American television's FX brand - killed off as a linear TV channel in South Africa in mid-2014 - will be back 8 years later when Disney+ launches in mid-2022.

by Thinus Ferreira

Eight years after the FX television channel and production brand was ripped away in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, it will suddenly be back in mid-2022 as part of the ongoing corporate madness of King George, when FX will now re-appear and hold its own space on Disney's Disney+ video streaming service.

In September 2014, Fox International Channels (FIC) dumped the FX channel that was available on StarTimes' StarSat satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa and on StarTimes in the rest of Africa.

FX was completely removed, and Fox Crime was turned into Fox Life (Fox Life was since then also killed off by Fox Africa). 

At the time, Fox Africa bosses told TVwithThinus that FX, that had edgy content and shows, was removed because FX as a channel and a brand "wasn't known well enough in Africa". 

Since FX was removed 7 years ago, absolutely no marketing or promotion went into FX to make it more known, so for FX to suddenly come back to Africa in mid-2022 makes absolutely no sense - it's only happening because of Disney's corporate takeover of 21st Century Fox (that included FX Networks, that FX belongs to).

Because of an American decision for Disney's global streaming services and ambitions, FX that continues as a linear TV channel and content in the United States, is now essentially being "revived" for Africa.

Disney will launch its Disney+ streaming service in South Africa sometime around June 2022. 

Disney+ contains various app tiles like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star - all containing different collections of content making it easier for people to pick a "category" and to find relevant content within these tiles that they might want to watch.

Disney bosses in America now wants to lift out FX to give this brand more prominence. 

The result is that FX shows and FX as a "content channel" will feature much more distinctly within Disney+ globally (and in South Africa when Disney+ is launched in the country in mid-2022).

"FX's award-winning adult programming is vital to our services both domestically and internationally and we want to shine a brighter light on the brand within our excellent and rapidly growing portfolio of general entertainment programming for adult audiences," Rebecca Campbell, Disney's chairman, international and direct-to-consumer, said in a press statement on Monday, announcing that FX and FX content will be featuring more prominently within Disney+.

All FX content will now be organised under an FX section on any Disney streaming platform in America, as well as outside the United States, like Disney+.

The result is that South Africans that watched FX as a linear TV channel, will now again see FX content - and branded as FX content - when Disney+ launches in South Africa in mid-2022 - 8 years after FX went away.

"We realised a decade ago that FX would soon no longer be primarily a location, but rather a branded mark of quality that would travel across multiple distribution platforms," John Landgraf, FX CEO says in a statement.

"For 20 years, we have worked tirelessly to make the FX mark synonymous to the consumer with original programming that is distinctive and excellent as well as entertaining."

"This change furthers the natural evolution of FX and we are grateful to the company and our partners at DMED for their belief and investment in FX branded programming. We are confident that the FX brand, wherever the consumer finds it, will continue to deliver the highest quality programs any service has to offer."

In 2022, FX plans to double its programming output and aims to produce 30 shows (25 scripted and five unscripted). 

FX says that in addition to producing shows through its FX Productions (FXP) arm, FX will increase its collaboration with Disney Television Studios-20th Television, ABC Signature, the Onyx Collective and Searchlight.

Currently, the FX library comprises more than 170 seasons and 1 800 episodes of TV shows. 

FX is a division of Disney General Entertainment, led by chairman Peter Rice, which creates original entertainment and news programming for Disney's streaming platforms and cable and broadcast networks.

Online petition started as Africa's pay-TV viewers implore Disney to keep the FOX channel on MultiChoice's DStv, StarTimes and StarSat across the continent.

by Thinus Ferreira

Angry pay-TV subscribers in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa are signing a new petition for the FOX channel to remain on MultiChoice's DStv, as well as StarTimes and StarSat after the revelation that The Walt Disney Company is indeed planning to cull the channel at the end of September as one of its 100 channels getting shut down this year.

Oyin Bucknor-Arigbede started the petition on change.org to The Walt Disney Company after the news that FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) is the next TV channel from Disney Africa's collection that is getting shut down after the demise in 2020 of channels like Disney XD and FOX Life.

Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, said that the company "plans to close 100 channels in 2021. So yes, we will continue and continue at a robust rate". He said that Disney will continue to migrate the content on those linear channels to Disney+ with "the great majority of that content that will migrate to Disney+".

It's not yet clear whether Disney will also shut down The Disney Channel, Disney Junior, National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD or any of its other channels available in South Africa and across Africa like ESPN before the end of the year as well.

