Leanne Manas marks 20 years as SABC2's Morning Live anchor.

by Thinus Ferreira

Leanne Manas has just marked two decades on the air as anchor of SABC2's Morning Live show since she joined on 1 August 2004.

Leanne Manas joined the late Vuyo Mbuli and replaced temporary co-anchor Michelle Garforth who sat in after Tracy Going abruptly left, 20 years ago this month.

Leanne Manas remarked that she now has a "little fuller, more eyebrows" than 20 years ago.

Looking back at a clip of her first day's first broadcast, Leanne Manas on the show she now co-anchors with Sakina Kamwendo, said she remembers "being so nervous".

"I was starstruck because this was Vuyo Mbuli. You aspired to be next to him. I never in my wildest dreams, ever, ever believed that I would still be sitting here."

Leanne Manas revealed that Morning Live for her "was going to be a short stint. Because of the mornings. I don't like the mornings. And broadcasting is short stints. You never stay. You don't do that. But something happened. Something happened and it just became bigger than me. And it always has been and it always will be."

She explained that Morning Live and the SABC, before the advent of the digital era, "had a fax machine in the office and you'd ask the question of the day, and say 'send us your views'. They then had to fax it through to the office, and then you'd read the answers the next day".

"So nothing was immediate about it. There were no cellphones. We couldn't take selfies. There was no Twitter, there was no Instagram, there was nothing. Facebook came around but that was about it. So we had fax machines."

About Sakina Kamwendo joining as co-anchor six years ago, Leanne Manas said "when we came together here it was a brilliant turnaround. The one thing that people have always said about Morning Live is the consistency of it. You become a family. And when that consistency gels with a brilliant partnership, then you know you're in for success".

TV RATINGS October 2022: e.tv's Scandal! keeps gunning for SABC1's Generations; WINNERS: SABC2's Morning Live, Moja Love's X-Repo, e.tv with Vin Diesel LOSERS: Mzansi Magic's Idols, SABC3's The Estate, SABC2's Muvhango.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's prime-time ratings race has become a fierce two-horse competition between SABC1 and e.tv, with viewers kicking off their nightly viewing starting with e.tv's House of Zwide on e.tv at 19:00 followed by Scandal! at 19:30, then flipping the channel to SABC1's Generations at 20:00 and Uzalo at 20:30.

With prime-time ratings that steadily keep climbing, eMedia's e.tv free-to-air TV channel now has the second and fourth most-watched TV shows on South African television, with Scandal! in second place and 5 114  755 viewers in October - just 770 805 viewers away from Uzalo's 5 885 560 viewers in October as SABC1 and the country's most-watched TV programme.

Generations on SABC1 comes in third place with 4 643 191 viewers in October, but with just over 300 000 viewers difference, e.tv in fourth position with House of Zwide and its audience of 4 312 744, is now clearly gunning and trying to overtake Generations.

The TV share - the percentage of total TV sets switched on at any given moment and tuned to a specific TV channel - tells a remarkable story of how South African viewers are channel-flipping between SABC1 and e.tv to curate their own linear broadcast nightly viewing experience.

Between 19:00 and 20:00 more than 40% of all TV sets are switched to e.tv in South Africa, surging to 45% for Scandal!. Viewers then switch to SABC1 at 20:00 for the next hour to watch Generations and Uzalo, with the TV share of 43% climbing to 57% by 21:00.

Nothing else on South African television comes close to these four TV shows from SABC1 and e.tv in terms of ratings and audience share.

Zulu and Xhosa TV news shine

Skeem Saam on SABC1 lost viewers in October, luring 3.94 million, down from September's 4.17 million. While still commanding massive audiences, the Zulu TV news (down from 2.45 to 2.3 million) and the Xhosa TV news (down from 2.73 to 2.19 million) remain the two most watched TV news bulletins on South African television.

Illustrating the massive ongoing viewership decline problem that SABC2 has is that the Muvhango repeat at 08:30 in the mornings on SABC1 lures more viewers than original first-run episodes during prime time on SABC2. 

Muvhango on SABC1 grabbed 1.99 million viewers in the morning, compared to a depressing 1.579 million at 21:30 on SABC2 during prime time in October as SABC2's most-watched, but fading show.

Fooled by Love dropped from 1.879 to 1.621 million viewers in October, while The Executives fell from 1.621 to 1.588 million viewers.

Morning Live punching above its weight

The haemorrhage of SABC2's ratings continues with only Muvhango managing more than a million viewers and 10 out of the channel's top 20 shows now unable to draw more than half a million viewers.

The Afrikaans TV soap 7de Laan remained the second-most watched show on the channel during October, improving slightly from 859 016 to 908 895 viewers. Kgatelopele improved slightly from 725 658 to 771 078 viewers. The Afrikaans TV news bulletin was down from 631 325 viewers to 611 606 in October.

Morning Live remains a shining star for SABC2 - punching far above its weight in its early morning timeslot and further increasing its viewership by 94 683 in October from an already phenomenal 475 519 viewers in September to 570 202 viewers (16.5 share) in October. 

The Setswana TV news bulletin improved from 521 677 to 532 032 viewers in October while president Cyril Ramaphosa's live presidential address on 23 October had 449 769 viewers tuning in. Close to the same number - 443  929 watched an umpteenth repeat of Murder She Wrote in its 14:00-timeslot in the afternoons.

SABC3's The Estate more watched on repeat

The Premier League match between Manchester City and Southampton on 8 October was the top-scorer on SABC3 with 608 491 viewers, followed by Tropika Island of Treasure with 547 990 viewers and Katlego Maboe suddenly substituted as host.

The film Rise of the Planet of the Apes was third with 546 037 viewers, followed by the English TV news bulletin at 18:00 with 509 394 viewers. 

Viewers don't watch the ratings-challenged The Estate from Clive Morris Productions in prime time on SABC3, rather watching the 11:00 repeat in the mornings with 457 703 viewers and the Saturday omnibus that lured 445 046 viewers.

The American talk show The View had 296 121 viewers, drama series Tropical Heat had 288 162, and news show On Point lured 286 416 viewers.

Vin Diesel xxxx-cellent for e.tv

On e.tv Imbewu dropped from 2.67 to 2.25 million viewers, the cancelled Durban Gen remained even from 2.56 to 2.59 million viewers, while The Black Door shed over half a million viewers, plunging from 2.5 to 1.99 million viewers.

