VIA adds bilingual Goeiemôre, Good Morning as 4-day live breakfast show from 14 April

by Thinus Ferreira

Media24's Afrikaans lifestyle TV channel VIA (DStv 147) is adding a new morning show in English and Afrikaans, Goeiemôre, Good Morning from Monday 14 April.

Goeiemôre, Good Morning, produced by CoolerBox Brothers with Barry Pretorius as executive producer and director George van Rooyen, will run with four episodes per week from Mondays to Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30, and will repeat 10:00 to 11:30, and again in the afternoons at 14:00. 

As a bilingual breakfast show, Goeiemôre, Good Morning is joining a very crowded TV market.

The timeslot is already over-subscribed with other shows like perennial timeslot ratings leader Morning Live (SABC2), Expresso (SABC3), The Morning Show (e.tv), Die Groot Ontbyt (kykNET), The South African Morning (eNCA) and AM Report (Newzroom Africa).

Goeiemôre, Good Morning will cover entertainment, lifestyle, world events, sports highlights and entrepreneurship with presenters Rozanne McKenzie, Elsa Esterhuizen and kykNET's former Kwêla presenter Pieter Koen who left for the United States with his family but has returned after just a few months. Thys van Zyl will give financial tips.

George van Rooyen says "I have worked with Rozanne and Pieter before and know them as extremely hard workers with great personalities, and Elsa will round off our trio perfectly. This dynamic team is ready to make a lasting impression."

Elsa Esterhuizen says "Goeiemôre, Good Morning is an interesting and fresh take on a South African breakfast show – especially because both Afrikaans and English viewers will be able to join us in the mornings".

"I remember immediately wanting to be a part of it when the team approached me and told me that their idea was similar to the concept of my favourite television series, The Morning Show." 

She references the Apple TV+ drama series with Jennifer Aniston, not e.tv's breakfast show.

"It's also a first for VIA and I'm therefore looking forward to building on this exciting and fresh concept and being part of its development in collaboration with a phenomenal, dynamic team."

Barry Pretorius says the show's "approach, concept and content are from the outset totally focused on our people, who they really are, what they love and the absolute inclusivity of Afrikaans".

"As our language celebrates its centenary this year, this breakfast programme is a clear beacon that Afrikaans will continue to exist inclusively."

Pieter Koen who is back in South Africa four months after emigrating to the United States, says the presenters' team "bring our unique style and personality to the programme and we hope that viewers will find it appealing".

kykNET adjusts Sunday evening schedule, eNuus moved earlier.

by Thinus Ferreira

kykNET's (DStv 144) primetime line-up changes from this evening, for Sundays, with the channel's daily Afrikaans TV news edition of eNuus switching from 19:00 to 18:30 on Sunday nights.

While eNuus will remain at 19:00 from Mondays to Saturdays, the Sunday night edition is changing to 18:30. The entertainment and lifestyle magazine show Bravo! shifts to 18:00 on Sundays, with the magazine show Kwêla which will now start at 19:00. 

Since eNuus is simulcast on the kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) channel, the eNuus timeslot change also means slight changes for this sister channel. 

Koortjies met Jonathan Rubain on kykNET & Kie is moving from 18:00 to 17:30 and starts its fourth season today, followed by eNuus at 18:30 only on Sundays. The magazine programme Klop! will now be shown at 19:00.

kykNET's current-affairs programme Prontuit on Tuesdays at 21:00 goes on a break from 4 July and being replaced by a new late-night talk show Laataand by Rian, with Rian van Heerden doing interviews with various people. Prontuit will return on 3 October.

"Schedules should serve viewers by adapting to their needs," says Waldimar Pelser, M-Net director for premium channels.

"Sunday evening is the one evening of the week when a news bulletin in an earlier time slot makes sense for many of our viewers. After the news at 19:00, Kwêla follows in the strongest time slot this popular programme has ever had."

"At the same time, DStv Premium subscribers now have a choice between Kwêla on kykNET and the current affairs programme Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) at 19:00."

South Africa's TV and film industry's 'darkest secret': Why the beloved actress icon Shaleen Surtie-Richards died poor - when she didn't have to.

by Thinus Ferreira

Despite the accolades over decades and portraying iconic, only-a-first-name-needed characters like Fiela and Nenna, Shaleen Surtie-Richards (66) died poor on Monday because she didn't have the money to go to hospital.

That makes the legendary Shaleen Surtie-Richards - hugely praised in death after her passing - yet another big South African star who didn't get the money while she lived that she deserved for her success due to long-stalled legislation that would ensure that South African artists get paid the residuals owed to them from the constant rebroadcasts of their work.

The ongoing failure of the South African government to enact legislation to ensure the payment of residuals to artists for the broadcast of repeats of their work is the "industry's darkest secret" says Jack Devnarain, actor and chairperson of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA).

Actress Lizz Meiring, a management member of the Theatre Benevolent Fund that helps to support struggling industry workers, on Tuesday said that Shaleen Surtie-Richards "saw a doctor in Cape Town because she was so ill".

"He wanted to book her into a hospital immediately. She simply had no money. That's the horrible truth. If she had been paid her meagre royalties for all the rebroadcasts of her incredible body of work, she would have been able to".

Shaleen Surtie-Richards - who unexpectedly died in her sleep on Monday in a guest house in Edgemead, Cape Town whilst filming a role in the Penguin Films-produced Arendsvlei telenovela for kykNET - openly spoke the past few years about her financial struggles and how she went through a period where she wasn't even able to pay for electricity and couldn't even buy food.

In 2019 in a profile interview, Shaleen Surtie-Richards told the TV magazine show Kwêla on kykNET that "I've been sitting here without a cent to my name. My house was almost sold out from under me.  I've had nothing. I've thought I need to talk about this. Last year I had no work.  There just wasn't any work," she said.

"You get paid according to the productions you do.  I'm sitting here now with millions of prizes behind my name - things that now mean absolute nothing," she said.

Why SA artists die poor

"This is why our showbiz industry's people die poor, Lizz Meiring on Tuesday told TVwithThinus.

"In the rest of the world performers and industry workers are paid what is called residuals - royalties - in the way that a musician is paid royalties when their music is played. In the rest of the world the on-screen talent and crew, the writer and the producers - when a series is broadcast for the third time - they receive a third of their original fee."

"The bill - the Performers Protection Amendment Bill (PPAB) to amend current legislation to enable residual remuneration for artists has been passed by parliament - 4 years ago already, after 10 years of fighting for it. It was accepted, it's now 4 years later and our president refuses to sign it," says Lizz Meiring.