Disney wants to completely get rid of the "FOX" name and brand anywhere it's attached to its branding or assets since Disney's corporate takeover of 21st Century Fox in 2019. 

Disney doesn't own the FOX broadcast TV channel in the United States and doesn't want any of its assets associated with that anymore. 

Disney already renamed its studios of 20th Century Fox to 20th Century Studios and 20th Century Fox Television as 20th Television.

Disney wants to put the content that was on its international FOX channel under its new Star tile on its Disney+ service, with Star that is the 6th tile offering general entertainment content catering for a more adult audience.

Disney plans to launch its Disney+ subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service from around June 2022 in South Africa and wants to remove as much of its current content from traditional linear pay-TV services as possible to aid the uptake of Disney+ as its direct-to-consumer (DTC) product.

Unlike the United Kingdom and other countries, Disney is removing channels like FOX, showing the 11th and final season of The Walking Dead, although Disney+ doesn't exist yet in South Africa.

That leaves loyal pay-TV subscribers with no other legal option other than forced piracy to watch shows and to see the conclusion of AMC Studios' zombie drama series that is currently on FOX.

The change.org petition is similar to petitions that pay-TV subscribers started when MultiChoice decided to remove A+E Networks UK's History, Lifetime and Crime+Investigation channels, with History and Lifetime that got spared.

ALSO READ: Disney ends the FOX channel in Africa after 11 years, rips away 11th and final season ending of The Walking Dead from pay-TV viewers.

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. The Walt Disney Company Africa's FOX Africa TV division continues to send general programming information to some media first - here's why the bad practice makes everyone a loser and ending up last.

by Thinus Ferreira

Sometimes it's not just those that are first who end up being last. Sometimes it's everybody.

Imagine something that's supposed to be received by everybody concurrently at the same time, but being parcelled out in a piecemeal approach over gaps in time.

That's been the case - and continuing - with general TV programming information from The Walt Disney Company Africa's FOX division.

Instead of the media in South Africa all being treated the same and receiving basic programming information about shows at the same time, FOX has decided to send certain media and journalists information first - and hours later to the rest.

To be clear: We're not talking about exclusive information, exclusive breaking news or a story that a journalist had put work and effort to source, or an exclusively arranged interview or story. It's basic, normal run-of-the-mill TV programming information press releases from Disney Africa's FOX Africa division about shows on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131).

Programming information and announcements from Killing Eve to The Walking Dead on FOX are deliberately sent to certain media first and then hours later to others. 

This is wrong.

It's also highly destructive. This PR practice is not just highly corrosive and damaging to FOX's existing media relationships within the South African media but also to the trust relationship with journalists who very well see what's going on, talk among each other about it, but stay quiet.

In Dante's great Inferno, he wrote that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who during a moral problem, maintain their neutrality. So here's TVwithThinus speaking out publicly.

It's bad when journalists and TV critics who are the media and who are in the media, (have to) read or hear about the news and programming of any TV channel, in this case FOX, not from FOX directly, but elsewhere - especially so if it's from any so-called "competition". 

Very little grates journalists and the media as much as having to read, hear or see information relevant to you and your readers and audiences, in or on a rival publication, platform or media outlet and then having to suddenly try and follow it up - wondering why you didn't get the email or basic press release.

It causes uncertainty, anxiety and resentment and makes the media wonder why publicists or people who are part of real-world publicity teams and who say they want to have a relationship with you, have apparently deliberately withheld that information and have not sent it to you.

When you can no longer trust that as a journalist, publication or media outlet that you're going to hear from and get the same fair, basic treatment and information from a company, for instance, TV channel A or B, because of perceived marketing and publicity favouritism, it not just stokes resentment under the press who perceive themselves to be placed as "less important" later in the queue but also actively makes them want to bother less using any of that information.

It's also damaging to FOX that is losing out on possible exposure when journalists, TV critics and media outlets decide to bin press releases, programming information and choice quotes from executives like Evert van der Veer, vice president, media networks, The Walt Disney Company Africa, that they otherwise would have used.

It also hurts the TV viewer who gets less access, negatively impacting the content discovery process.

With less possible stories and articles and with less platforms circulating the press release or parts of it because they are essentially forced to take an editorial decision not to run it to prevent being perceived as "also-ran", there is a dramatically smaller chance for a potential viewer or fan of a show to find, see and to read and engage with the information put out by, for instance, FOX.

The law of rapidly diminishing returns is at play here. 

