SABC: 7de Laan's 1.2 million viewers on SABC2 are not enough for the show to stay on air.

by Thinus Ferreira

With 1.2 million viewers nightly on SABC2 in June, making it the most-watched Afrikaans TV show in the country by far, the South African public broadcaster says that is not enough and not a large enough TV rating for the 23-year old soap to stay on air.

According to the SABC, 7de Laan is "no longer attracting the right numbers to remain a commercially viable product".

The financially struggling SABC sent shockwaves through the South African TV industry and left viewers stunned when it confirmed to me on Monday that 7de Laan has been cancelled. 

After insiders said that 7de Laan is getting the axe, the broadcaster was asked about the long-running Hillside-set series' demise just as producers at Danie Odendaal Productions called the cast and crew together on Monday morning to give them the sad news as they huddled together on one of the show's sets at Sasani Studios.

7de Laan is the most-watched show Afrikaans TV show in South African television and in June was the second most-watched show on SABC2 where it pulled 1 191 198 viewers for its most-watched episode last month. 

7de Laan's viewership is just behind the long-running Venda soap Muvhango with 1.43 million viewers, now raising questions about its future as well. 

Dwarfing any Afrikaans TV content on MultiChoice's various kykNET TVchannels on DStv or eMedia's e.tv channels, the 7de Laan omnibus on Sundays lured another 424 782 viewers to the channels, with the mid-morning repeats at 11:00 on SABC2 adding another 495 397 viewers.

This, the SABC now says, is not enough for 7de Laan to stay on the air, with the show which has become too expensive given its audience rating and audience share. 

With more than 5 500 episodes produced so far, the last episode of 7de Laan's 24th season - episode 5 721 - will be filmed on 21 October and broadcast on 26 December.

The decision to cancel 7de Laan was done by Merlin Naicker, head of SABC video entertainment; Lala Tuku, SABC head of content for video entertainment, David Makubyane, general manager of video entertainment platforms; and SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius. 

"The SABC was faced with no option but to review the programme strategy to remain responsive to current audience consumption patterns, the ever-changing landscape, as well as the commercial sustainability of the schedule," the broadcaster tells TVwithThinus in response to a media query asking for the reason why 7de Laan got the axe.

"SABC2 relies heavily on great audience ratings to attract the advertisers and 7de Laan was no longer attracting the right numbers to remain a commercially viable product," the broadcaster says.

"The decision to decommission 7de Laan was also about repositioning the content offering on the channel."

The SABC says that it "would like to thank its viewers and stakeholders for their support during the 24 years of 7de Laan, as the channel embarks on a more defined strategic direction".

"We invite viewers to stay tuned for more exciting and new content on the channel and an announcement will be made in the near future."

ALSO READ: SABC cancels SABC2's 7de Laan after 23 years.

ALSO READ: Tears and sadness but planning the best end ever: Inside the shock as 7de Laan got its cancellation news.

SABC2's Xitsonga drama series Giyani Land of Blood back for a second season from 1 November, adds Rami Chuene.

by Thinus Ferreira

The second season of the Xitsonga drama series Giyani: Land of Blood will start on SABC2 on Monday 1 November at 21:30.

SABC2 will broadcast three episodes of Giyani: Land of Blood, produced by Tshedza Pictures, weekly from Mondays to Wednesdays.

Earlier this year SABC2 announced that the second season of Giyani: Land of Blood would replace Muvhango on Thursdays and Fridays in its timeslot but for an as-yet-unexplained reason the plan was scuppered.

When the first season of Giyani: Land of Blood ended in November 2019, the community of Risinga was turned upside down with secrets revealed, Richard Mudau exposed as a corrupt traitor, and with Gladys left for dead.

In the second season viewers will see Richard return home after spending time in prison and with no money and no influence, he gets back into business with the hope of turning his life around and away from crime. 

There is a new lady at his side but she could wreak havoc in his family and the community.

"SABC2 is immensely proud to bring the second season of Giyani to viewers in South Africa," says Gerhard Pretorius, SABC2 channel head.

 Jacqui Hlongwane, SABC2 programme manager, says "Building on the success of the first season of Giyani, the second season returns with more drama, intrigue and an action-packed storyline that will have viewers glued to their screens".

"Not only can viewers look forward to seeing their old favourite characters back on their small screens, SABC is delighted to announce that the talented and much-loved Rami Chuene joins season 2 of Giyani; life will never be the same again in Giyani for sure."

Phathu Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon of Tshedza Pictures says the production company is "beyond thrilled to revisit the story world of Giyani - Land of Blood and the amazing characters that viewers fell in love with - including new characters who will capture their hearts as the new season is packed with scandal, drama and dangerous escapades that will entertain and enthrall viewers".

The cast of Giyani's second season is Ndivhuho Mutsila who returns as Richard Mudau and Rami Chuene joining the series as Manoko Ledwaba. 

Other cast members include Mathabo Mothibe as Khensani Mudau, Maduva Madima as Shonisani Mudau, Fumani Shilubana as Vukosi Moyo, Wiseman Zitha as Musawahosi Baloyi, Senzo Radebe as Fezile, Elvis Tshepo Nkosi as Mahlatshe Valentino Ledwaba, Glennis Mabuza as Kokwana Chavalala, Obed Baloyi as Hlengani Chavalala, Candy Tsamandebele Mokwena as Diane Homu and Lina Ebony Ngcobo as Tsakani Baloyi.

SABC2 backtracks on cutbacks, 7de Laan back to 5 days a week from October.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan on SABC2 is returning to a full 5-days a week from October while SABC2's Venda weekday soap Muvhango remains a full-week show, bringing to an end the SABC's failed experiment to cut down on the episodes for both series to try out other programmes in their timeslots.

From the week of Monday 4 October, 7de Laan is back to broadcasting 5 episodes per week on SABC2, while Muvhango continues to run 5 episodes per week as well. SABC2 has not yet issued any statement about 7de Laan's return to full-week episodes. 

"7de Laan is delighted at the SABC's decision to bring back the show to 5 days a week," the production told TVwithThinus on Friday.

"We know that our fans are over extremely appreciative and excited for this. We owe much of their persistent request to the return. Viewers can now enjoy an entire week of their favourite show without the long anxious wait. Best of all, the months ahead are packed with nail-biting, love-hate and comedic storylines."

Earlier this year the South African public broadcaster angered viewers when it announced a shocking SABC2 schedule shake-up.

The SABC confirmed that from April it would cut back 7de Laan produced by Danie Odendaal Productions, from 5 to just 3 episodes per week. 

The SABC also confirmed that it would be cutting back on Muvhango, produced by Word of Mouth Pictures, from August, with the popular primetime soap also seeing its episodes reduced from 5 to just 3 episodes per week.