The e.tv news at 20:00 lost audience from 1.9 to 1.6 million viewers in October.

South African viewers are "weird" when it comes to watching e.tv movies - they will watch them again and again. 

On Saturday 15 October XXX: The Return of Xander Cage drew a strong 1.64 million viewers to the 20:00-timeslot. 

You think that's it - until e.tv also slotted a repeat for the next day, with Vin Diesel again drawing another jaw-dropping 1.3 million further viewers at 14:30 with little audience drop-off. It means the film lured close to 3 million viewers for e.tv with two combined airings.

Moja Love's X-Repo surges 

On DStv in October Mzansi Magic's (DStv 166) Gomora remained atop the ratings pecking order although MultiChoice again had a month dipping below a  million DStv subscribers, going from 1 014 085 viewers in September to 997 735 in October.

Moja Love's (DStv 157) Sunday night tabloid series Uyajola 9/9 gathered viewers, growing from 876 201 to 924 859 viewers in October. 

The Queen remained flat from 661 478 to 659 211 viewers, while Idols improved somewhat for its Top 7 contestants show from 542 049 to a still-low 686 199 DStv subscribers watching on 2 October.

The River on Mzansi Magic went from 608 277 to 564 451 viewers in October, while X-Repo on Moja Love surged from 492 333 to 647 213 viewers, becoming the 6th most-watched show on DStv in the month. 

The Real Housewives of Cape Town on Mzansi Magic picked up some viewers, improving from 396 719 to 531 981 in October.

TV RATINGS March 2022: Big Brother Mzansi damages DStv's Mzansi Magic as SABC3 gets a BBC-boost with The Perfect Planet.

by Thinus Ferreira

The result of a badly-produced season of Big Brother Mzansi inflicted further TV ratings damage for Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) on Sunday nights during March with the show that lost an eye-popping 25% of its viewership since its debut in February - which was already lower than Idols.

Elsewhere in the TV ratings race during March 2022, the ratings deflation of SABC2 continued, SABC3 brought in a slightly improved performance helped by the BBC's The Perfect Planet on Sunday evenings, while e.tv had a wedding glow.

March 2022's TV ratings had SABC1's Uzalo (7 million) and Generations (5.69 million), as well as e.tv's Scandal (4.89 million) and House of Zwide (4.36 million) retain their top four positions as South Africa's most-watched TV shows during the month.

On SABC1 Skeem Saam (up from 3.82 to 4.04 million) had slightly more viewers in March, with both the Xhosa TV news (2.64 million) and the Zulu TV news (2.59 million) remaining very strong as the two most-watched TV news bulletins in the country. 

The Siswati/Ndebele TV news also picked up viewers from 1.45 in February to 1.56 million.

The latest season of Nyan' Nyan' surged from 1.72 to 2.2 million viewers on SABC1, while Selimathunzi climbed from 1.62 million to 1.87 million viewers in March. 

The reality show, 13 Weeks to Find Mr Right is on a roll and will quite likely see another season: it picked up viewers from 1.55 in February to 1.78 million viewers in March.

SABC2 deflation

SABC2's ratings deflation problem continues. 

While Muvhango on SABC2 remained ever so slightly up at 3 309 806 viewers at most during March from February's 3 300 031 as the channel's most-watched show, the ratings of the rest of SABC2's schedule continue to weaken month by month.

In March, the pieces of programming on SABC2 that managed to lure more than 1 million viewers fell from five to just three. Besides Muvhango, only the Setswana/Sepedi TV news at 1 300 906 and Giyani at 1 026 424 lured more than a million eyeballs. 

In February the 20th most-watched show on SABC2 (the film Despicable Me) still had 440 663 viewers. In March it was further down to 379 094 viewers (for a Generations repeat). Quite worrying is that the bulk of SABC2's ratings is starting to look like SABC3 a few years ago.

On the good side is the morning show Morning Live holding steady and over-performing at 528 564 viewers on SABC2 on weekday mornings. Hlala Kwabafileyo was up from 822 831 to 873 471 viewers. The Afrikaans soap 7de Laan was slightly up in March from 824 566 to 897 861 viewers.

A Perfect Planet helps S3

SABC3's ratings performance looked slightly better with both its top and bottom end of 20 highest-rated shows on the channel showing an improvement.

The film The Hate U Give lured the most viewers during March to S3 with 576 562 viewers, compared to February's top of a repeat episode of The Estate at 490 709.

While The Insider SA was February's 20th most-watched show on the channel at 229 714 viewers, SABC3 improved that ratings position with March's 20th place holder on SABC3 which was an episode of the BBC's The Perfect Planet attracting 317 634 viewers.

The Perfect Planet in fact came to SABC3 rescue during the month with four episodes from the series on Sunday nights that helped to boost the channel's ratings and all making its list of most-watched shows for the month: "Oceans" with 475 695 viewers, "Weather" with 407 721, "Volcano" with 336 823, and "The Sun" on 13 March with 317 634 viewers. 

Variety-reality show The Masked Singer is doing okay-ish with 468 033 viewers given the channel's challenges. An original episode of the second season of local telenovela The Estate lured 352 741 viewers at most  - up from February's highest of 296 682.

Interesting to note: More viewers watch The Estate episodes as an omnibus on Saturdays than during the tough 19:00 weekday timeslot. In March The Estate omnibus pulled 464 564 viewers on Saturday.

e.tv mixing and wedding matching

Free-to-air commercial channel e.tv continues to have the best mix in local and international both rating well with March that was no exception. 

Besides Scandal! and House of Zwide atop its ratings leaderboard, Imbewu turned in a slightly down but still fine third place with 3.44 million (down from February's 3.88 million), with Durban Gen surging from 2.16 to 2.51 million viewers during March.

Droves of viewers again watched Leon Schuster's Mr Bones (3.26 million) as the 4th most-watched content of the month on e.tv, with the channel's etv News bulletin at 20:00 at 1.96 million viewers that remains a strong ratings draw.

Pay-TV content chosen wisely, scheduled correctly and getting a public television window can still draw sizeable audiences with M-Net's Our Perfect Wedding that was on Mzansi Magic getting a great ratings reception on e.tv with 1.5 million viewers.

It's proof that pay-TV content windowed on free TV can work for all - leading to ancillary revenue for pay-TV operators through additional programme sales, and new ratings for free-to-air channels in turn making hay through ad income from pulling in new viewers who didn't watch the content before on pay-TV.

e.tv's new adult telenovela The Black Door got great sampling during March as well: An astounding 2.77 million viewers watched the preview filler on 28 March.