Take online for instance: There's less and less incentive to use and copy-and-paste or rework what is essentially the basic same press release information without anything else to add hours after it's already been published somewhere on the internet - an eternity in the online news world.

It's ridiculous and non-sensical to have an expectation that a lot of media are suddenly going to put in the effort and time to work on information already "out there" hours ago from an "old" press release, simply because of the diminished return on the "investment" needed to do so.

Besides a lower click rate (information seekers already found it elsewhere), diminished monetisation of the news content, and having to give precious editorial space and time and effort to just "repeat" something, no journalists or media outlet really wants their story to show up on page 15 of a Google search simply because they only got the information hours later and already had to click and read the same information on page 1 of a Google search.

I first asked FOX in May this year what's going on and why it's sending basic TV programming press release information to some media, and hours later to the rest.

The response was that FOX sometimes makes an "agreement" with a particular media publication to announce something exclusively first, "to ensure that a show is announced in a big way, after which all other media receive it at the same time".

The big problem is that we're not talking about any exclusive information but basic programming information.

FOX's tiered media and staggered rollout approach turn everyone into losers - including FOX - when the media that FOX communicates with, perceives unfair treatment and journalists don't understand why it's happening.

In George Orwell's Animal Farm all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. 

It would serve all the animals better if the Fox farm went from "more equal" to just settling for plain old equal.

ESPN embarrassment for Disney Africa and FOX Africa as flipped FOX Sports channels fail to appear as promised ESPN on StarTimes's StarSat and Cell C black in South Africa.

Empty promises are what South African pay-TV subscribers got, and massive embarrassment is what Walt Disney Africa and FOX Networks Group Africa sit with after the FOX Sports channels that flipped to ESPN failed to materialise on either StarTimes' StarSat or Cell C black in South Africa.

Frank Rutten, who was the executive vice president for sports at Fox Networks Group and now oversees the rebranded ESPN for Europe and Africa, in a supplied statement in mid-August said that "Rebranding as ESPN is a natural transition following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company".

"The ESPN brand is synonymous with sports, is one of the most valuable brands in the world and has an established global reach."

Christine Service, senior vice president and country manager at The Walt Disney Company Africa, said that "We are excited to grow our broadcast offering under the new ESPN banner, with our existing programming and intellectual property forming part of the plans for the future. We look forward to developing both channels in the months and years ahead."

As part of the ongoing international restructuring of its combined channel portfolios following The Walt Disney's takeover of 21st Century Fox, Fox Sports (StarSat 244 / Cell C black 401) and Fox Sports 2 (StarSat 245 / Cell C black 402) was supposed to flip to ESPN and ESPN2 from 30 August 2019 as part of Disney's backdoor rebranding and channels consolidation alignment.

A week and a half later there is still no ESPN channels on either China's StarTimes and StarSat, or Cell C black that is starting to implode and lost all of its linear TV channels.

StarSat was asked where the promised ESPN channels are but failed to respond to a media enquiry.

FOX Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) was asked why the promised ESPN channels are not available as promised on StarSat but failed to respond to a media enquiry.

Walt Disney Africa  was asked by the promised ESPN channels are not available as promised on StarSat. A Disney Africa spokesperson told TVwithThinus that "we are aware of the fact that ESPN and ESPN2 are no longer broadcast on the StarSat platform. We are currently investigating this issue with StarSat".

"In terms of Cell C black, we defer to Cell C for comment."

The struggling Cell C abruptly no longer carries any linear TV channels on its downsized Cell C black which explains why this platform doesn't have the promised ESPN channels after it previously carried the FOX Sports channels.

Fox Africa boss Evert van der Veer repositioned to take charge of combined portfolio of Fox Networks Group Africa and Disney's channels in Africa as Fox-Disney restructuring continues.

The Walt Disney Company has repositioned the Fox Africa boss, Evert van der Veer, who will now look after all of the combined Fox and Disney channels available in South Africa and across sub-Sahara Africa, in a new overall TV channels supervision role from the adjacent two-doors Fox-Disney Africa head office in Illovo, Johannesburg.

The job elevation - with no specific title yet attached - comes a year and three months after Evert van der Veer was appointed as Fox Networks Group Africa general manager in May 2018.

In this role Evert van der Veer was looking the Fox Networks Group's pay-TV channels in South Africa and across Africa like FOX, FOX Life, National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD, FOX Sports, and Baby TV available on pay-TV platforms like MultiChoice's DStv, StarTimes SA's StarSat, Cell C's black SVOD service and others, as well as the non-linear services like FOX+ and National Geographic+.