It led to a petition from viewers signed by over 7 000 concerned viewers and the SABC saying that it won't back down from its plan to "make more room for drama". 

The SABC in another statement shortly thereafter, said that "A public petition was circulated, in an attempt to prevent the SABC from diversifying its content on SABC2". 

This was however not what the petition from concerned viewers was actually about, who were not against diversifying programming but concerned about losing weekday episodes of their shows.

Merlin Naicker, the SABC's head of TV, said that reducing the episodes of 7de Laan and Muvhango was "part of our longterm plan to invest in quality local content" and that "it is imperative that we come with innovative and exciting content, which will not only draw the viewership, but bring in the revenue required to keep the public service broadcaster financially sustainable".

The SABC considers both long-running series as having somewhat run out of steam creatively and thought that gradual timeslot replacements would yield viewership bumps from new shows.

7de Laan was reduced to 3 episodes to make way for Die Sentrum but the show from Penguin Films on Thursdays and Fridays never got the viewership traction 7de Laan has, with lower ratings in SABC2's 18:00-timeslot.

Before the debut of Die Sentrum the SABC in a statement said that it was "confident that this new programme will be a drawcard and like 7de Laan, will keep the channel's loyal viewers entertained for the remainder of the week".

In July 7de Laan lured around 1.2 million viewers to SABC2, while Die Sentrum hovered around 720 000 per episode. This is far below 7de Laan and represents a net loss of thousands of viewers in the timeslot and also forced SABC2 to lower ad rates during the slot, meaning less revenue for the broadcaster.

Meanwhile, the promised second season of the Xitsonga telenovela Giyani, produced by Tshedza Pictures, never materialised in Muvhango's 21:00-timeslot from August with no explanation to viewers or an update to the TV industry.

Neither the SABC nor SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius made any further public statements before August that Giyani isn't going to start, or since, about why Giyani didn't start last month on Thursday and Friday nights as was initially promised. 

According to insiders the Covid-19 pandemic severely delayed Giyani production and SABC2 couldn't get the show on air in time.

Development and production on Giyani were hugely impacted by Covid-19 and the production couldn't deliver episodes for playout from August as planned, although production is now in full swing. No new SABC2 broadcast date is available for the second season that is now supposed to start sometime in November.

ALSO READ: SABC2 reduces weekday soaps 7de Laan and Muvhango to 3 episodes per week in a shock scheduling shake-up.

ALSO READ: SABC2's 7de Laan says viewers are justifiably disturbed as upset fans try to save the soap's weekday timeslot, cliffhangers to be reworked to fit on Wednesdays.

ALSO READ: 'An attack on us as loyal fans and viewers': Furious fans sign a fast-growing 7de Laan petition to try and save the reduced SABC2 soap.

SABC2 cancels Pasella after 23 years, channel says final episodes of the longrunning Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show will be a ‘tribute season’.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC2 has cancelled Pasella after 23 years and 28 seasons, confirming that the longrunning Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show won't be back after the latest season.

Pasella weathered multiple day and timeslot changes over numerous years on SABC2 and was a yearlong show with weekly episodes until the SABC2 changed it to shorter, broken-up seasons in 2013 after 15 years.

Pasella started in March 1998 on SABC2 when Pieter Cilliers Productions began the series as a studio-based show. Filmmedia took over production a year later in 1999 and then Tswelopele Productions got the contract in 2001. 

Amor Engelbrecht was the longrunning producer of Pasella until she left and started her Media Club production company producing series for Media24's VIA (DStv 147) channel.

The final current season of Pasella on Wednesdays at 19:30 will be a "tribute season", meeting up with some of the presenters from previous years and showing the history of the series, along with everyone who had a role in creating and producing the series, including veteran Pasella crew and staff behind-the-scenes.

Maritha Greenland, SABC2 commissioning editor, says Pasella will end with a final episode that will be a wrap party, called a "Pasella party" to "give the show a proper, heartfelt goodbye".

The current crop of Pasella presenters are Paul Rothmann, Vicky Davis, Amalia Uys, Hemelbesem, Rumacques Gelderbloem and Sasha-Lee Davids.

Pasella is produced by Tswelopele Productions with Patience Stevens and Basetsana Kumalo as executive producers, with the company that was a powerhouse producer for SABC content for decades.

SABC3 cancelled Top Billing, also produced by Tswelopele Productions in October 2019 after 27 years after the South African public broadcaster could no longer afford the luxury lifestyle show.

Gerhard Pretorius, SABC2 channel head, said Pasella over the years was very good at adapting with how television changed.

"The decision has been a hard one, but it is necessary with the new schedule introduced in April this year, aimed at diversifying SABC 2’s Afrikaans magazine offering," he said. 

"This will also enable the channel to showcase different stories which represent the diversity of our nation and offer more opportunities for independent producers to bring their creative works to the channel."

The axing of Pasella is part of the ongoing restructuring of SABC2's linear schedule to replace old programmes with fading ratings with new on-air properties that could hopefully lure more viewers back to the channel.

SABC2 recently cut down both 7de Laan and Muvhango to just 3 episodes per week because of sagging ratings to slowly try and introduce other programming in the timeslots to see if the replacement series can attract higher viewership.

The final Pasella episode will be broadcast in January 2022.

SABC2's 7de Laan says viewers are justifiably disturbed as upset fans try to save the soap's weekday timeslot, cliffhangers to be reworked to fit on Wednesdays.

by Thinus Ferreira

In response to a fast-growing petition to try and save the SABC2's Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan in its weekday timeslot, the show tells TVwithThinus that it makes "absolute sense" that viewers are disturbed over the SABC's shocking decision.

The financially struggling SABC that is going through a retrenchment process confirmed that SABC2 plans to cut 7de Laan down from 5 to 3 episodes per week from April in the 18:00 timeslot, with the Venda weekday soap Muvhango that is also getting axed from 5 to 3 episodes per week from August in its 21:00 timeslot.

After a Cape Town viewer, Jermaine Christians started a "Keep 7de Laan on-air for 5 days! Save 7de Laan" online petition on change.org, public support has seen it surge to close to 3 500 signatures and comments just over a week later by Tuesday morning.

SABC2 and its channel head Gerhard Pretorius plans to replace the Muvhango timeslot on Thursdays and Fridays with the second season of Giyani.

SABC2 plans to replace 7de Laan on Thursdays and Fridays with a new Cape Town-set call centre drama series in Afrikaans and Xhosa entitled Die Sentrum produced by Penguin Films that is currently in production. 

Afrikaans drama on SABC2 was previously broadcast in other timeslots where it didn't replace or impacted on the longrunning 7de Laan, while the first season of Giyani was shown at 21:30, serving as the Muvhango lead-out and where there similarly wasn't an issue having episodes of both shows on-air on the same day but at different times.