Big Brother Mzansi drags

In March, MultiChoice and Mzansi Magic continued to pay the price for the problems with a lacklustre Big Brother Mzansi that was marred with shoddy production values with more and more viewers who tuned out from the Sunday night live shows.  

Where Big Brother Mzansi started with 529 041 viewers in January (already lower than Idols SA), its drop in February to 487 770 continued in March to 396 192 viewers at most. That's a loss of 25% from the start of the revived show to March. It will be interesting to see if Big Brother Mzansi could muster a rating turn-around for its finale on 3 April.

It's striking that Mzansi Magic has now lost over 600 000 DStv subscribers on Sunday evenings compared to a year ago before the last season of Idols experienced a sudden and unprecedented ratings implosion.

Elsewhere on MultiChoice's platform during March, Gomora at 1 063 440 was the top-rated show on DStv for the month, followed by an episode of The Queen at 814 637 viewers. The River was third with 707 169, and then Diep City with 655 496 subscribers watching.

Umndeni on Moja Love (DStv 157) climbed from 482 880 to 514 116 viewers in March.

South African television ratings in 2021: The winners and losers.

by Thinus Ferreira

We again saw a lot this year, and in 2021 a lot of that was on television, with millions of South Africans watching the same thing, at the same time, where linear TV broadcasting still triumphs over streaming services that are growing but from a very small base.

Given the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, as well as the public unrest and looting that took place in the country, 2021's biggest TV ratings winner was undoubtedly television news.

The TV swansong of veteran anchor Noxolo Grootboom on the night of 30 March drew a huge audience of 3.82 million to SABC1 for her final SABC News isiXhosa TV news bulletin at 19:00 on South African television.

The 3 823 686 viewers who tuned in represented a 33 share, meaning that 1 out of every 3 TV sets that were switched on during the timeslot, were tuned to watch her.

Although not entertainment content, every single televised presidential address and "family meeting" of president Cyril Ramaphosa in 2021 - from Covid lockdown announcements to speaking about the public looting and unrest in South Africa and his State of the Nation address - drew millions of viewers combined for each broadcast, as viewers watched him speak live on SABC, e.tv and the three TV news channels of eNCA (DStv 403), SABC News (DStv 404), and Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405).

Such was the huge and successful ratings that if Cyril Ramaphosa's speeches were a TV show it would definitely have been renewed for another season in 2022. 

In just July for instance, president Cyril Ramaphosa's televised address to the nation to announce that South Africa is moving to an adjusted Level 3 lockdown on 25 July propelled his speech to the most-watched "show" on SABC2 for the month.

It was also the 4th most-watched on all of South African television with 5.84 million viewers (15.09 AR / 44.8 share) who tuned in.

Just a few weeks earlier, millions of viewers were once again glued to SABC2 when Cyril Ramaphosa spoke on 12 July to address the public violence with 3.7 million viewers (9.57 AR / 28.4 share), and again when he made a speech on 16 July about the looting that drew 4.17 million viewers (10.78 AR / 32.4 share).

Add another 1.7 million viewers who watched president Cyril Ramaphosa and his speech on 12 July on e.tv, and another 3.19 million who watched his speech on e.tv on 11 July.

Public unrest lifts news ratings

Anxiety and fear around Covid and public unrest in South Africa lifted TV news ratings on South African television to new records - millions of viewers tuned to television to find out what was going on.

Combined, the Zulu TV news bulletin on SABC1 in 2021 remained the single most-watched piece of TV news content on all of South African television this year and kept surging in the ratings race as it added millions of viewers.

The Zulu TV news on SABC1 climbed to an astounding 4.6 million viewers (12.11 AR / 36.4 share) viewers in July as the 5th most-watched programme on South African television for the month with the 12 July broadcast recording the most viewers.

This was followed by the Xhosa TV news bulletin on SABC1 on 13 July with 4.49 million viewers (11.62 AR / 35.2 share) as the 6th most-watched programme on TV for the month. 

In this month, the Setswana TV news bulletin on SABC2 surged on 12 July to an absolutely incredible 2.6 million viewers (6.95 AR / 19.9 share) - up from 768 544 viewers in June.

The memorial service of the amaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini in March snagged 712 222 viewers on SABC2 in March.

And good morning to all of those early risers: Despite so many challenges behind-the-scenes at the SABC, Morning Live on SABC2 in 2021 continued to pull more viewers early in the morning - in excess of 700 000 - than a lot of other TV shows get during prime time.

Newzroom excels

The unrest of 2021 lifted the 2-year old TV news channel Newzroom Afrika to higher prominence as one of the notable TV ratings winners of the year.

Newzroom Afrika dethroned eNCA for the first time this year as the most-watched TV news channel during a national crisis event during July's unrest and looting, as it experienced a surge of pay-TV viewers on Monday 12 July and pushing it to the top of TV news ratings in that month on MultiChoice's DStv.

Having poached SABC News and eNCA talent ranging from Vaylen Kirtley to Thembekile Mrototo this year, Newzfeed with Stephen Grootes on 12 July was the 22nd most-watched and highest-rated TV news show on DStv in July - the first time that Newzroom Afrika had such a ratings victory that counts as a new highwater-mark viewership success for the channel.

This was closely followed by Newzroom Afrika's Daytime Update block between 12:00 and 15:00 on the same day that lured 470 324 (1.22 AR / 6.9 share) viewers, giving the channel a second notch and bragging rights during that month's ratings ladder.

More Moja and Uzalo

The year gave e.tv reason to smile with its new primetime soap at 19:00, House of Zwide, that replaced the cancelled Rhythm City, which is a bona fide ratings success, luring in excess of 4 million viewers monthly.

On pay-TV, the tabloid content of Moja Love (DStv 157) continued to grip lower-tiered DStv subscribers during 2021 with the channel that kept rising in the ratings race, making Moja Love the biggest pay-TV channel ratings gainer in the year.

In some months Moja Love became the most-watched content on all of DStv, pushing Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) out of the top spots with its collection of sensationalist reality shows like Ujayola 9/9, Isencane Lengane, Giants of the City, Mamazala, No Excuse Pay Papgeld and Single and Mingle.

On free TV, the SABC1-trifecta of Uzalo, Generations and Skeem Saam kept the crown as the country's most-watched shows and entertainment programming with respectively around 8 million, 6.5 million and 5 million viewers.