"Think of the massive amount of work that Shaleen Surtie-Richards had done in her lifetime? If someone's work - their films, series they've starred in - is rebroadcast for a third time, they get a third of the original fee that they've earned," she explains.

"The bill is through parliament - it just needs to be signed. It doesn't just affect someone like Shaleen Surtie-Richards. It affects hundreds of thousands of people."

"Everybody knows that someone like Elize Cawood who had cancer, despite having had a medical aid, had massive medical expenses. Think of how much work Elize Cawood did in her career? Can you imagine if she had just received a third of the original fees of all of the shows she's been in? Series and films are constantly being rebroadcast."

'All we're asking for is what is fair'

"We're not the only industry struggling - a lot of people are going through extremely difficult times, for instance the hospitality sector and many others. I would like people to understand that our career is a professionally qualified, respected industry," says Lizz Meiring.

"When tickets are being sold and it's something that you want to watch, please go buy a ticket and go and see it. We're not beggars - we're not asking money for nothing. We're giving something in return. Read South African writers' books. Go watch South African films. Follow South African TV series. Go to theatre performances and understand that it's wrong to pirate content," she says.

"It would be a great thing when viewers start to ask and to tell TV channels, 'Hey, wait a minute - are you paying residuals to these people?' It's not that artists are a useless bunch of people who can't look after themselves. All we're asking is what is fair. That's all."

About Shaleen Surtie-Richards, Lizz Meiring says "she called me 'sussie' (sister). I've known her for 37 years."

"Shaleen didn't just have the talent and the heart and the honesty and such compassion for colleagues in this industry - Shaleen had that X-factor - that star quality."

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards’ funeral: 'An icon beloved by the people but abandoned by the system,' says friend Rif'at Browers; implores arts minister Nathi Mthethwa to launch a fund to support South Africa's suffering artists.

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards on her money struggles in last TV interview: 'I just pray very hard that I won't get ill'.

ALSO READ: kykNET’s Saturday edition of Ontbytsake will be a special tribute to Shaleen Surtie-Richards: 'We tried not to cry,' says presenter Eloise Cupido.

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards as Arendsvlei’s Muriel: Return-story got fully filmed and wrapped last week with character that will be on screen again on kykNET & Kie from September.

ALSO READ: Producer Diana Lucas on Shaleen Surtie-Richards’ final time on film in new bio doc: 'An intimate talk with a woman who was an amazing person.' 

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie Richards: I Am Who I Am documentary scheduled for Wednesday night on M-Net as MultiChoice's TV tribute collection of content expands after iconic actress' death - latest programming listing across channels.

ALSO READ: Fiela se Kind film director Katina Heyns on Shaleen Surtie-Richards: 'She had all of us laughing the one moment, and weeping the next.' 

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards' family on her death and legacy of love: She not only lived in our hearts but in the hearts of this great nation.

ALSO READ: Actress Shaleen-Surtie Richards found dead in a Cape Town guest house. She was 66.

Coronavirus: South Africa's decimated film and TV industry allowed back to work amidst Covid-19 pandemic – but without extras or studio audiences.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's decimated film and TV industry got the greenlight to reopen from today but as cameras, lights and action flicker back on inside studio lots across the country it will be without actors and presenters wearing masks on-screen, extras in the background or studio audiences.

After the country's already-struggling film and TV biz was abruptly encased in carbonite over the Covid-19 pandemic, frozen to a standstill for over 5 weeks except for the ongoing production and broadcast of TV news and current affairs programming, there's a new hope.

On Sunday night 3 May the South African government gazetted regulation amendments under the Covid-19 Level 4 shutdown situation, paving the way for the reopening of the local TV and film which has been hammered by the national lockdown period to try and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Filming on-set is scheduled to resume today at the Sasani Studios lot in Johannesburg at SABC2's 7de Laan produced by Danie Odendaal Productions, SABC1's Skeem Saam, kykNET's Binnelanders at Stark Studios and several others, with more shows across the country including Cape Town and Durban that will gear up during the week.

Marlon Davids, e.tv managing director, told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry that e.tv's two weekday soaps Rhythm City and Scandal! will resume production during the week of 4 to 11 May 2020. 

The restart will however be mostly centred around the flurry of locally-produced soaps and drama series seen in primetime across SABC1, SABC2 and e.tv, as well as M-Net's Mzansi Magic, 1Magic and kykNET channels.

Some of them have already run out of their stockpiled episodes over the last two weeks, while the available episodes left for playout in the video stack cupboard of the rest are dwindling fast.

Other shows that will flicker back to life in a limited fashion with new episodes include local studio-based magazine shows across the SABC, SuperSport and the M-Net channels such as Kwêla on kykNET, produced from Cape Town, that was already out with a newly recorded episode on Sunday night.

While shooting of scenes in feature films and on-location filming can technically happen it's highly unlikely due the expensive overall production cost to start up for only certain scenes. Cinemas from Ster-Kinekor to Nu Metro, including independent film theatres countrywide, will all remain shuttered.


Extremely strict rules
The restart will however come with extremely strict rules. Film and TV crews working on shows already attached to a broadcaster and making use of local casts and crews are allowed to return to work and to the studio.

This includes crew working on post-production, for instance editors, and anyone working on sound and special effects, animators, or anyone finishing material in specialised studios. 

The South African government is placing the responsibility for the reopening of studio doors on broadcasters - the SABC, the MultiChoice Group including divisions like M-Net and Supersport, and eMedia Investments.

They may "elect to resume content production based on risk assessment" and are cautioned to only restart shows "that can be produced with minimal risk", for instance soaps and telenovelas shot in a studio environment that are easier to handle than location shoots.

"Broadcasters must identify solutions to ensure the protection of performers and production crews" according to the Government Gazette, and should "retain, to the extent possible, a work from home approach".

"Each broadcaster must work closely with the respective production companies and the relevant industry bodies to determine the most appropriate return-to-production strategy and feasible implementation dates."


Studios gearing up for germ spreading prevention
Although studio crews will wear them, the local casts of TV soaps won't immediately appear on-screen wearing face-coverings - if ever. Gone are extras and studio audiences for shows like game shows, reality talent competition shows and talk shows.

There are three reasons for soap stars who won't immediately be seen wearing masks and plastic shields on-screen: Soaps and telenovelas will continue filming the locked scripts and story arcs already written and in the production pipeline before the Covid-19 lockdown began - stories that don't include Covid-19 or a public pandemic.

Secondly, newly filmed episodes will take some weeks to be shown.

