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.

Nazeer Noormohamed considering cancelling purchase of former Afrotone Worldview and ANN7 TV building after it gets stripped of assets.

Businessman Nazeer Noormohamed is considering cancelling the purchase of the former Afro Worldview and ANN7 building in Midrand, Johannesburg that he acquired through an auction process after its been stripped of assets that had been ripped out.

The building in Midrand housed the offices of The New Age newspaper and the studio of the controversial ANN7 channel from the now-notorious Gupta family that was broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

ANN7 was rebranded to Afro Worldview by Mzwanele Manyi, chairperson of Afrotone Media Holdings, who took over the channel from the Guptas, with MultiChoice that made a decision to dump the controversial TV channel from DStv, effectively shuttering the loss-making AfroWorldview and The New Age that got put up for auction in 2018.

On Sunday the City Press newspaper reported that the building had been stripped of a range of valuable items, ranging from satellite broadcasting hardware to air conditioning units.

"After learning that the assets of the property were being stripped, on behalf of the existing tenant or their representatives, we called the auctioneers, who said that they were not responsible for securing the building," Nazeer Noormohamed is quoted as saying in City Press, who found 15 air-conditioners taken away and loaded onto a truck when he visited the Midrand property.

A large, central cooling system had also been removed from the Midrand building, including 3 large transformers that were bolted to the ground.

Nazeer Noormohamed would still buy the building but only if all the fixed assets are returned and reinstalled, and is demanding that the R8 million deposit he had paid for the building be returned after he bid R29.5 million for the building.

Meanwhile Mzwanele Manyi told City Press that he had "moved on" with  Sifiso Mthethwa, the company's director who said that only moveable assets were removed from the Midrand building.

Nazeer Noormohamed owns a TV channel as well as local newspapers in Pretoria.

Labour court finds Mzwanele Manyi breached labour laws when he abruptly fired Afro Worldview staffers; orders workers to be reinstated at the shuttered TV channel that DStv dumped last month.

The Johannesburg Labour Court on Thursday ruled that Mzwanele Manyi breached the Labour Relations Act when he fired the staffers at the now shuttered and controversial Afro Worldview TV channel and ordered workers to be reinstated.

MultiChoice finally dumped the controversial Afro Worldview at midnight on 20 August with Mzwanele Manyi who abruptly told workers on 19 August not to come to work anymore.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) took Mzwanele Manyi to labour court that on Thursday ruled that Afro Worldview must reinstate staffers since they were not properly dismissed.

The court ruled that Afro Worldview and Infinity Media Networks "failed to engage in a retrenchment consultation process" and that workers who were fired with immediate effect must be reinstated.

Mzwanele Manyi and Infinity Media Networks breached sections 189 of the Labour Relations Act by failing to conduct retrenchment consultation.

Tasso Anestidis, lawyer for the fired Afro Worldview staffers says "We are elated with the court order and the judgement. It is a great order and we are looking to enforce it. Depending on what he does, we will act accordingly because we have relief. We are happy that all our hard work paid off".

The order does not apply to the second respondent in the case, Afrotone Media Holdings.

Jobless former Afro Worldview workers go to Labour Court, accusing Mzwanele Manyi of flouting procedure; demand notice and severance pay.

Furious fired workers at Mzwanele Manyi's shuttered Afro Worldview channel that was canned from MultiChoice's DStv on Friday filed an urgent application in the Labour Court in Johannesburg, accusing Mzwanele Manyi of not following proper procedure when they were suddenly told not to return to work.

MultiChoice dumped the controversial Afro Worldview (rebranded after Mzwanele Manyi took over the formerly Gupta-owned ANN7 in a "vendor licensing" buy-out) in late-August, after it announced in January that ANN7 will be shut down since MultiChoice decided not to renewed the contract of the controversial channel.

Hundreds of workers now left without jobs are saying that Mzwanele Manyi should have given them more notice.

The workers' legal representative Tasso Anestidis says Mzwanele Manyi knew in January that MultiChoice would be dumping Afro Worlview and that his company should have complied with labour regulations stating that there be 60 days consultative processes before workers are asked to vacate a workplace premises.

Workers now want a declaratory order to compel Mzwanele Manyi's company to pay them what’s legally due to them.

"We want a declaratory order that proper lawful procedures will be followed. All the employees must receive severance pay, at the very least notice pay."

MultiChoice finally switching off Mzwanele Manyi's controversial Afro Worldview on DStv as the channel's last-night discussion revolves around virginity testing and 'A, B and C-grade vaginas'.

Staffers at Mzwanele Manyi's Afro Worldview (DStv 405) were told on Monday to stay home from Tuesday as the day finally arrived that MultiChoice was cutting the channel, previously known as ANN7 and started by the Guptas, after its 5-year contract ran out and wasn't renewed.

Afro Worldview was set to go dark at 23:59 on Monday night as MultiChoice announced in January, with the channel that closed out Monday night, its final broadcasting night on DStv, with a discussion around virginity testing and "A, B and C-grade vaginas".