The SABC in a statement says that the "change forms part of SABC2's channel strategy to increase and diversify its drama offering and provide audiences with entertaining, fresh, diverse and relevant local content".

The SABC also says that "it must be noted that the SABC's programming strategy is informed by viewership statistics as supplied by the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA). This industry body measures the success and popularity of TV programming in South Africa that the SABC considers when making any programme decisions".

"Viewers can therefore be assured that they will not lose 7de Laan as it will still broadcast from Mondays to Wednesdays". 

The SABC and SABC2 are silent over why the diversified drama offering is taking over and replacing weekday soap timeslots. 

A big specific concern is that habitual and repeat viewing are crucial and extremely important to sustain ratings for serialised shows like 7de Laan and Muvhango, making SABC2's unexplained scheduling change and the reason why Giyani and Die Sentrum are not scheduled in other timeslots, even more perplexing.

Danie Odendaal Productions filming 7de Laan at Sasani Studios in Johannesburg tells TVwithThinus that upset viewers who are angry about the weekly frequency cut to episodes are justified in how they're feeling about SABC2's decision to downscale the number of episodes.

"7de Laan is a soap that has been part of South Africans' lives for almost 21 years. We are part of millions of TV viewers' homes and family time and most South Africans at some point in the lives have interacted with 7de Laan," the show says in response to a media enquiry asking what the producers are making of the petition.

"It makes absolute sense that viewers are disturbed over the news of the scheduling change."

Cast, crew and freelance workers on both 7de Laan and Muvhango who don't want their names mentioned since they fear possible repercussions from speaking out publicly while still working on these shows, say they are scared of losing work and that SABC2 is costing them income especially during the tough economic environment worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

About people attached to these shows who will be working less because of SABC2's decision, Danie Odendaal Productions says that "for now the scheduled times remain unchanged because we are still expected to deliver the number of episodes as agreed upon for the 22nd season in the contract with the SABC. As a result, the staff's working hours and budget have been adjusted to what it is currently".

When the soaps are reduced to three episodes per week, after a Wednesday's episode, viewers will have to wait 4 days before a new episode of 7de Laan or Muvhango on SABC2 with both that will be more days off-air than what the serialised soaps will actually be on-air. 

Schedule interruptions like this usually have a debilitating impact on the ratings of shows since viewers tend to drift and forget to return when their TV routine or viewing pattern gets disturbed. 

Where and when cliffhangers appear, usually on a Friday - with for instance a shot fired, an explosion or a shocking relevation to keep viewers buzzing, engaged, pondering and to help keep a show top of mind and to drive them back on a Monday - will also have to change. 

"We can only wait and see what the effect of the 3 days a week is going to be on viewership figures," says 7de Laan. "We're just thankful that for the biggest part of the week we'll still get the opportunity to entertain South Africa".

"Viewers will still want to tune in for our programme content. Our cliffhangers will be adjusted to end off a week well even if it is on a Wednesday - something that will probably frustrate viewers, but with new zeal we will keep our show alive on social media platforms".

"From our side, we ask viewers to continue to watch 7de Laan from 5 April from Mondays to Wednesdays at 18:00 on SABC2. For now, they can still enjoy 7de Laan from Mondays to Fridays at 18:00 on SABC2," says the show.

ALSO READ: 'An attack on us as loyal fans and viewers': Furious fans sign a fast-growing 7de Laan petition to try and save the reduced SABC2 soap.

SABC2 adds new April series including drama Melody and dramedy The Riviera; kykNET adds sketch show Cas Oppie Kassie and gospel music talker Koortjies.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC2 and kykNET (DStv 144) are both rolling out new locally-produced TV shows during April with SABC2 adding Melody and The Riviera that were both filmed in the Western Cape, while kykNET has scheduled comedian Casper de Vries' satirical TV return with Cas Oppie Kassie and the gospel music talk show Koortjies with Jonathan Rubain.

Melody, produced by Gemini Twins Films and The Ergo Company and starting on Tuesday 7 April at 19:30 on SABC2 revolves around a young and talented penny-whistler from Athlone named Melody (Kim Bowers) who uses music as a form of escapism from her impoverished background and abusive father.

She gets an opportunity to audition for a music scholarship but her tyrannical father stands in the way of her dreams. The Melody cast includes Aya Ngobo (as Junior, Melody's brother), Riedwaan Damon (Bevan), Moeniel Jacobs (Jack), Faldela Brown (Mrs Fredericks) and Aeesha Petersen as Nazli.

The 13-episode The Riviera, starting on Wednesday 8 April at 19:30 on SABC2 is a dramedy that explores the complexities of growing up in Cape Town during the 1980s. It was created and is narrated by Quanita Adams and produced and directed by Lucille Blankenberg.

The series is set in the year 1989 around the experiences of a 12-year-old Muslim girl, Riana Isaacs, growing up on the Cape Flats. While South Africa and the world are in dramatic upheaval, Riana innocently sets out to achieve her own personal milestones.

The Riviera cast includes Keenan Arrison (Naz), Kelly Damon (Riana), Abdul Abrahams (Reza) and Margie Pankhurst as Ma B.

"SABC2 is very excited to bring these two dramas to our audiences - stories about people and places not often seen nor heard on our screens. The channel is especially proud of the fact that both dramas have a great balance between established actors and new talent that viewers will fall in love with," says Gerhard Pretorius, SABC2 channel head.

On kykNET the comedian Casper de Vries is making his TV comeback with Cas Oppie Kassie starting on Monday 6 April at 20:00 in his new satirical comedy sketch show.

Similar to his erstwhile satirical soap insert "Haak & Steek" in his Casper Rasper Show that mocked local TV soaps, this time Cas Oppie Kassie will include an ongoing insert mocking competition reality shows like Survivor SA on M-Net, entitled "Die Laager" in which contestants partake in Die Groot Trek.

Besides the 5 to 7 different sketches per episode, there will also be an animated sketch series, "Con se Storie" about a church pastor.

Some iconic Casper characters will return like the beloved Dutch woman Greetje Appelmoes, Oom Kallie Marie, the failed entrepreneur Hanno Gelderblom and the former flight attendant with neckbrace Montelle Jansen van Rensburg, alongside Blertsie du Toit.

New characters include the Swedish Greta Donderberg and Gizelle Serfontein, a former news reader and now pornstar and sex expert.

Koortjies with the gospel musician Jonathan Rubain as host and done from Atlantic Studios in Cape Town kicked off on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) on 5 April on Sundays at 18:00

Returning shows on kykNET in April include the 5th season of the music-infused talk show Republiek van Zoid Afrika with Karen Zoid, starting Monday 6 April at 20:00, the second season of Maak my Famous from 29 April at 20:00 with Emo Adams, and another season of the agriculture show Megaboere with Kabous Meiring from 7 April at 21:00.

