ITV Choice Upfront 2018: Neale Dennett has replaced Katherine Wen as ITV Choice channel director; content showcase unveils late-2018 and upcoming 2019 programming.

ITV's ITV Choice (DStv 123) held its 2018 upfront presentation on Wednesday afternoon in Johannesburg, with Neale Dennett who has replaced Katherine Wen as channel director, unveiling the remainder of its 2018 programming highlights and 2019's upcoming shows.

The 2018 ITV Choice upfront held at The Park at the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre was for Johannesburg media and ad buyers only, but this year ITV Choice beforehand did alert and notify press nationally that it would be taking place.

ITV Choice also shared the programming booklet handed out physically at the showcase event with national media not present.

Donel Mangena (17) the British-Zimbabwean who was a contestant in The Voice UK, appeared and performed at the ITV Choice upfront.

Neale Dennett has now replaced Katherine Wen as ITV Choice channel director.

Neale Dennett who has had several roles at ITV, remains director for pay content and packages at ITV in the United Kingdom, but has added the ITV Choice channel director position.

"It is my huge privilege to have joined ITV Choice as channel director in timeto introduce the programming highlights for the remainder of the year and going into 2019," says Neale Dennett in the programming booklet.

"Over the past 12 months ITV Choice has continued to grow its presence in Africa, reaching record new audiences and increasingly delivering on our promise to bring TV viewers the very best of Big British Entertainment."

"Looking forward, we are very pleased to be building on this success with a wide range of big new and returning drama, comedy and entertainment shows."

"We will be bringing back our classic detectives Vera and Endeavour with more crimes to solve, and enabling audiences to dip back into history again with the latest seasons of Victoria and Poldark. For something a bit more light-hearted though, we're very pleased to be premiering new series Girlfriends, following the complex relationships of life-long friends Linda, Sue and Gail, and also the moving-yet-funny Cleaning Up, starring Sheridan Smith."

ITV Choice will have another season of Doc Martin with Martin Clunes, and in 2019 programming which the actor takes viewers on his own personal tour of the United States. The Voice UK and The Voice Kids will be back for new seasons in 2019.

"Following huge interest in ITV Choice live coverage of the wedding of Harry and Meghan earlier this year, we'll be taking a closer look into the lives of Prince Charles and Camilla, with a selection of royal programming, as Charles turns 70 and prepares to take over the throne," says Neale Dennett.

DRAMA
Girlfriends   September 2018
For life-long friends Linda, Sue and Gail, the years have flown by, yet their lives seem more complicated than ever. For these girlfriends, it's clear their lives have changed over the years, but true friendship remains the same, no matter how much time has passed.

Cleaning Up   First quarter 2019
Sheridan Smith can be seen in the role of an ordinary working class mum caught between two contrasting worlds - the everyday grind of suburban life and the high-risk game of insider trading.

Cheat   First quarter 2019
A psychological thriller. With two fiercely intelligent minds unwilling to back down, Cheat will keep audiences guessing from the start, exploring how far people are prepared to stand up for what they believe in, and at what cost.

Hatton Garden   To be announced, sometime 2019
This drama tells the inside story of a heist, in the vault of the Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Company in London's jewellery quarter. This ended up being the biggest burglary in the history of Britain, totalling around $200 million.

Dark Heart   November 2018
Across a stifling week during a London heat wave, William Wagstaffe, a workaholic whose personal life is as complex as his day job, investigates a string of horrifying murders in this crime thriller.

RETURNING DRAMA SERIES

Doc Martin IX   Third quarter 2019
Martin Clunes will return for this final season as the grumpy medic investigating cases.

Poldark V   Third quarter 2019
The fifth and final season of this British historical period drama will be back in the third quarter of 2019 and is set in the late 18th century and based on the novels of the same title by Winston Graham with Aidan Turner in the lead role.

Grantchester IV   First quarter 2019
The Anglican priest and former Scots Guards officer Sindey Chambers (James Norton) and the overworked detective Geordie Keating (Robson Green) forge an unlikely partnership in solving crimes.

Bancroft II   First quarter 2019
The second season of this dark thriller revolving around detective superintendent Elizabeth Bancroft, a female detective with an explosive secret.

Victoria III   First quarter 2019
The third season of this drama series recounting the history and next chapter of Queen Victoria's life.

Line of Duty V   To be announced, sometime in 2019
Set in the fictional police and anti-corruption unit, AC-12, this series is a cat-and-mouse thriller that takes a probing look into modern policing and corruption.

Vera IX   First quarter 2019
A new season of the crime series with Brenda Blethyn as the unorthodox but brilliant detective Vera Stanhope, investigating more chilling crimes.