Employees at Afro Worldview said they were finally informed by Mzwanele Manyi on Monday during a meeting that Afro Worldview is going off the air.

It comes less than a month after the abrupt shutdown of Afro Voice, the newspaper previously known as The New Age that was taken over by Mzwanele Manyi's Afrotone Holdings through a vendor financing deal with the controversial Gupta family.

Mzwanele Manyi's Afrotone Media Holdings in June renamed The New Age as Afro Voice and ANN7 as Afro Worldview in an attempt to create distance from the tarnished brands mired in alleged Gupta corruption scandals as part of an announced "'strategic decision'' to take the media company "to greater heights".

Om Monday Afro Worldview staffers were told that they will be paid at the end of the month as planned.

There's been no statement from Afro Worldview on Monday about its shuttering that comes exactly 5 years after ANN7's utterly disastrous launch on 21 August 2013 on DStv. and that was recently recounted in Rajesh Sundaram's page-turner book, Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was disappointed at the way that Afro Worldview handled the channel's demise and that management were not more upfront with workers about what would be happening after Monday.

The Fedusa trade union said "we are concerned for the workers, however, it is difficult to ignore the propaganda history of the network and its previous owners".

Sometime on Saturday 18 August Mzwanele Manyi on Twitter posted a staff pic taken in the Afro Worldview studio, and pleaded: "Dear South Africa Please put this innocent team of Bread Winners in your prayers. They NEED their jobs."

MultiChoice on Monday reaffirmed to TVwithThinus what it announced earlier that Afro Worldview will be shut down on DStv on 20 August and said in response to a media enquiry that "our contract with Afro Worldview comes to an end today".

Afro Worldview closed out Monday night with a late-night discussion about virginity testing and talking about "A, B and C-grade vaginas".

"I know the lights are going off at the station but HTF is this allowed to air?" asked viewer Quinton Mtyala.

In a note to DStv subscribers, MultiChoice said it would make an announcement regarding the new TV news channel replacing Afro Worldview on 28 August.

With Afro Worldview’s DStv days numbered, the future of the South African public broadcaster's SABC News is also up in the air.

As MultiChoice gets ready to dump the Afro Worldview channel from its DStv service on 20 August, the SABC News channel could also go dark at the end of this month when that contract expires, with MultiChoice that will have to make announcements about SABC News as well as what channel is replacing Afro Worldview soon.

MultiChoice remains in the process to find and appoint a new channel to replace Afro Worldview - formerly known as the notorious Gupta family's ANN7 channel and belonging to Mzwanele Manyi and his Afrotone Media Holdings.

Afro Worldview is coming to an end on DStv on 20 August exactly five years after its hurried and disastrous launch.

MultiChoice is yet to make an announcement about which group out of the shortlisted candidates that applied earlier this year before the cut-off date at the end of April.

The new TV news channel will be given the opportunity to start a news service in DStv set's of news channels as a new majority black-owned TV news channel, to rival and compete with eMedia Investment's eNCA (DStv 403) as well as the public broadcaster's SABC News as a new local news channel ahead of South Africa's general election in 2019.

MultiChoice has steadfastly refused to divulge the names of shortlisted bidders and consortiums after over 60 groups and individuals applied, although the local TV biz and news industry haven't been shy about gossiping after hours about who might be in the running.

Unconfirmed names and places bandied about to replace Afro Worldview have so far ranged from Justice Malala that abruptly left eNCA earlier this month, to the Tiso Blackstar group, Primedia and MSG Afrika.

In late-June Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice SA CEO, said that Naspers's pay-TV arm wants to make an announcement about the successful bidder replacing Afro Worldview before that channel goes dark on DStv, saying "we are targeting to make an announcement before the expiry of the current contract so that we can give people an opportunity to know exactly what's coming next".

Now MultiChoice, as it told the industry in January, has started to tell DStv subscribers on Afro Worldview's i-plate on DStv that Afro Worldview is being removed with less than two weeks' time remaining for the channel on the operator's channel line-up.

"Dear viewer, please note that Afro Worldview will stop airing on 20 August 2018. You can find local news on eNCA 403) and SABC News (404)," says DStv in the advisory.

Afro Worldview's already low viewership has been on an ongoing ratings slide the past few months, with viewership on DStv that has kept dropping from 9.89% of the total TV news audience in April to 9% in May and 4.22% in June.  

MultiChoice on Monday in response to a media enquiry asking about the new channel replacement process, told TVwithThinus that "the process to appoint the successful bidder for the news channel has not been concluded. Once this process is completed, we will make all necessary announcements".

Future of SABC News channel up in the air

Meanwhile there is a possibility that DStv subscribers and South African viewers could lose more than Afro Worldview, with the SABC and MultiChoice that are yet to conclude a new possible contract agreement for the SABC News channel that could also go dark when its existing contract expires at the end of this month.

SABC News, part of a bundled channels agreement that sees it being provided exclusively to MultiChoice together with the library rerun channel SABC Encore (DStv 156), could go dark if a new contract isn't signed between the MultiChoice and the public broadcaster.