The third and final season of the legal-eagle drama series Fynskrif will start on kykNET on 14 April at 20:00.

Emo Adams on taking over as the host of SABC2's Noot vir Noot: 'I feel like Trevor Noah taking over from Jon Stewart'.

As the baton gets passed tonight on Thursday 15 August 2019 from Johan Stemmet to Emo Adams as the new host of the longrunning Noot vir Noot, Emo says taking over as the presenter of the Afrikaans game show on SABC2 feel to him “like Trevor Noah taking over from Jon Stewart”.

 After 29 years, the 44th season of Noot vir Noot, produced by Stemmburg Television, kicks off tonight at 19:00 with Emo Adams as the new host, the Musiekfabriek replaced with DJ Shelly (Rochelle de Bruyn), and a new techno-infused set as well and revamped and pacier games as contestants compete with their music knowledge and singing karaoke to try and win money. 

Noot vir Noot that lost audience shares and viewers over the past few years is one of the longrunning prime time shows that SABC2 decided to rejuvenate to attract new and younger viewers. 

“I’m humbled that Johan Stemmet and the production team reached out to ask me to do this. It’s hands down a dream come true,” says Emo Adams.

“The day Johan called me and they explained to me the new way that they would like to do Noot vir Noot and with DJ Shelly – at first you have your reservations because Noot vir Noot is an institution. Now here comes Emo as a coloured boytjie from Mitchells Plain and throws all the toys out of the cot and everybody is thinking this bra is going to mess everything up”.

“But they gave me so much assurance to say trust the process, trust us, this is going to work. It’s one of those things that happens in your life – like Trevor Noah taking over from Jon Stewart at The Daily Show – the fact that this man acknowledges the talent out there and what’s going on."

"Johan has his hands on the pulse of what’s happening all the time and knew exactly who he wanted.”

“The reason why I feel very blessed is when I visited my mom, after the first recording, she said ‘My son, I’m very, very proud of you. Your work, if you do it with sincerity and truth, your work speaks for itself,” says Emo Adams. 


Johan Stemmet: Not retiring
“They say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But this doesn’t work in television. In television, even if it ain’t broke you’ve got to continually fix it. You’ve got to continually fine-tune it,” says Johan Stemmet from Stemmburg TV who remains a producer and a director of the longrunning show behind-the-scenes. 

“We also have to renew. But you don’t bring a new motor car model onto the market and all you change is the steering wheel.” 

“You’ve got to rethink it, you’ve got to recreate it, you’ve got to remodel it because you’re sitting with a public property which is already in the public domain so you have to work very, very carefully. You’ve got to admit, and you’ve got to accept, that you’re renewing – so familiar to the viewers, familiar things in the programme have got to be renewed. Everything we do, we do for the viewers.”

“In the case of Noot for Noot we said there’s a trade-off between the familiar and the new,” says Johan Stemmet.

“We traded upward. Not sideways and you definitely don’t trade downwards.” 

“We traded the analogue familiar set for a modern high-tech set. We also traded the one-man host presenting approach for duo presenters approach where you have two presenters playing off each other, interacting with each other – and this results in a much more dynamic presentation of the content.”

“We also traded off the resident band for 14 individual music acts – 14 artists brought to the Noot vir Noot stage.” 

“We added a specialised DJ and we can now use original music and original soundtracks where in the past we had to rely on instrumental versions of songs. Now we can do the original ones. We have a new team of presenters who will take Noot vir Noot to new heights for the now-generation and the generation to come.”

“Emo brings to the show his unique charm that he has, his special fun way, his entertaining way of presenting and Rochelle brings her specialised knowledge of being a DJ and her fun personality to complement Emo.” 

“To everyone who remained with us for 29 years, I still remain very much a part of the show. People say to me ‘so what are you going to do now that you’re going to retire?’ But I’m not retiring. In my 52 weeks of a year for one week I’m not presenting Noot vir Noot, I’m directing it now.” 


Game show rejuvenation 
Gerhard Pretorius, SABC2 channel head, says “fortunately and unfortunately, the SABC is the home to 50/50 and Noot vir Noot and according to people, these are old programmes".

"So we had to decide what we’re going to do to rejuvenate since people are asking where are we taking things, and that’s exactly what happened”. 

“We threw the ball back to Stemmburg TV, had conversations, they came back last year with a presentation including a video, and I was bowled over and I think the management team at SABC TV was quite impressed.” 

“I was very nervous when they called and said ‘Come and see the first episode’. To the new presenters, Emo and Rochelle, welcome to the SABC2 family.”

SABC to re-energise SABC2's prime time shows, reposition SABC3 for 'premium space' to try and reverse the channels' ratings slide.

The SABC says it will re-energise SABC2's prime time offering and is yet again going to reposition SABC3 to try and lift these two channels' viewership and audience share as part of a new turn-around plan to stem and reverse the ratings slide these channels experienced the past few years.

Nomsa Philiso, the SABC's group executive for television, on Tuesday told parliament that the SABC is working at reversing the viewership slides at its SABC2 and SABC3 TV channels.

Gerhard Pretorius is the SABC2 channel head, and David Makubyane, the SABC's general manager for TV channels is currently the acting SABC3 channel head.

"Our overall objective is to strengthen the [channels] network because what we do not want is a cannibalisation of our 3 TV channels competing against each other. So at any given time we need to ensure that the audiences remain within the SABC stable. So we need to be investing more money on the key properties, especially in prime time slots," said Nomsa Philiso.

"SABC2 also had its own problems from 2014 coming this way - it has had 6 major schedule changes - so it has dropped some of its share and would like to see a targeted increase from a 13% share to 15%."

"We are also looking at some of the key properties that are under-performing in the prime time timeslots on SABC2 and we are also going to be reviewing those."

"From a SABC2 point of view we really want to continue to entrench the positioning of SABC2 as a family channel, which is really focused on nation-building and social cohesion."

"We want to make sure that from a scheduling point of view, we create stability, because if we do not have stability, commercial sales isn't able to sell. As you know we sell 14 weeks in advance, so any chance that is unexpected for us, is a direct revenue loss."

"So if we've got a funeral to cover to put on SABC2 it simply means that money's lost."

Nomsa Philiso said "in programming there are some of our key pillars - key programmes that are starting to decline - and we're looking at those to see how we can re-energise them and give them new energy."

SABC3 changing to a 'premium space'

"We also want to make sure that SABC3 is positioned as a premium space for advertisers to reach specific, particularly economically mobile audiences which ordinarily are perceived - and I use the word perceived - to be a DStv subscription market," said Nomsa Philiso. 