Endeavour VI   First quarter 2019
In this British detective drama series Shaun Evans portrays the young Endeavour Morse, beginning his career as a detective constable, and later as detective sargeant, with the Oxford City Police.

Murdoch Mysteries XII   Second quarter 2019
Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century, this drama series explores the intriguing world of William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), a methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative techniques to solve some of the city's most gruesome murders.

Shetland IV   To be announced, sometime in 2019
Crime writer Ann Cleeves' best-selling detective series returns for a 4th season. Set in the remote Scottish Shetland Islands, the series stars Douglas Henshall as Dr Jimmy Perez,facing a gripping new mystery.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Voice UK 2019   First quarter 2019
Jennifer Hudson, Tom Jones, will.i.am and Olly Murs will be back for another season of this singing talent reality format show.

The Voice Kids   Second quarter to fourth quarter 2019

Dancing on Ice 2019   To be announced, sometime 2019
Twelve British celebrities strap on their ice-skates and with professional partners, the novice skaters must perform challenging dance routines to win the approval of a panel of judges and the British public's vote.

Wedding Day Winners   December 2018
Happy couples. Amazing challenges. One epic wedding day. Two engaged couples, their friends and families go head-to-head in order to win prizes and the most extraordinary wedding ceremony ever.

Take Me Out XI   December 2019
Paddy McGuinness is back for the 11th season of this show in which 30 single women compete for a dream date. The single man is revealed through the "Love Lift" and has to do his best to impress the women in a series of rounds in which the man's friends or family members give revealing comments.

ROYAL SEASON

Prince Charles: The man who will be king   November 2018
With 5 years of unprecedented access to Prince Charles, this documentary follows his charity causes and shows conversations about his hopes and aspirations.

The Real Camilla   November 2018
A documentary following a year in the life of Camilla. Family, friends and the people who know her best talk about her.

Inside Balmoral   November 2018
Exploring the history of Balmoral, a 50 000 acre estate twice the size of the city of Manchester, which stretches across the Scottish Highlands. Cameras explore the impact that events behind its walls have had on the current owner, Queen Elizabeth II.

Royal Recipes II   November 2018
Mixing social history and cookery, Michael Buerk meets with chefs and food historians to celebrate some of the food served to British monarchs, from George IV to the present day.

GAME SHOWS

Britain's Brightest Family II   First quarter 2019
Anne Hegerty is the host of a brand-new quiz show in which 16 families take part in a knock-out tournament as they attempt to win the holiday of a lifetime.

Tipping Point IX   First quarter 2019
Four players take on the show's distinctive machine in a battle of skill and luck. Contestants answer a series of questions, and every time they get a correct answer, they take control of the machine.

Tipping Point Lucky Stars V   First quarter 2019

The Chase XIII   Second quarter 2019
The 13th season, presented by Bradley Walsh. Four contestants take on one of Britain's finest quiz brains in order to win cash.

The Chase Celebrity version VIII   To be announced, sometime in 2019

Catchphrase VI   Second quarter 2019
Stephen Mulhern is the presenter of the 6th season of this game show. Players compete to guess the familiar phrases hidden in animated clues. One lucky contestant will go through to the Super Catchphrase for a chance to win fifty thousand pounds.

FACTUAL

Second Chance Summer   To be announced, sometime in 2019
Set in Tuscany, 10 strangers get to fulfill their dream of starting a new life abroad in an experiment that could change their lives.

Martin Clunes: Islands of America   No date
Martin Clunes visits the diverse islands of the United States, starting at Alaska and ending in Hawaii.

Judge Rinder's Crime Stories III   To be announced, sometime in 2019
Judge Rinder is stepping out from behind the bench to take on real-life cases.

This time next Year III   
To be announced, sometime in 2019
Davina McCall is the presenter of this life-transforming programme. People from across Britain share with viewers what they pledge to change in their lives in a year's time.

Long Lost Family: What Happened Next   
September 2018
The show has reunited over 100 people with their long-lost relatives. In this show the series revisits the searches to find out what happened after the families were reunited.

CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

Cannonball Xmas Special   December 2018
Freddie Flintoff plays Father Christmas and his sack is soaking, thanks to four of the most fearsome challenges ever seen on water

Keith and Paddy Picture Show Xmas Special   December 2018
The comedy duo return for a Christmas Special in which they recreate the classic film Gremlins from 1984 with the help of their troupe of celebrity guests.

What Would Your Kid Do? Xmas Special   December 2018
With comedian Jason Manford as presenter, the show challenges parents to guess how their children will behave in a variety of classroom challenges and real-world activities.

The Voice UK undergoing a format change for its 8th season set for 2019, allowing bigger groups to audition.