If MultiChoice doesn't extend the channel carriage agreement for SABC News, the channel will presumably have to shutter just like SABC News International, the public broadcaster's first try at a 24-hour TV news channel that bled the corporation dry and was terminated after bleeding millions of rand after just three years at the end of March 2010.

Although a public TV channel and packaged and operated from inside its the South African Broadcasting Corporation's Auckland Park headquarters, the SABC isn't able to keep the expensive SABC News channel running without the hundreds of millions of rand MultiChoice pays the SABC for the channel as part of the controversial channels deal that has given MultiChoice exclusive access to the SABC archives the past few years.

In addition, the cash-strapped SABC that is now playing hardball in negotiations, now wants payment for its SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 channels from MultiChoice as well as a possible "new revenue stream", although the broadcasting regulator, Icasa, under the country's so-called "must-carry" regulations, have mandated that the public broadcaster's terrestrial TV channels must be carried by satellite operators to help with wider availability, but free of charge.

Both the SABC and MultiChoice in response to a media enquiry told TVwithThinus that discussions are ongoing and that SABC News and SABC Encore will stay on the air on DStv for the time being.

"The SABC and MultiChoice are currently in discussions to carry the SABC News and SABC Encore channels on DStv. We will communicate the outcome once the discussions have been finalised. The channels will continue to air on DStv whilst the discussions are ongoing," both said.

Earlier this year the new SABC board told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that it would like to see the SABC News channel continue.

SABC News and SABC Encore - although they're content from and created by the public broadcaster - are not available to other satellite TV platforms like StarSat operated by China's StarTimes, e.tv's Openview or Deukom in the way that SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 are.

Madoda Mxakwe, SABC CEO, told SABC News in a TV interview last week that negotiations around the possible renewal of the SABC News channel carriage agreement is "at a very sensitive stage".

Madoda Mxakwe said the SABC will make an announcement about the future of the SABC News channel before the end of August. He said "we are busy engaging with different partners, including MultiChoice, in terms of ensuring that there is a different revenue stream into the business."

The future of SABC News channel in doubt, will continue on DStv while discussions between the SABC and MultiChoice continue.

Not only will Afro Worldview disappear on 20 August from MultiChoice's DStv but the future of a second channel in the news block is now in doubt: the South African public broadcaster's SABC News channel could soon be a gonner too since the SABC and MultiChoice haven't signed a new contract.

The struggling and cash-strapped SABC doesn't have the money to fund and run SABC News (DStv 404) on its own although it is supposed to be one of the SABC's envisioned, freely available TV channels for digital terrestrial television (DTT).

If MultiChoice doesn't extend the contract for SABC News, the channel will presumably have to shutter just like SABC News International, the public broadcaster's first try at a 24-hour TV news channel that bled the corporation dry and was terminated after bleeding millions of rand after just three years at the end of March 2010.

Ironically the fate of a public broadcasting TV news channel lies squarely in the hands of a commercial company, in this case Naspers' pay-TV arm, MultiChoice.

According to insider sources who asked for anonymity because they're not allowed to speak directly to media, SABC managers allegedly had a meeting with fixed-term producers for the SABC News channel on Monday, informing them that the SABC has not reached an agreement with MultiChoice for the renewal of SABC News.

There's now growing buzz that producers will apparently receive letters this week informing them that production on SABC News will stop, although producer contracts allegedly still run until the end of August.

The SABC was asked whether this is accurate and whether the broadcaster can confirm a meeting with producers in which they were told that the channel won't be continuing, but the SABC declined to answer the question.

The SABC and MultiChoice were both asked, separately, about the future of the SABC News channel and whether it's accurate that the channel on DStv channel 404 will not be renewed and end during July.

Both the SABC and MultiChoice responded on Tuesday afternoon at 16:00 within minutes of each other, and with the exact same holding statement, saying that discussions are ongoing and that SABC News and SABC Encore will stay on the air on DStv for the time being.

"The SABC and MultiChoice are currently in discussions to carry the SABC News and SABC Encore channels on DStv. We will communicate the outcome once the discussions have been finalised. The channels will continue to air on DStv whilst the discussions are ongoing," said the SABC and MultiChoice.

Earlier this year the new SABC board told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that it would like to see the SABC News channel continue.

The SABC started SABC News (DStv 404) in August 2013, along with SABC Encore (DStv 156) as a placeholder rerun channel in May 2015. Both channels were part of an exclusive two-channel packaged deal with MultiChoice. In May 2015 the footprint of the SABC News channel was extended beyond South Africa into several other African countries on DStv.

These two channels - although they're content from and created by the public broadcaster - are however not available to other satellite TV platforms like StarSat, e.tv's Openview or Deukom in the way that SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 are.

In November 2017 explosive, leaked meeting transcripts between MultiChoice and the SABC, as well as #GuptaLeaks contracts between MultiChoice and the controversial ANN7 (DStv 405) channel, now renamed Afro Worldview, became public, showing massive payments from MultiChoice to the Guptas.

These payments not only raised multiple serious questions over possible corporate impropriety, but also over TV news channel carriage deals and payments for these channels, as well as raising eyebrows over a private pay-TV company's possible undue influence in the country's switch from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.

