The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Video changes its format for the third season to align with global viewers' preferences, doing away with British guests and more changes to come.

The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Video has changed its format for the 13-episode third season, with the episodes that will roll out weekly from Friday 18 January that will align more with global viewers' preferences.

The seasons beyond that will see even more changes for The Grand Tour.

The new third season of The Grand Tour will be the last to have a studio audience and a tent, and the guests are also gone.

Amazon has renewed The Grand Tour in December 2018 beyond the new third season but for a series of travelogue specials.

The Grand Tour from the 4th season will be different in style from the first three, with the presenters who will "ditch the tent and take on big adventure road trips that fans around the world love".

The Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May back for a third season, is also doing away with guests, who in the previous two seasons were mostly British personalities.

At Amazon Prime Video's media launch for The Grand Tour on Tuesday in London, Jeremy Clarkson reportedly said that international viewers don't know and don't care who the British guests appearing on the show are.

"When we began on the other show [Top Gear on the BBC], many years ago, it was a British show that was only really shown in the United Kingdom," said Jeremy Clarkson.

"And then it became international, and it still is very, very international. We're much better known in Italy and China than we are here in the UK, weirdly."

"So there is no point in having a guest where you go, 'Ladies and gentlemen, it's Howard from the Halifax advert' because in Uruguay, they haven't got a f- clue who Howard is. There seemed to be no point persevering with the guests. So that segment has gone. No guests in series three," said Jeremy Clarkson.

Richard Hammond said what viewers like "is what we like the most - which is the big adventures, us three messing about in Mongolia or Colombia or China or wherever else."

Jay Marine, vice president of Amazon Prime Video says "The Grand Tour is a worldwide hit and fan favourite. We're delighted the guys are coming back for series four. We're proud to say that Prime Video will continue to be the home for Jeremy, Richard and James".

"They've got some ambitious new ideas that Prime members are going to love. We're excited to bring more Clarkson, Hammond and May to Amazon Prime Video for years to come."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 11 January 2019.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) admits it has underpaid thousands of temporary staffers for years.
"This error should not have occurred, and we apologise to any casual employee who has been underpaid."

■ MultiChoice's DStv Now is broken - and things don't look good.
Problems in Kenya and MultiChoice tells a customer: "We do not have the turnaround time yet for when the services will be back on."

■ Netflix interested in opening a production hub in Toronto, Canada.

■ People from Cameroon picket outside the SABC in Cape Town.

■ British pay-TV customers actually pay a "loyalty penalty" for staying with one company too long instead of switching.

■ German viewers are different: They continue to pay for traditional pay-TV while the country is also seeing massive growth in the use of video streaming services.
Germany also has one of the highest levels of smart TV ownership in Europe.

■ As Anson Mount takes over as Captain Pike and hopefully brings more stability to Star Trek: Discovery's second season, his command style will hopefully mark a return to classic Trek storytelling.


■ Mozambique arrests another journalist.
Amade Abubacar, working for the state-owned Radio e Televisao Comunitaria Nacedje de Macomia in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province, was grabbed by police at a bus stop while conducting interviews.


■ A 1950s TV show had a fear-mongering conman named Trump who wanted to build a wall.

■ A fishing boat from Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel (DStv 121) capsizes, killing 3 in notoriously violent waters.

■ Turkey in shock as horrifying family secrets unfold on live television - ending with the police showing up and arresting an entire family as the audience and presenter applause.

■ Has Netflix won the battle for your TV screen?

■ The abusive has-been Jeremy Clarkson formerly of Top Gear on the BBC, slams the BBC for "suffocating the life out of everything".
Forgetting that he tried to suffocate the life out of the Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon who he physically and verbally attacked in 2015.

■ beIN resumes transmission in Egypt two days after the pay-TV operator started a blackout over a carriage dispute with Egypt's CNE over the commercial terms of providing sports content.

■ Kevin Hunter, husband of Wendy of The Wendy Williams Show on BET (DStv 129) tore into talk show's staffers blaming them for the stories about his alleged philandering.
Staffers thought he was going to give them an update about Wendy's bad health. Instead Kevin ranted for almost an hour about the leaks coming out of the show to the press.

■ A shirtless AJ Kapa and Cole Sprouse of Riverdale seen on M-Net (DStv 101) get wet and wild during a male bonding vacation in New Zealand as they frolick in Lake Wakatipu.

■ The best future-focused science fiction film and TV coming in 2019.

■ Kit Harington of Game of Thrones seen on M-Net (DStv 101) tells GQ Australia that "everyone was broken" by the time filming on the upcoming 8th and final season wrapped.

■ The Sopranos at 20: Television learned the wrong lessons from The Sopranos.

■ Surviving R. Kelly and the unstoppable power of true-crime documentaries.

■ The Bachelor's focus on Colton Underwood's virginity shows a bigger problem.
This season highlights the strange lens through which we as a society view sex.

■ 11 bizarre reality shows that weren't too weird for TV.
From Sperm Race to Splash, to a 23-year old naked man confined to a tiny apartment.