Props to Anaconda: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid with e.tv that broadcast it for the umpteenth time in 2021 and still bit a whopping 3.5 million viewers.

Ratings losers and disappointments

The South African public broadcaster's "problem child", SABC3, became even more of a problem in 2021 as ratings keep tanking month after month all through the year even after a disastrous rebrand to "S3" that didn't do anything to stem the loss of viewers.

Over the last 5 years, SABC3 lost over 50% of its audience and shed some more in 2021.

From 1.525 million viewers that SABC3 had in January 2016 half a decade ago - already a small percentage from the channel's heydeys in the 2000s - ongoing viewership and TV rating erosion saw its viewership plummet to as low as 625 717 viewers (excluding a once-off soccer broadcast) by October.

The success of e.tv's House of Zwide pummelled S3's new soap The Estate in the same death-zone 19:00-timeslot that has been a ratings disaster for the channel - so much so that the SABC decided on repurposing-triage by putting reruns of The Estate on SABC1 during prime time as a windowing-experiment to try and funnel viewers to SABC3.

SABC3's attempt to introduce a new late afternoon talk show this year with Unpacked with Relebogile was also a dud, sliding from an already-low 340 000 viewers to just over 300 000 by August with none of the buzz that 3Talk with Noeleen and Real Talk with Anele once had.

With little exposure and buzz, South Africa's Ugly Betty-version of uBettina Wethu was a ratings disappointment in the 19:30-timeslot on SABC1, while Die Sentrum from Penguin Films that replaced the Friday episode of 7de Laan lured far less viewers and saw SABC2 end the timeslot-replacement experiment.

The shockingly sharp decline if Idols

The year's biggest ratings-shocker was M-Net and [SIC] Entertainment's long-running Idols on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) that suddenly plunged in viewership after scandal engulfed the choreographer-socialite Somizi Mhlongo who immediately exited the 17th season after serious allegations of physical abuse.

Idols started off season 17 with 1 018 607 viewers on Mzansi Magic in July as usual, as the 4th most-watched show on all of DStv for the month.

Instead of climbing and the usual ratings increase as interest would build, Idols suddenly plunged with DStv subscribers who were no longer interested in watching following the scandal as the show plunged to 10th place on DStv's most-watched list with 693 760 viewers at most in August.

It was further downhill from there for Idols with a season-low of just 683 814 viewers in October, far-off from where Idols used to rank during the live Sunday live spectacular broadcasts. So bad was the ratings that for the first time since Idols began on South African television, Mzansi Magic axed the post-finale press conference for the winner.

Once American Idol ratings started to tank in the United States it never recovered and it will be interesting to see what Idols does viewership wise in 2022 for its 18th season.

SABC shocks as public broadcaster parts ways with veteran sportscaster Robert Marawa; Vaylen Kirtley exits after 20 years to jump to Newzroom Afrika.

by Thinus Ferreira

As usual, since it's Friday, the SABC shocked when it suddenly announced that the South African public broadcaster has parted ways with the popular veteran sports presenter Robert Marawa whose Marawa Sport Worldwide show is apparently done and not returning to SABC radio, and with the popular TV presenter Vaylen Kirtley who is exiting after 2 decades with the SABC as she jumps to Newzroom Afrika.

Robert Marawa and his latest Marawa Sport Worldwide, has been hugely popular and a drawcard to bring large swathes of listeners to SABC radio stations, as has been previous programmes he fronted for the SABC on radio and television.

Likewise, Vaylen Kirtley has become a mainstain in the mornings on SABC2 and SABC News on Morning Live over years, while she also appeared on other SABC Sport programming. 

Insiders told TVwithThinus on Friday that Vaylen Kirtley is joining the South African TV news channel Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405). Newzroom Afrika has not yet made any announcements regarding her hiring.

Robert Marawa on social media on Friday said that he has once again "been shown the door by the SABC and unceremoniously told not to do my last show tonight".

Robert Marawa said that "after serving the public broadcaster through time, I am sent yet another text from a person in an acting position informing" him that his last show won't be broadcast on Friday after the issuing of a press release by the SABC, with the SABC apparently fearing what Robert Marawa might say in his final show.

In a terse statement lacking transparency and giving no reasons at all for either departure, the SABC, mere minutes before noon on Friday, announced that Robert Marawa and Vaylen Kirtley are no longer with the public broadcaster.

The statement contained no quotes attributed to either Robert Marawa or Vaylen Kirtley and their exit comes as the SABC is trying to bolster the content and talent of its SABC Sport brand and digital terrestrial TV channel run by SABC Sport boss Gary Rathbone.

"The SABC would like to announce the departure of renowned sports broadcasters Robert Marawa and Vaylen Kirtley," the SABC statement reads.

"Robert Marawa departs following the conclusion of the MSW (Marawa Sport Worldwide) which Robert Marawa presented on both Metro FM and Radio 2000 simultaneously."

"Vaylen Kirtley presented the sports segment of the SABC's television current affairs show, Morning Live and was also an anchor for SABC Sport programming. She joined the SABC 20 years ago and started with junior sports programmes at the time."

"The SABC would like to wish Robert Marawa and Vaylen Kirtley well in their future endeavours and appreciates their contribution to SABC Sport programming."

‘Sakina, we’re live’: The SABC's Morning Live presenters mock Namibia's NBC presenters Jessica and Elmarie after their awkward on-air spat.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's public broadcaster, known for several of its own on-air gaffes over the years, on Thursday had some fun mocking its Namibian TV neighbour when the presenters of Morning Live worked in a skit and did their own version of a sensational video that went viral overnight of the awkward on-air fight between two presenters at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).

On Wednesday night a clip surfaced of the cringe-worthy interaction between Elmarie Kapunda, a news anchor on NBC's nightly TV news programme on Namibia's public broadcaster, and the sports presenter Jessica.

After Elmarie apparently "intruded" on the content or lines that Jessica wanted to say, Jessica started to scold Elmarie  with a "No,we are not going to do that! You're just going to greet me and say, 'Take it away", after which Elmarie had to remind her fellow presenter: "Jessica, we're live". 

Awkward silence, dead air and cold stares followed, after which the NBC News technical director cut to a commercial break.

Namibia's NBC has so far not released any statement about the incident and it's not clear whether any of the on-air talent has been suspended on taken leave.

