"Every morning the informed chatter and charm of the presenters give people a brighter start to their day."

Riaan Cruywagen returning to television as a news reader for the morning breakfast show Dagbreek on kykNET.

Riaan Cruywagen is returning to television as a Afrikaans news reader for Dagbreek on kykNET (DStv 144) the morning breakfast show announced today.

Riaan Cruywagen retired from the SABC and as Afrikaans news reader on SABC2 and the Nuus om 7 in November 2012 after 37 years nd read his last news bulletin on the channel on 26 November.

Riaan Cruywagen will now be joining Dagbreek in a new deal starting on Monday 4 February.

Why Kia Johnson, who viewers saw on Expresso on SABC3 doing traffic reports, is now heard on kykNET's morning show Dagbreek.

I have more information now and back perspective and an explanation for why morning viewers are now hearing and seeing Kia Johnson doing traffic reports on the new morning show Dagbreek on kykNET (DStv 144). Kia Johnson, of course is well known for having done traffic reports on Expresso on SABC3, that channel's morning show.

What I asked SABC3 yesterday was this: Can SABC3/Expresso possibly please comment on Kia Johnson from Expresso suddenly doing traffic reports for Dagbreek? Why is Expresso's traffic morning person suddenly doing traffic in mornings on Dagbreek on kykNET? Is she still involved with Expresso?

As of the publication of this story, I have had no answers from anybody.

Now I can explain this to viewers who are wondering how it's all working: Not only is Kia Johnson no longer involved with Expresso, she also did the traffic for e.tv last week, and does traffic report for a lot of different media outlets. I was just told that nobody poached Kia Johnson. Kia Johnson is a freelance broadcaster with a freelance contract with trafficnet.co.za and they supply places, like Dagbreek and others, with traffic information.

Trafficnet.co.za supplies both the SABC and independent TV and radio stations in South Africa with realtime traffic information in South African cities and they use Kia Johnson. So, because Kia Johnson can speak Afrikaans, she is used by Trafficnet.co.za for Dagbreek on kykNET.

SHOCKER! Kia Johnson does the morning traffic report - not for Expresso but suddenly for the new breakfast show Dagbreek on kykNET.

How blatantly clear is it that the new weekday Afrikaans morning show Dagbreek which started today on kykNET (DStv 144) is not only gunning for, but immediately trying to be (like) SABC3's weekday morning show Expresso? How about Kia Johnson doing the traffic reports.

No, not for Expresso where Kia Johnson has been doing traffic reports in the mornings and recently became a mother. But suddenly for Dagbreek. Not only is Kia Johnson doing traffic for a new TV show, Kia Johnson is doing traffic reports for the exact same type of show, in the same genre, in the mornings, which she's done for Expresso.

In TV land, this isn't a declaration of war; this is more like a nuclear bomb. In media, different platforms will often steal competitor's fire - a newspaper might steal a recognizable name columnist, a radio station steals a voice.

Interesting that Dagbreek couldn't find their own traffic report person but dilutes their brand, as well as the Expresso brand by using the same name.

ALSO READ: The explanation as to why and how it is that Kia Johnson suddenly popped up on Dagbreek doing traffic reports, after viewers first saw her doing traffic reports for SABC3's Expresso.

FIRST LOOK. Dagbreek dawns with its first publicity shot of the sextet presenters before it starts on 5 November on kykNET.

Here's the (over-photoshopped) first look at the new presenter sextet of kykNET's (DStv 144) new Afrikaans weekday morning show Dagbreek which will start on the Afrikaans satellite TV channel from Monday 5 November, daily between 06:00 and 08:00.

The Dagbreek presenters are (exactly as I said they would be) Elma Smit, Harald Richter, Rozanne McKenzie, Pierre Breytenbach, Bettie Kemp and Dalen Lance.

Dagbreek on kykNET joins a quickly crowdening morning breakfast television market where the morning TV wars are surely hearing up as shows scramble to hook and keep viewers, as well as advertisers and sponsors: Morning Live on SABC2, Expresso on SABC3, and Sunrise on e.tv.

Will Afrikaans viewers who've felt left out and neglected by any of the other three morning shows (Expresso has a smattering of Afrikaans from time to time) switch once Dagbreek dawns on South African television?

BREAKING. Dagbreek to hot up the morning TV show wars in South Africa as a new Afrikaans breakfast show starting on 5 November on kykNET.

The first weekday morning breakfast show in Afrikaans is coming to South African television with Dagbreek (Daybreak) which will be starting on Monday 5 November on kykNET (DStv 144) and run on weekdays between 06:00 and 08:00 as the morning TV shows wars in the country is hotting up.

Dagbreek will be using as the new morning show's on-air motif the idea of the Trivial Pursuit pie with differently segmented triangular interests.

Dagbeek with presenters like Bettie Kemp and Elma Smit will be targeting the Afrikaans viewers who are not catered for in the English-only Morning Live on SABC2, Sunrise on e.tv, and Expresso on SABC3 which has a smattering of Afrikaans but has been downscaled in recent months.

In fact insiders has been telling me its been the response from Afrikaans viewers to the bit of Afrikaans on Expresso which helped to indicate to kykNET that there might be a lucrative market of Afrikaans viewers in early morning television.

Two weeks ago I became aware of at least one current presenter on a current South African morning TV show who was approached recently to possibly jump ship to Dagbreek on kykNET, but decided to stay put.

According to other sources who've shared with me two weeks ago as well, Dagbreek will apparently be produced from Stark Studios where the kykNET soap Binneland is currently being filmed.

Where South Africa's first morning breakfast show, the longrunning Good Morning South Africa / Goeiemore Suid-Afrika was fully bilingual (with Bettie Kemp who coincidentally often appeared on that show as well), Dagbreek will be just in Afrikaans and contain inserts covering sport, entertainment, weather, traffic updates, news, talk and lifestyle inserts as well as agriculture.

Other Dagbreek presenters lined up so far include soap star Harald Richter from the kykNET soap Villa Rosa, Rozanne Mckenzie from the weekly primetime magazine entertainment show Kwêla, comedian Pierre Breytenbach from Proesstraat and the presenter Dalen Lance.