Lastly, while most soaps might incorporate elements like health advice and work in Covid-19 messaging into dialogue since they collectively reach a viewing audience of millions and do to a degree reflect real-world issues, their purpose is escapism.

Viewers primarily tune in to get a dramatic entertainment reprieve from the day's problems and issues dominating the news headlines.

Soaps and telenovelas will start to look different however with more close-up shots and bare backgrounds. They will be cutting down on using extras - walk-on, non-speaking roles in the background.

Studio audiences where they have been used are also for now a thing of the past, for instance the upcoming studio-based finale of the second season of The Bachelor SA on M-Net.

Sasani Studios in Highland North in Johannesburg - where 7de Laan, e.tv's soaps like Rhythm City produced by Quizzical Pictures, Scandal! produced by Ochre Moving Pictures, The Venda soap Muvhango on SABC2 and Skeem Saam on SABC1 are all filmed - is a good example of what will be happening at TV productions and studios across the country including Cape Town and Durban.

The Sasani Studios facilities management team together with TV series produced there are now doing temperature and screening at the gate before entry onto the studio premises is permitted, with face masks and shields that are provided to cast members and crew.

Nobody is allowed to enter on-site or roam on the studio lot without it. Alcohol-based hand-sanitisers have been set up at various points and a register is being kept of all cast and crew, including recording daily temperates and possible symptoms. The cleaning and sanitising process has also been intensified.

At 7de Laan specifically only one-third of the cast and crew are now permitted on-site, as staff rotate and others continue to work from home. Staffers now do meetings and conference calls over Skype and Zoom, while extras will only be used if it's "absolutely necessary".

Only essential crew will be on-set during filming, wearing their face masks and shields. There will no longer be any intimate or close contact scenes between actors.

Make-up crews will wear plastic face shields at all times, and while every actor has always had their own makeup brushes, that will now be disinfected after every application. All jewellery will now be sanitised before it's handed to an actor.

Objects that are handled by more than one person - with special attention to props handled by crew and actors - will be sanitised between team activities.

Nathi Mthehtwa, South Africa's minister of sport, arts and culture, said on Monday that on-set meals and craft services "must be packed in boxes, per person, with sealed cutlery - alternatively, the crew and cast must be allowed to bring their own meals. There must be no shared craft and catering areas".

"Crew and cast must be supplied with their own water bottles," he said. "The number of cast and crew must be kept at the maximum of not more than 50 people on-set, inclusive of cast members".


Thousands of freelancers left without income
The abrupt shutdown has already seen an as yet unquantifiable number of job losses clearly numbering in the thousands within the embattled South African film and TV industry.

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) told TVwithThinus over the weekend that it's impossible at this stage to give a number on job losses or how many people within the fragile industry will be impacted.

The NFVF will be working with several industry organisations to start a process of quantifying how many people have lost work and is impacted by the shutdown.

Although impacted, broadcasters like the SABC, e.tv and MultiChoice are best positioned to weather the Covid-19 storm but the lockdown has been wreaking devastation on independent production companies and producers as well as freelancers or so-called "independent contractors".

It's these people - from cameramen to make-up artists, video editors to lighting technicians, location scouts, craft services and many more in specialised jobs within the industry - who have suddenly been left not just without jobs and the cancellation of upcoming projects but also no lifeline or any financial support from the South African government for which they don't qualify.

"Freelancers in our sector are left not only without an income due to the lockdown, but without any income relief," Jack Devnaraian, chairman of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) told eNCA in an interview over the weekend.

"It's a blatant and unforgivable oversight by the government to have an entire sector of tax-paying people who work within the industry - who are simply left to their own devices - hoping that something will drop from the heavens above".

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.

After years South African Afrikaans television finally seemed to have caught on that Steve Hofmeyr is no longer as they say in marketing terms "a good fit for our brand" - and then clumsily stumbled ahead in the worst and wrongest way possible to do the right thing to get distance from him.

MultiChoice and M-Net's Afrikaans channel division kykNET are absolutely right for finally drawing a line between the DStv pay-TV service and the race-baiting Afrikaans singer this past week with MultiChoice in a statement saying "we take a stand against racism".

However, MultiChoice as a sponsor and kykNET inflicted a lot of unnecessary damage and were wrong to directly interfere in a televised music award show by demanding the removal of a music video as a nominee.

Quite a number of years ago, the SABC invited some journalists - me included - to media event entitled "An evening with Pasella featuring Steve Hofmeyr" as part of the SABC2 Afrikaans magazine show Pasella.

I responded and told the SABC2 publicist Caroline Phalakatshela thank you but that I decline and that although I would love to attend a Pasella event that is part of the South African public broadcaster, that I won't ever attend something where Steve Hofmeyr features since it's my personal belief and opinion that he is actually racist.

A while afterwards I then spoke to another longtime TV critics and discovered that the person who was also invited, also declined the invitation, and also declined for the exact same reason.

Yet at the time, Afrikaans media and Afrikaans television simply couldn't get enough of their "Steve".

The Afrikaans weekly magazine Huisgenoot's had an utter obsession with a rude and arrogant Steve (who eventually threw tea in the face of Esmare Weideman as then-editor of Huisgenoot/YOU at Sun City), to kykNET (DStv 144).

M-Net's kykNET continued courting him with multiple ongoing invites to make appearances on all kinds of music, variety, entertainment magazine, talk show and other programmes and even the Kwêla couch time after time after time, while even SABC2 couldn't dish up enough Steve for viewers.

Long before "fake news" was coined by Donald Trump, it was M-Net that gave Steve Hofmeyr a platform on kykNET where his longrunning Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve Afrikaans talk show with multiple repeats would often broadcast "fake news" left totally unchecked and unfiltered by kykNET and slurped up by its Afrikaans audience.

Just one broadcasting example: On Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve on kykNET, Steve would laugh heartily and repeat when one of his former co-stars from the SABC's former Afrikaans drama series Agter Elke Man (Behind Every Man) Sulette Thompson would spout utter trash that there can't be a rebroadcast on the SABC or anywhere of their erstwhile show else because the public broadcaster had "lost" the tapes.

The truth is that no tapes were lost. In fact, MultiChoice helped the SABC to digitise the series from the original tapes and the show saw rebroadcasts on not just kykNET but also the SABC's SABC Encore (DStv 156) channel.

It's small things in the bigger scope of things, but notable because I saw it and noticed a similar behavioural trend in the way that you're not surprised eventually when, years later, you see what happens to personalities like a Paula Deen or a Bill O'Reilly.