On Thursday, Morning Live, broadcast on SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) reported about the incident in its daily trending topics. Later anchor Sakina Kamwendo and presenter Vaylen Kirtley had fun poking fun at their NBC colleagues' on-air moment.

Sakina Kamwendo and Vaylen Kirtley substituted their names and Vaylen had to tell her colleague: "Sakina, we're live", after which Sakina blankly stared into the Auckland Park TV camera for a few seconds - after which she cracked a smile.

On Wednesday night the SABC and SABC had its own on-air problem when anchor Vuyo Mvoko suddenly had to deal with an unexpected connection blackout during the The Watchdog timeslot:

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 20 October 2020.

 

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

■ Almost naked on the ice: ITV signs up a bunch of Britcelebs to take their clothes off and skate, skate, skate over Christmas in a The Real Full Monty on Ice Brit-TV special.

■ Former NBC CNN correspondent Michelle Kosinski who allegedly got pillow-talk state secrets from her UK ambassador lover Kim Darroch in America during their extramarital affair says the reporting is "nonsense" and "incorrect information"; is talking to her lawyers.

■ Netflix had a great 2020. But 2021 could be rough.

Will report its 2020 Q3 earnings and subscriber numbers late on Tuesday.

■ Britain's ITV commercial TV broadcaster announces restructuring; will now focus on digital video-on-demand (VOD) as it starts a new media and entertainment division.

The United Kingdom's version of e.tv says that linear TV channels will be around and still profitable into the future but that ITV urgently needs a video-on-demand business.

- ITV's increased focus on video streaming comes as it shifts away from traditional TV to compete with Disney+ and Netflix.

■ CNN's (DStv 401) chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin suspended by The New Yorker magazine after showing his penis during Zoom staff meeting. Will also no longer appear on CNN while he deals with "personal issues".

- Jeffrey Toobin says "I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me".

- Jeffrey Toobin was masturbating says the shocked people who had to witness the Zoom election simulation.

■ Thailand's government censors and suspends Voice TV covering the growing unrest and public protests in that country.

■ Netflix's disappointing Away science fiction drama with Hilary Swank cancelled after a single season.

■ SABC strike looms as talks with unions fail over massive retrenchments at the bloated South African public broadcaster.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatens to strike along with Bemawu.

■ After getting rid of 13 workers the SABC says more staffers are getting fired soon who were not properly appointed.

The SABC News Forum says the group is appalled by the decision to fire workers.

■ Mzwanele Manyi is hiding the former ANN7 / Afro Worldview assets liquidators that he got from the Gupta's notorious DStv propaganda TV channel.

High-end studio equipment, three vehicles, financial books and other documents allegedly kept away from liquidators with Mzwanele Manyi and his Lodidox refusing to cooperate with liquidators as creditors are over R5 million.

■ Top TV shows that get sex right according to experts.

■ MultiChoice Nigeria was forced to explain to the country's government that hates the pay-TV company, why it can't offer DStv on the imaginary "pay-as-you-go" basis. Stupid Nigerian media still can't and won't understand and calls MultiChoice Nigeria's explanation "an unacceptable excuse".

■ SABC2's Morning Live presenter Leanne Manas mesmerised by a birthday painting from Rasta that doesn't look like her at all.

■ Fewer than 2% of writers within the British TV industry are black.

■ Why "docusoaps" are the new reality TV.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 1 September 2020.

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

■ MUST WATCH: American reporter at Weather Channel does Hurricane Laura stand-and-report saying "We want to make good TV for you guys" ... then gets hit by debris.

■ Erect penis shown on public British TV for the first time.

■ At Fox News (StarSat 261) the alleged sexual misconduct of the now-fired anchor Ed Henry was an open secret accusers say.

■ Australian anchor working for CGTN (DStv 409 / StarSat 266), Cheng Lei, detained by China and held in Beijing.

■ Opinionated Fox News style TV news channel planned for Britain.


■ The New York Times is dumping TV listings after 81 years, says it won't do away with covering television but will focus more on video streaming content.
- A "final episode" for the NYT TV listings after 8 decades because newspaper is "firmly in the streaming age".

■  Russia Today (DStv 407) filler presenters popping up on Belarus state television after hundreds of staffers and presenters walked out in protest.

■ Ridiculous "over-cutting" is the curse of video streaming shows and ruining them:
"Just reactions shoehorned in everywhere, and fast cutting for no reason".

■ Nollywood blues: Nigeria's film industry has taken a massiv knock because of Covid-19.

■ Australian television says it has enough content amidst Covid-19 that caused many shows to suspend filming, but a lot are reality shows.

■ British TV dramas may look world class but Covid-19 has exposed a darker reality:
Depends largely on freelancers, with thousands of creative workers now all out of work.

■ Nigeria's government has the audacity to tell MultiChoice Nigeria as a private company that it's not allowed to fire any workers.

■ Facebook warns Australia that it will block any news being shared on its platform in that country.


■ A nightmare real-life fairy-tale: "A troll has taken over my DStv".


■ How The Crown on Netflix adapts its appearance as the British royal family changes over decades.

■ SABC radio DJ at Motsweding FM's Tumi Moetsi allegedly appointed irregularly to upgrade a water treatment plan in the North West province. (subscription required).

■ Zimbabwe's Zimbabwe Broadcasting Authority (BAZ) shortlists 14 applicants for new free-to-air TV licences.

■ Netflix cancels Altered Carbon. Here's why the second season was terribly bad.
- Even as Netflix is on a cancellation spreek and axing shows like Altered Carbon, subscribers seem to remain loyal.

■ Leanne Manas, co-anchor of Morning Live on SABC2: "I always thought I was going to be a DJ".

■ Viewers are unimpressed with Netflix's Million Dollar Beach House.

■ eNCA (DStv 403) anchor Shahan Ramkissoon says he won't apologise for doing his job.

■ It's time for Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, South Africa's latest communications minister and "one-woman wrecking ball", to be fired (subscription required).
"Is either a petty despot or clueless about her job."

The SABC starts using its new Studio 11 for live broadcasting; switches Morning Live now done from there, with the HD-enabled set that will also be used as the SABC News main 2019 election coverage studio.

The SABC today switched to using its new Studio 11 inside the SABC TV Block at its Auckland Park headquarters for live broadcasting for the first time - a new high definition (HD) enabled studio that will be used as the South African public broadcaster's main 2019 election coverage broadcast studio.

The new studio that will be utilised for SABC News as well as SABC Sport broadcasting, is now being used by the SABC to do its morning show, Morning Live, from there.