■ New American drama series, The Passage, is decent, at a time when decent might not be enough.

■ IMDb, the film and TV website owned by Amazon, is launching a free streaming video channel, IMDb Freedive, that will be available in the United States on its website.

■ Showmax slows everything down to 60fps for a derivative looking teaser trailer for its local drama series The Girl from St Agnes, copying MTV's Teen Wolf and Netflix's Elite with someone running through the woods and swimming in the school's pool.

Piracy fears grow as Jeremy Clarkson's new car show The Grand Tour launches but isn't available for watching in South Africa or Africa.

Television piracy fears are growing over Jeremy Clarkson's new Top Gear like car show The Grand Tour that just rolled out its first episode but isn't available in South Africa or anywhere in Africa but already flooding piracy sites.

The fear is that when The Grand Tour - the new car show produced for Amazon with the former Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May - do eventually become available in South Africa and across Africa, that most ardent fans and viewers who are interested in it, will have already found a way to watch it anyway.

M-Net that didn manage to acquire other Amazon produced shows like Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent told TVwithThinus on Thursday that it hasn't acquired The Grand Tour, meaning the show won't be available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

With no word from subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services Netflix or ShowMax about The Grand Tour, and Amazon being coy about which further countries it will be launching its Amazon Video Prime VOD service in, it's highly likely that the mostly male viewership courted by the show will watch The Grand Tour long before Amazon Video Prime launches in South Africa - if it does.

Amazon Video Prime is set to launch in a further 200 countries in December and switched on in Australia last night, but it's unclear whether South Africa is part of the list that will get the service. Netflix is currently available in 190 countries.

Part of the first season of The Grand Tour - releasing one episode per week on Amazon Video Prime since yesterday - is an episode filmed earlier this year in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This South African episode that will be become available next week Friday and following the debut episode set in California's desert, will be the second episode of the new series.

While BBC Worldwide's failed reset Top Gear seen earlier this year on BBC Brit (DStv 120) with Chris Evans was panned by critics and viewers alike and saw the host quit as ratings plummeted, The Grand Tour that Amazon spent millions on, looks like an instant hit while critics are back raving about Jezza and car company.

Forbes describes The Grand Tour as "really Top Gear on steroids" while The Telegraph raved that "the production values are as mind-blowing as billed" as describing the show as not "yet five minutes in and already Top Gear had been thoroughly trumped".

"The new series will certainly go some way towards obliterating memories of Top Gear's terrible Chris Evans fronted relaunch," said The Telegraph, noting that "Petrolheads can rejoice. The BBC may wonder how Matt LeBlanc and whoever joins him next year can possibly compete".

The Guardian says "Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond prove they can still make a spectacle – and keep the petrolheads happy".

USA Today notes that The Grand Tour is "ambitious".

With good reviews and a passionate fanbase for The Grand Tour, if Amazon Video Prime does launch in South Africa sometime in December, it might be too late for the Amazon Studios produced show to actually cash in on viewers.

If The Grand Tour does become available to South African viewers it will be after the show's international launch date and episode roll-out schedule, while a growing number of South African and African consumers with broadband access over the past three years have turned to other ways of finding TV downloads if a show isn't broadcast or made available legally in the territory.

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson heading to South Africa in mid-July for first studio audience recording for new car show, The Grand Tour.

The former Top Gear trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are heading to South Africa in mid-July where they will film the first studio section of their new show, The Grand Tour, for Amazon.

After a lackluster debut of the BBC's new Top Gear that recently visited South Africa to film a challenging race from Durban to the highest bar in Lesotho, Jeremy Clarkson announced that the team which jumped to Amazon after an ugly behind-the-scenes fight, will be heading to South Africa first to film for The Grand Tour.

The Grand Tour will launch as a video-on-demand (VOD) streaming show on Amazon and might well be picked up by another South African broadcaster like M-Net that's already showing Amazon shows like Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle.

The Grand Tour will record in Johannesburg on 17 July and is looking for studio audience members. This will be the first studio segment recorded for the show.

"The pre-recorded studio section of the programme will be filmed in front of a live audience, all housed within a giant tent," The Grand Tour team said on Amazon's British website.

"To celebrate, Amazon is giving fans the opportunity to win one of three pairs of tickets, travel and accommodation to be part of the recording in Johannesburg".

People can enter from now until 8 June through Twitter by using the hashtag #TheGrandTour and must attach a photo or video of the strangest place they've ever put up a tent with the trio of presenters who will choose the final three winners out of a shortlisted top 10.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 12 November 2015

■ Mikhail Lesin, the founder of the Russian TV news channel RT (DStv 407) dead in a hotel room.
Apparently died from a heart attack in Washington hotel room, but conspiracy theories now swirl.

■ India news channel NDTV (DStv 413) apologises for disastrously wrong coverage.
NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy apologises for totally botched Indian election coverage; "we've never made such a big error - we've made big errors - but not as big as this one"; blames pollsters' statistics.
- NDTV which just posted its Q2 results, is actually still running at a loss as a TV news channel.