Steve Hofmeyr who would increasingly make racist comments, do race-baiting with for instance a photo with the old South African flag, and spout disgusting things like "black are the architects of apartheid" went on to become a more and more polarising and divisive personality - not just within the broader Afrikaans community but in South Africa as a whole.

This continued until it finally simply became just too untenable and unpalatable for major companies, national brands and arts festivals from the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) to Inniebos, and even rugby to be associated with him.

He is the reason brands from Media24, Pick n Pay, Land Rover, Toyota and MTN to MultiChoice withdrew as sponsors from events where he was included.

Cue the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 where the organisers and judges this year selected a music video, Die Land (The Land) as one of the three nominees for its Best Music Video category in which several Afrikaans artists appear but also featuring Steve Hofmeyr.

Viewers already voted for the category, paying money. Other Afrikaans singers who are not Steve Hofmeyr stood a chance to win who happened to appear in the same music video. And the organisers and judges of the Ghoema Music Trust already independently selected it as one of the shortlisted nominees.

It's absolutely correct for MultiChoice and its kykNET channels to want to get distance and not be involved with anything "Steve Hofmeyr" going forward. It's also their free choice of free association.

Where MultiChoice and kykNET however made a big mistake was to interfere in an award show by demanding the removal of a nominee after the nominees were announced.

Imagine a sponsor of the independently-run Grammys or MTV Music Awards in the United States ordering the organisers to remove a nominee? It would be a massive scandal.

The selection and choice of winners and shortlisted nominees in competitions and TV award shows are sacrosanct - it's preposterous and unheard of for a sponsor to demand terms like the removal of a nominee from a category in a competition.

Instead, MultiChoice and kykNET should have just left it and have withdrawn their support completely without making ultimatums that interfere with the nominees, categories and judging. MultiChoice isn't a judge of the competition but a sponsor.

MultiChoice and kykNET as sponsor and broadcaster should very clearly, and much, much earlier, have said something like "we distance ourselves in the strongest possible terms from this person", have stated explicitly why, and then also that it would no longer support the Ghoemas in future if Steve is included or anywhere close-by. 

This shocking interference damages and did damage to the credibility of the Ghoema Music Awards. Both the public and singers will no longer trust it, or trust it less.

And talking about trust, how did Steve Hofmeyr's son Devon get inside the venue without a ticket with a friend where he planned to and deliberately cause a disruption? Where is the security and what is the security arrangements at the Ghoema Music Awards like?

As a journalist I attend a lot of stuff and public events for broadcasting and do set visits where access control is of the utmost importance and very secure. Clearly it's somehow not at the Ghoemas. 

In addition, the communication from MultiChoice, kykNET and the Ghoema organisers to manage perceptions and the resultant fallout from the swirling controversy on a consumer level as well as within the broadcasting industry was inadequate, slow, reactive and basically non-existent.

This caused additional brand, perception and credibility damage to the awards show - of which there isn't a lot in existence in South Africa to start with, meaning the existing ones should be carefully nutured.

kykNET also seems to shy away from openly talking, engaging with the media and discussing its stance as a TV channel, its decisions and its policies going way forward.

Days later after the awards show here at TVwithThinus we're still waiting for instance on kykNET and the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards organisers to answer very basic broadcasting-related questions.

What is kykNET's reaction? If MultiChoice distanced itself from a new music video in which Steve Hofmeyr appears, has kykNET place the kibosh on the airing of any of his music videos, series or on-air appearances across its channels set like Kwêla couch interviews?

Why was the scheduled live award show broadcast scuppered and media not told well ahead of time? And how will people who had spent money to vote for the removed music video get a refund?

MultiChoice, kykNET and the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 organisers also knew for weeks in advance what they were doing and changing, but all chose to sit silently, not being open with the public and the industry, waiting until the bomb exploded this week.

I also feel bad for the other Afrikaans singers not connected or related to Steve Hofmeyr who got caught up in the maelstrom of an impossible situation not of their making.

They were thrown out as the bathwater together with the baby - and that was wrong. And how can they protest or raise their voices legitimately over undue creative and judging interference without making it look as if they support Steve Hofmeyr - something that would conflate two different issues?

South Africa's Afrikaans television was finally forced to confronted an issue - and someone - it should have addressed and have dealt with a long time ago.

It however did so clumsily and it did so in a wrong way by far overstepping its role through meddling in the organising of an awards show. Yet the sentiment and message from MultiChoice and kykNET that shines through are very clear: That as a TV business they won't tolerate racism.

Institutionalised action often follows long after public sentiment. I soured on Steve Hofmeyr more than a decade ago.

I'm just glad that the TV broadcast media in the country finally caught up as well.


ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show. 

Showmax shutting down in America over unexplained legal reasons upsets sad, disgruntled and desperate users.

Showmax is shutting down in America and Canada, following its termination in Poland, with users who have been making use of MultiChoice's subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service to stay "connected" to South Africa and kykNET's Afrikaans programming who are very sad and upset.

Showmax tells TVwithThinus the service is shutting down in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean "due to legal reasons". These were not explained.

The website SAPeople, providing news to South African expatriates, first reported that Showmax is ending on 30 April 2019 and won't be available to viewers in the US, Canada, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island and Montserrat. 

In December 2018 Showmax in Poland announced that it's shutting down at the end of January 2019 after 2 years.

"Very sad here in Canada. Showmax closing down. Where will I now watch Kwêla, Binnelanders, Suidooster and Getroud met Rugby?" said one upset user who paid to watched the Afrikaans kykNET (DStv 144) programming from that country.

Another expat Showmax user, Daleen Loest said "Why oh why has Showmax decided to stop their streaming services to North America? Expat Facebook pages are exploding with the sad, the disgruntled, the despondent, and the desperate".

"Watching South African shows keep us connected to our beloved Mzansi and I am one of them. How are we going to watch Carte Blanche, Boer Soek 'n Vrou?, Sara se Geheim, Koekedoortjie, Afrikaans movies etc.?"

"Watching South African shows keep us connected to our beloved Mzansi, and having it taken away it feels like having a part of your soul torn out… again. For us expats, that connection is very, very precious. It means so much more than just being able to watch a few TV shows."

"Come on Showmax! Please don't stop streaming. I for one will gladly pay double, heck-even triple, to keep the service running. And I suspect most expats will gladly pay more to help keep it on the internet waves!"

Richard Boorman, Showmax spokesperson told SAPeople "we're gutted too – especially given all these kind words but unfortunately this one is out of our control. Thanks so much for all the support and sorry we can't be there for you."