The SABC failed to respond with any information to a media enquiry made Friday last week about the new studio that would come into use, and no publicity images nor press release about the multi-million rand studio upgrade was issued by the South African Broadcasting Corporation to the media.

On Monday morning, 1 April, Morning Live on SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) switched from its greyscale set and studio, to the new Studio 11, complete with some shaky camerawork and blurry, out-of-focus shots.

Studio 11 was bathed in amber hues in the studio where the dynamic mood-lighting built into the set can be adjusted and configured from the control room depending on specific daypart programming and whether news or sport content is being produced from there.

Besides the mood-lighting, the back-panel screens comprising the video wall, are also integrated and controlled from the studio's control room.

Studio 11 is the first fully-HD facility for the SABC's SABC News division, although it won't exclusively be used to produce live and pre-recorded news programming, but also for sports content.

The rest of the SABC News (DStv 404) channel's shows and programming will for the time being still be done from the other available sets.

The studio has 6 digital HD cameras of which one is on a camera-crane, a digital video mixing console, a 28-input picture production monitor-wall configurable for news or sport productions, as well as a digital lighting control suite.

"This studio is not only a full sports studio but also a fully-equipped news studio, which means SABC Sport can use this studio at the drop of a hat," said James Hill, MTI acting general manager for Broadcasting engineering services at the SABC.

He was interviewed on Monday morning by Morning Live's Leanne Manas for an insert about the new studio.

"This is SABC News' first HD studio and it's part of the SABC's digitisation programme to turn all our facilities into full-HD facilities," said James Hill.

The control desk is also "structured" and placed in tiers instead of one long control desk.

SABC FIRING LINE - CUE THE SCHMARNN: Schmarmy SABC chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini says SABC is looking at bringing outsourced productions back in-house; says SABC staffers more important than production companies.

Looking down, her eyes turned away from the camera, SABC2's Morning Live presenter Leanne Manas on Tuesday morning told South African viewers the news that broke on Monday evening that "the reality is retrenchments are looming here at the SABC and nobody is being left out of this one".

Tuesday started off with a conveyor belt of SABC'ers doing interviews on the public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404) channel, but none were more schmarmy than the SABC chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini, as usual managing to say nothing of substance but filling dead air.

Instead of giving clear and concise answers to SABC staffers and viewers on Leanne Manas' important questions, Bongumusa Makhathini once again continued to deflect, obfuscate and utter sweet nothings, while using as many high-brow newspeak-legalese words and phrases that ordinary people won't understand.

Dressed in his grey suit, Bongumusa Makhathini as usual came chattering without substance, giving viewers a lot of polit-newspeak without any clear-cut answers and was careful to avoid taking responsibility or being tied down with any real answers.

"Even if we get a bailout tomorrow, we still need to tackle the cost structure, and the cost structure of the SABC is driven by a number of things. It's labour costs - that R3.1 billion. The second one is sports rights."

"In the past 6 years the SABC has lost about R2.3 billion as a result of sports rights which we haven't been able to commercialise," said Bongumusa Makhathini.

Bongumusa Makhathini however failed to mention that it's been happening because of the SABC's own mismanagement, ineptitude and self-inflicted incompetence.

The SABC buys broadcasting rights for once-off matches just days before broadcast - something that cost astronomically more than multiple match or tournament package deals. The SABC then doesn't have enough time to find advertisers and sponsors to book and sell ad spots.

The SABC's hurried late sports acquisitions then lead to abrupt schedule disruptions that force the SABC to do "make-good ads" for other ad buyers (original ads are not shown in the programming those advertisers bought but during sport, meaning the SABC has to show those ads again later without getting money).

Furthermore, viewers don't know that the SABC has sport - angering both those viewers who tune in then don't get the original programme and no apology or explanation, and viewers who find out afterwards that they missed sports programming they would have watched.

Leanne Manas then asked Bongumusa Makhathini what about the SABC's own Henley Studios, parts of which has been left to decay, and why the SABC isn't doing more with its own infrastructure.

Only two of the SABC's multiple weekday soap operas are filmed at the SABC, while the rest are outsourced and filmed at studios of other production companies in Johannesburg.

"We are looking at all these things that we've done that don't make commercial sense. We have to do more from the SABC facilities," Bongumusa Makhathini said.

Leanne Manas then reminded Bongumusa Makhathini that "internalising" productions will damage the wider South African TV industry and take work away from production companies.

"If I have to ask you, do you really care about those production houses, or is it that the SABC is your care; your concern?"

Bongumusa Makhathini looked momentarily perplexed as if realising he was caught out by going along with the previous question and his politically correct answer.

He however kept up his politico-speak platitudes, saying: "We care about all stakeholders but remember our employees are our main priority," raised his eyebrows.

"That's even why with our financial situation, we prioritise things like paying salaries because that to us is important. But at the end of the day we also have to make sure what is our contribution to the overall development of the overall broadcasting industry as the SABC - but not at the expense of our own employees."

"That is why 'interlising' a lot of these production opportunities is important," said Bongumusa Makhathini.

The sun is setting on e.tv's morning show, Sunrise, in e.tv's latest downsizing; tears as fear and anxiety grip staffers who got told that they're facing retrenchment.

The sun is setting on e.tv's Sunrise breakfast show with e.tv that is planning on canning the existing version of the long running show and all its staffers at the end of March, with shocked workers who have been served retrenchment notices and are likely getting fired.

Sunrise has been on-air since 1 April 2008 when it replaced Morning Edition, and which in turn replaced e.tv's first try at breakfast television, The Toasty Show.

Now Sunrise - that over the past few years with limited resources struggled to complete with SABC2's Morning Live and SABC3's Expresso - is the next e.tv programming strand that has been earmarked for cost-cutting and shuttering in e.tv's ongoing trend of "downsizing" of news and current affairs programming.

e.tv is apparently now looking to outsource its morning show to an outside production company.

e.tv and eNCA cut and shuttered its Cape Town newsroom staff and studio in August 2016, following after large eNews and eNCA staff and programming cuts that took place in April 2015.

Adding irony is that e.tv is culling Sunrise a day before its 10th birthday with the show that has also cycled through several executive producers the past few years - with at least one in recent years who was asked to leave immediately.

Also ironic in e.tv wanting to outsource its morning show is that it wants to do the opposite of what the SABC tried and already discovered years ago wasn't working. The SABC outsourced it's morning show, AM2Day that was produced by Urban Brew Studios, before cancelling it and starting the existing Morning Live as an in-house production.