MultiChoice told the SABC it would pay the broadcaster R100 million for the SABC News channel but but only on the strict must-have contract clause condition that the SABC must support MultiChoice's stance on conditional access (CA) for digital television.

MultiChoice also dramatically upped its payments from R50 million per year to R100 million per year and then R141 million per year, as well as a questionable, additional R25 million payment to the Guptas for the low-rated, mistake-filled and often criticised ANN7.

It means that MultiChoice has been paying ANN7, now Afro Worldview owned by Mzwanele Manyi, more money despite its very low ratings than what MultiChoice has been paying eNCA (DStv 403) that has more than 50% of the overall TV news audience share on DStv. eMedia Investments will now start a second TV news channel, OpenNews, within months on its own Openview platform as a backup if eNCA were to discontinue on DStv.

Since November 2017 the SABC is aware of how much more money MultiChoice is paying Afro Worldview, although the SABC in May 2018 had 25.23% of the overall TV news channel audience share, compared to Afro Worldview's paltry and sliding 9%.

Meanwhile MultiChoice is finalising the shortlist for a new black-owned local TV news channel to replace Afro Worldview with 24 applications from various consortiums that were received.

MultiChoice doesn't want to announce any of the names of the applicants for public scrutiny and will only communicate who the successful TV news channel bidder is after a new channel carriage contract has been signed.

BREAKING. TV coverage of testimonies in the Verulam rape case cut off for all broadcasters after trashy Afro Worldview shockingly goes against magistrate's specific orders and broadcast court proceedings live on DStv and YouTube.

The Afro Worldview (DStv 405) TV channel owned by Mzwanele Manyi on Tuesday caused all South African TV viewers to lose broadcast coverage of the Verulam rape court case after the dubious and trashy channel ignored the magistrate's warning and went ahead to broadcast sensitive court proceedings live on DStv and on YouTube.

In the shocking court case, a 43-year old man stands accused of alleged horrific sex crimes on his 10-year old stepdaughter for the past 5 years.

Because of Afro Worldview's trash broadcast conduct on Tuesday, no further testimonies will be broadcast on television since TV cameras were ordered to be turned off by the magistrate following Afro Worldview's serious transgression.

In June magistrate Irfaan Khalil allowed eNCA (DStv 403) and Afro Worldview, previously known as ANN7, to broadcast the proceedings from the Verulam Family Court, but with certain strict very conditions, including barring any broadcasters from showing or identifying the accused or broadcasting any information regarding the identity of the victim.

When the bail application of the accused continued on Tuesday, warrant officer Nevarge Lutchminarain was halfway through his testimony when magistrate Irfaan Khalil stopped the proceedings and wanted to know why the court case is being broadcast live on Afro Worldview on MultiChoice's DStv and streamed on Afro Worldview on YouTube, saying he has just been given notice that the case is being broadcast live.

Magistrate Irfaan Khalil then revoked all broadcast permission, meaning that the inept Afro Worldview caused TV viewers to lose broadcast access to the court case.

Earlier the eNCA reporter in Durban, Dasen Thathiah told magistrate Irfaan Khalil that eNCA is recording the court case footage and editing it later to ensure that nobody is identified.

Magistrate Irfaan Khalil said "This is a sensitive case in which the identities and rights of the alleged victim, the accused and their legal representatives must be protected."

Magistrate Irfaan Khalil called on the Afro Worldview reporter in court and wanted to know from her why Afro Worldview is broadcasting the court proceedings live after he expressly told TV channels to be careful not to identify people.

TV channels will now only be allowed to broadcast arguments from legal representatives and no longer from anybody testifying in the case due to Afro Worldview's serious transgression.

ANN7 changes to Afro Worldview on MultiChoice's DStv with Richard Nta and Flo Letoaba as new morning co-anchors, will no longer report that anyone 'died' since people only 'pass on', says owner Mzwanele Manyi.

On Monday morning the brand-damaged ANN7 (DStv 405) rolled out its new look as Afro Worldview on the same channel number and with the same set, but a new logo on DStv - with owner Mzwanele Manyi who said he won't interfere with the "new" channel's editorial decisions but then said it was decided that henceforth Afro Worldview in its news reporting won't say someone died but always use passed on.

Although name-changed to try and distance itself from its disastrous, often-mocked and blooper-filled on-air image, as well as its history of bias and links with the now-notorious Gupta family, MultiChoice will still dump Afro Worldview on 20 August from its DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

With a set design that's now incongruent to its new logo and colours, the gold-and-black themed Afro Worldview launched with new morning co-anchors Richard Nta and Flo Letoaba who both previously worked for the competing TV-news channel eNCA (DStv 403).

Afro Worldview that according to its contract with MultiChoice is supposed to supply publicity material and talent photos, schedule information and programming updates to both the pay-TV operator and the press, didn't issue any press releases about anchor, line-up or programming block changes to the media ahead of today's rebranding exercise.