■ Turkey dramatically clamping down on freedom of speech gives CNN Türk a massive fine for simply having someone voice opposition to the government.
- Meanwhile TRT World starts as Turkey's new state-run 24-hour TV news channel, mimicking CNN International with its on-screen lower-third graphics.
- The Istanbul based news channel will have studios in Washington, Kuala Lumpur and London.


■ Snowpiercer the movie adapted as a new science fiction TV series.

■ The Daily Show has dropped and lost 38% of its viewers with Trevor Noah.
Hollywood Reporter chart reveals the new pecking order and where the Comedy Central (DStv 122) late-night show now fits in ratings wise.

■ South Africa's StarSat from StarTimes expands into Zambia.
Enters the market with extremely low monthly subscription packages to compete with MultiChoice's DStv.

■ "Poor people will get 100% subsidies for set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television migration," says embattled communications minister Faith Muthambi.
Says poor households earning less than R3 200 per month will get one of the 5 million STBs needed for the switch from analogue to digital migration.

■ The Netflix effect: More streaming means more and better TV shows.
Internet video economics and the growth in video-on-demand (VoD) services mean more,original, and higher-value production TV shows.
- Netflix boss says there's not "nearly enough TV content".

■ And why the Golden Age of "Peak TV" isn't going to end soon.
There's just more and more great, original TV shows: Why there's no TV bubble to burst.

■ Moronic Nigerian lawmakers "alarmed" over "immoral" content on DStv.
Clueless and out-of-touch Nigerian politicians who know nothing about television nor broadcasting condemn MultiChoice Africa and wants more censorship of DStv. Political idiots in Nigeria worried about the "spate of uninhibited display of obscenities and uncensored programmes on the Nigerian airwaves".


■ The "Age of Denial" of American broadcasting TV.
American broadcasters no longer want to admit shows are bad and are cancelled - they now just give "reduced episode orders".
- How broadcasters are now cancelling TV shows without you knowing.

■ Jeremy Clarkson of BBC's Top Gear "showed a lack of respect" to colleagues.
Script editor who've worked on Top Gear for 13 years trashes the disgusting Jeremy Clarkson in his new book, saying he let the crew down and his apology was "half-hearted".

■ Wendy Williams Show on BET (DStv 129) extended for several more years.
Although the actual talk show's contract hasn't been extended itself, it's basically a formality as a 7-year extended contract has been signed between Wendy Williams and Lionsgate.

■ Shonda Rhimes doesn't know how Grey's Anatomy will end but has the end of Scandal! planned.
Creator and writer of both shows seen on M-Net (DStv 101) in South Africa where Scandal! is renamed The Fixer, doesn't know how Meredith Grey's story will end, but is sure of what will happen when Scandal! eventually finishes.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 11 April 2015.

Netflix' master plan is global content licensing.
Netflix wants worldwide licensing rights to all of the content on Netflix, in every country. Meanwhile Netflix is slowly creating the ultra high definition future of television.


Jewish group asks Jon Stewart to dump Trevor Noah over his anti-semitic jokes.
The American Jewish Congress is circulating a petition to get Trevor Noah removed as the new host taking over The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) after his anti-semitic jokes on Twitter.
Meanwhile Jon Stewart implores viewers to give Trevor Noah a chance. Jon Stewart says Trevor Noah will "earn your trust and respect ... or not".
The Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi says Trevor Noah should get off social media altogether. The New York Times reports on Trevor Noah's plagiarism problems and how he has allegedly stolen material from other comedians for years.

Kelly Osbourne calls Giuliana Rancic's actions after the Fashion Police scandal "heartbreaking".
The E! Entertainment (DStv 124) scandal keeps on giving with Kelly Osbourne trashing Giuliana Rancic, says "its heartbreaking to see her behaviour when she did get caught being wrong".

Crimea's last independent TV station has gone off the air.
Russian authorities refused to renew ATR's licence after Russian forces' annexation of Crimea from the Ukraine.

E! Entertainment (DStv 124) renews 3 shows.
#RichKids of Beverly Hills, Total Divas and Christina Milan Turned Up all renewed; WAGS, Stewarts & Hamiltons and Dash Dolls [working title] are planned as 3 new shows.

kykNET (DStv 144) is looking for a new head of programming.
M-Net's Afrikaans language TV channel supplied to MultiChoice's DStv is looking for a TV executive to head up programming.

BET (DStv 129) is doing a Nelson Mandela mini-series.
Madiba will be a 6-part series with Nelson Mandela's grandson Kweku Mandela who will executive produce for Out of Africa, with production set to start later this year in South Africa.

The TV industry has some lessons to learn from Game of Thrones.
No, not to kill your fiercest competitors. Ad Age says massive change (and winter) is coming, that a great story will always attract viewers and that the future belongs to those willing to adapt and evolve.