Richard Boorman in response to a media enquiry told TVwithThinus the decision to shutter Showmax in America, Canada and the Caribbean was taken due to legal reasons.

"Broadly speaking there are two different types of Showmax service – the version we see in South Africa which has both local and international content, and then a 'diaspora' service which focuses just on the local content and is aimed at South Africans overseas."

"The first version is available in more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and after this change, the diaspora service will still be available in more than 25 countries."

The Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show, DeKat, returns for a 7th season; jumps yet again to a new channel, this time SABC2.

The Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show DeKat, from the similarly named magazine, is returning for a 7th season, yet again jumping to a new TV channel when it starts on Wednesday 18 April at 19:30 on SABC2, retaining Chris Chameleon as the host.

The avant garde DeKat that started out on SABC3 in 2009 before jumping to kykNET in 2011 is back on the South African public broadcaster, making its debut for the first time on SABC2 after kykNET that already had Kwêla added its own now-ended Flits, as well as Bravo!, leaving little space on its line-up the eclectic DeKat.

The show will once explore creativity and all forms of art - from extraordinary travels to profiles and interviews with influential South African personalities, as well as dish up extraordinary celebrations and recipes for "art on a plate".

Whilst retaining Chris Chameleon (real name Chris Mulder), DeKat is adding Charlene Brouwer as a style insert presenter, Piet Matipa as an art insert presenter, Gerard Scholtz as a book insert presenter and Chantel Dartnall as a food insert presenter.

"Viewers can start preparing themselves for a visual feast when our brand new series kicks off," says Elzilda Becker, executive producer of the show and editor and publisher of DeKat magazine.

"You are invited to take your place in our lounge and be transported to our magical world of books, food, art, style and entertainment. We are excited to be sharing the DeKat world and adventure with the large target market of SABC2."

kykNET moves Kwêla to yet another timeslot just 5 months after the last change, adds Oppi Kassie documentary series looking at the history of South Africa's television.

kykNET (DStv 144) is moving its weekly Afrikaans magazine show Kwêla to a new timeslot again from this weekend - now to Sundays at 18:00 - and is adding a new documentary series, Oppi Kassie, looking at the history of South African television.

Just 5 months after inexplicably moving Kwêla in mid-July 2017 from its longtime weekday berth on Wednesdays at 20:00, to Sunday nights at 20:00, kykNET is now moving the show to an earlier timeslot on Sundays from this weekend where it will now be shown at 18:00.

The 20:00 timeslot on Sunday nights have had a negatively impact on Kwêla ratings the past 5 months with kykNET that gave Afrikaans viewers a lot of weekend "viewing homework".

Besides Kwêla that moved to Sunday nights, kykNET also shunted its other weekly entertainment magazine show, Bravo! from Thursdays to Sunday nights in July. Both shows are produced for kykNET by Homebrew Films.

With both interview-heavy shows that moved as part of broader kykNET schedule changes in July, having two Afrikaans entertainment magazine shows both doorstopped on the TV schedule on the same Sunday night, created a lot of "watch work" from the same genre for viewers, coming at the end of a week when viewers want to relax with less taxing fare.

Courting a highly similar audience as M-Net (DStv 101), the kykNET programming also started to directly compete with its sister channel on DStv in terms of viewership overlap, with a lot of viewers who would usually watch Bravo! and Kwêla on kykNET, but also Carte Blanche and the Sunday night 20:00 movie on M-Net, who have been forced to make difficult choices or channel hop from the one to the other during ad breaks.

kykNET now says Kwêla is moving to 18:00 from Sunday evening with "the new 18:00 timeslot giving viewers the opportunity to approach their Sunday evening's more leisurely".

The format of Kwêla remains unchanged with anchor presenter Hannes van Wyk and field presenters Johnny Davids, Therese Benade-Bam, Minki van der Westhuizen, Willem Botha, Pieter Koen and Andre Weideman.

Kwêla will be followed by the Afrikaans eNuus at 19:00 and Bravo! at 19:30.

The Afrikaans film slot shown on kykNET on Sunday nights is also gone but is likely a temporary change.

kykNET ran the fliekNET pop-up channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform over December 2017 and January 2018 that saturated Afrikaans viewers' appetite for films and required the acquisition of a lot of film broadcasting rights.

Instead of Sunday night films kykNET is starting a new half-hour documentary series on Sunday at 20:00 entitled Oppi Kassie looking at the history of South African television.

The first season of Oppie Kassie will see double episodes broadcast and filling the 20:00 hour.

The first episode on Sunday will look at how television and TV technology first arrived in South Africa and was finally "allowed" after years of political resistance.

The second episode looks at the big broadcasting challenges that came after the government gave TV in South Africa the go-ahead. How would the SABC find and train enough people in doing TV broadcasts in a very short time, and would the SABC be able to create enough quality material to put on the air?

kykNET doing dramatic schedule changes from July: soaps Suidooster and Getroud moving timeslots; magazine shows Kwêla and Bravo! shunted to Sundays.

kykNET (DStv 144) is doing dramatic schedule changes from July that will force viewers to adjust to new times and days to tune in to their shows and weekday soaps as part of a new schedule that's being rolled out for the Afrikaans pay-TV channels on DStv.

kykNET says the Afrikaans channels set on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform had to rethink its programme schedule from July "to make room for all our new content".

From 10 July the Cape Town based soap Suidooster set in the fictitious suburb of Ruiterbosch will be blowing in later when it's moved to 18:30 on kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & Kie (DStv 145).

It will be followed by the Afrikaans eNuus that stays put at 19:00, simulcast on both channels.

Suidooster is moved from 18:00 to get out of the way of the SABC's Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan on SABC2  that was abruptly moved to 18:00 in February.

Currently Suidooster was at 18:00 on kykNET and 20:00 on kykNET & Kie, but will now be at the same time on both channels, at 18:30.

While soap Binnelanders will remain at 19:30, the soap Getroud met Rugby that used to be at 18:30 is moved a lot later to 21:00 from 10 July on kykNET and kykNET & Kie.

After toning down the show's content when it changed from a drama series to an early prime time soap, it's likely that the producers and kykNET will once again ramp up the risque content in Getroud met Rugby when it moves to outside the so-called "watershed" time period.

The week's entertainment magazine shows on kykNET are removed from the week's schedule and moved to weekends with Kwêla moving to Sundays from 9 July at 20:00 and Bravo! moving to Sundays from 16 July at 19:30.

The 10th season of the talk show Jou Show is moving to Saturdays at 19:30 from 15 July and Fiësta moves to Saturdays at 18:30 from 15 July. The 10th season of Jukebox on kykNET will now be on Saturdays at 20:00.