Mzwanele Manyi, the Afrotone Media Holdings chairperson, on Monday morning in an appearance on Afro Worldview, said that the channel will have a new editorial policy "and it's going to be a major shift from all the criticism that we've been receiving from a whole range of people".

He said Afro Worldview wants to be "the trusted voice of Africa".

Mzwanele Manyi said the rebrand from ANN7 to Afro Worldview is part of a plan to steer the TV news channel in a new direction with around 500 people working in the news group "whose jobs are going to go if this channel shuts down."

"So all of this fanfare and everything is an effort to say to South Africa, this channel cannot shut down. We have done everything that needs to be done to make sure that this channel does not shut down. We have cut a clean break with the Guptas. We don't owe any Guptas anything."

Following eNCA's lead where Mapi Mhlangu is the managing director and editor-in-chief, Mzwanele Manyi announced that the channel will have "a black, an African, and a woman who is going to be the new editor of the channel".

About Afro Worldview Mzwanele Manyi said "I'm just the owner. So I don't want to get involved in editorial policies. That's one of the major decisions. We're going to draw a strong line between owners and editors."

Mzwanele Manyi later in the same interview then announced as owner an editorial policy change, saying that "one of the things that you will never hear again, ever, in this channel, is when a person has passed on, you hear 'a person died'. With us as Africans, a person does not die, a person passes on."

"So let it be clear to everyone, even if you say I'm interfering with the editorial policy, but here, because we are Africans, we must never say a person died. A person passes on; an animal died. That kind of a thing."

ANN7 changing its name to Afro Worldview from 30 April, still getting dumped from MultiChoice's DStv on 20 August in 4 months' time.

ANN7 (DStv 405) is rebranding the controversial channel to Afro Worldview from 30 April although MultiChoice will still dump the channel in August in four month's time despite the cosmetic name and logo change.

Trying to get away from its disastrous, often-mocked and blooper-filled on-air image, history of bias and links with the now-notorious Gupta family, the Mzawanele Manyi owned Afrotone Media Holdings will rebrand ANN7 from 30 April as Afro Worldview.

The "new" ANN7 will still be a so-called TV news channel channel but will be terminated on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on 20 August.

Meanwhile Afrotone Media Holdings applied in the bidding process for MultiChoice looking to replace ANN7 with a new South African 24-hour TV news channel alongside eNCA (DStv 403) and the public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404).

Mzwanele Manyi in a statement says the switch from ANN7 to Afro Worldview "is a a strategic decision to break away from the past of the previous channel ANN7 and give viewers a fresh outlook on the news. As part of the group strategy, The New Age newspaper will also be rebranded as Afro Voice and its editorial policy will be in line with the press code."

Mzwanele Manyi says "Afro Worldview’s vision is to be the trusted voice of Africa. They strive to be the most representative voice of the country and the continent, that would also ensure that the plight of the poor and marginalised is brought to the fore".

Four businesses want to start new free-to-air TV channels in South Africa, including ANN7, Sekunjalo through Tshwaranang, and Econet Media's Kwesé TV.

Four business consortiums want to start new freely available TV channels in South Africa - including the so-called "Gupta news" channel ANN7 that MultiChoice is dumping from DStv in August, as well as Sekunjalo that owns the South African print group, Independent Media, looking to launch its first TV channel.

South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) received four applications from interested parties who want to start individual, commercial free-to-air (FTA) TV channels.

The last time the regulator opened applications for people to start free-to-air channels to be competition for the SABC and e.tv in 2014, all 5 who applied were disqualified in 2016.

All 5 were refused licences due to problems with cross-media ownership that didn't adhere to regulations, not complying with foreign ownership restrictions, not complying with the ownership share regarding historically-disadvantaged groups and not proving they have adequate financial backing to start sustainable TV channels in South Africa.

Infinity Media Networks - the company name that owned ANN7 before selling it to Mzwanele Manyi's Afrotone Media Holdings - wanted to start a freely available version of ANN7, and has now applied again.

Icasa has published the 4 applicant's names in the Government Gazette of 13 March 2018 with the public that had until 4 April to respond.

The actual applications and application documents are available to the public, but can only be access by people who are in Johannesburg and who physically have to go to the Icasa library in Sandton during office hours. Icasa says the applications are not available online for the public to study.


The following businesses applied for TV channel licenses:

Kwesé Free TV
Econet Media runs Kwesé TV as a pay-TV service outside of South Africa in several Southern African countries but doesn't have a licence to run a pay-TV service in South Africa.
Kwesé has a South African office in Bryanston, Johannesburg, and its one channel, Kwesé Free Sports was just added to the free-to-air satellite service, OpenView HD (OVHD) run by eMedia Investment's Platco Digital.

Econet Media would like to get a foot in the door by starting a free TV channel in South Africa that will start getting its brand out there and build brand recognition in the country, after which it will wait until it can apply for a pay-TV license to become competition for MultiChoice's DStv, StarSat and Deukom.


Infinity Media Networks
Infinity Media Networks used to run ANN7. Then the controversial Gupta family sold ANN7 to Mzwanele Manyi and his Afrotone Media Holdings in a "vendor financing" agreement.
Now Infinity Media Networks is listed again as an applicant to start a new, free-to-air TV channel.