TV channels targeting black viewers are doing great ...
... in America. Not Orange but apparently BET, TV One, Bounce TV and Oprah Winfrey's OWN are the new black.

Is the character of Fish Mooney getting killed off in Gotham?
After Jada Pinkett Smith said she is leaving the Batman origin show on M-Net (DStv 101), TV Guide is trying to work out if the character will just exit or be killed off.

No wonder I feel overwhelmed. There's 352 scripted TV shows on television now.
And that just American. How about adding the South African shows. You can basically watch a different TV show every day day of the year. But every show has multiple episodes. Impossible to keep up.

Several American drama series are facing actors leaving.
Nina Dobrev gone from The Vampire Diairies is only the beginning of a cast exit across several shows where main actor's multi-year contracts are running out - from Castle, Bones to Criminal Minds, CSI and The Middle.

Fired Jeremy Clarkson hints that he and the former Top Gear team may have a future away from the BBC.
Former BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) star says at a charity event "we could be back somewhere else".

The FOX News Channel (StarSat 261) could be moving to a new home.
The New York Times reports that News Corp., 21st Century Fox could be moving to Manhattan's World Trade Center.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 1 April 2015.

The backlash in America against South Africa's Trevor Noah has started one day after he was announced as the new host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

Trevor Noah's social media became a beating stick as people scoured through his Twitter feed - as far back as 2009 -for messages offensive to women and Jews. 
Some more of Trevor Noah's offensive Twitter messages and Comedy Central had to do damage control on Tuesday, calling criticism of Trevor Noah "unfair" and saying that Trevor Noah "has a bright future at Comedy Central".
Why did Trevor Noah become a villain and why did people turn on him so quickly? Should Trevor Noah be held to a higher standard? Trevor Noah finally says it was "jokes that didn't land".

Ad Age says the outrage won't bring down Trevor Noah in its opinion and Variety says Comedy Central should defend Trevor Noah's right to offend.
Meanwhile the younger Trevor Noah could perhaps reverse the aging audience of Comedy Central and The Daily Show.
And how Trevor Noah got The Daily Show job - Jon Stewart played an advisory role.


South African documentary producer drags Sabido and e.tv to the broadcasting regulator.
The Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa) will hear on 9 and 10 April a fascinating case from documentary producer Kevin Harris alleging that Sabido and e.tv are not fulfilling their broadcasting licence obligations when it comes to supporting the production of independent local documentaries.


Downton Abbey bosses tried to keep the show going...
... without creator and writer Julian Fellowes. TV executives wanted the ITV drama shown on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) to continue for longer and further than the final 6th upcoming season this year.

We can interfere with South Africa and the media's freedom of speech says parliament speaker, Baleka Mbete.
The controversial speaker of parliament has the audacity to argue in court papers that parliament has the "right" to cut broadcasts of the TV feed because because disruptions will damage the "dignity" of parliament.

eNCA (DStv 403) set to fire 40 people.
Forty people at Sabido's 24-hour TV news channel are apparently going to lose their jobs.

The SABC to hear the case against its head of news Jimi Matthews.
After Jimi Matthews allegedly assaulted a female SABC employee there's now a date for the grievance procedure and possible disciplinary process.

The arrival of Netflix in Australia is bad for pay-TV subscribers there.
A price comparison site reveals the best TV shows are already exclusively being shown on other pay-TV providers, and video-on-demand (VOD) services could damage Australia's TV and film industries.

And how Netflix is growing - could be worth a massive $100 billion.

Is Sherlock on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) gay?
TV series creator Steven Moffat says that Sherlock is not gay and not interested in sex.

Nigerians now want to ditch DStv after MultiChoice's price hike from April.
DStv subscribers in Nigeria are furious over the price increase and blame the government for "failing to call MultiChoice Nigeria to order".

Richard Hammond and James May no longer work for the BBC.
After the BBC fired Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) the other two co-presenters are now out of their Top Gear job as well.

Meanwhile the Top Gear Live world tours - including the one in South Africa - will now drop all references to Top Gear and be rebranded and known as Clarkson, Hammond and May Live as it is stripped of all BBC branding by BBC Worldwide.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 29 March 2015.

Terrifying death threat to BBC's director-general after firing of Jeremy Clarkson.
Round the clock bodyguards dispatched to home of BBC's boss Tony Hall in London after Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) is sacked.
Top Gear says in a statement the dumping of Jeremy Clarkson leaves "a big, big hole to fill".
Meanwhile BBC camera crew members say they're all tired and hungry due to the BBC's inadequate food allowance "but we don't hit people" like Jeremy Clarkson.


4 of the 6 SABC board members who opposed Hlaudi Moetsoeneng at the SABC now fired.
The Sunday Times reports that Krish Naidoo, Vusi Mavuso, Rachel Kalidass, Ronnie Lubisi opposed the permanent appointment of the famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief operating officer.
Hope Zinde was fired two weeks ago and Bongani Khumalo resigned in January from the SABC board which remains in mired in chaos and instability.

