Investigation Discovery (ID) adds Chris Brown physical violence exposé ahead of South African concert tour

by Thinus Ferreira

His cycle of abuse and the troubled past of American singer Chris Brown will be exposed in the new documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence coming to Investigation Discovery (DStv 171) on 8 November as part of the channel's annual "No Excuse for Abuse" campaign.

Sunny Hostin is the presenter of the new documentary which will be on ID, coming amidst growing public pressure on Big Concerts and Chris Brown to cancel a concert tour to South Africa in December.

After growing public backlash, the local NGO Women For Change started a petition calling for a boycott of Chris Brown's performance at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, the controversial artist trolled the organisation by noting that he "can't wait to come".

ID will broadcast Chris Brown: A History of Violence on Friday 8 November at 21:00.

"In 2009 the world was exposed to a much darker side of the pop star when he made headlines for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. This arrest put a spotlight on Brown and his adult life, which has involved multiple violent incidents, including intimate partner violence, assault charges, and even sexual assault allegations," ID says.

"Chris Brown: A History of Violence charts Chris Brown's past all the way back to his troubled childhood, explores the lasting impact of the cycle of abuse, and poses the question: how does a man with such a violent public record maintain his superstar status?"

"With expert and cultural commentary layered throughout, the documentary provides thoughtful reflections on each survivor's experience and the psychological destruction left in the aftermath of their abuse."

Sunny Hostin says "Throughout my career, I have always prioritised being a fierce defender of women and children".

"Domestic violence is a very close, personal issue to me as I reflect on my past as a prosecutor of these types of cases and in my role as a mother and public figure whose actions inform and help shape the next generation."

"This issue is a prevalent epidemic which knows no socio-economic boundaries, so I am dedicated to expanding and continuing this crucial conversation. The more we know, the better we can help advocate for change as a society."

Jason Sarlanis, ID president, says "ID is dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through its programming and campaigns. Our annual No Excuse for Abuse campaign amplifies this message, providing resources to show survivors and their loved ones that they are not alone and that help is available".

"In our third year, we are creating impactful content and collaborating with champions like Sunny Hostin, who brings her expertise and passion to lead thoughtful and nuanced discussions on domestic violence."

Discovery Inc. to show Oprah's TV special about race relations across its channels in South Africa and Africa on Sunday night, adds lead-in special The Murder of George Floyd A Nation Responds to Investigation Discovery schedule.

by Thinus Ferreira

Oprah Winfrey's TV special on race relations in the United States with lessons and insight for a global audience will broadcast as a simulcast showing this Sunday on Discovery Inc.'s Discovery Channel, TLC and Real Time TV channels in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, while the ID: Investigation Discovery will show another TV panel discussion special just before this, The Murder of George Floyd: A Nation Responds, on Sunday night.

OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? will be shown on Sunday 14 June at 20:55 simultaneously on the Discovery Channel (DStv 121), TLC (DStv 135) and Real Time (DStv 155 / StarSat 162), with Part 1 and Part 2 of the two-part special that was broadcast this past week in America that will be shown back-to-back for a duration of 1 hour and 50 minutes.

From her home in California, Oprah talks to a wide range of black thought leaders, including filmmakers, journalists, and historians about race and racism in America to try and answer the question of "what's next?"

OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? will have individual repeats during next week but on the TLC and Real Time channels only.

Investigation Discovery TV special added
Discovery is also adding The Murder of George Floyd: A Nation Responds that will be shown on ID: Investigation Discovery (DStv 252) this Sunday at 20:10, leading into Oprah's OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?.

With ID's Tony Harris as the presenter, this panel discussion will look at America's police violence, law enforcement reform and activism across the United States, with prominent voices discussing the recent events and looking at how America and the world can take tangible actions to make long-lasting change.

The discussion will revolve around the topics of pervasive racism, police violence and what it will take to make this watershed moment expand to better equality everywhere.

Panellists in The Murder of George Floyd: A Nation Responds special include Yamiche Alcindor (PBS Newshour correspondent and NBC & MSNBC political contributor), Kevin Davis (former Baltimore police commissioner) and Lurie Favors (racial justice attorney, author and activist).

Also included are Redditt Hudson (co-founder of the National Coalition of Law Enforcement Officers for Justice, Reform and Accountability) and Deray, McKesson (civil rights activist and organizer of Campaign Zero).