With Disney's ongoing international management restructuring following its takeover of 21st Century Fox, Evert van der Veer has now added oversight of the three Disney TV channels from The Walt Disney Company's recently restructured direct-to-consumer and international division: The Disney Channel (DStv 303), Disney XD (DStv 304) and Disney Junior (DStv 309) available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.

Evert van der Veer is now heading up the "media networks" segment of The Walt Disney Company Africa, responsible for the combined TV channels collection - those that were part of the Fox Networks Group business as well as the three Disney channels.

Evert van der Veer now reports to Christine Service, who remains The Walk Disney Company Africa's senior vice president and country manager.

Disney Africa was asked but couldn't tell TVwithThinus what Evert van der Veer job title is now and said the company's South African office will share more precise details later when it can.

Asked about the existence of Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) and whether it continues as a "stand-alone" business, Disney said that the Fox Africa office "is very much still in operation" and that the Fox Networks Group Africa business is now part of the wider Walt Disney Company Africa business.

IN IMAGES. Fun at FOX - 10 photos of the press screening of the second season premiere of the drama series, Deep State, at the FOX Africa headquarters in Johannesburg.

Besides old Palpy, the people working at FOX Networks Group Africa's headquarters are also greeted every day when they walk in at work by a Stormtrooper (it's amazing!).

This was also the case for the media covering television, when journalists and TV critics on Wednesday visited the swanky FOX Africa head office in Illovo, Johannesburg for the advance press screening of the second season of the spy drama series Deep State.

FNG Africa on Wednesday held a press screening for the second season of Deep State at its Johannesburg headquarters, the place from where FOX Africa looks after its myriad brands, channels and content available across the African continent ranging from Deep State to National Geographic, and from Empire and FOX Life to FOX Sports, The Simpsons and a lot more.

The second season of Deep State will start on Wednesday 15 May at 20:45 on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) with the gripping espionage drama telling a new story(and a backstory filling in some great character context to the first season).

Filmed entirely in South Africa (Cape Town, doubling as Washington D.C. and some other locales), Morocco and London, the story picks up after something happens to three US special forces in Mali.

The United States is supposedly there to support the Malians in their fight against terrorism, however, all is not as it seems.

As the story progresses, viewers will realise that their activity is underpinned by the so-called "deep state" and forms part of a cover for the new "gold rush" - the goal to beat China in the race for Africa's natural resources.

The second season of Deep State is all about the first dirty war for clean energy.

Here are some photos of the Deep State media day press screening on Wednesday.

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. Outfoxed: How Fox Africa surprised South Africa's TV biz as it surged to first place with the best TV party of the year in mid-December and Empire's Taraji P. Henson.

How did this happen? Seriously. How did this happen?

Not a single one of the carefully chosen and invited 143 people who attended Fox Africa's utterly spectacular "A Night with Taraji" dinner event Friday evening inside what looks like an aircraft hangar called "The Shed" at Steyn City in Fourways, Johannesburg can honestly say that they knew that they would be getting a seat at the table of the South African TV industry's best party of the year for 2018.

Only the fantastic media launch dinner events over 2 consecutive nights that M-Net (DStv 101) held in April in Limpopo for The Wedding Bashers and Survivor SA: Philippines rival what Fox Networks Group Africa did on Friday night with its extremely exclusive dinner event for Empire's Taraji P. Henson as a 3-way first place tie.

The mid-December doldrums for South Africa's TV industry and the press covering it, is usually more convincingly dead than the zombie extras in The Walking Dead, with the year that used to end with a last big party and the best annual upfront of the year in South Africa - the one of Discovery Inc. EMEA - until Discovery Networks International abruptly stopped doing an upfront.

Like a team suddenly scoring a last second goal out of left-field before the final whistle, cue the utter surprise and shock when FNG Africa suddenly mounted and executed with awe and perfection a year-ending media event for the FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) channel in South Africa around the press tour of Empire's Taraji P. Henson so bewildering amazing that it wasn't just the last TV party of the year, but also its best.

Only if you've ever had the opportunity to attend a real and proper Hollywood red carpet event for a TV show and how it's done there in the United States, would you have been able to recognise the basically faultless "Hollywood-level" effort and standard that Fox Africa put in and succeeded in "recreating" in Africa for its "A Night with Taraji" event.

It's not easy due to various issues involving money and budget, logistics, availability of people with actual know-how, skills and experience, the availability of event organisers, diaries and talent - and yet Fox Africa managed to successfully pull off a miracle with "A Night with Taraji" - and in mid-December no less.