The new comedy Elke Skewe Pot about an internet dating site company with Franci Swanepoel, Marisa Drummond, Carien Botha, Carine Rous and Hannes Brümmer will kick off on Monday 10 July at 20:00 on kykNET.

It will be followed by the new panel discussion show Parlement Parlement at 20:30 with Joey Rasdien, Louw Venter and Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp as the moderator.

Hond se Gedagtes with presenter Lizma van Zyl starts on Tuesday 4 July at 17:30 and will look at how the dog became man's best friend.

The second season of the Afrikaans drama series Die Boekklub following the antics of a rural town's bookklub members will kick off on Tuesday 11 July at 20:00 with some new characters in the mix.

Lise Swart is the presenter of the cooking show Kook & Geniet, based on the iconic recipe book, starting on kykNET on Wednesday 5 July at 20:00, followed by the third season of the popular Groen Namibië on 12 July at 20:30.

Cricket lovers can also tune in to kykNET & Kie for the brand new season of BVP with Johnny Davids and Fanie de Villiers at 21:30.

More episodes of Legendes van Afrikaanse Musiek profiling Afrikaans singers like Gé Korsten, Rina Hugo and Johan van Rensburg, Lucas Maree and Boet Pretorius will be broadcast from Thursday 6 Julie at 20:30.

Afrikaans films on Sunday nights at 21:00 in July will include Modder en Bloed, Noem My Skollie and Treurgrond.

 Jý Geld is with presenter Lynelle Kenned is a new finance programme aimed at women guiding viewers to personal finance money matters, starting on Sunday 9 July at 18:00 on kykNET.

It will be followed by the second season of the weight-loss reality show Slank II at 18:30 with presenter Leandie du Randt Bosch.

From Friday 7 July the interactive chat and music show chatNOU! will be simulcast on kykNET and kykNET NOU! (DStv 146) at 15:00, while the new season of Jan Braai will be broadcast on kykNET on Fridays at 18:30, followed by Toks en Tjops at 20:00.

"The kykNET platform is now bigger than ever. We had to rethink our programme schedule from July to make room for all our new content," says Karen Meiring, director of kykNET channels.

"Our biggest priority, as always, remains our viewers and this was the biggest consideration in the decision-making around changing schedules. We serve a growing and diverse audience and people's behaviour and needs are constantly changing."

"Our audience also expects us to stay ahead of international television trends but still bring them the best in local storytelling. Our new schedule represents all these considerations and behaviour shifts."

kykNET promises more shirtless men in soaps: 'Actors ordered to take off their shirts as often as possible' as kykNET ramps up drama and comedy output.

kykNET has ordered the guys to ditch the shirts and is ordering a lot more male shirtless scenes for its weekday soaps as M-Net's Afrikaans channels division is also dramatically ramping up its drama and comedy content output.

Besides more Afrikaans male soap stars pushed to bare their six packs, kykNET is doubling its amount of drama content and tripling the amount of comedy produced for its channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in the upcoming months.

In Suidooster on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) it took actor Eden Classens who just joined the Cape Town set soap just two scenes to bare his body.



"New actors have been ordered to take off their shirts and to go shirtless as often as possible to give kykNET good ratings," said Nicola van Niekerk, kykNET's head of production.

Making the remark about more male shirtlessness in kykNET soaps in jest, she spoke to the media about some of kykNET's upcoming content slate and its increased Afrikaans content plans over the next year.

And while the men might be losing the shirts off their backs, with kykNET - as far as content is concerned - the channel says things have never been better.

"In the next 12 months, kykNET will bring DStv subscribers double the amount of drama content and triple the amount of comedy than before," said Nicola van Niekerk. "Content wise, things have never gone as well with kykNET as now."

Coming up is a second season of the Afrikaans drama series Boekklub in July and in October is anther new series entitled Waterfront.

"We struggled between channels about whose going to produce this show. The story is unbelievable and kykNET won and is doing it in Afrikaans. Filming will start around July and August to be ready by October."

"Comedy wise we have Phil 101 starting in April. Phil 101, is set at a fictional university's philosophy department with Frank Opperman and Pierre van Pletzen who viewers for the first time in a long time will see as a character other than 7de Laan's Oubaas, and he is a hero, together will all the new talent"," said Nicola van Niekerk.

Sara se Geheim is starting on 11 April at 20:00, a new Afrikaans drama series with 26 episodes in which the past comes back to haunt the Cloete, Kiewiet and Vermeulen families and starring June van Merch, David Minnaar, Lee-Ann van Rooi, Brendon Daniels. Marlo Minnaar and Nicola Hanekom.

"Then in July on kykNET we have Elke Skewe Pot that we're currently busy filming. It's about four old spinsters struggling to find love and then they start a dating website."

"Soaps wise, I'm a big fan. In Binnelanders a lot of drama is waiting for a pregnant Pippa. She's been through rabies - everything - what else can possibly still happen with her? I hear ghosts are waiting to haunt her. Is doctor Tertius going to finally find love - whether in a nurse's embrace or another doctor?" said Nicola van Niekerk.

"In Getroud met Rugby Sasha is being confronted with an identity crisis. I love soaps because they provide us with characters that every viewer can relate to."

"You come home in the evening and watch your soaps and can relate to the people. It's in our soaps what's happening with South Africa's people and what the Afrikaans community experiences daily".

"But we're not just telling these stories. We also have actuality programming through which we try to give unbiased context to the news to help viewers form their own opinions about the world."

"Then there's our cornerstone programming like Kwêla and Bravo who boasts some of the most beautiful presenters on television. Kwêla in its 17th year covers stories and people that are incredibly special. You can't underestimate the value of a programme like Kwêla"," said Nicola van Niekerk.

The first season of the surprise hit, Varsity Sing, the a capella university choir competition series, will be repeated on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) in April.


Exciting varsity experiment coming to kykNET NOU!
About kykNET NOU! (DStv 146), kykNET's channel that focuses on music shows and programming, Karen Meiring, the M-Net director for Afrikaans channels, said that the viewership on kykNET NOU! is surprisingly not just young people.

"kykNET NOU! has a large number of older viewers watching it. We also focus on a lot of lifestyle and entertainment shows on kykNET NOU! We're also very excited- we're doing an experiment with kykNET NOU! with universities, that we will be talking more about soon, but it's hugely exciting."

"Our core business is to tell stories, and through our stories we want to make an impact on the wide Afrikaans community that we serve," said Karen Meiring.