The 8th season of The Voice UK that will be broadcast in 2019 is undergoing a format change with the 7th season that is currently being shown on ITV Choice (DStv 123).

The 8th season in 2019 will allow for bigger groups beyond solo artists to take part during auditions, for instance duos and trios.

"We know there are many talented trios out there across the United Kingdom and we want to offer them the chance to show off their vocal harmonies on The Voice UK stage," says Katie Rawcliffe, ITV Studios' creative director.

The 8th season of The Voice UK has now entered its "Knockout" round, shown on Sundays at 18:00.

"It's going to be tense, it's going to be nerve-wracking, but most of all it's going to be hugely entertaining," says Katherine Wen, ITV Choice channel director.

ITV Choice adds The Voice UK and spin-off, The Voice UK Kids for broadcast in January and mid 2018.

From the upcoming 7th season The Voice UK will be shown on ITV Choice (DStv 123) from early 2018 after the rights have switched from the BBC to ITV in the United Kingdom.

ITV Choice will also be showing the spin-off series The Voice UK Kids for children between 7 and 14, and will start with the upcoming second season that will start somewhere in mid-2018.

The American version of The Voice used to be on SABC3 until M-Net (DStv 101) decided to do a local version, The Voice SA, and took over the American rights and started showing The Voice to make viewers familiar.

So far The Voice SA has been very successful for M-Net, with The Voice Nigeria that is being filmed in South Africa and broadcast on M-Net's Africa Magic on DStv throughout  Africa as well.

ITV Choice will show British episodes of The Voice UK as an Express from the UK title and will broadcast episodes on Sunday evenings within 24 hours after its being shown in the United Kingdom.

"We are very excited to be bringing The Voice UK 2018 to South Africa and even more delighted that the ITV Choice audience will be able to watch the show so close to its UK premiere," says Katherine, Wen, ITV Choice channel director in a statement.

"It will be shown exclusively on ITV Choice in Africa and is the perfect family entertainment."

Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's head of content says "this is something really special for both DStv and fans of The Voice UK and we are thrilled that ITV Choice has pulled off such an exciting acquisition."

ITV Choice had another upfront. Two weeks ago. But neither I nor the others telling you about Television knew or can actually tell you anything about it.

ITV plc's ITV Choice (DStv 123) recently had a content upfront in South Africa again to showcase its upcoming programming and where ITV executives spoke but, apologies  - the lack of coverage and reporting about it is because TVwithThinus wasn't invited to it, nor told it would be happening.

Neither were other media - so sorry about that, and for not being able to do what we're supposed to, should do, love to do, and could do.

Last week Thursday just after the conclusion of M-Net's (DStv 101) media launch for The Wedding Bashers, a journalist came up to me and asked why TVwithThinus isn't doing any reporting on the ITV Choice upfront showcase.

I was flabbergasted.

Gobsmacked, I said I wasn't aware that something like that took place and that I don't believe that something like that happened.

I explained that I very specifically asked ITV Choice last year when the channel did a similar upfront in Johannesburg and also failed to alert a lot of journalists about it, if it could communicate beforehand if something like that were to take place again and if the press could please just be kept in the loop (and was assured it would be done).

The journalist said she also didn't get any communication from ITV Choice, but thought that I would have, and only knew about it from co-incidentally seeing a tweet on social media on the day - apparently 31 August. The journalist said she won't now be covering ITV Choice.

I really couldn't believe that ITV Choice'c communication to the press would be this non-existent and bad (again) about something like a programming and content upfront after it was something I specifically raised with ITV Choice a year ago and specifically asked to just be kept informed about.

After the journalist asked me, I in turn decided to quickly ask around to get a sense from other journalists and media working in print, online and radio from across South Africa - Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, even places like East London - if they're knew of any ITV Choice showcase event.

One by one, each and every single one of them at the event we were attending, said they didn't know about ITV Choice's upfront, and don't care about ITV Choice, with differing levels of total indifference towards the TV channel brand.

A Durban journalist with a radio show and covering television told me he's never gotten any communication from ITV Choice "and I don't care. I don't bother covering ITV Choice. ITV Choice has never invited me to anything".

Another print journalist asked: "What is ITV?" while another journalist said to me: "I never get anything from ITV Choice".

A TV critic told me: "I know and saw nothing. I didn't pick up on any ITV Choice stories about anything the channel had. It probably just shows how non-existent everything is they might be doing. That two weeks went by should tell you."

"Haven't heard anything. Got nothing," said another TV critic.

Of course it's as scientifically unsound a poll as anything to gauge instant sentiment from a group of TV critics, journalists and editors standing around and sipping champagne but it was quite revealing.

On a personal level for me however it's disturbing and disconcerting that ITV Choice would do something like showcasing content at an upfront but not bother to communicate to media, TV critics and journalists covering TV either beforehand and/or afterwards that it did so.