While Infinity Media Networks' name is listed as the applicant for a TV licence, the telephone number listed is that of ANN7 in Midrand - 011 542 1222. The physical office address and the postal address are those currently used by ANN7, and the email addresses provided to the public in the Government Gazette are both ANN7 email addresses.


Free to Air TV
Little is known about this applicant whose office address is given as being in Melrose North, Johannesburg.


Tshwaranang Media
Tshwaranang Media is from Sekunjalo Independent Media (SIM) controlled by Iqbal Survé who owns 55% of the Independent Media Group.

The contact details provided to Icasa are those of the African News Agency (ANA), the tiny wire service run by Sekunjalo and Independent Media, where the contact point for Tshwaranang Media is given as ANA Pictures CEO and Independent Media Solutions (IMS), Amit Makan.

Tshwaranang Media also lists contact details at Condé Nast in Cape Town, with Condé Nast Independent Magazines (CNIM) that is part of Sekunjalo Independent Media.

ANN7 owner Mzwanele Manyi vents over detained Indian staffers: 'Chinese firms full of unlawfuls, ‘all kinds of Pakistani's in townships without documentation’.

ANN7 owner Mzwanele Manyi is lashing out over the department of home affairs inspecting the work permits of Indian staffers and on Tuesday evening decided to vent on ANN7, saying home affairs should visit Chinese firms that "for a fact" have lots of unlawful workers, that home affairs will find "lots of them" in Bedfordview, and that "they can go to the townships – there’s all kinds of Pakistani's that are there without the required documentation".

The department of home affairs on Tuesday conducted a second surprise raid at the Gupta-linked ANN7 to inspect the documents of the 18 Indian staffers working at the ANN7 headquarters in Midrand. 

Three Indian staffers who are not senior managers, were detained but not arrested, and allowed to return to work after questioning. 

Mzwanele Manyi, chairperson of Afrotone Media Holdings that owns ANN7 (DStv 405) and The New Age took to the ANN7 airwaves on Tuesday evening at 19:00 to vent about the behaviour and actions of the department of home affairs.

Mzwanele Manyi said there's been a "communications breakdown" between ANN7 and the department of home affairs, saying "we're on that process to go and drop off the documents so that they can inspect. And the arrangement was that by Thursday we'll drop off the documents there. So we were sitting here with that understanding that we are dropping off the documents on Thursday".

Mzwanele Manyi said "we have nothing to hide as an organisation" and "that is nobody at these premises who are here unlawfully". He said on ANN7 "the visas are no problem. The problem is the, shall I call it, the categorisation of the work permit. That is the whole issue, and it maybe affects two or three employees. The rest of the employees have got proper work permits."

"There's probably one or two – three at most – who are on intra [company visa], but even those, they are not here unlawfully. They are here lawfully".

Mzwanele Manyi said the Indian staffers "are highly traumatised".

"The treatment, the arrangement, that we were exposed to here today, I must say as a South African I was ashamed of my country because what they did, it reminded me of the pass law raid and whatever."

"If indeed there was this seriousness in my view, from home affairs, if there is a seriousness to weed out unlawful people in the country, surely they should have visited various Chinese firms in the country – those people indeed, for a fact, they have a lot of people that are unlawful."

"They could have gone to Bedfordview [eastern Ekurhuleni], they will find lots of them. They can come to Sandton here and look at foreign nationals that are not here legally. They can go to the townships – there’s all kinds of Pakistani's that are there without the required documentation," said Mzwanele Manyi.

"That's why this could also, the narrative that says we are being targeted here can actually be a credible narrative, because there's absolutely no reason for home affairs to really act in the manner they did when they're getting co-operation".

ANN7 didn’t respond to a media enquiry made Tuesday evening asking for comment about the latest home affairs raid.

MultiChoice is dumping ANN7 at the end of August from its DStv satellite pay-TV platform over repeated compliance breaches, low audience ratings, a lack of technical and editorial quality, as well as investor pressure arising from reputational damage over ANN7’s association with the controversial Gupta family linked to widespread State Capture allegations.

Biased ANN7 on DStv slapped with highest fine of R80 000 by Broadcasting Complaints Commission for blatant political sabotage of ANC's Jackson Mthembu; 'one of the most serious contraventions,' BCCSA finds.

The controversial and biased "Guptanews" channel ANN7 (DStv 405) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform has been slapped with the highest possible fine of R80 000 by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) for its shocking and slanderous coverage, and ordered to apologise to the ANC politician Jackson Mthembu.

The BCCSA slammed the now Mzwanele Manyi-owned ANN7 for blatant political sabotage after Jackson Mthembu, the chief whip of the ANC political party, lodged a complaint at ANN7 for staging a bogus "press conference" with 6 ANC members of parliament.

The sham "press conference" on 27 November 2017 where no questions were even asked, organised and attended by ANN7 only, was hatched between the 6 politicians and ANN7, with the BCCSA that found ANN7 guilty of blatantly intending "to sabotage the complainant's political career".