The panellists have an open conversation about the murder of George Floyd, what societal failings led up to this moment, the heightened call to end police violence against citizens, and what change needs to look like.

"This conversation will not be comfortable, but it will be open, honest and informative. Black Americans have expressed this outrage before, and now is the time to listen and learn what actions must be taken to move our country forward," says Investigation Discovery.

"The arc of the moral universe is bending right before our eyes with this huge, global outcry for change. Now is the time to continue to push the discussion forward," says Tony Harris.

"This panel includes leaders who are entrenched in this movement, some with varying viewpoints, and I’m proud to share their thoughts with ID's viewers."


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey asks where we go from here in a new 2-part TV special about race that Discovery Inc. will broadcast globally including Africa on DStv and StarTimes.

INTERVIEW. Filmmaker Rick Kirkman on his Surviving Joe Exotic TV special on Investigation Discovery: 'I had much worse video and a whole lot worse things occurred at the zoo that never made it to air.'

by Thinus Ferreira

The filmmaker Rick Kirkham, the former producer of a reality series for the eccentric and now jailed Joe Exotic, is speaking out in a brand-new must-see TV special, Surviving Joe Exotic, coming to Investigation Discovery (DStv 171) on 11 June and says viewers will now get the chance to find out how it was that he got chosen to enter the zoo where his life turned into hell and how he tried to tell the "Tiger King" story.

Earlier this year the Tiger King documentary series had people stare in disbelief at the true-life tale of Joe Exotic - a series that includes Rick Kirkham as a former producer who was making his own show about Joe Exotic who ended up losing his footage in an arson fire after a fallout with the Tiger King.

In the new special Surviving Joe Exotic coming to Investigation Discovery (DStv 171) on 11 June at 21:50 viewers will see Rick Kirkham, who now lives in Norway, open up about how it all came to be and what has happened in his life since.

TVwithThinus got on the phone to Norway and spoke with Rick Kirkham about Surviving Joe Exotic and the surreal story he became part of.


What will viewers see in this Surviving Joe Exotic documentary on Investigation Discovery?
Rick Kirkham: I wouldn't call Surviving Joe Exotic a documentary, it's more a story of who I am and how I ended up going through this and how I became part of Joe Exotic's life.
What viewers are going to see is how I live my life now after having survived G.W. Zoo and survived not only that, but survived the making of and the airing of the Tiger King series itself. I've been through a lot of hell since that series came out because of the number of people who wanted to interview me and wanted to get to know me.


And would you say you sort of feared for your life afterwards or is that not one of the concerns?
Rick Kirkham: No, no. I have not feared for myself in any way. Joe Exotic is in jail where he belongs and the thing I more fear is the intrusion because of the number of journalists who had come here to Bodø in Norway where I live, trying to get interviews. It's been kind of nuts.


When did you realise that your life has changed because of Joe Exotic and Tiger King?
Rick Kirkham: I realised about an hour after the documentary started airing in California on the premiere night.
My phone here in Norway started ringing off the hook, my email addresses - all 3 of them, my Facebook messages started filling up from people wanting to ask me "is this real?" and "Hey, are you Rick?" and on and on.
Immediately I started doing interviews with some of the legitimate TV and newspaper journalists. The main thing was that the nightmares for me started coming back because everybody day and night was Joe Exotic related. The nightmares started coming back.
Within a couple weeks of the Netflix debut of Tiger King I had to start seeing a therapist again, and I'm still seeing that therapist now to help deal with all of this attention. You have to remember that Tiger King is all about Joe Exotic, not Rick Kirkham.
Joe Exotic happens to be stuck in prison for the next 22 years, so who is the next person to get the attention? Rick Kirkham. So it's the luck of the draw that while the series came out and did a good job, I'm the one who has the responsibility now of being here for it.


It's quite a while back but I'm wondering, during the filming of what was your show, when did you - being around Joe Exotic - did you realise that Joe wasn't quite the person that he appeared to be? And what did you think at the time because you kept filming but you started to have reservations about him?
Rick Kirkham: There was a specific moment. There came a point when I was shooting a reality TV series at the zoo and about three months into it I had my crew build a caged throne - an actual big chair - made out of solid wood and red velvet and I started telling Joe that we'll call you the Tiger King, that "you're the king of the tigers".
Anyway, we built this throne and we put it out into the middle of a big cage with real tigers running around and have him sitting in it and standing up and draw his gun and saying "Hi, I'm Joe Exotic, I'm the Tiger King". And it went to his head.
After that day he was not the same person. All of a sudden in his head he thought he was the king of tigers; that he could get away with anything and that he didn't have to hide any of the abuse anymore, he didn't have to hide the fact that he was an asshole.
Building that throne and putting him on it - you can imagine, if somebody gives you a king's throne and you sit down and then a trumpet blares - "ta-ta-ra-daa" - it went to his head.