"We do believe that it's a market that we're able to, or should be able, to claw back."

She said "in terms of SABC3 we want to continue to reflect a diverse racial grouping and also put in from a programming point of view, look at reality, we want to look at new dramas, and we also want to have magazine shows that are more of an emotainment nature where we are going to be able to talk about self-improvement of people because that's what sells at the moment".

"We also want to strengthen our talk, in terms of social cohension as well. We're also looking at various partnerships, particularly in the children's block for SABC3 because children unfortunately in the television space is one of the least-invested genres and it's a pity because I think it's one of the important sectors."

Programming and commissioning changes 

"The model that we've always spoken about to say that we do 100% commissioning isn't sustainable, but it also doesn't work well for the producers. Producers want to be able to own some of the intellectual property - and in that way we are then able to on-sell these properties and find other revenue opportunities downstream."

"Also to get into the distribution market so that it's not only properties that live within the South African market."

"In terms of content exploitation, we are looking to diversify the rights so that when we acquire the programming, we also make sure that the producers own some of the rights so that they also have the responsibility to expand this."

"We're also looking at a new way of charging for our channels in terms of carriage fees and a lot of people have expressed an interest in having access to our channels," she said. The SABC wants the broadcasting regulator Icasa to change the so-called "must carry" regulations so that pay-TV operators like MultiChoice, StarSat and Deukom are not just forced to carry the channels but are also forced to pay carriage frees. 

Nomsa Philiso said "from a content acquisition perspective we're looking at as we bring in the money we start to create [programming] stock because one of the biggest issues is that we don't have stock."

"Essentially we produce to transmission which is not very viable," she said. "We should commission platform-agnostic content because it's not just about television anymore, we have to life on all the platforms."

SABC COO Bessie Tugwana on why 7de Laan was moved to 6pm on SABC2: Now viewers 'can see it before anything else'.

The SABC told parliament it moved the popular Afrikaans soap 7de Laan on SABC2 to several different timeslots and now to 18:00 since this month so that now viewers can "see it before anything else" - despite the fact that millions of viewers are not home at that time to watch it.

Meanwhile TV executives are buzzing with several of them now openly wondering whether "the SABC is now trying to kill 7de Laan".

In the ongoing furore about SABC2's latest controversial schedule changes, the channel dumped the 7de Laan omnibus repeats on weekends three weeks ago without telling viewers in advance.

On Sunday afternoons 7de Laan lured around 1.1 million viewers - and its axing in terms of ratings is basically the same as if the SABC cancelled the soap Isidingo on SABC3 that gets 1.3 million viewers.

The SABC said viewers who have the luxury of the internet and broadband data can watch the show on YouTube.

Viewers also continue to blast the SABC for moving the Danie Odendaal Productions show to a new timeslot yet again after changing its timeslot just 7 months ago.

So far SABC2 has chosen to remain silent and ignore viewers' complaints, with the channel that isn't responding to any of the comments from the flood of viewers begging SABC2 to bring the 7de Laan Sunday omnibus back.

Ironically SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius said on SABC2 at the beginning of February that the channel always listens to viewers and wants to hear from them.

On Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Veronica van Dyk in the sitting of the portfolio committee on communications asked the SABC why it moved 7de Laan to 18:00 and to explain why it's not considering viewers, why it removed the omnibus on Sundays. and how viewers are supposed to catch up who can't see it at 18:00.

The SABC's acting CEO James Aguma said he can't answer the question.

The SABC's current acting chief operating officer (COO) Bessie Tugwana said 7de Laan was scheduled at 18:30 "which we subsequently moved to 17:00 and now its sitting at 18:00".

"7de Laan for the past year, we realised that it was declining audiences," Bessie Tugwana told parliament.

She declined to mention that it was the SABC's moves that caused the 7de Laan ratings collapse since mid-2016. The show's monthly viewership erosion in -mid2016 started and continued when the SABC first decided to tamper with its timeslot.

"7de Laan is a pillar for SABC. It's a programme that's viewed by many people who speak Afrikaans, black or white or coloured. Therefore we protect it."

"So the move was not to kill it. The move was to protect it. So at 6pm currently, there isn't much aggressive competition, first. Secondly, there was a concern that it was not in prime time.That is not so. Prime time is defined as between 18:00 and 22:00," said Bessie Tugwana.

"So it's still at prime time. What we've done, its something that audiences see before anything else. In prime time at 18:00."

'We will constantly be vigilant in terms of how its performing," she said.

In America, the world's most advanced TV market, prime time is actually defined as starting at 19:00.

Bessie Tugwana didn't explain why SABC2 doesn't want a 7de Laan omnibus repeat on weekends and took it away from viewers on Sundays.


Is the SABC trying to kill 7de Laan?
TV insiders - channel executives and executive producers of shows at channels and programmes competing with the SABC, SABC2 and 7de Laan - are now openly and in amazement wondering what SABC2's plan is with 7de Laan and wondering out loud "if the SABC is trying to kill 7de Laan?"

"What is their strategy? Why on earth would they be doing something like this?" asked a longtime Afrikaans TV programming executive.

"Is the SABC trying to kill off 7de Laan?" wondered one executive attached to a weekday Afrikaans soap. "Why the bad treatment?"

Viewers are vocal in their unhappiness.

So where exactly do your viewers belong? On YouTube?" asks SABC2 viewer Margaret van Tonder. "I hope you are taking note of how many people are disappointed in you, SABC2!"

This 6pm timeslot is just not working out!" says Neofabulous Ramafoko. "We've just come home from work, sorting dinner out, getting kids to bath, etc. 1pm we are at work so we can't see the repeat. As if that isn't enough: no omnibus!"

"The SABC is taking its viewers for granted," said Roberta Maluleka.

SABC2's bizarre decision to dump the 7de Laan weekend omnibus repeat is the same as if the SABC were to can SABC3's Isidingo.

SABC2's bizarre and abrupt decision to dump the 7de Laan weekend omnibus repeats on Sundays without prior warning is the same in overall viewership terms as if the SABC were to cancel SABC3's Isidingo.

The SABC's shock decision to can 7de Laan's afternoon omnibus repeats on Sundays so that SABC2 can "revitalise the Sunday afternoon schedule" has lead to a growing avalanche of complaints from SABC2 viewers.

So far SABC2 has chosen to remain silent and ignore viewers' complaints, with the channel that isn't responding to any of the comments from the flood of viewers begging SABC2 to bring the 7de Laan Sunday omnibus back.

Last week SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius said SABC2 always listens to viewers and wants to hear from them.

The move, described by viewers as shortsighted, unfair and misguided, comes after a month in which the SABC lost over 18.8 million viewers - many switching to e.tv - during its schedule disruption in January to show AFCON 2017 soccer matches that didn't perform in the ratings.