The shockingly trash ANN7 that MultiChoice is finally shutting down by the end of July didn't give Jackson Mthembu a chance to respond to the slanderous allegations made against him. The news report was repeated during the day and also during the next day, 28 November. The news report was also posted on YouTube by ANN7.

ANN7's Cecilia Russel, special projects editor, and ANN7 editor Abhinav Sahay told the BCCSA that "ANN7 regrets not affording the ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu a right of reply before airing the story of 6 ANC MPs opposing the parliamentary debate on State Capture".

Shockingly, ANN7 had the audacity to tell the BCCSA that "ANN7 was not lax in either urgency or intent to mitigate any possible harm which could have been caused to Jackson Mthembu's reputation immediately after the matter was brought to its notice on the morning of the 29th of November 2017. The station is of the view that the steps taken mitigated any possible harm caused".

Hilariously ANN7 told the BCCSA that "the fact that there were no other broadcasters or news media present at the news conference was not relevant". When the BCCSA asked ANN7 to produce the press invitation to the "press conference" ANN7 said it didn't have anything.

The BCCSA slammed ANN7, saying "it is unthinkable that the staff of ANN7 who produced, edited and broadcast this programme on their TV channel was ignorant of the right to reply and was not aware that their broadcast was in violation of this right and in contravention of the Code of Conduct".

"The fact that they repeated this pre-recorded programme the next day aggravates this contravention. The same can be said of the fact that they posted this programme on You Tube. It seems as if they were intent on causing maximum damage to the Complainant."

"It was only when the Complainant posted a comment on this broadcast on his Facebook and Twitter accounts on 29 November that the broadcasts were discontinued."

The BCCSA also slammed ANN7 for its sham "press conference" argument, finding that "by no stretch of the imagination could this then be regarded as a news conference. The corollary of this conclusion is that we are not dealing here with a bona fide press conference, but rather with a private meeting set up between the six MP’s and ANN7".

The BCCSA slammed ANN7 in its judgment, saying ANN7 clearly intended to defame Jackson Mthembu.

"Despite the Broadcaster’s denial that there was any intention to defame the complainant with the so-called news conference and the broadcasting thereof, we find, on a balance of probabilities, that the broadcaster and the six MP’s colluded in setting up a meeting and staging a press conference, the outcome of which was broadcast in the guise of a news broadcast."

"The purpose of this broadcast was clearly to defame the complainant and to jeopardise his political career. We can therefore not accept that ANN7's failure to grant a right to reply to the complainant was an oversight or a mere mistake. This was clearly all part of ANN7's intention to defame the complainant."

"In this instance we are dealing with a news programme in which not only pure news is broadcast, but where a long tirade is broadcast as part of a broadcast of a so-called news conference. In the tirade, quite a few minutes of broadcasting time is spent on defaming the complainant."

The BCCSA found that ANN7 deliberately misled DStv subscribers.

"ANN7 was broadcasting something out of context, thus misleading the viewing public. It was also not done in a fair manner because we have found that the so-called press conference was actually a meeting set up between the Broadcaster and the six MP’s and it was unfair to pretend that it was a bona fide press conference."

The BCCSA slammed ANN7 for committing "one of the most serious contraventions" of the Broadcasting Code.

"We agreed that this was one of the most serious contraventions that we have had to decide on. The fact that this pre-recorded news broadcast was repeated during the day of 27th November and the following day, aggravates this contravention."

"ANN7 was not forthcoming when dealing with the serious allegations against it. Although it admitted a contravention by not granting the complainant a right of reply, it persisted in its denial of a sham with the so-called press conference."

"The fact that the “press conference” and the broadcasting thereof was done in bad faith, are aggravating circumstances, justifying a maximum fine of R80 000."

"We have also decided that the contraventions of the Code warrant an order for the broadcasting of an apology to the complainant."

South Africa's COPE and EFF political parties join the Democratic Alliance in calling for a boycott of the controversial and divisive 'Guptanews' ANN7 channel on DStv.

On Tuesday in South Africa the COPE political party called for a ban and thorough investigation of the controversial and divisive "Guptanews" ANN7 (DStv 405) TV channel carried by MultiChoice on its DStv satellite pay-TV platform, joining the EFF and Democratic Alliance political parties that previously called for an ANN7 ban.

The EFF and the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party both called for a boycott and ban of the slanted and blooper-filled ANN7 earlier this year, and the EFF again did so on Tuesday.

These parties have now been joined by COPE - representing the majority of South Africa's opposition parties.

COPE's call for a shutdown of ANN7 and a thorough investigation into the controversial TV channel from Infinity Media Networks owned by Oakbay Investments, comes a day after Oakbay announced that ANN7 and The New Age newspaper are being "sold" through a vendor loan for R450 million to the former ANC spin tsar Mzwanele "Jimmy" Manyi.

Jimmy Manyi is a Gupta acolyte and a frequent on-air "analyst" on the "fake news" channel that stews in biased news through slanted, rhetorical questions put to one-sided panelists and where the Bell-Pottinger PR invented catchphrase of "white monopoly capital" to deflect from South African state capture is employed daily, and often.

