Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 5 October 2015

■ SABC's matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng tells Sunday Times the journalist is asking the wrong question.
SABC suddenly dumped planned cricket commentary for the first T20 international cricket match between South Africa and India on Friday, but it will now return after Diane Reimer, SABC head of sport told SABC staff that "we will not cover the India tour" because there is apparently "no return on investment".

■ The SABC "concerned" and regrets comments made by Leanne Manas
after SABC2's Morning Live anchor spoke about the alleged arrival of Microsoft founder Bill Gates in South Africa. SABC management "views this matter in a serious light and is in the process of engaging Leanne Manas and will communicate accordingly once all the internal processes have been finalized".

■ The Commission for Gender Equality clears the SABC's matricless boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng
after he was allegedly given a wife as a present by rural leaders in Limpopo in 2014. "We always said as the SABC that we believe that was a symbolic gesture," says SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

■ Dr. Phil crisis behind the scenes.
The new 14th season of Dr. Phil seen in South Africa on SABC2 is mired in chaos behind the scenes, with brutal firings, staff unrest, PR head fired, and there's "about to be a mutiny".

■ Better executives could help improve the struggling SABC.
Suddenly removing SABC board members for political reasons has made the SABC board dysfunctional says the Centre for Corporate Governance.

■ The ANC political party is worried about negative things at the SABC.
And the hate from the South African media for president Jacob Zuma. ANC says the crisis at the SABC reflects badly on the ANC-led government.

■ Meanwhile the South African Communist Party (SACP) blasts the ANC over matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng saying its"a stark example of what happens when we leave the media in the hands of those only interested in personal self-accumulation, including obscene increases in salaries for incompetent and unqualified individuals".
- Also says the SABC is an example of "growing shame and embarrassment":
It has indisputably been hijacked by a tiny cabal of self-promoting individuals, abusing political access to materially advance themselves, at the expense of the SABC itself, and of the millions of people it should serve".

■ Lifetime's (DStv 131) new "Unauthorized Story of" movies explained.
The biographical movies about the life behind popular 90s TV shows, from Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Full House are because those teen viewers are now the grown target market as nostalgia hits a resurgence together with the remake of TV shows.
And the biggest revelations from The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story.

■ Why American broadcasters are waiting longer to cancel low-rated shows.
Executives wait longer to see how shows add viewers in repeated viewing and later,time-shifted viewing on PVR.

■ H . A . M . S . T. E. R. S.
The opening title sequence of FRIENDS - done by hamsters.

■ Lame, boring Homeland remains
The new 5th season of Homeland on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) was supposed to mark a fresh start. But the tired drama is now a frustrating failure.

■ Laurence Fishburne will play Nelson Mandela in BET (DStv 129) miniseries.
Will play the hero in the 6-part miniseries with Nelson Mandela's grandson Kweku Mandela as the executive producer.

■ David Boreanaz: Bones should end after the 11th season.
Says forensic drama series has gone on long enough.

■ MultiChoice says its investing $3 million in East Africa.
Pay-TV platform is growing an East African content hub to churn out films and shows from Kenya.

■  New Quantico, Minority Report draw most diverse viewers.
Quantico on Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) and Minority Report on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) are the new TV dramas drawing the most diverse audiences in America - in part thanks to the diverse casting choices.

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

Scream Queens on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) also a flop.
The second new FOX drama is also a loser and follows Minority Report as a ratings failure.

Meanwhile the new procedural thriller Limitless is solid and it will be available on your DStv Explora from Thursday instantly and later on M-Net (DStv 101) so you can watch it - the show won't go away or be cancelled.

Donald Trump slams FOX News (StarSat 261).
"FOX News has been treating me unfairly," says the Republican Party candidate in America; says he won't be doing any interviews with any FOX News shows in the future.
FOX News hits back and says Donald Trump's attacks are "stale and tiresome".