Dermot O'Leary done with The X Factor UK.
The presenter is done with the British version of the talent TV show after 8 years.

Dawn Matthews is done with e.tv soap Scandal!
Actress leaving the role of Shakira after a decade to go to America with husband Charlie Sapadin.

Give us more real women on British television.
In an extensive report done by the BBC, viewers tell the British public broadcaster they want more "real" women and less "scantily clad females in reality shows".

That rumour about a new Star Trek TV show is false.
Star Trek: Federation as a new TV series is a rehashed old story of a pitch from a decade ago.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 28 March 2015.

The new The Walking Dead spin-off will be called Fear The Walking Dead.
Fear The Walking Dead will be seen in South Africa and Africa on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital  Media's (ODM) StarSat on the AMC channel who will have the spin-off zombie drama.

Top Gear producer will not press charges against Jeremy Clarkson.
Oisin Tymon will not make a case against the fired presenter of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) after the violent attack which saw the BBC sack Jeremy Clarkson.

Does the SABC fall under the Companies Act?
The SABC as a public broadcaster falls under the Broadcasting Act. Yet the minister of communications Faith Muthambi says the SABC falls under the Companies Act which is used as the excuse for her and the SABC board to purge and get rid of SABC board members at will.

The Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to intervene over DStv price hikes.
As anger continues over MultiChoice's increase from April for DStv subscriptions, the NBC says it had received several complaints DStv subscribers in Nigeria.

David Duchovny is nervous about the return of The X-Files.
Says "I'm amazed that there's still an appetite for it and I'm touched".


Fired SABC board member Rachel Kalidass says its unlawful.
After Rachel Kalidass and Ronnie Lubisi were both dumped from the SABC board on Thursday, Rachel Kalidass says "the removals are motivated by malice and it is a purge" and that the Companies Act is wrongly used to get rid of SABC board members.
The unstable SABC board has now lost 6 members since the middle of 2014.


Disney Junior (DStv 30X) is making Fancy Nancy a TV show.
The children's book seeries about a girl who always dresses up is becoming a TV series.

Masi Oka will be back for Heroes: Reborn.
The Hawaii Five-0 star will be back in the miniseries reboot of Heroes.

Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes talks The Gilded Age.
After the announcement that Downton Abbey is done after 6 seasons, the creator and writer says the new period drama for American television is "looming large in my future".

New season of Sherlock "frightening".
The 4th season of the British Sherlock on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) is "frightening, tough" and filled "with emotional upheaval".

The upcoming Killing Jesus on National Geographic Channel is shallow.
The Boston Globe says Killing Jesus which will be shown in South Africa on National Geographic Channel (DStv 181) on Sunday 5 April at 19:10 is "lackluster" and is "terribly overbaked".

Empire is the first black TV drama that isn't being "ghettoized".
The hit drama on FOX's (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) idea's about race "operate at a higher idea of difficulty".

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 27 March 2015.

Vikings renewed for a 4th season.
The MGM Television distributed historical drama shown on History (DStv 186) in America and the UK but on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) in South Africa and Africa gets another season with an unspecified number of episodes.

SABC blackout of South Africa's national soccer team lamented.
Soccer expert and former SABC soccer commentator Mark Gleeson remembers a time when the South African public broadcaster which didn't show Wednesday's Bafana Bafana match in Swaziland used to show all the national soccer team matches.

SABC1's Selimathunzi is done with Zizo Beda.
Zizo Beda done after 7 years with Siphesihle Vazi taking over.

Two Al Jazeera (DStv 406) journalists detained in Nigeria.
The properly accredited Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustafa detained by Nigeria's military since Tuesday and their camera equipment confiscated ahead of Nigeria's general elections on Saturday.

The fired Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) was trouble from the start.
Former BBC Top Gear editor Tom Ross reveals he got calls as far back as 1987 about things Jeremy Clarkson had said, and he explain how Top Gear can survive without Jeremy Clarkson.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 26 March 2015.

Jeremy Clarkson now faces police arrest for his physical violence.
Co-horts James May tells Sky News the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) is a "tragedy" and that "the three of us are a package" while Richard Hammond says "we're all three of us idiots in our own different ways".


The BBC has "The Jeremy Clarkson Story" - a reflexive post-firing explainer.
Meanwhile abused producer Oisin Tymon has been targeted by online vicious trolls after the firing news.
The BBC is looking for a new Top Gear presenter without the racial slurs and offensive behaviour of Jeremy Clarkson.
Jeremy Clarkson also lawyered up just before his firing with the American "litigation boutique" of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
Twitter went "into meltdown" after Jeremy Clarkson got fired, and Jeremy Clarkson fans threaten to boycott Top Gear and the BBC after his sacking. He also changed his Twitter profile while his girlfriend Philippa Sage "flew in to comfort him" in his West London home.
Variety asks what's next for the damaged Top Gear? and a former BBC boss says "Jeremy Clarkson was a disaster waiting to happen".
GQ Britain says the BBC was "foolish" to fire Jeremy Clarkson over a violent drunk fight - the BBC is supposed to "take care" of a drunk TV presenter during a work trip.