In a year in which SuperSport could have gone big with something like a proper party for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and its redone Studio 6, a year in which eMedia Investments' news channel eNCA (DStv 403) turned 10 years old and deserved a big celebration but got nothing, and the seemingly passé Isidingo on SABC3 turned 20 in July but couldn't bother, Fox Africa ended outfoxing everyone by making a 2018 last-second splash with "A Night with Taraji" - winning the year for best South African TV industry party.

Honourable mentions must go to M-Net's wonderful party to properly celebrate Carte Blanche's 30th anniversary in August, Turner doing it's first-ever Turner Upfront Africa event in Johannesburg in November, and Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) terrific 2018 DStv Mzansi Viewers Choice Awards nominees announcement press event.

More honourable mentions for great TV parties this year go to both of BBC Studios Africa's extremely well-done winter and summer upfront events, and MultiChoice Africa's terrific launch event party of its Southern Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy in October in Lusaka, Zambia.

(Who knows where Viacom Africa's BET Global Good Dinner in August would have fit or what happened there since Viacom International Media Networks Africa couldn't bother to invite or give a heads-up to actual working press beforehand about it, nor communicate anything afterwards about it.)

Hopefully the Afrikaans channel kykNET (DStv 144) remembers that it's turning 20 years old in October 2019 and has some kind of proper "opskop" celebration marking this big milestone.

But back to Fox Africa and "A Night with Taraji".

If you want to get a sense of what TV channels are truly blue-chip, premium-positioned offerings - besides simply watching and judging their on-air content - the "activations" and "eventing" they do actually give a very good idea of their market status.

While M-Net and BBC Studios Africa maintain their perennially premium status with high-class, excellent, beautifully done (and constantly evolving) press events, Fox Africa in 2018 definitely joined the premium party brigade.

Is it any wonder that it also happened to also be the exact same three - BBC Studios Africa, M-Net and FOX Africa - who this year intentionally spearheaded getting rid of plastic straws at their media events?

If you're a TV channel or broadcaster planning to do a media event or party in 2019 and want to be considered part of the best, these three TV brands are definitely the ones you have to beat.


ALSO READ: Taraji P. Henson at Fox Africa's 'A Night with Taraji' dinner event talks embracing change, Hollywood pay disparity, looking for solutions - and playing Cookie on Empire with 'the why'.
ALSO READ: IN PHOTOS: The exclusive, invite-only, golden delicious - and absolutely beautiful - 'A Night with Taraji P. Henson' dinner event of Fox Networks Group Africa. 
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. A Tale of Two Press Tours: Taraji P. Henson and Fox Africa, compared with Katherine Kelly Lang and the SABC - and the very striking difference between them.
ALSO READ: THE EMPIRE COMES BACK: Empire's Cookie, Taraji P. Henson is jetting back to South Africa for her second week-long visit.

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. A Tale of Two Press Tours: Taraji P. Henson and Fox Africa, compared with Katherine Kelly Lang and the SABC - and the very striking difference between them.

They're both American actresses, known to South African TV viewers, they both portray iconic characters in American dramatic series, both their shows are seen on both pay-TV and on free-to-air television in South Africa and Africa, they both visited South Africa this year, both went on safari - and both did press tours with the media.

Yet the stark, big and very visible difference between how bizarrely bad the SABC went about the visit of Katherine Kelly Lang of The Bold and the Beautiful on SABC3, and how excellent FOX Africa went about the visit of Taraji P. Henson of Empire of FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) couldn't be more striking.

The incredibly well-organised South African visit of Taraji P. Henson resulted in great media interaction between Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) and the local and international press during her time in South Africa.

That however just once again underscored what a shoddy, apparently clueless, botch-job the SABC did with Katherine Kelly Lang and the South African public broadcaster's unwillingness to do what's normal and actually expected (or possibly not knowing what to do) when it comes to an international TV star's visit.

I've remarked in September on the SABC's failure to properly communicate and it's utterly bizarre and inept Katherine Kelly Lang press tour so I won't go into the details again.

However, Taraji P. Henson's visit of the past week just again made it possible to directly compare the two.

The direct comparison - because both tried to do the same thing - underscores just how big the difference is between what is "normal" and "standard" when it comes to TV channels and broadcasters doing press events with international talent, and how far away the SABC is from knowing, doing or adhering to what is actually the international basic standard, and what is expected in and from the industry, as well as from the press.