While ITV Choice is definitely the biggest loser, to a degree the media as messengers are losing out too when they're not able to bring the news.

Personally I like ITV Choice and I've kept close track about its programming since the channel launched in South Africa in May 2015 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

Two weeks ago I remarked how I thought ITV Choice actually had the best Princess Diana 20th anniversary of her death documentary from all of the available programming across the various DStv channels.

As background to this sorry saga: Exactly a year ago ITV Choice also held a showcase but similarly didn't bother to communicate to media about it, although some Johannesburg press and one journalist from Port Elizabeth were invited and attended.

MultiChoice that has publicists specifically working in conjunction with channels and who themselves attended, similarly couldn't be bothered beforehand to reach out to media to make sure that they are at or aware of the ITV Choice upfront, or afterwards to get the information that was shared, out to journalists.

At the time, and after thinking a lot about it and out of respect for ITV Choice, I decided not to report on ITV Choice's lack of communication with the press in regard to the ITV Choice upfront.

What I did do a year ago was to take it up with the channel directly, and to make the effort to share the concerns I had with ITV Choice.

After a long conversation, I gave ITV Choice the benefit of the doubt that it was a mistake in the sense that ITV didn't realise or understand why it's important to keep media in the loop.

I explained why it's important to have stakeholder media like the Press Covering Television at your programming upfront, and why it is important to, at the very least, just communicate if you work in media, communications and television that you're going to have an upfront.

Last year I specifically asked ITV Choice, and was assured by ITV Choice, that in future it would communicate beforehand if it did a similar programming upfront to give media a heads-up about what it is busy with and planning, so journalists are not blindsided and caught unaware.

I really thought I was heard. I felt that ITV Choice understood where I and other media covering television, are coming from, and why we are desperate for the baby monitor to be switched on and for the communication to be flowing - even when you have to listen in from another room.

Cue a year later and ITV Choice failed to keep its promise - moving something that I was willing to forgive (although it really irked me at the time) as a genuine "didn't know better" mistake, squarely to the "Oops, I did it again" and don't seem to care box.

If you're wondering as a potential advertiser, as a dedicated or casual viewer of ITV Choice, as somebody generally interested in media, or as a TV executive or producer why there isn't any coverage of ITV Choice's upfront, it's because TVwithThinus genuinely can't and neither can others.

I can't tell you what Katherine Wen, ITV channel director said - or any of the other ITV Choice executives - after all the effort they made to fly to South Africa.

I couldn't hear what she had to say and afterwards there were no speech transcripts; no interview offered. In fact, neither I nor others even knew she was here.

I can't tell you what Paul Ridsdale, ITV's head of marketing said about ITV Choice's successes and possibilities (presumably there are) and his message and insights to South Africa's advertisers and ad buyers. It's a shame and shameful, really.

I can't tell you what ITV Choice executives said about ITV Choice's (sure to be lovely) British programming, or its content and content strategy(ies).

ITV Choice couldn't be bothered to give that information about what ITV Choice thinks about its own programming, either pre- or post its upfront.

There's no ITV Choice 2017 upfront pictures to show, no sense of what upcoming programming highlights or content developments ITV Choice is really excited or proud about - in fact, there's nothing to show.

In South Africa's TV industry where several TV channel operators from Zee TV to e.tv have joined the likes of Discovery Networks International, FOX Networks Group Africa, BBC Worldwide Africa and a growing number of others in doing upfronts to court advertisers and the press and to proudly beam about its programming, it's bizarre that ITV Choice communicates so badly about its own show-and-tell.

While its supposedly a premium pay-TV channel, ITV Choice, in its lack of proper upfront communication is more akin to what one expects from South Africa's struggling public broadcaster, the SABC.

Will ITV Choice get better at keeping the media in the loop when it has what is arguably its biggest event on its own TV calendar? Who knows?

I'm no longer holding thumbs.

And where I once cared a lot, then cared, I'm starting to care less and less. There's too many TV channels and too little time.

As the number of TV channels and programming choices that are available to South African viewers and to pay-TV subscribers keep growing, you'd think that it would be very, very important for ITV Choice to make sure, and to maximise every opportunity to get the word out there - especially with something like an upfront.

You'd think that in the cacophony of content, ITV Choice would do everything it can to communicate as best it could - that ITV Choice would crow about its own content as loudly as it could to get traction within all the noise that surrounds not just ordinary viewers, but the media trying to cover it.

Sadly, it feels as if ITV Choice - as far as South Africa and Africa are concerned - have yet to come to the realisation that in the profusion of choices, ITV Choice's biggest letdown in the content communication race, is itself.