BBC Worldwide and Brand Events are quiet about what is happening to the Top Gear Live events scheduled - including the one in South Africa in June - as anxious people who've bought tickets are wondering what's going on with Top Gear Live's future "in doubt".
Analysis: Jeremy Clarkson's horrible violence left the BBC no choice but to fire the Top Gear presenter.


Oprah's OWN orders an Iyanla Vanzant spin-off.
With Iyanla: Fix My Life broadcast on TLC Entertainment (DStv 172) and now SABC2, OWN is ordering an as-yet-untitled spin-off with Jay Williams. Also, Oprah unveils a brand-new theme song and anthem for her TV network.

BET's (DStv 129) Wendy Williams gets a show on ID: Investigation Discovery (DStv 171).
Death by Gossip with Wendy Williams will focus on crimes that were fueled by rumors and lies.Wendy Williams will be the presenter and executive producer.

An Alien Nation remake is in the works.

Leighton Meester and the dear Dorota are still friends.
The Gossip Girl star and her maid are still in touch.

Why all of the sudden 1990's TV show remakes?
The X-Files creator Chris Carter says its "because its worked before and there's a possibility it can work again".

The Goldbergs sitcom on M-Net wanted to do a "Thriller" Halloween episode.
But its too expensive: The Michael Jackson Estate has to give permission for the song - which has a high price tag, and then the show has to pay $100 000 for the choreography.

Muggers of Vuyo Mvuko and the SABC crew are due back in court.
The criminals who are illegal immigrants in South Africa will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court again today.

BREAKING. The BBC fires Jeremy Clarkson; inquiry finds Top Gear presenter guilty of physical and verbal attack 'of an extreme nature'.

The BBC has fired Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) after an inquiry found him guilty of a physical and verbal attack "of an extreme nature" of producer Oisin Tymon.

Tony Hall, the BBC director-general, just released the following statement:

"It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.

I am grateful to Ken MacQuarrie for the thorough way he has conducted an investigation of the incident on 4th March. Given the obvious and very genuine public interest in this I am publishing the findings of his report. I take no pleasure in doing so. I am only making them public so people can better understand the background. I know how popular the programme is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion. The main facts are not disputed by those involved.

I want to make three points.

First – The BBC is a broad church. Our strength in many ways lies in that diversity. We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect. I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff – who is a completely innocent party – took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.

Second – This has obviously been difficult for everyone involved but in particular for Oisin. I want to make clear that no blame attaches to him for this incident. He has behaved with huge integrity throughout. As a senior producer at the BBC he will continue to have an important role within the organisation in the future.

Third – Obviously none of us wanted to find ourselves in this position. This decision should in no way detract from the extraordinary contribution that Jeremy Clarkson has made to the BBC. I have always personally been a great fan of his work and Top Gear. Jeremy is a huge talent. He may be leaving the BBC but I am sure he will continue to entertain, challenge and amuse audiences for many years to come.

The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series."

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 25 March 2015.

South Africa's set-top box tender for DTT delayed ... AGAIN.
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) further stalled with new drama and a legal battle looming over the tender process for the multi-billion rand set-top box (STB) manufacturing tender.
Meanwhile the switch from analogue to digital TV will cost South African viewers, consumers and the TV industry billions of rand which is not budgeted for.


BBC decision on Jeremy Clarkson 24 hours away.
The star of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) will know his fate in a day, says a BBC executive, after an inquiry about on-set "fracas". Jeremy Clarkson will be fired Wednesday (today) by the BBC, reports The Telegraph.


National Geographic Channel (DStv 181) bans CNN reporter from Killing Jesus media premiere.
Sarcastic National Geographic Channel spokesperson Chris Alberts "thanks" journalist Tom Kludt for the "extra attention". National Geographic Channel banned the journalist due to "negative coverage" of Bill O'Reilly - who is on FOX News Channel, which is part of the group Nat Geo belongs to.
Nat Geo banned Tom Kludt from the entire Killing Jesus event and denied his media accreditation "out of respect for Bill O'Reilly and because there allegedly isn't space alongside the red carpet.
And ... How National Geographic blatantly intimidated Society Matters until it just closed down last year.

The Empire strikes back.
FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) sues to keep the name Empire for its TV show - after a real-life record label with the word Empire says the show is causing "trademark dilution by tarnishment" because it is about "a label run by a homophobic drug dealer prone to murdering his friends." ... Yet the record label wants its own stars to appear in Empire.


Mad Men's Jon Hamm went to rehab for alcohol addiction.
Jon Hamm completed a 30-day stay to dry out and "completed treatment for his struggle with alcohol addiction".