The SABC's lack of doing proper (in fact, basically any) communication and its failure of working out and following a carefully thought-out strategy of unlocking value and exposure through engaging talent and press is what is the big, big problem standing between the SABC and getting what it wants, and what the press needs.

With Taraji P. Henson's visit to South Africa this week - and experiencing and peeking behind-the-scenes to see the precision, professionalism, speed, always-available, specifically targeted, rational and multi-dimensional approach of how FOX Africa's marketing and publicity machine operates - it was again painfully obvious how the SABC's marketing and publicity didn't do (or doesn't know how to do) any of that.

Because the SABC publicity team couldn't bother to properly communicate with media regarding Katherine Kelly Lang's visit, Fox Africa was so normal and did everything so properly and correct, that FOX seemed far above-average and brilliant in comparison with their Taraji P. Henson media blitz, although they actually just did what goes for normal and what is expected.

Even before Taraji P. Henson jetted to South Africa, and even before any public announcement, or media advisories or invitations to the press conference for general media, or invitations to the "A Night with Taraji" dinner were emailed out, or even before interviews were set up, Fox Africa already reached out to strategic press and media to communicate, to tell them about it, and to keep them in the loop as to what was being planned and what is likely to happen.

The result was that the media was informed. Fox Africa worked with the press as media partners beforehand and throughout the press tour.

In contrast the SABC with Katherine Kelly Lang and BBL did nothing remotely like this.

After Taraji P. Henson's Monday press conference this week, media who didn't attend, it physically immediately got an emailed dropbox with images for download, followed by quickly transcribed Taraji quotables from the media event.

Despite doing similar press events in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, an Isidingo set visit and on-set appearance on several SABC3 TV shows, the SABC and SABC3 never once bothered to send out even a single photo of any of it, nor any rush-transcript of what happened or quotables, or what Katherine Kelly Lang did on the Isidingo set.

Naturally, photos and information are available of Taraji P. Henson's Friday "A Night with Taraji" media dinner organised by Fox Africa, with national media from outside of Johannesburg who were also invited, knew weeks beforehand that it's being planned, and attended.

Of course the SABC and SABC3 couldn't bother to take or issue a single photo of Katherine Kelly Lang's Johannesburg media dinner or issue any press release about what she said and did at the dinner, that only Johannesburg media were invited to, with no information or anything shared with  national media from outside of Johannesburg.

Fox Africa - being strategic and forward-thinking to maximise value and to create a win-win for everybody, even before setting up and organising interviews - already started asking print media doing one-on-ones and sit-down interviews with Taraji P. Henson if they could please bank and slot in and run interviews only around March 2019.

In this way, when the broadcast of the 2nd half of the 5th season of Empire actually starts, the show gets more exposure when it's on the air, and media get more interaction with media consumers than now during the end-of-year period.

Who knows that the SABC and BBL's plan was with Kelly.

During her South African time, Fox Africa set up a carefully chosen set of phone interviews between Taraji P. Henson with international press for the Africa, Europe and Russia region; as well as specifically picked local radio, TV and print interviews.

Taraji P. Henson, her team and Fox Africa who know that less is often more, deliberately didn't do every media it could foist Taraji on, going for a strategic approach and seeking out interviews and appearances that would reach a cross-over audience and those media consumers who would know of and be interested in Taraji but also potentially already have been watching, or be interested in watching Empire.

In contract the SABC that basically almost completely ignored non-SABC media with Katherine Kelly Lang's visit, went for a seemingly spray-and-play approach, hilariously pushing Katherine onto almost every conceivable SABC regional radio and SABC TV show platform it could, whether Katherine Kelly Lang and The Bold and the Beautiful was an actual fit with that specific listenership like Umhlobo Wenene, and viewership or not.

Fox Africa publicity was constantly available during Taraji P. Henson's visit and communicated, responding to media's emails, calls and whatsapp messages.

During Katherine Kelly Lang's visit the SABC didn't bother to respond to all whatsapp, emails or calls from the press asking about it and wanting to know what is going on and happening.

Fox Africa's top marketing director and communication boss was directly involved in organising, was on the ground, hands-on, and involved with Taraji P. Henson's press tour and knew exactly what was going on.

With Katherine Kelly Lang's visit the SABC's top marketing and communication boss was not.

During Taraji P. Henson's press tour, Fox Africa marketing and publicity people didn't plaster photos and selfies with the star and themselves in public. They were, and kept behind-the-scenes, constantly working to get the star the exposure, which is what the job entails.