M-Net's kykNET content goes global on-demand on ShowMax; as Naspers' video-on-demand service expands to Europe, Australasia and North America.

The pay-TV broadcaster M-Net's Afrikaans channels unit kykNET is working with Naspers' video-on-demand service, ShowMax, to now make Afrikaans content available in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America and Canada.

ShowMax declined to comment when it was specifically asked about expansion plans outside of South Africa's borders at the end of November, but is now releasing a statement exactly two weeks later.

Viewers in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, North America and Canada where a lot of Afrikaans speaking expats now live, can now watch kykNET programming on ShowMax with around 13 000 episodes of TV shows and movies - almost 6 000 hours - of Afrikaans TV content available to them.

ShowMax outside of South Africa, and offering only Afrikaans content for now, cost $8.99 (R134.85) per month. It's the first time that ShowMax is expanding its footprint outside of South Africa since the subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service from Naspers launched in August.

In the content agreement between ShowMax and M-Net, the latest episodes of kykNET shows like the weekly magazine shows like Kwêla, Robinson Regstreeks, and the weekday soaps Binnelanders and Villa Rosa will be added and available for viewing within 24 hours after it's broadcast on kykNET (DStv 144 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in Africa.

"There are vast numbers of Afrikaans speakers who live outside Africa and still want to keep in touch with their culture and language," says Jeanne van Zyl, now the head of kykNET Internasionaal. "kykNET Internasionaal now makes this easy to do using the ShowMax platform".

"TV shows and movies are a great way to keep the Afrikaans link alive and help make sure that young and old alike don't lose contact with their roots. As an example,it's a great way to immerse children in a world that they may not have experienced directly, or are too young to remember."

"Because we're adding content within 24 hours of it airing in South Africa, it also means that being away from home doesn't mean being out of date," says Jeanne van Zyl.

"No matter where South African expatriates end up on the globe, they remain fiercely loyal to, and supportive of, their heritage," says Karen Meiring, the director for M-Net's Afrikaans channels.

"We're thrilled to be able to work with ShowMax to help keep that link alive and deliver the best Afrikaans content, fresh from home, to fans across the globe".

MultiChoice adds VIA from Media24 to DStv as a new Afrikaans lifestyle and entertainment channel focused on women and their families.

DStv is adding a new lifestyle and entertainment TV channel called VIA from Media24 that will broadcast in Afrikaans and be geared towards women and their families.

VIA will launch on 9 November at 16:00 on channel 147 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as the 5th Afrikaans TV channel in South Africa.

VIA launches with 22 new locally produced shows ranging from food and diets to covering relationships, style and a sprinkling of reality programming.

The channel will broadcast a three hour premiere block of new episodes every weekday between 16:00 and 19:00 which will loop and repeat during the rest of the week and over weekends.

VIA, with channel head Cheryl Uys-Allie, will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Extra, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers in South Africa and Namibia.

Via hails from Media24 - unlike ASTV available on the StarSat and Platco Digital's OpenView HD platforms and the M-Net Afrikaans channels like kykNET, kykNET Nou and kykNET & Kie supplied to MultiChoice for its DStv platform.

Media24 will use both its print magazines and Afrikaans newspapers to market and cross-promote VIA, as well as leverage some of its existing titles to introduce new local TV content, for instance using established brands and editorial talent at magazines like Huisgenoot and Sarie as new on-air extensions and to present and appear in certain shows.

In South Africa VIA as a new Afrikaans channel will compete with the likes of existing channels like BBC Lifestyle, TLC Entertainment and Fine Living in the lifestyle entertainment and reality genre.

VIA will also likely further chip away at the eroding audience share of the SABC's Afrikaans viewers. While the public broadcaster is producing little in fresh Afrikaans content to cater to this market segment, Media24 has made a big investment in producing several brand-news shows aiming to attract female Afrikaans viewers and their families.

VIA's creation has been a boon for South African production companies and Afrikaans TV programming. Both established production houses ranging from Quizzical Pictures to newer ones like Afrokaans have been commissioned to make shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town for VIA ranging from reality competition and style shows to food, diet and lifestyle programming.

"They have worked under enormous pressure to deliver fresh, local content in a remarkably short time," says Cheryl Uys-Allie.

"VIA's content strategy is to delight and entertain our audiences with shows that resonate with their lives," says Pat van Heeden, VIA's head of content. "We offer a glimpse of the lifestyles of others, we see the remarkable characters in our midst and we celebrate the quirkiness in the ordinary."

"We are extremely excited to launch VIA and proud that we can treat our Afrikaans audiences to a brand-new Afrikaans channel," says Esmaré Weideman, Media24 CEO.

"We are delighted to include TV as another platform where we can serve our audiences working closely with our magazines, newspapers and digital platforms".

VIA shows at launch include Zavion, a reality show following the Survivor SA contestant Zavion Kotze, juggling his job as events coordinator organising weddings with decathlons.

In Kom Ons Braai three couples huddle around the coals to see who can outdo the other, while three brave women tackle three diets over a period of 30 days in the hopeof fitting into their swimsuits before summer in Die Eet Oorlog.

My Droom-trourok gives brides a chance of taking home a designer wedding dress but only if her guests agree on the winning gown.

In Stylstryd two contestants with dreams of seeing their decor talents in TUIS magazine will duel it out. With a decor blogger alongside them, they will decorate an empty room according to a set challenge.

Inspirasiekos met Sarie sees the women's magazine's food editor Herman Lensing looking for the best ingredients, while Carmen Niehaus, the Huisgenoot food editor choose the best one out of three aspiring chefs who get their recipe featured in the magazine in Jy het 'n Wenresep!.

Rapport newspaper journalist Hanlie Retief has a profile interview show, 'n Halfuur met Hanlie in which she introduces viewers to people who interest and inspire her.

Amore Vittone is the referee in Skoonma se Tong in which the age-old unease between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law is on the table. The man they share is blindfolded and tastes both their dishes - and must choose his favourite.

In Nikki Sê Nee, Nikki Roos, the mother of four who knows how to make the most of her rands and cents, shares her tips to help viewers save money and time.

Other VIA shows at launch include Familiefoto, Kersie op die Koek, Mooi van Binne, Maak My Nuut, Brood & Botter, Deur Dik & Dun, Vrydag 4 uur, Ken Jy My?, Ruil My Styl, Hartskos, Padkos and Die Kliek.

Coenie de Villiers leaving Kwêla on kykNET as presenter after 15 years; will front a new documentary series on the channel from April.

Coenie de Villiers is leaving Kwêla on kykNET (DStv 144) as the latest in a string of familiar faces on the Afrikaans pay-TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv viewers will be seeing less of.