The real reason why FOX is reviving The X-Files.
With The X-Files coming back after 13 years to TV its actually more about making the past 9 seasons which also belong to FOX more relevant and appetising to streaming services like Netflix - FOX will monetise The X-Files when new episodes stir interest in people wanting to watch the old episodes.
Also, the revived The X-Files will actually benefit from an older Mulder and Scully. And 7 things that need to happen in the new The X-Files.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 24 March 2015

You don't want DStv and StarSat to sell their TV channels individually.
If MultiChoice and On Digital Media and StarTimes Media SA s"unbundle" their pay-TV channels, guess what ... you are going to be paying a lot more for DStv and StarSat.
Meanwhile Canada will offer pay-TV subscribers a la carte pay-TV channels from next year - but it will mean higher "per-subscriber carriage fees".


MultiChoice to add a new TV channel for Southern Africa soon.
The new TV channel from M-Net on DStv will be for movie producers to broadcast their local content across the Southern Africa region. The new DStv channel will be in standard definition (SD) and M-Net is looking for movies from localfilmmakers.

"The SABC is now a propaganda machine."
The COPE political party says the SABC is no longer an authentic public broadcaster but increasingly a propaganda machine for the ruling party.


Meanwhile the SABC is getting ready to fire 2 more SABC board members.
SABC board members Rachel Kalidass and Ronnie Lubisi received letters in March accusing them of fraudulent conduct and they've been threatened with suspension. The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) says it is extremely concerned with what is going on at the SABC and the minister of communications, Faith Muthambi's, interference.
Meanwhile former SABC board member Lumko Mtimde who resigned in 2013 could be making a comeback as SABC board member - he is one of 97 candidates nominated for the new position after Ellen Zandile Tshabalala's disgraceful exit.


Anger keeps building over massive 20% and DStv price increase in Zambia.
Meanwhile a consumer watchdog body in Zambia says DStv's massive price hike from 1 April is too steep and untimely.

Meanwhile Sky is hiking its subscription fees from June.
Sky usually increases its subscriptions in September every year but is now starting to do it twice a year.


Jeremy Clarkson says he's been fired by the BBC.
The star of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) tells an audience at a charity auction he was sacked by the BBC. In an obscenity-laced tirade Jeremy Clarkson said the BBC "f*cked up" Top Gear.
Meanwhile BBC Worldwide has been forced to cancel the first of the Top Gear Live shows, with the Norway one which is getting postponed after Jeremy Clarkson's "fracas".
Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter asks whether the BBC will really fire Jeremy Clarkson.


Sky News (DStv 402) reporter "devastated".
Martin Brunt tells inquest he is "devastated" after death of woman he interviewed who was an online troll.

More people fired at E! Entertainment (DStv 124).
Betsy Rott, Tim Rosta and Leigh Anne Gardner are out together with "virtually everyone in the TV specials department".

Downton Abbey's upcoming 6th season will be its last.
TVLine reports that the new 6th season of the ITV drama shown on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) will end after the 6th series.

Masechaba Lekalake done with Ekse on e.tv.
Her final episode of the local talk show on e.tv which saw production upheaval behind the scenes, will be on Thursday, 26 March.

Zuku wants DStv to pay penalties in content sharing fight.
Zuku TV from Wananchi has asked Kenya's Competition Authority to force MultiChoice Kenya to resell some of the rights to its exclusive content and to pay penalties

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 18 March 2015

"Top Gear doesn't need Jeremy Clarkson."
Former Stig driver Ben Carson says the presenter on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) didn't back him in a clash with the BBC, didn't support him and he hasn't spoken with him since.
Meanwhile Jeremy Clarkson will be back on the BBC in May - because he's presenting another panel discussion show.


Debate of no confidence in president Jacob Zuma not shown on DStv's Parliamentary TV (DStv 408).
With Parliamentary TV channel not showing the debate, MultiChoice says it doesn't have control over the TV channel broadcasting on its DStv platform.

NFVF buckling under resignations, violations of good governance.
Film funding crisis at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) as questions are being asked about dodgy film deals, five star overseas trips for officials and the alleged violation of corporate governance.

Oprah auctioning off 500 items from her Chicago high rise apartment.
Money will be used to fund her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation - and there's some nice stuff.

South African DStv subscribers are paying less than Zambia.
MultiChoice Zambia holds a press conference following Zambia's uproar and calls for a boycott over the 20% hike in DStv subscriptions from 1 April and MultiChoice Zambia's general manager Simon Bota says South African DStv subscribers pay less than people in other countries in the region.

Simon Bota accuses the 3 000 DStv subscribers in Zambia who have signed the petition of misleading other DStv subscribers which is having an impact on DStv's subscriber base. Meanwhile Zambia's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says MultiChoice Zambia needs more pay-TV competition.


The SABC is NOT a public broadcaster.
So says South Africa's confused minister of communications, Faith Muthambi, who says the SABC is a state-owned enterprise, with her, Faith Muthambi, as its sole and only government shareholder representative.
Meanwhile the disarray at the SABC is of big concern to the SACP political party. Faith Muthambi is also defending SABC secrecy and says there is nothing wrong with keeping policies secret.