As first noted by TVSA, the 7de Laan omnibus repeats on Sundays lure roughly 1.1 million viewers to SABC2.

This 1.1 million SABC2 viewers are tuned in to the channel despite it being during the afternoon and on a weekend when far less less viewers are available than during weekdays and prime time.

SABC3's local soap Isidingo pulled 1.3 million viewers for its highest rated episode in January during prime time.

Gerhard Pretorius' decision to dump the 7de Laan omnibus on Sundays, is therefore roughly akin to the SABC cancelling Isidingo.

The decision comes while the loss-making public broadcaster is already struggling to hold onto its existing audiences and to increase its SABC TV audience market share that in 2016 missed its target of 52% and fell further to 48.8% according to the SABC's latest financial report.

Oddly striking is that SABC2 decided to remove a proven repeat that delivers results, a sticky audience and loyal viewership, for new, unproven content, during a daypart where that effort and cost will be less effective than if new programming is actually directed and scheduled during SABC2's prime time where it's most needed.

It's also odd that SABC2 decided to cut the omnibus after it moved 7de Laan earlier from 6 February to 18:00 where even less viewers are now able to see it, and removing their ability to catch up.

While new content like 7de Laan is wasted by showing it too early, the SABC has no problem yet again rebroadcasting old rerun content like Vetkoekpaleis during prime time at 19:00.

Also odd is SABC2 announcing and lying to viewers that they can catch a repeat on SABC3 at 13:30 on weekdays where 7de Laan is not showing but SABC3 is showing news.

"So where exactly do your viewers belong? On YouTube?" asks SABC2 viewer Margaret van Tonder. "I hope you are taking note of how many people are disappointed in you, SABC2!"

This 6pm timeslot is just not working out!" says Neofabulous Ramafoko. "We've just come home from work, sorting dinner out, getting kids to bath, etc. 1pm we are at work so we can't see the repeat. As if that isn't enough: no omnibus!"

"The SABC is taking its viewers for granted," said Roberta Maluleka.

BREAKING. SABC2 dumps 7de Laan omnibus on Sundays; says the Afrikaans soap's weekend repeats are removed to 'revitalise the Sunday afternoon schedule'.

The SABC has decided to dump the weekend omnibus of its flagsip Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan on SABC2 with the SABC no longer giving its viewers who can't watch it during the week the chance to watch and catch up over the weekend.

The shock move comes after the SABC moved 7de Laan for the second time within months on SABC2 to a much earlier timeslot of 18:00 when a large part of its working class audience is not yet home from work.

The SABC's debilitating timeslot changes saw 7de Laan's ratings plunge since July 2016, with the latest timeslot change to 18:00 from 6 February that will likely further erode viewership of the Danie Odendaal Productions soap.

Interestingly a lot of viewers only watch the weekend 7de Laan omnibus, as well as a large number of viewers watching the omnibus again, lifting SABC2's otherwise mostly flat Sunday afternoon viewership.

SABC2's channel head Gerhard Pretorius took the decision to dump the 7de Laan omnibus on Sunday afternoons after 17 years, with SABC2 saying it has "taken the decision to call off the omnibus of it's flagship soapie 7de Laan" due to "the channel's endeavour to revitalise the Sunday afternoon schedule by introducing a new music show Soul'd Out Sessions and a family movie slot at 16:00".

The SABC says viewers can watch repeats of 7de Laan daily on SABC2 at 13:00 and at 13:30 on SABC3. The problem is that working viewers not able to watch it at 18:00 on weekdays, are definitely not able to watch it during the midday.

The public broadcaster says that for its viewers who "have the luxury of WiFi or data, [you] can watch the repeats at your convenience on our YouTube" and that the SABC "apologise for any inconvenience".

Hilariously, the SABC lies in its announcement, since there is no repeat of 7de Laan on SABC3 at 13:30.

The SABC's belated announcement comes after it didn't show the 7de Laan omnibus on SABC2 yesterday. Instead of announcing and informing viewers and the media beforehand what would be happening schedule wise, the SABC pushed out the public communication notification a day after SABC2 left viewers bewildered and confused on Sunday waiting for a show that never aired.

Last week the SABC's new TV boss Nomsa Philiso warned TV producers to "deliver" and that their shows will be cancelled if they don't.

Meanwhile TV producers feel they can't "deliver" ratings and buzz if their shows are given bad SABC timeslots and if the SABC doesn't maximise the opportunities to make the most of its expensive local content.

Last week during an on-air interview on SABC2, Gerhard Pretorius said the channel wants to lure back Afrikaans viewers it lost and admitted to scheduling and programming mistakes made by the channel over the past few years.

Gerhard Pretorius said SABC2 viewers find it difficult to find timeslot and spaces where they actually belong on the channel, a riff of the channel's slogan of "where we belong".

Gerhard Pretorius said "things have moved to different slots; to cater for when audiences are available." Oddly, Sunday afternoon is when the audience is available to watch 7de Laan who can't watch it during the week where SABC2 is showing it at 18:00.

"We listen to our audiences," said Gerhard Pretorius. "And obviously there's sort of going to be a big response to what we're doing now."

He said viewers should let SABC2 know what it thinks of the latest scheduling moves. "Tell us, do you like it? Don't you like it?"

Channel head Gerhard Pretorius on SABC2's latest schedule shake-up admits mistakes: Viewers 'find it difficult to find spaces where they actually belong on the channel'.

SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius admits that the umpteenth new SABC2 schedule change that kicked in this week is because viewers "find it difficult to find spaces where they actually belong on the channel" and that SABC2 had made some wrong schedule changes since 2014.

Speaking on SABC2's breakfast show, Morning Live, Gerhard Pretorius also indicated that similar to SABC2's latest schedule shake-up, yet another big schedule change is looming for the beleaguered sister channel SABC3, the South African public broadcaster's only commercial TV channel.

SABC3 saw its ratings tank the past 7 months following the SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng's abrupt decree of 80% local content that was haphazardly introduced on the channel since July 2016 that saw viewers flee and viewership fall.

Yesterday on Monday 6 February, the South African public broadcaster's second largest TV channel introduced yet another new and reshuffled prime time schedule - the SABC channel's third big TV schedules change in a year, not counting the temporary AFCON 2017 schedule disruption, and SABC2's sixth big schedule adjustment since mid-2014.

In June 2014 SABC bosses in an internal memo called SABC2's schedule "schizophrenic".

"What I think was confusing in the past - and this is part of why we're changing - was audiences find it difficult to find spaces where they actually belong on the channel," said Gerhard Pretorius.