What will you talk about in Surviving Joe Exotic? Why should people make sure they watch it?
Rick Kirkham: Surviving Joe Exotic is really a story about my reaction - what I went through making it.
It also tells more of a story of how I came to go there in the first place, who I was before I went to the zoo, and why I was the person to take the job to film at the zoo.
If you want to know the story of how it is that Rick Kirkham himself came to be at the zoo - which is a story in itself - this special will tell you.
It also goes on to tell you what it's been like going through all the therapy I've gone through after having worked at the zoo; after having had the Tiger King series come out; the fact that I'm still seeing a therapist.
Surviving Joe Exotic will give you an idea of who I am instead of just Tiger King's Rick. Viewers can find out how it was that Rick got chosen and was willing to go into the zoo and who was the person who was chosen to tell the Tiger King story.


Wherever you are now in the Nordics, how was that adjustment moving there, and can you see yourself moving back to the United States or elsewhere in the future?
Rick Kirkham: I now live in a town called Bodø in Norway, it's in northern Norway, we are in the Arctic Circle and I'm from Texas, so obviously this is a very different place than Texas.
In Texas right now it's probably 85 to 95 ºF (29 °C) while here we're sitting at the beginning of summer and it's probably 45 ºF (7 °C), so a very different place. We don't get snow in Texas. We get a lot of snow in northern Norway.
I came here for one reason and one reason alone: Yes, I wanted to get away from America, I wanted to get away from Texas and Oklahoma where that zoo was, but more than that I had a girlfriend online that I've had for 10 years prior to that and I decided to come here and marry her. And that's exactly what I did.
So I came to Bodø and told her "I'm marrying you" and that was 2 years ago and I couldn't be more happy - we're soulmates.
Living in Scandinavia is a wonderful place, I love it. I don't like the weather necessarily but the people are wonderful and quite honestly, living in America right now at this moment in time isn't the best place to be these days for political reasons.
I'm very anti-Trump and I don't like what's happening in my country right now so I'm just happy to stay right here. Will I ever go back to America? I'll go back to visit but I will live and die in Bodø.


Part of the fascination with Joe Exotic I think is also because everything feels so surreal but it's not made up but people struggle to believe it. How would you describe, having more perspective now, how do you look back at this surreal story that you became part of as you tried to document it?
Rick Kirkham: You know, if somebody had written a book called Joe Exotic: Tiger King, nobody would have believed it. You just wouldn't have believed it.
The very fact that Netflix was able to get enough of the video that we had put online or we had in the cloud and actually show you that this is real, that is the only reason people believe it.
And let me be honest with you, I had much worse video and much crazier video and events on tape of Joe Exotic than what we could ever have dreamt about and that people can't see because it burnt in the fire.
So if you think that the Netflix Tiger King series was stunning, that's nothing compared to really went on. There was a whole lot more and a whole lot worse things that occurred at the zoo that never made it to air simply because there was no video. And who would have believed this series if it were just a book? Nobody.


Have you maybe thought of what you want to do next as a filmmaker?
Rick Kirkham: I don't know.
I'm so confused over what I've gone through. I've been going day and night - and in my dreams even - and seeing a therapist over Joe Exotic for 6 months now.
I'm not sure what I want to do next. I will obviously do a documentary of some sort. But it will probably be looking back and taking and creating a sequel to my original film, TV Junkie, that was about my life in 2006.


ALSO READ: Filmmaker Rick Kirkham to reveal more uncensored truths and stories in Surviving Joe Exotic TV special on ID Investigation Discovery on 11 June 2020.

Filmmaker Rick Kirkham to reveal more uncensored truths and stories in Surviving Joe Exotic TV special on ID Investigation Discovery on 11 June 2020.

by Thinus Ferreira

In a new documentary coming to ID: Investigation Discovery (DStv 171), Surviving Joe Exotic on 11 June at 21:50, the filmmaker Rick Kirkham will reveal more harrowing truths and share his nightmares and the obscene events behind the making of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King. 