E! Entertainment (DStv 124) takes Fashion Police off TV until September.
E! previously said the show would be back on 30 March but is now changing course as an E! executive talks about the ongoing scandal surrounding the show. E! Entertainment (DStv 124) has no plans of letting of Fashion Police despite all of the toxicity around the flopped reboot, and executives are looking for new panelists.

The Only Way is Essex will continue until at least 2016.
The British ITV reality show seen on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) has been renewed.

A+E Studios looking to do vampire drama Let the Right One In.
Wants the Teen Wolf writers to create a TV show based on the Swedish book in which a girl vampire meets a boy.

iNsane.
Empire's Terrence Howard on FOX's (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) hit drama wants TV to use the "N" word.

The illegal immigrants who robbed SABC's Vuyo Mvoko won't apply for bail.
The illegal aliens from Zimbabwe who are in South Africa without proper documentation, Alfred  Thongamedi and Clement Mncube have appeared in court and can't apply for bail.
They appeared with Pascal Junior from Mozambique and Modin Modin from Bangladesh after attacking and mugging a SABC crew. All four needed interpreters since none can speak English.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 17 March 2015.

Two cruel judges from X Factor New Zealand immediately fired.
Disgusting Natalia Kills and Willy Moon sacked by TV3 for their vicious filth and "destructive tirades".
Pathetic Natalia Kills told contestant she is "embarrassed to be sitting here in your presence having to dignify you with my opinion". Now she's the trash that was taken away.


Zambia's government summons MultiChoice over dramatic 20% DStv price hike from April.
Zambia says it doesn't want to introduce price controls but businesses need to be fair.

Jeremy Clarkson to give his first full account since his attack on Top Gear producer.
BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) star to appear before BBC director as investigation starts.


Kathy Griffin says she left Fashion Police because it "didn't work out".
Says she didn't know viewers were so invested with the E! Entertainment (DStv 124) show - and she doesn't really feel it was my best work". She further slams E! Entertainment and the show in another interview and says Fashion Police "was a dog pile".
Meanwhile Giuliana Rancic's insecure diva demands ruined Fashion Police as she had her entourage around her all the time and apparently constantly seeks external validation.
E! executives plan to quietly cancel Fashion Police soon since Melissa Rivers "is a producer; not a leader, she can't get control of the situation".


The new Twin Peaks is running into trouble.
There is suddenly "contract complications" which means a new Twin Peaks isn't a sure thing.


Empire is now a big draw for international broadcasters.
The "Black Dynasty" on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) has broadcasters around the world vying for it. Meanwhile Empire is part of the new "blockbusterisation of TV" - the show has taken over from The Walking Dead as the most Tweeted TV show.
And, will the TV industry learn these 5 things from Empire's success?


Spock is dead ...
but a reflection in The Guardian of how Star Trek has and continues to influence popular culture.

Australian TV viewers are over American TV shows.
Some USA shows perform solidly but Aussie viewers now prefer to watch local Australian dramas.

There's now a massive ... 1 294 satellite TV channels in the Arab world.
Broadcasting in multiple languages and genres.


Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes slams the BBC.
Apparently clueless and oblivious that Downton Abbey is shown by BBC Worldwide on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) around the world - although it is shown on ITV in the United Kingdom - the show's creator says "we wouldn’t have been able to make the show as we wanted to make it" if it was on the BBC.

Apple TV plans to launch an online TV service.
The Wall Street Journal reports that by September, Apple wants to have 25 TV channels as part of a basic TV service on Apple TV, iPads and iPhones.

BBC Entertainment on DStv filling the void of new Top Gear episodes with a Top Gear Patagonia special for the next two Sundays at 22:00.

With the final 3 episodes of the current 22nd season of Top Gear pulled, BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) will show a two-part Top Gear special over the next two Sundays.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson was suspended by the BBC on Tuesday with the British public broadcaster saying there won't be a new episode shown on Sunday.

It left BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial international arm, scrambling to find replacement content for the show which has its episodes shown very close to the broadcasting date in several countries.

It includes South Africa which started showing episodes of Top Gear from this year for the first time on the same night since the start of the latest 22nd season.

On Sunday night at 22:00 BBC Entertainment will now show Top Gear Patagonia Special Part 1, followed next Sunday by Top Gear Patagonia Special Part 2.

Danny Cohen, the BBC's director of television earlier warned Jeremy Clarkson that "no-one person is bigger than the BBC", and on Tuesday ordered his immediate suspension.

Witnesses told Sky News (DStv 402) that they saw Jeremy Clarkson threaten to have a Top Gear producer fired during an expletive-laden rant, an incident the BBC was only willing to describe in a terse statement as "a fracas".

Jeremy Clarkson was unhappy and unleashed his anger on producer Oisin Tymon (36) because there wasn't steak ready for him at a Newcastle hotel at the end of a late day of filming and just a cold meat and cheese platter since the hotel's chef had already gone home.