Egypt's president pardons Al Jazeera journalists.
After months in prison Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257) are freed from jail. Peter Greste says the fight is not over despite Al Jazeera colleagues' release from prison.

New MultiChoice headquarters in Johannesburg is green.
The new MultiChoice City complex in Randburg - complete with an artificial lawn and 15 real trees in the atrium - is turning heads and showing how corporations can create greener, healthier spaces for employees in South Africa.

The HBO Now account the Emmy's gave out has been deactivated.
Emmy host Andy Samberg told millions of viewers worldwide on TV to log in to the HBO Now streaming service. It has now been deactivated.


Trevor Noah: "There's been an epidemic of blackness on The Daily Show since I took over".
The new South African host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) tells The New York Times that there was a "racial blindspot" with Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. "Since I've joined, blackness has tremendously increased on the show".


BBC to turn 3 J.K. Rowling novels into a new TV series.
Will adapt The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and the upcoming thriller Career of Evil into a new crime series called The Cormoran Strike Mysteries.

Netflix knows exactly what episode of what show can trigger binge-viewing.
The global streaming video-on-demand service knows precisely what shows and what episodes of a show will likely trigger binge-watching - and its not necessarily the pilot episode.
Netflix is now offering audio description - which proves that journalism (covering television) can still change the world.

TV's reality craze is over 15 years after Survivor started it.
Viewers are fatigued and tired of reality TV shows of the American kind. The reality genre has become stale and there's been too much reliance on "gimmicks". Of course totally faking things like South Africa's Oulap se Rooi on kykNET (DStv 144) helps to erode and break viewers' trust in the fake TV trash programming.

After that Robert Downey Jr. junket went wrong, yet another press junket interview blows up with Robert De Niro.
Another massive film publicity press junket makes headlines for all the wrong reasons as the difficult and condescending Robert De Niro walks out.

In Cuba there's barely internet - but they watch everything.
Fascinating insight in this article about how Cubans watch all the American TV shows and movies and read The New York Times through a vast underground system of distributing TV shows and publications through the entire country for their "subscribers".

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 23 September 2015

Tutankhamun drama series will film in South Africa from mid-October.
Sam Neill and Max Irons will star in the 4-part drama from ITV Studios based on Howard Carter and his discover of the boy-king pharaoh's tomb. ITV Studios Global Entertainment will distribute the show internationally.

BBC making big drama about (fall of) Troy.
Fall of the City will start later this year as an epic new drama series.

After America's ESPN dumped South Africa and Afric on DStv
times are getting tough as ESPN prepares to fire up to 300 ESPN workers.

Massive job cuts also coming to Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257).
Falling oil prices to blame for the Qatari TV news channel set to sack hundreds of workers worldwide soon. Internal email warns staff to get ready for "painful cuts".


"Hlaudi Motsoeneng is our Messiah".
Must-read laugh of the day: SABC employee Lungelo Gumede writes in The Sowetan that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is "the best boss we have ever had" and that at the SABC under Hlaudi Motsoeneng "hundreds of employees were freed from slavery".
Oh, and before Hlaudi, SABC employees allegedly were "forced to pay bribes to get shifts" and female workers allegedly were "forced to do sexual favours". You can't make this stuff up.


New DStv changes are unfair...
...says South Africa's commissioner of the Competition Commission, Tembinkosi Bonakele. Speaks in Namibia about how MultiChoice in Africa took out the most popular TV channels from the cheaper package and moved it to the more expensive package.

The clock is ticking for the SABC's "Teflon man".
The controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng is facing a speeding bullet in the case before the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Don't get attached to FOX's new Minority Report.
The new science fiction drama Minority Report on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) is a failure - only 3.1 million viewers and in basically last place, this show is basically doomed just like last year's Almost Human. Meanwhile the fascinating Blindspot coming to M-Net (DStv 101) is tops.

Minority Report lacks imagination with its old and boring vision of the future. And how TV executives secretly now know within 15 minutes whether a new show will survive or get cancelled.


The new American TV season is already stumbling says AdAge.