Exactly as TVwithThinus in January reported SABC2 is working on and will be happening with the latest revised schedule, Gerhard Pretorius said "We decided to create a little bit more of a block of Afrikaans content and a block of lets call it Sotho content later on in the evening".

"It's a bit of a revamp, things have moved to different slots; to cater for when audiences are available."

Speaking about the disastrous move when the SABC tried to move its Afrikaans content from SABC2 to SABC3 in July 2014 but then back again after five months in late 2014, Gerhard Pretorius said "the mistake that we might have made was just to recommission the content that sat there."

"So what we're doing now is we're going to try to, every 13 weeks in a slot there will be a new offering. It might be sort of an old title that you remember, but its a new series. Alternatively there will sort of be a new title. So we're trying to keep it vibrant."


'We're going to play differently on SABC2'
Gerhard Pretorius said "we're going to play differently on SABC2".

About the latest SABC2 schedule shake-up he said "we all have our own tastes. I would prefer to have drama between 18:00 and 22:00 every night. You might like cooking between 18:00 and 22:00."

"We need to cater for 50+ million people out there. It's very difficult. And then we have licence conditions. We have to broadcast so many hours of this during the week in prime time.We have to broadcast almost 20 hours of languages other than English in prime time."

"But we listen to our audiences," said Gerhard Pretorius. "And obviously there's sort of going to be a big response to what we're doing now."


'We've not always made the best changes'
He said "we have made a few changes since 2014 - not always maybe the best changes. And when you make changes it takes about three to four months before the audiences settle again".

"The [production] industry out there, they're so busy, assisting us [SABC2], assisting SABC1 and longterm SABC3 - because they're going to change a bit later - to get all this new stuff that we need on air," said Gerhard Pretorius.

The SABC's latest schedule shuffle from 6 February: SABC2's 7de Laan to 18:00, Sesotho news to 20:00, a new Afrikaans timeslot at 19:00; SABC1's Uzalo goes 5 days.

Timeslot-fatigued SABC viewers are in for yet another new round of programme shuffling from February - most notably on SABC2 - that will see Afrikaans soap 7de Laan shunted to 18:00, the Sotho news to 20:00, and the introduction of a new stripped, , hour long, 4-day a week Afrikaans timeslot at 19:00 in an attempt to try and lure back viewers.

The South African public broadcaster will announce yet another dramatic round of show changes to its channels like SABC1 and SABC2 soon.

The new changes will follow the latest temporary disruption of it channels' programming line-ups due to AFCON 2017 soccer tournament coverage,what the SABC calls its "transversal strategy".

The new SABC TV line-up will mark the SABC's 3rd big TV schedules change in a year, not counting the temporary AFCON 2017 schedule disruption.

The SABC's ongoing scheduling changes continue to worry the South African TV and advertising industry, concerned about the erratic nature and ongoing scheduling instability at the public broadcaster that impacts its viewership and ratings, and ultimately its ad income - a big source of the broadcaster's revenue.

After every SABC schedule change viewers struggle to find where shows have moved to. In the past year several shows on SABC2 and SABC3 have showed ongoing monthly viewership drop-offs after certain programmes were moved to timeslot where it struggles to maintain audiences as viewers fled.

The SABC announced dramatic schedule changes to SABC1, SABC2 and SABC2 in February, only to announce schedule changes again just four months later in June. AFCON 2017 is currently upending the SABC's schedules with the broadcaster that is set to announce yet another round of schedule changes that will come into effect from 6 February.

After moving the timeslot of the stalwart Afrikaans soap 7de Laan on SABC2 for the first time ever in its 15 year history in July 2016 from 18:30 to 19:00, the SABC is set to move 7de Laan again after just 7 months to 18:00 from Monday 6 February after the conclusion of AFCON 2017.


An even tougher time finding viewers?
The ratings-battered weekday soap will likely have an ever tougher time finding viewers on SABC2 in the early prime time slot when a lot of its audience - commuting working-class viewers are not home yet.

The fictional Hillside set 7de Laan will now be competing with the Cape Town based Afrikaans soap Suidooster on kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET&kie (DStv 145).

The Danie Odendaal Productions that also publicly announced the 18:00 timeslot move from February to viewers says the change is "unfortunately outside of our control. The SABC is making these changes".

The SABC will also move its daily Setswana/Sesotho TV news bulletin from 6 February from 18:00 to 20:00 daily.

The Sesotho news on SABC2 will now compete directly with Generations on SABC1 at 20:00, programmes that fight for part of the same audience on the public broadcaster and with many viewers who would like to watch both.

The Sesotho news bulletin that was moved, suffered a viewership drop since its move to the 18:00 timeslot the past few months and completely dropped out of SABC2's top 20 most watched shows since November 2016 - the very timeslot 7de Laan is now going to be moved to.


New Afrikaans timeslot block
In addition to the 7de Laan and Sesotho news changes, a new stripped, hour long Afrikaans timeslot is set to be introduced on SABC2 from Monday 6 February at 19:00.

This new timeslot block will run from Monday to Thursday as SABC2 tries to court and lure back Afrikaans viewers.

Trying to create better ongoing scheduling flow and to get viewers to stay tuned in for longer instead of flipping the channel's hotch-potch "language mosaic programming", SABC2 channel head Gerhard Pretorius and scheduling executive Thulisile Nhlapo is essentially creating a 2-hour Afrikaans TV block from 6 February that will effectively stretch from 18:00 to 20:00.

SABC2's latest February schedule from 6 February will start with 7de Laan at 18:00, Afrikaans news at 18:30, and then shows at 19:00 like Vetkoekpaleis and Kliphard (Monday), Fees van die Ongenooides (Tuesday), Geure van die Vallei and Authentiek (Wednesday), and Beter Assie Bure (Thursday).

The Afrikaans entertainment magazine show Pasella will start again on 22 February, now on a Wednesday at 19:30.

Zandile Nkonyeni, SABC TV head publicist, didn't respond to a media enquiry on Thursday morning seeking comment about the changes and was asked why SABC2 decided to move 7de Laan, the Sesotho news and introduce the Afrikaans block at 19:00.

She was asked if SABC2 doesn't consider the 7de Laan timeslot to be too early and why the Sesotho TV news bulletin is made to compete against Generations on SABC1 for an audience, but didn't respond at the time of publication.

As previously reported in December 2016 already, the SABC will also extend the SABC1 prime time soap Uzalo's run from the week starting 6 February from 4 to 5 days per week, adding a Friday episode of the soap in the same timeslot of 20:30 from the start of its third season.

SABC1 publicist Philip Mabitsela didn't respond to a media enquiry on Thursday morning seeking comment about the KwaMashu set soap from Stained Glass Productions being extended to 5 days a week.