With Katherine Kelly Lang the SABC didn't miss opportunities to deliberately publicly push out on social media, by choice, images with the star.

Beforehand Fox Africa and Taraji P. Henson's team worked out in the finest detail the times and schedule of her diary for her whole visit of what she'll do.

When Katherine Kelly Lang got to Cape Town where she only did interviews with SABC radio and a few inserts on SABC3 TV shows, the SABC told the press waiting and wondering what's going on after not hearing back from the SABC, that "Katherine Kelly Lang is now tired".


ALSO READ: Taraji P. Henson at Fox Africa's 'A Night with Taraji' dinner event talks embracing change, Hollywood pay disparity, looking for solutions - and playing Cookie on Empire with 'the why'.
ALSO READ: IN PHOTOS: The exclusive, invite-only, golden delicious - and absolutely beautiful - 'A Night with Taraji P. Henson' dinner event of Fox Networks Group Africa.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. Outfoxed: How Fox Africa surprised South Africa's TV biz as it surged to first place with the best TV party of the year in mid-December and Empire's Taraji P. Henson.
ALSO READ: THE EMPIRE COMES BACK: Empire's Cookie, Taraji P. Henson is jetting back to South Africa for her second week-long visit.

THE EMPIRE COMES BACK: Empire's Cookie, Taraji P. Henson is jetting back to South Africa for her second week-long visit.

The Empire star, Taraji P. Henson is jetting back to South Africa for her second visit, and will spend a week in the country, once again soaking up the African sun, meeting fans, doing a press conference and media interviews and bringing her celebrity profile to some local charity work.

TVwithThinus can reveal that Taraji P. Henson will be in South Africa for another 5-day Empire press tour that will include a press conference this coming Monday. She will stay the whole week, closing off her visit with an exclusive "Women in Media" event.

Organisers of the latest visit have been extremely careful around the South African press tour of Taraji P. Henson who plays the beloved Cookie Lyon - after the scandal in August when 21st Century Group, that has since gone to ground, announced a now-controversial "International Women in Media Conference 2018".

21st Century Group that has nothing to do with 21st Century Fox but used an inverse form of its logo, lied and said that the event - that was quickly exposed as fake - would have headliners like the American stars Taraji P. Henson, Halle Berry and others in attendance as part of the line-up.

Taraji P. Henson quickly called out 21st Century Group for using and attaching her name to its bogus get-together, slamming it as "fake news".

Taraji P. Henson's latest and confirmed visit is however organised and overseen directly by her management and FOX Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa), that also managed her previous and first visit to South Africa back in June 2016.

Empire is going on its mid-season break for Christmas with its last new episode for the year this week on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201), with the second half of the 5th season of the American music industry drama that will start around March or April 2019 on FOX.

Earlier seasons of Empire is also broadcast on e.tv that picked up the free-to-air rights.

During her 2016 visit with co-star Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson signed autographs at the O.R. Tambo airport before she was whisked away, did media interviews and a press conference at the MultiChoice City headquarters, did meet-and-greets with Empire "super fans", and closed it off with an invite-only Empire South Africa VIP party in Johannesburg where they were ensconced in a VIP area within the VIP event.

The Golden Globe winner also made time to visit the Keep a Child Alive and Kliptown Youth (SKY) Foundation in Soweto.

While Empire, that didn't sell well in international distribution, struggles in the ratings and finding global audiences, the show and stars like Taraji P. Henson are popular and do resonate in TV markets like South Africa with her fashionable Cookie-couture, biting one-liners and "accidental" public faux pas like spilling wine in rivals.

Here, with a fast-growing middle-class TV audience rapidly switching to pay-TV, viewers are enthralled not just by the modern-day Alexis Carrington-like character's antics, but by the strong female empowerment message underlining the character's "cookie-crazy" facade.


ALSO READ: IN PHOTOS: The exclusive, invite-only, golden delicious - and absolutely beautiful - 'A Night with Taraji P. Henson' dinner event of Fox Networks Group Africa. 
ALSO READ: Taraji P. Henson at Fox Africa's 'A Night with Taraji' dinner event talks embracing change, Hollywood pay disparity, looking for solutions - and playing Cookie on Empire with 'the why'.

FOX moves start of its prime time schedule an hour earlier from July in its fight for more viewers.

Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) is changing the prime time line-up of its FOX channel from today, moving all prime time shows from this evening an hour earlier in its fight for more viewers.