Scream Queens is bad and a howler says The Los Angeles Times.
The new drama starts tonight on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 125) in South Africa. It's a missed opportunity and bad says TIME.  Scream Queens on FOX is bad and flat and Scream Queens goes from good to really bad quickly.


How long before it starts happening in South African television?
In America, actors and producers now "live-tweet" along with episodes and debut episodes to do publicity and help hype up interaction and awareness for TV shows.


"When you hear the term MultiChoice Content Showcase what comes to mind is boring"
For me as part of the South African press what comes to mind is the word "exclusion".
Anyway, who knew the SuperSport volleyball session in Mauritius rained out off?
All the gifts given to the press at the MultiChoice Content Showcase - like the Canon EOS Digital SLR camera.


Bloomberg Television is adding Bloomberg as a new morning show.
No word on whether it will be seen on Bloomberg Television (DStv 411) in South Africa and Africa when it starts on 5 October with David Westin and Stephanie Ruhle.

When Aaron Spelling ruled Television.
Your must-read, long-read article of the day.


MultiChoice celebrates 20 years of DStv in Uganda...
...with a party last Thursday night at the new MultiChoice head office and customer care centre in Kampala. Meanwhile there's a big "Multichoice" spelling mistake on its own dedication plaque.


Really? Sean Penn sues Empire co-creator Lee Daniels for $10 million.
Claims defamation and says Lee Daniels accused him of domestic violence in a comparison with Terrence Howard. Of course tied up Madonna in the 80s and physically assaulted her for hours - but you forgot about that.

ShowMax has no plans to increase its price.
The South African streaming video-on-demand (VOD) service will remain at R99 per month.

Trevor Noah will "re-introduce" The Daily Show as a 4-day miniseries.
The Daily Show will return on Comedy Central (DStv 122) as a 4-part series. "We're dividing the week into a four-part miniseries that will set the tone for what we hope the show will be," Trevor Noah tells Rolling Stone.

FOX on DStv and StarSat gets new dramas Minority Report, Scream Queens; will debut 2nd season of Empire within 24 hours after America.

FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) has emerged and continues to be the strongest new competition for M-Net, adding hot brand-new dramas Minority Report and Scream Queens for September and showing these two as well as the second season of hit series Empire all within hours after broadcast in America.

FOX International Channels and FOX International Channels Africa (FIC Africa) is further closing the gap between the time that hit and premium new television is shown in America and when its broadcast in South Africa and across the rest of the African continent.

Science fiction drama Minority Report based on the Steven Spielberg movie (look out for The Simpsons seen inside it which is still on TV in 2065!) will start on FOX on 22 September at 20:30.

The new horror thriller Scream Queens from Glee's Ryan Murphy filled with the original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis and a killer cast on the receiving end of a serial killer on campus starts on FOX on 23 September at 20:30.

Then there's the second season of the new uber-hit Empire with crazy Cookie, the second season of which will start on FOX in South Africa on 24 September at 21:00.

Like what M-Net (DStv 101) does with its "Express from the US" series and AMCI Zone's AMC channel on MultiChoice's DStv and On Digital Media's StarSat now does with Fear the Walking Dead; FIC Africa is now also doing with FOX.

Minority Report, Scream Queens and Empire will all be shown in South Africa within hours after episodes are shown in the United States in high definition (HD) on DStv, as well as on StarSat.

Minority Report has a first season of 13 episodes and stars detective Lara Vega (Meagan Good) fighting crime with Stark Sands' character who get vision of the future - and of crimes to be committed before they happen.

Scream Queens has Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Niecy Nash, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande as well as Emma Roberts. They run around and ... scream ... in fear in this new highly anticipated drama series focusing on a string of college campus murders as a devil-clad killer wreaks havoc.

Empire will continue with a highly anticipated second season of 18 episodes with Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard and several guest stars in the upcoming season ranging from Alicia Keys and Ludacris to Kelly Rowland and Chris Rock.