In the Swedish-produced Surviving Joe Exotic, Rick Kirkham reveals further truths behind his time with the eccentric character of Joe Exotic.

"At first I really liked him. He was such a personality and he was so much fun to be around. But that changed after a few months with him and I started seeing the real Joe Exotic," says Rick Kirkham.

Just months after Rick Kirkham was hired by Joe Exotic to produce his internet show, Rick realised there was no turning back from the nightmare that was the G.W. Zoo. 

He stayed close to a year recording and documenting the fellowship between all the misfits and their caring for the animals. The material he collected while being at the Zoo was unique and he knew it would be invaluable for his own reality show.

After a quarrel with Joe Exotic, all of this material was lost in a suspected arson, and after another fire in his new home, Rick Kirkham chose to flee far from Joe Exotic and leave the United States. 

He sought protection in Bodø in northern Norway, where he now lives together with his Norwegian wife. This is his last interview about what really happened during the nightmare he and others endured at the G.W. Zoo.

Now in Surviving Joe Exotic, Rick Kirkham will tells his incredible and uncensored story one last time. "It's a moving and unbelievable story," says Ulrika Bokstad, executive producer at Discovery Networks Sweden.

Surviving Joe Exotic contains never-before-seen material, produced by the Swedish production company Nexiko which will be shown worldwide on Discovery's linear TV channels.


ALSO READ:  INTERVIEW. Filmmaker Rick Kirkman on his Surviving Joe Exotic TV special on Investigation Discovery: 'I had much worse video and a whole lot worse things occurred at the zoo that never made it to air.'

StarTimes signs new carriage agreements for Africa with Discovery Networks International that includes a new female-focused channel, Real Time; and FOX Networks Group for the set of Fox channels.

The Chinese pay-TV operator in Africa, StarTimes, have signed two new channels carriage agreements with both Discovery Networks International and the FOX Networks Group.

At a "cooperation signing ceremony", Janet Liu, StarTimes' head of the content operation centre, signed a contract with Amanda Turnbull, the vice president and general manager for Discovery Networks International for the Africa and Middle East (MEA) region.

Under the new carriage deal the crime channel Investigation Discovery (ID) will remain on StarTimes and StarSat in South Africa, with the Discovery Family channel that will be added to StarTimes and presumably StarSat in South Africa.

Discovery Family is already carried by MultiChoice on DStv in South Africa and elsewhere across the continent by MultiChoice Africa.

Discovery Networks International will also create and package a new female lifestyle channel called Real Time. Real Time - like TLC already carried on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa and elsewhere across Africa - will launch later this year on StarTimes and presumably StarSat, and according to StarTimes "will be customised especially for the modern African woman".

Discovery's Real Time was shut down in April 2013 and turned into TLC, but that Real Time brand is now being revived by Discovery for Africa as a parallel, yet differently branded, channel to TLC.

Discovery Networks International didn't issue any statement by Wednesday night about its carriage deal with StarTimes and if there is one it will be added here.

In a second "cooperation signing ceremony", Janet Liu, StarTimes' head of the content operation centre, signed a contract with Adam Theiler, the executive vice president of the FOX Networks Group for Europe and Africa.

Under the new carriage deal the FOX, FOX Life, FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Baby TV and Voyage will remain available on StarTimes in the rest of Africa and on StarSat (Voyage excluded) in South Africa.

In Africa these channels managed by FNG Africa will be available in English, French and Portuguese.

FOX, FOX Life, National Geographic, and Nat Geo WILD are also carried by MultiChoice on DStv in South Africa and MultiChoice Africa across the continent in several other African countries.

The FOX Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) didn't issue any statement by Wednesday night about its carriage deal with StarTimes and if there is one it will be added here.

As part of the carriage agreement between StarTimes and Fox, StarTimes will also offer Fox and National Geographic content on its StarTimes/StarSat app and the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services Fox+ and NG+ will be added to the 70 TV channels already available on the StarTimes app. The StarTimes app now reaches 450 million mobile phone users.

WHO KNEW? After switching Investigation Discovery to ID Xtra on MultiChoice's DStv and StarSat, the IDx channel has quietly been switched back to Investigation Discovery.

Discovery's Investigation Discovery (ID) channel on DStv and StarSat that was switched to ID Xtra (IDx) in January 2016, has quietly been switched back to just ID after a year and 10 months.