At eMedia Investments, e.tv and eNCA's head of current affairs, Debbie Meyers, has also recently resigned, although her resignation is not related to the downsizing of Sunrise and the shedding of staffers. e.tv's long running Club 808 has also been canned and will broadcast its final episode on 30 March with e.tv that says it won't be replacing it with a new music magazine show.

eMedia Investment staffers, beyond people directly working on Sunrise, have been left shaken and shocked over the Sunrise shutdown and outsourcing plan, not just wondering who is next, but why e.tv that's in the business of television and that has the capacity, now wants to pay external people for what can apparently be done by permanent staff in-house at the Hyde Park headquarters.

Staffers from divisions like eNCA, eNews and even the Afrikaans eNuus produced and done for kykNET (DStv 144), voiced concern the past two weeks over colleagues at Sunrise losing their jobs and it coming at the beginning of the year.

According to sources, staffers in the IT department are already serving their notice period. "IT personnel have an institutional memory on how to run the on-air system. How will outsiders do it? It opens the door for so many on-air problems," said a source.

Meanwhile full-time staffers have been served with pre-retrenchment notices, according to sources, with e.tv telling workers it's starting the process to legally retrench them. It's not clear what will be happening to Sunrise's on-air talent like Penny Lebyane, Mark Haskins and for instance news anchor Marc Chase who likely have different talent and work contracts with e.tv. Faith Mangope already left in September 2017 after four years with the show.

Meanwhile eMedia Investment staffers have been buzzing internally that even security and cleaning staff have been served notices, although this couldn't be independently confirmed.

"The whole of Sunrise got retrenchment letters, as did cleaners and security," said another concerned e.tv insider source not working for Sunrise specifically but familiar with what's happening there. "Functions will be outsourced. They've also retrenched IT. There are big job cuts going on," said this source, calling what's happening at e.tv and Sunrise with producers and staffers "devastating".

Another source said eMedia Investment staffers are "extremely stressed and shocked; there's been tears".

Sunrise is currently broadcast between 05:30 and 08:30 on e.tv as a three hour weekday strip on the schedule.

In a media enquiry e.tv was asked about the whole of Sunrise getting fired and if e.tv can say why this is being done and how many people are losing their jobs.

e.tv was asked who and how Sunrise - whether under this name or as a new show, if there is still going to be a morning-type show going forward - will be produced in future and why e.tv took the decision to no longer do Sunrise itself.

e.tv was also asked for clarity on the understanding that cleaners and security people are also being retrenched and why this is, and why IT people are being retrenched and their functions outsourced.

e.tv was also asked if it can explain the move to outsourcing and not doing news and actuality programming itself or in-house when it has permanent crew and news people, and what the rationale is for this move.

e.tv didn't want to answer any of these questions. e.tv responded with a general statement attributed to Mark Rosin, eMedia Investments's chief operating officer (COO).

"At times in the life cycle of a business, it is necessary to look at a company’s needs and requirements. eMedia Investments is currently considering its structure and making necessary changes to ensure it continues to be a profitable and strong business."

"This is an internal matter between the company and employees and we will not discuss or debate it in the media," said Mark Rosin. "eMedia Investments is committed to ensuring that employees are treated fairly and respectfully during this process, which is of course difficult for everyone."

SABC to cover the 2017 matric results on 4 and 5 January with the exam results announcement covered live, followed by a next-day Morning Live breakfast boadcast.

The SABC will be covering the 2017 matric result announcements on Thursday and Friday 4 and 5 January 2018 with a live broadcast of the minister of education's exam results announcement on SABC1, followed the next day by a Morning Live broadcast on SABC2 providing analysis of the results.

The South African public broadcaster says it is working with the department of basic education and will be doing a Top Achievers Breakfast on Thursday 4 January at the SABC's M1 Studios in Radio Park.

At this Top Achievers Breakfast, the SABC will host the best Grade 12 pupils and their parents who will be able to meet the minister and deputy minister of basic education.

The SABC will also be doing a live broadcast on SABC1 and SABC News (DStv 404) on the evening of Thursday 4 January of the minister's announcement of the 2017 matric exam results, where the SABC Foundation will also be awarding bursaries to some top learners.

On Friday 5 January there will be a Morning Live breakfast shown on SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) to unpack the matric exam results.

Morning Live will be speaking to various basic education sector experts and do live crossings to all of the various provincial education departments.

Police investigating attempted arson attempt after plastic bottle with petrol is found at SABC's Morning Live studios.

The South African police is investigating a case of a possible arson attempt after a plastic squeeze  bottle of petrol was found at the SABC's Morning Live studios of its weekday breakfast show broadcast from its Auckland Park headquarters in Johannesburg.

The plastic bottle of petrol was discovered this past Friday, on the same day that fires broke out at the premier offices in the Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces.

The discovery of the petrol bottle on SABC premises was reported to the police.

Brixton police confirms that the case of the petrol bottle found at the SABC studio is currently under investigation.

New minister of communications Ayanda Dlodlo: 'My expertise is in other areas', admits she knows little of digital TV migration, doesn't know if Hlaudi is still being paid.

South Africa's new minister of communications, Ayanda Dlodlo in an interview admitted that her expertise is in other areas, that she knew little of South Africa's digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration process before starting her new job this week, said she doesn't know if Hlaudi Motsoeneng is still being paid and that the SABC is going to be one of the most difficult organisations to deal with.

The former deputy minister of defense in an interview on the SABC's Morning Live on Thursday said her appointment as South Africa's new minister of communications after an abrupt cabinet reshuffle by president Jacob Zuma late last week came as a surprise since "my expertise is in other areas, but obviously, the president knows what's best".

Ayanda Dlodlo said digital migration - South Africa's long-delayed and controversial process of switching from analogue to digital TV broadcasting - is "a learning experience for me because I've heard people talk about set-top boxes (STBs) and digital migration, but I've never understood the context of what it actually meant".

South Africa's DTT process and roll-out has been besieged by government and broadcasting regulator ineptitude, differing commercial interest, allegations of corruption with STB manufacturing, in-fighting between broadcasters, in-fighting between manufacturers, uncertainty over broadcasting and manufacturing standards, slow government-subsidised DTT distribution to poor viewers, uncertainty over encryption inclusion, and dragged out court cases.