Major production changes behind the scenes at kykNET is currently reshaping what and who viewers will be seeing from April and through the rest of the year on the channel.

Following the cancellation of kykNET's breakfast show Dagbreek, the cancellation of kykNET's long running soap Villa Rosa, the culling of its recently introduced late night time slot strand which is being reduced, and shows like Robinson Regstreeks switching production companies, Coenie De Villiers is now leaving Kwêla after 15 years this year.

Coenie de Villiers stayed on for another year when Kwêla suddenly switched production companies at the end of March 2014 from Pieter Cilliers Produksies in Johannesburg to Home Brew Films in Cape Town, but is now leaving.

With Coenie de Villiers exiting as the mainstay presenter on the leather couch of the weekly Afrikaans magazine show he fronted for a decade and a half, kykNET says he "made the difficult decision to hand over the Kwêla reigns to a new presenter, which he will assist in choosing along with the Kwêla team".

He will however still be seen on the channel in the future, producing and presenting a new documentary series 'n Ander Wêreld starting on 12 April at 20:00.

In this documentary series he will visit fishermen, long haul truck drivers, cage fighters, drag queens, the homeless and "bergies" and emergency workers, profiling people in jobs and situations rarely seen before.

Coenie de Villiers is also involved in the producing of a documentary music programme entitled Vat die Rap, which will be shown on kykNET Musiek (DStv 146) on 25 March.

According to kykNET the date of Coenie de Villiers' final Kwêla episode has not yet been established and he "will continue as the presenter until a suitable replacement has been identified".

Technical issues sees kykNET on DStv repeat Villa Rosa and Kwêla on Wednesday evening instead of showing new episodes.

Viewers were upset on Wednesday evening when kykNET (DStv 144) repeated the previous day's episode of the Afrikaans language soap Villa Rosa, as well as the previous week's episode of the Afrikaans magazine show Kwêla.

kykNET told TV with Thinus on Thursday it was due to "technical problems".

kykNET said that the proper episode of Kwêla would be played out during the repeat broadcast timeslots on Friday at 10:00 and 00:00, Saturday at 18:00, Sunday at 13:00 and Monday at 08:30.

"We apologise to viewers for the inconvenience and continue to endeavour to ensure the faultless playout of shows," says the channel.

Kwêla on kykNET carries on, keeps host Coenie de Villiers and the set, as magazine show does a track change with Homebrew Films taking over.

Kwêla, the weekly Afrikaans entertainment magazine on Wednesdays at 19:30 on kykNET (DStv 144) is on air since the beginning of this month now being produced by Homebrew Films from Cape Town - following the shocking backstage wrangling at the end of 2013 which saw Pieter Cilliers Produksies (PCP) and kykNET end their longrunning contractual relationship of the show.

kykNET and Homebrew Films wisely worked together on a seamless as possible production transition for Kwêla.

They managed to keep Coenie de Villiers as the host as well as the set for now until a possible scenic change later in 2014. The Kwêla theme music and opening logo also remain in tact for now - as well as the overall look, feel and tonality of the magazine show.

Jaco Loubser is now executive producer; Erica Greeff is director.

The various Kwêla field presenters had to be jettisoned during the production company switch, with presenters Shemane Harris, Suzaan Steyn, Pieter Koen, Susan Booyens and Mandi du Plooy who are now gone.

In as new Kwêla faces are Therese Benade who is also now a content producer on the show and who was a field presenter for half a decade on Kwêla before (and is leaving behind her long running soap role in kykNET's Villa Rosa as vixen Astrid).

She is moving to Cape Town at the end of this month. She previously worked for Homebrew Films which produced the reality competition show Saktyd for kykNET in 2012 which was looking to find a new media worker for the Huisgenoot magazine.

André Weideman from Cape Town who did voice work for SABC2's Pasella, TV presenting for kykNET's car show La't Wiel and had a comedy role in kykNET's Parys Parys is another new on-air field presenter.

Johnny Davids from Cape Town who presented for the Afrikaans magazine show Kollig on sister channel kykNET & Kie (DStv 145), a show also produced by Homebrew Films, left that show to now do Kwêla.

BREAKING. Kwêla on kykNET not cancelled; although the show is moving from Pieter Cilliers Produksies to a new company in 2014.

You're reading it here first. 

I can break the news and reveal that Kwêla on kykNET (DStv 144) is not cancelled on kykNET, although the Afrikaans language channel produced by M-Net is parting ways with the show's longtime production company Pieter Cilliers Produksies.

I'm told that a new production company will be taking over the running of the show, producing a new version of Kwêla of kykNET in 2014.

The high quality show, consistently maintaining excellent production values over almost a decade and a half, is well-respected for its current and relevant reflection of the Afrikaans South African culture.

With its mining of the local zeitgeist, well-covered inserts and topical newsmakers as guests from various spheres, the long running weekly Kwêla anchored consistently by Coenie de Villiers has come to be seen as the crown in all of kykNET's schedule.

The production company switch and rumours of  Kwêla which turns out not to be cancelled but which will live on produced by a different company, comes as a huge shock to longtime South African producers who are buzzing about the development.

This major change raises dramatic question marks regarding the ongoing format and look of the long running weekly magazine show on kykNET, what presenters, if any, will remain on screen, and whether - if at all - the main presenter Coenie de Villiers is to remain when Kwêla switches production companies in 2014.

When the Afrikaans magazine show Pasella on SABC2 went through three different production companies more than a decade ago, the changes to the look, feel and presenters of that show was markedly different.

Similarly 50/50 changed as production companies changed, as did other shows where production shifted between production companies.

According to M-Net, Pieter Cilliers Produksies decided not to renew its contract for the popular magazine show. M-Net gave no reasons as to why. A spokesperson for Pieter Cilliers Produksies haven't yet responded to a media enquiry made Monday morning.

kykNET says the Afrikaans TV channel respects the decision to no longer produce Kwêla, and is "sadly saying goodbye to the team who've produced Kwêla for 14 years."

Karen Meiring, director of M-Net's Afrikaans channels says "under the leadership of the veteran television producer Pieter Cilliers and co-producer Marié Minnaar the show won several awards and became a kykNET staple."

"We appreciate their team's enormous contribution to the show, the channel and Afrikaans television entertainment," says Karen Meiring.

M-Net says Kwêla will continue and that qualifying production companies will get the opportunity to pitch to produce the show in 2014.

The current contract with Pieter Cilliers Produksies to produce Kwêla fends on 31 March 2014.