Investigation Discovery (ID) that changed to IDx with a big hoo-haa, is back to quietly just being ID on MultiChoice's DStv on channel 171, and on StarSat run by China's StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM) on channel 223.

IDx was switched back to ID in mid-October but there was no official announcement from Discovery Networks International for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

Quite awkwardly, because there was no announcement, the media has been blissfully unaware and months later even operators like MultiChoice still uses the IDx channel logo on some of its websites for channel 171, instead of just ID.

In January 2016 Discovery Networks CEEMEA said that ID is being replaced by ID Xtra and that “with its glossy reconstructions of real-life mysteries, ID Xtra will have viewers glued to their screens for hours at a time.”

"Mystery and suspense is one of the fastest growing genres within pay-TV and Discovery is in pole position, leading the category with a channel that has already been a proven success across CEEMEA. We are delighted to offer yet another high-quality channel.

Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice general manager for content said in a statement at the time that “our DStv customers love mystery and suspense stories and ID Xtra takes these stories to a glossier and more dramatic level.  Avid fans of this genre will have an even wider selection of brand new and intriguing content to choose from and still be able to catch up on their old time favourites from Discovery ID.”  

TVwithThinus, that like other media, also wasn't aware of the Investigation Discovery channel branding backtracking back from IDx to just ID, asked Discovery Networks International when ID Xtra flipped back to ID and why.

Discovery says the brand alignment roll-out took place between 18 and 31 October 2017.

"Based on the global success and high demand of the investigation genre, as well as a wider strategy that will see us unify our brands in an increasingly connected world, we have decided to transform IDx into investigation Discovery (ID) across CEEMEA".

"Borrowing from the highly successful American Investigation Discovery, a market-leading channel across both pay and free television, we will start using a new, more sophisticated, cinematic brand package which maintains premium quality and broad appeal, while becoming more seamlessly integrated with the channel's programming".

"This transformation is also accompanied by continued heavy investment in content, to deliver a broad mix of high quality shows and noisy event programming which reflect consumer priorities".

Discovery's ID: Investigation Discovery on MultiChoice's DStv also being changed to ID Xtra from January 2016 a few months after it happened on StarSat.

Discovery's ID: Investigation Discovery channel on MultiChoice's DStv is now also being changed into the ID Xtra channel as what happened on StarTimes Media SA's StarSat a few months ago, with the switch set to take place on 5 January 2016.

Discovery Networks International for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region launched ID Xtra as a replacement channel in April 2014. 

It switched ID: Investigation Discovery out for ID Xtra on 31 July on StarSat where the channel has been running for the past five months.

The same switch will now happen on 5 January 2016 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on channel 171. ID Xtra will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Extra and DStv Compact subscribers.

ID Xtra is more geared towards targeting specifically female viewers with predominantly tabloid-focused crime stories, since a lot of Discovery's existing other channels like Discovery Channel and Discovery World are mostly geared towards a male audience.

Besides TLC Entertainment, ID Xtra as a mystery and suspense channel will give female viewers another channel catering to their viewing taste with crime programming and dramatic crime reconstructions covering "desperate housewives" and "salacious real-life stories of passion, revenge and murder". 

"With its glossy reconstructions of real-life mysteries, ID Xtra will have viewers glued to their screens for hours at a time," says James Gibbons, the executive vice president and country manager for emerging business for Discovery Networks' CEEMEA region.

"Mystery and suspense is one of the fastest growing genres within pay TV and Discovery is in pole position, leading the category with a channel that has already been a proven success across CEEMEA."

"Our DStv customers love mystery and suspense stories and ID Xtra takes these stories to a glossier and more dramatic level," says Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice South Africa's general manager for content.

"Avid fans of this genre will have an even wider selection of brand new and intriguing content to choose from and still be able to catch up on their old time favourites from Discovery ID."

ID Xtra carries shows like Tabloid with Jerry Springer (weekdays at 20:20) covering shocking and bizarre crime stories making headlines.

Other ID Xtra programming include Do Not Disturb: Hotel Horrors (Saturday 9 January, 22:00) going behind closed doors to uncover shocking crimes inside hotels; Bad Blood (Sunday 24 January, 22:00) following families driven apart by heinous crimes as they come together for the first time; and Mansions & Murders (Monday 11 January, 22:50) that re-enacts crimes involving wealthy mansion dwellers.