Why the SABC should temporarily lose access to 7de Laan on SABC2 even if it does manage to sign a new contract for the soap's 18th season.

Even if the SABC manages to put a signature on a new contract – delayed for months already – for its Afrikaans soap 7de Laan before it literally runs out of episodes on Monday, SABC2 should actually rightly lose the ability to air episodes, at least temporarily.

Even if the SABC manages to sign a new contract with Danie Odendaal Productions for new 7de Laan episodes before the 18th season is supposed to start on Monday on SABC2, it's actually wholly unfair of the public broadcaster to expect a new episode and subsequent episodes to immediately, and seamlessly, be available for playout.

Local soap productions – those of the SABC but also of other South African broadcasters like e.tv, M-Net and Mzansi Magic – work at breakneck speed, Rumpelstilskin-like, as they churn out episode after episode often under gruelling conditions with long and exhausting production schedules.

In order to provide an adequate "buffer", in-production soaps film episodes roughly around two to two and a half months in advance of what the TV biz refers to as the actual “TX” or broadcasting date.

Rightly, if the SABC signs a new contract over the weekend, the SABC and SABC2 should actually wait two months for new episodes to be produced and delivered since it allowed the entire "buffer"period to collapse.

In the latest 7de Laan case, Danie Odendaal Productions as a production company has actually been too nice with the SABC, and already produced 18th season episodes not yet paid for, out of its own 17th season budget that's already completed and available.

Technically it's actually an unfair expectation for the SABC to get those episodes immediately after signing a long overdue contract and having new episodes appear "magically" to broadcast on SABC2 on Monday.

Imagine ordering a wedding dress, only paying for it on a Friday, and wanting it on a Monday. It's wholly unfair to the tailor.

The Afrikaans weekday soap from Danie Odendaal Productions, along with fellow SABC2 soap Muvhango from Duma Ndlovu's Word of Mouth Pictures, saw their existing contracts with the SABC run out in August already.

In almost three months since then the SABC hasn't gotten as far as putting final signatures on contract extensions for the soaps – yet at the same time the controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng in May exerted massive pressure on Duma Ndlovu to sign three year contracts with his actors on the soap.

The SABC basically wants production companies to take on the bigger responsibility of guarantee work and improved work security to actors, but isn't doing the same to the production companies making its prized local content.

The questions needs to be asked how the SABC and SABC2, where Gerhard Pretorius is the SABC2 channel head, improved and streamlined the system – or not – since Muvhango and 7de Laan signed their previous contracts.

  

‘Nuclear option’

Recently Muvhango's Duma Ndlovu took out a loan just to pay cast and crew out of his own pocket, while Danie Odendaal Productions also paid cast and crew for the past two months when the guarantee of further income from the SABC ran out.

The latest "hullabaloo" pushed the production company to breaking point with Danie Odendaal Productions that has been forced to tell its staff that it simply can no longer pay them without a new, signed contract from the SABC.

It's been extremely awkward and uncomfortable for Danie Odendaal Productions – as a production company and as a service provider in the business of creating entertainment and escapism to millions of SABC viewers on a daily basis – having to tell the SABC that it will be withholding episodes from Monday.

In doing so, it pulled the trigger on a final "nuclear option", literally now forcing the SABC to sign a contract or go without further content.

It's not preferable, since it damages the existing relation between production company and broadcaster; however the initial business damage – and resulting bad publicity and brand damage – was caused by the SABC for dragging its feet for months.

This is not the first time the SABC delayed in signing new contracts with both Muvhango and 7de Laan, although it is the most extreme and deadline pushing crisis yet.

Neither are these the only two local production companies the SABC has been stringing along for months, desperately waiting for the signed-off greenlight to make local content for the SABC.

TVwithThinus specifically asked the SABC on Thursday if it has any comment or a response as to how the SABC feels about the situation after it publicly said numerous times in 2016 how it supports local productions, local content and local South African artists, yet fails to sign actual contracts timeously.

"The SABC does not discuss or negotiate contractual issues in the public domain or through the media," said SABC spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago.

'Still waiting for payment from the SABC'

In the process of making television where it's usually presenters and actors hogging the limelight and whose contractual issues as on-air talent grab the headlines, it's the South African TV producer just trying to make a living and delivering good content under difficult circumstances who is very often suffering in silence.

Over the past few months since mid-July when Hlaudi Motsoeneng, then as chief operating officer (COO) suddenly announced a dramatic 90% local TV content increase for the SABC’s TV stations – starting with 80% for SABC3 – TVwithThinus has spoken to several exasperated TV producers in business with the SABC.

These TV makers – including longstanding as well as brand-new producers – speaking off the record since they're scared to damage existing and new business relationships with the SABC, all complained about "the terrible way" in which the SABC commissions local programming and acquires content.

Just like in the case with Muvhango and 7de Laan who want to remain in business with the SABC through lucrative serialised TV contracts, these other South African TV producers are angry and despondent over the haphazard and drawn-out process just to get contracts signed, too little time to meet content deliver deadlines once contracts are finally signed off, and the "debilitating" bureaucratic red tape.

Producers feel they have very little recourse and feel powerless to change the system.

When the SABC hastily "commissioned" a slate of new, mostly talk show and lifestyle magazine shows to fill sudden holes in its SABC3 schedule where international series had to be yanked mid-season from its roster, several TV producers told TVwithThinus that they were expected to produce finished episodes of brand-new shows within as little as three weeks without having proper signed-off contracts.

"Producers are extremely worried if they will be paid by the SABC, and in turn be able to pay their writers, actors and crew," a veteran TV producer said.

"The production house I work for has just sent out a notification that they are still waiting for payment from the SABC, which should hopefully happen at the end of the month," a TV producer told TVwithThinus in late-August.

"Until then, they can't pay us, the workers. Now I know the producers are anal about getting their invoices in to the SABC in good time, so this is really concerning".

Wide-ranging public inquiry needed

In September the SABC quickly found R2.6 million to help fund the hastily arranged and then disastrous #ThankYouSABC Concert, yet the past few years TV producers who have been in business with the SABC were forced to sell cars, houses and even shutter production companies after ongoing payment issues with the public broadcaster.

The Independent Producers' Organisation (IPO), representing over 80% of working TV producers in South Africa, has now called for a wide-ranging inquiry into the ongoing problems at the crisis-riddled SABC.

This "broader, stakeholder inclusive public enquiry into the SABC should include looking at the SABC's persistent crises of governance, management, funding, policy, programming and operations," says the IPO, as well as "key requirements for the public broadcaster to effectively fulfill its mandate".

"The current crisis surrounding the SABC board is not new. It is one that South Africa has experienced before. It points to the problems of the SABC as systemic, needing to be addressed beyond the failings of the present SABC board and senior management".