FNG Africa says that "the quest for maximum eyeballs in a tightly contested viewing time band will see FOX shift prime time shows to start an hour early" from 2 July.

FOX Africa as one of the more premium entertainment pay-TV channels competes with M-Net's M-Net (DStv 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channels, BBC Studios Africa's set of channels and e.tv's offering during prime time, for roughly the same group of most highly-prized pay-TV viewers in South Africa.

FOX Africa says its schedule change is in response to viewer demands.

The FOX channel (DStv 125 / Cell C 201 / StarSat 131) from July is moving its animation block earlier on weekdays, anchored by the long-running satire show The Simpsons now starting on weekdays at 16:10.

The triple animation block will include American Dad (weekdays at 16:35) and Family Guy (weekdays at 17:00) to complete the animation stack.

The animation block on FOX will be followed by double bills of How I met your Mother from 17:25, followed by double episodes of the drama series Hawaii Five-0 that joins the line-up on Mondays to Fridays from 18:15, and Mondays to Thursdays at 19:05 from the first season.

Drama series The Gifted on Mondays, Lee Daniels’ Star on Thursdays, Grey’s Anatomy on Tuesdays and Rogue on Wednesdays will now all move to the 19:55 timeslot on FOX. 

On Fridays, there is yet another double episode broadcast of CSI: Miami at 19:05.

FOX is repeating the science fiction drama series Legion on Mondays at 20:45. In the same timeslot from Tuesday to Friday FOX will show the forensic drama series Criminal Minds.

FOX is doing repeats on weekends at 18:00 of The Gifted, Grey’s Anatomy, Rogue, Star and CSI: Miami for viewers who have missed it during the week.

Stacking animation marathons will run from 13:50 to 17:35 on Saturdays on FOX.

On Saturdays repeats of Hawaii Five-0 are scheduled from 08:35 and again on Sundays from 19:45 to 22:45.

NO GIFT. Fake FOX promise sees Africa left behind with Marvel's new drama series, The Gifted, that was announced as an Express from the US title - but isn't.

A fake FOX promise has seen South Africa and Africa being left behind by FOX Africa with a new Marvel TV drama series, The Gifted, that was announced and is supposed to be an Express from the US title, but isn't for Africa.

The Gifted is a brand-new drama series from Marvel on FOX in America and is supposed to be an Express from the US title on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) in Africa, but unfortunately Africa's pay-TV viewers are being left behind after a hollow promise from FOX international.

The Gifted that got positive reviews from TV critics and that started on 2 October in America, takes place in an alternate timeline where the X-Men have disappeared.

The show, produced by 20th Century FOX Television in association with Marvel Television, has a first season of 10 episodes. 

At the beginning of the year at its upfront, FOX Networks Group Africa told TV critics and journalists covering television that The Gifted 's first season of 10 episodes will be on FOX in Africa and will be an Express from the US title. Members of the press were also shown a teaser trailer.

Marvel's other new TV show, Inhumans, produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Studios, has started on M-Net (DStv 101) as promised, and is also an Express from the US show for its season of 8 episodes.

The Gifted revolves around ordinary parents, played by Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker, who go on the run with their kids after they discover their children's mutant abilities.

At the beginning of October, FOX Networks Group announced that The Gifted will be getting a global roll-out in 183 countries across its FOX branded channels on virtually the same or next day date as episodes are broadcast in America.

It didn't say that South Africa and Africa would be excluded but that is what's happening.

FOX Networks Group said the global roll-out demonstrates its confidence in The Gifted but South African and African viewers are left wondering what the fuzz is all about.

The simultaneous global launch of shows are also supposed to helps combat the piracy of high-profile TV shows like The Gifted if they premiere in the United States months before they're screened elsewhere in the world.

"The global scale and reach of the Fox brand gives us a unique capacity to make event series such as The Gifted available to viewers everywhere day and date," said Peter Rice, 21st Century Fox president in a statement.

That unique capacity is however failing FOX as far as Africa is concerned where African viewers are not part of "viewers everywhere".

"This fantastic series, which expands on our longstanding collaboration with Marvel, Matt Nix, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Lauren Shuler Donner and the X-Men universe, will resonate widely, and we couldn't be more excited for its worldwide launch," said Peter Rice.

Of course there's no excitement for FOX Africa viewers since Africa pay-TV viewers across the continent are excluded from the promised worldwide launch. But why?

There's been no official comment from FOX Africa in response to a media enquiry as to why The Gifted isn't being shown as an Express from the US title and currently there's no date for The Gifted to start on FOX.