Ayanda Dlodlo said she's meeting with the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), the SABC, manufacturers next week and a lot of stakeholders and roleplayers to implement DTT "as soon as we can". "We can't afford another delay."

She said the most important thing for her is "to get the SABC back on its feet".

"Everybody that I speak to says to me 'please get that place in order'. So that's the most important thing, getting the SABC afloat financially, ensuring that the SABC board is fully functional, but also ensuring that the acting positions are done away with."

"People must go back to their positions, people must start working, we appoint a new CEO. All of that work needs to be done as soon as yesterday," said Ayanda Dlodlo.

She called the SABC's situation with the beleaguered public broadcaster, once again on the brink of financial collapse like in 2009, "extremely worrying".

On Wednesday Ayanda Dlodlo "had a meeting with the minister of finance to try and sort out the issues around the financial status of the SABC. There are processes we've decided upon, that will be implemented soonest."

Ayanda Dlodlo said she thinks the SABC "is going to be one of the most difficult institutions to deal with. Over years, the SABC over years has had problems. And it's not because of Hlaudi Motsoeneng or whoever was the CEO. I think it was just a structural issue."

"I don't even want to put the problem on one individual or one set of a leadership team as being the only problem, or the problem. I want to be a little more focused on the broader picture than looking at individuals. How does the system work."

Ayanda Dlodlo was asked if the famously matricless and controversial former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng is still being paid and still an employee of the SABC.

"Well, I don't know," she said. "I do not know at this point."

Broadcasting Complaints Commission orders the SABC's Morning Live to apologise to The Daily Sun over one-sided interview.

Photo: Twitter

The SABC's Morning Live has been ordered to apologise to The Daily Sun after broadcasting a one-sided interview in which the SABC didn't bother to include the newspaper that was slammed on the show.

The Daily Sun, a tabloid newspaper in the Naspers stable, lodged a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) against the SABC after Leanne Manas on Morning Live did an interview segment about "fake news" that went after the newspaper.

Leanne Manas interviewed Wilson B. Nkosi, a radio DJ at the SABC's Metro FM radio station in November 2016. Wilson B. Nkosi was the subject of a story in The Daily Sun.

During the interview, Wilson B. Nkosi said the story in The Daily Sun was "a fabricated story, from top to bottom", that "The Daily Sun must be exposed" and that "a lot of tabloid publications get away with it because they know that most people can't afford the legal fees".

Leanne Manas during the interview told SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) viewers that "people often lament how easy it is for journalists to fabricate stories without even trying to verify them. Sitting with us now is Wilson B. Nkosi who has been a victim of such".

The Daily Sun wasn't included in the interview, or asked for a response.

Leanne Manas said Wilson B. Nkosi was "a victim of one of these defamation stories", and that "the moral here is, please, what you read take it with a pinch of salt because it may not be the truth. It really may not".

The BCCSA tribunal approved the on-air apology settlement that the SABC must broadcast on SABC2's Morning Live.

"Morning Live would like to apologise to The Daily Sun. This after the newspaper was unfairly treated on this programme on 22 November 2016 regarding a story that The Daily Sun had written about Wilson B Nkosi."

"The SABC acknowledges that The Daily Sun was not given a right of reply. Based on the remarks during the programme, the SABC apologises to The Daily Sun."

DAILY TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 22 February 2017.

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

■ "The SABC's coverage of Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation 2017 address analysed.
Media show The Listening Post on Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257) looks at how the SABC and the Guptas The New Age Breakfast Briefing on SABC2's Morning Live the day after the speech was covered.

For instance: Al Jazeera finds that Leanne Manas throws president Jacob Zuma softball questions - that is until the show switches away from SABC2 (viewers) and continues to only be broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv on the SABC News (DStv 404) channel catering to pay-TV audiences.

Now suddenly "Peter Ndoro asks much tougher questions" when a much smaller TV audience is watching.


■ Television graveyard.
Millions of old TV sets are dumped and abandoned in massive warehouses across America - and the hard manual labour involved to break down and destroy or recycle old TV sets.

■ Second season of Showtime's Billions getting "a big promotional push" as if it's a new show.
In South Africa on DStv, not so much.

■ Lovely.
Matt LeBlanc eats horse penis in the new upcoming season of Top Gear starting on 8 March at 20:00 on BBC Brit (DStv 120).


■ Alberton school furious over eNCA (DStv 403) story it slams as a false report.
Marais Viljoen High School (MVHS) considering taking eNCA and eNuus on kykNET (DStv 144) to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) after unsubstantiated, slanderous report and the apparent failure to ask the right people for comment.


■ Russia's president Vladimir Putin is obsessed with television.
Specifically in watching to see how different TV channels cover him.


■ Court papers reveal how Botswana Television (BTV) got rid of its head of news in an election year.
Koketso Joshua Ntopolelang wants his job as head of TV news and current affairs at Botswana's state broadcaster back; shows court how he was allegedly purged from BTV and moved to another government department because he could allegedly "not be trusted" during an election year in Botswana.


■ New Zealand TV is trashing up current affairs in prime time.
Strange and trashy chit-chat as actuality programming instead of news.

■ Sky News (DStv 402) anchor Dermot Murnaghan warns
that the TV news at 22:00 on British television can't survive due to falling viewership.

■ Cameroon viewers treated to TV fight.
After last week's Egypt on-set brouhaha, in Cameroon on Sunday novelist Calixthe Beyala created an "incident close to barbarism and savagery" in an on-set clash.

■ CNBC Africa (DStv 410) opens a new studio in Rwanda.
Who knew? Apparently the ABN Group running the business TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv platform opened a new studio in Rwanda's Kigali Convention Centre. Of course there wasn't even a basic press release or statement to the media.

■ Japan gives money to improve Malawi television.
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) gets millions from Japan to improve its MBCTV broadcasting equipment in Blantyre.

■ Unnamed Indian TV anchor caught as a prostitute.
Allegedly used her good looks to become involved in prostitution at a guest house in Hyderabad; police reprimanded her for illegal activities and "advised her to pursue her anchoring career professionally".

■ A second golden age for TV news channels in America?
Viewership soars thanks to The Lorax Donald Trump.

■ The SABC has now implemented the Scisys' dira! and MusicMaster systems.
New production and playout systems used by 19 of the SABC's radio stations. Of course it's hopefully not being held together by sticky tape in the rundown SABC studios.

■ Script for final episode of The Vampire Diaries is so brutal ...
it made actor Paul Wesley cry.