COPE wants a thorough investigation of the R450 million deal between the Guptas' Oakbay and Jimmy Manyi's Lodidox pop-up shelf company, and is calling for a recall of ANN7's broadcasting license as a TV channel on MultiChoice's platform.

COPE calls the Oakbay-Manyi transaction to suddenly "buy" ANN7 and The New Age in a debt sale deal just days before the Bank of Baroda closes their bank accounts "extremely suspicious", saying that the "transaction is clouded in secrecy, giving rise to more questions than answers".

COPE wants to know who and how the deal was financed, what process was followed, and if South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) approved the sudden sale of ANN7.

In June the Democratic Alliance (DA) called for a boycott of ANN7 saying South Africans can't "allow the Guptas' propaganda to bring the credibility of our media into question".

"Hardworking and dedicated journalist and staff at both Gupta media houses are being abused by the corrupted political agendas of the ANC and the Guptas. The DA stands in solidarity with these journalists and staff who report with integrity, but are under enormous political pressure."

"It is time to stop giving The New Age and ANN7 the time of day, and see them for what they are: The Guptas’ own Closed Circuit Television. It is time to stop all funding of ANN7 and The New Age, to put a stop to the Guptas propaganda campaign."

The EFF political party reiterated its call for a boycott of ANN7, in a statement saying "There is nothing 'media transformation' about this deal; to call it this is like thinking the apartheid's creating of Bantustans was a progressive liberation move for black people".

"Like Bantustan leaders, Jimmy Manyi is a stooge representing the entrenchment of Gupta corruption in our country."

"We know that The New Age has been a sole beneficiary of many corrupt deals in state institutions like South African Airways (SAA) and the SABC, as well as in many state departments."

"This means The New Age should be returning all the money it made through illegal and questionable deals like that with the SABC Morning Live Business Breakfast briefings".

"We are not blind to the fact that Jimmy Manyi will continue the business of fake news and reporting that characterises the Gupta media empire. This is because Jimmy Manyi himself has been central to false propaganda and the defence of Zupta corruption that is killing many state institutions."

"He is the cheerleader of kleptocracy and a mascot of the Zupta corruption."

An online petition that was started on 30 March this year and calling for MultiChoice to remove ANN7 from DStv has so far attracted 12 578 signatures from angry DStv subscribers, making it the 3rd most signed online petition at Petitions24.com worldwide for 2017 so far.

MultiChoice has not yet responded to the petition.

Oakbay Investments sells controversial ANN7 on DStv and The New Age Newspaper for R450m to former ANC publicist Mzwanele Manyi in a 'vendor licensing' deal.

The former ANC publicist Mzwanele "Jimmy" Manyi's Lodidox company has brought the controversial "Gupta-news" TV channel ANN7 (DStv 405) on DStv for R300 million and the Gupta-newspaper The New Age for R150 million under a "vendor licensing" deal.

"Vendor licensing" means that the Guptas is lending Jimmy Manyi the money to buy their ANN7 and The New Age.

The Bank of Baroda is closing Oakbay Investments bank accounts - including those of ANN7 and The New Age at the end of August.

The borrow-to-buy ANN7 and The New Age sale means the Oakbay media entities get new bank accounts through Jimmy Manyi.

The controversial Jimmy Manyi with close ties to the Guptas frequently appears as a "political analyst" and as an "analyst" on the controversial ANN7 channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform that just turned 4 years old where he shills for the Guptas and mentions the Bell-Pottinger created "white monopoly capital" catch-phrase.

The unprofessional and news-skewing ANN7 and The New Age continue to hog headlines as part of the "Gupta-leaks" trove of emails and ongoing revelations regarding South African "state-capture and notorious Jacob Zuma-linked dealings.

The Gupta-owned Oakbay Investments in a statement says the R450 million sale of its two media entities "is part of Oakbay’s commitment to preserve jobs and provide certainty to over 7 500 hard-working employees throughout the group and to safeguard the inherent value of the businesses in which they work."

Offloading the controversial ANN7 TV channel from Infinity Media Networks and The New Age to Lodidox "will also allow the shareholder the time to focus on clearing its name in the face of unfounded media allegations", says Oakbay Investments.

"Under a new majority shareholder, Oakbay believes that both businesses and their employees will have the bright and prosperous future they deserve," says Ronica Ragavan, Oakbay Investments acting CEO in the statement.

"We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Lodidox and the management team; the sale of our shareholdings will secure the future of these businesses and help preserve the jobs of their employees."

"Both businesses are inherently sound and well positioned for growth in their respective market segments. We wish them every success in the future."

Jimmy Manyi says he is "delighted to have reached agreement with Oakbay and look forward to successfully completing the deal."

"These are two strong businesses which are full of potential and, under the right external circumstances, can become an increasingly important and relevant part of the South African media landscape."

"In addition, I am particularly impressed that the shareholders of Oakbay have agreed to do a vendor financing at acceptable terms as part of their commitment to transformation and to expedite the transaction."