TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV reports and articles to read - 10 March 2021.

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

■ Oprah's explosive sit-down interview with Harry and Meghan also seen on M-Net (DStv 101) reverberates across the world.

- Over 17 million viewers in America.

- Over 11.3 million viewers in Britain.

- 1.78 million viewers in Australia.

- South Africa: Still waiting.

- Not available on MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up: Why Oprah's Harry and Meghan TV special doesn't have a video streaming home.

- In Oprah's interview with Harry and Megan, 2 TV worlds collided.

- All journalists can learn from Oprah: Follow-up questions make all the difference.

- Masterclass: Once again Oprah proves she's America's Queen.

- "Still stunning how Oprah uses her position of being the only person in the world who can ask anyone anything".

- Oprah is still the queen of the TV interview.

- Oprah with Meghan and Harry: The art of the TV interview.

- Interview will get a rebroadcast on M-Net (DStv 101) on Saturday 13 March at 4pm.

■ Why a commercialised SABC might marginalise parts of South Africa's population (subscription required).

■ Disney's Disney+ video streaming service crosses 100 million subscribers.

■ Teen Wolf's Tyler Posey about his sexual fluidity, being with men and his struggle with sobriety.

■ A year after Covid-19 lockdowns halted productions, TV channels and distributors are getting more creative in crafting content as they enter a new year of living less dangerously.

■ Netflix's relationship with black viewers and creatives is one of the secrets to its success.

■ New Dutch kids TV show features naked adults answering questions.

■  The new era for long-form journalism.

■ Journalists around the world are targeted at record levels.

- Why working as a journalist in Uganda is especially tough.

■ Teen Vogue in trouble.

■ Sky, WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS switch on the subtitles for more than 500 episodes of most popular kids' content to help with reading.

■ StarTimes subscribers in Kenya faces possible switch-off because of StarTimes' liquidation proceedings in Hong Kong court over billions in unpaid sports licensing rights.

■ SHOCKER: New study - Digital devices are rewiring young kids brains dramatically. And it's bad.

The Alpha Generation growing up now will have less artists and musicians - and digital devices will be to blame making kids lose sight of the bigger picture, literally.

■ Our love for streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are suffocating the Earth.

Data centres consume massive amounts of electricity.

■ The problem with the lack of diversity of M-Net's (DStv 101) Love Island South Africa.

- Everything about M-Net's Love Island SA on DStv has been a total trainwreck.

- M-Net and eNCA can say sorry but systemic racism must never be tolerated (subscription required).

- Zero love for M-Net's Love Island SA.

- A realistic picture of the real South Africa is hard to find in M-Net's Love island SA (Dutch - translate).

■ How to clean your TV screen and keep the picture crystal clear.

■ SuperSport explains the CAF TV rights issue ... again.

■ Girls kept in a dungeon as sex slaves are put on TV and then confronted by their captor.

■ MultiChoice Uganda once again slashes decoder prices - for GOtv decoders the second time in 3 months.

How a 7de Laan producer and Isidingo writer helped to save Oprah.

A 7de Laan producer and an Isidingo writer have helped to save Oprah.

After a man in Centurion heard a faint noise last Saturday and investigated, Lucius Fred discovered a newborn baby in a plastic shopping bag when he decided to investigate and found the child in a bloody bag with her umbilical cord, according to reports.

He thought the baby was dead but immediately called his employers Allyzander Fourie, a writer on the SABC3 soap Isidingo, and Roelien Spruyt, a producer of the SABC2 soap 7de Laan. They also thought the baby was already dead when they arrived on the scene but then Roelien Spruyt heard a noise - the baby was still alive.

Roelien told Rapport newspaper that she opened the bag again and pressed the baby against her, summoning the neighbourhood watch and a paramedic with an ambulance from Kalafong who gave the baby an oxygen mask before taking her to hospital.

The baby has been named Oprah, after Oprah Winfrey, "because she's a miracle" said Roelien Spruyt.

"I hope that one day she can attend the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Hopefully she can walk and one day ask 'do you have a little place for me?"

According to statistics more than 3 000 babies are abandoned annually in South Africa by their mothers and left for dead with the most who don't survive.

Roelien told eNuus "that I just saw this little face in the darkness. In this bag. With these small little fists. And all the way I said 'Just don't die. Don't die.' "

"Because she didn't have a name I wanted to give her a strong name. There are several people who would now like to adopt her".

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey heading to South Africa again on October to inspire South Africans in her O You! event on 14 October.

Oprah Winfrey is heading to South Africa again in October, this time to talk to fans and to inspire readers of her O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine in an O You! event.

Oprah Winfrey will be at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg on 14 October to encourage readers of her O Magazine to make the most of their lives where more than 6 000 people are expected to show up.

Tickets for the event will go on sale from Monday 26 August at 09:00 on www.groupon.co.za. "You women of South Africa are one of the most powerful people on Earth. Change what you believe is possible for yourself," says Oprah Winfrey.

"We are extremely excited to host Oprah Winfrey in South Africa again," says Samatha Page, O's editor.

BREAKING. Exclusive Oprah Winfrey special documentary going inside her private girls' school, coming to TLC on 28 September.

You're reading it here first. 

South African viewers will be able to get their first real glimpse on television inside Oprah Winfrey's private school for girls with a new once-off special  documentary, The First Graduating Class: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls coming to TLC (TopTV 453  /DStv 186) on Friday 28 September at 18:30 (South African time).

The broadcasting of the special documentary which will be giving viewers an exclusive glimpse inside the school as it has never been seen before by outsiders, is timed to co-incide with the one year name-change of Discovery Travel & Living to TLC in October last year.

TLC is one of the few pay-TV channels available on both MultiChoice's DStv as well as On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV platform, making the channel widely available to a big pay-TV audience in South Africa.

The special documentary looks at Oprah Winfrey's effort to start and run the private school for girls, as well as at the lives of the girls with the first class of 72 girls who've now graduated and are now all attending university.

"I am honoured that our partnership with Discovery Networks has made it possible to present The First Graduating Class: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls to the TLC viewers of South Africa," says Oprah Winfrey in a statement.

"My heart holds a deep love and commitment to the people of South Africa, and to create a school that is able to change the trajectory of these student's lives has been one of the greatest gifts of my life."

"It's been a fantastic first year on air for TLC Africa and we're delighted with the incredibly positive reception the channel has had with South African women," says Lee Hobbs, the channel director for emerging business for Discovery networks for the Central and Eastern European, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

"We are proud to be sharing this beautiful journey with them and to be working wth Oprah to help celebrate the first graduating class of her Academy in South Africa. TLC is all about celebrating the lives of modern women and we feel the spirit and achievement of these first graduates at Oprah's Academy really embody the channel's ethos," says Lee Hobbs.

The documentary is repeated on Saturday 29 September at 17:40 and Sunday 30 September at 16:00.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey on the moment when she's felt the biggest pressure to be 'Oprah'.

In a very revealing moment, Oprah Winfrey has opened up about what moment in her life she has felt the most pressure to be "Oprah" - the billion dollar talk show media mogul of the media, television and entertainment world - who is now ranked second on Forbes magazine's annual Celebrity 100 List for 2012.

"What has been the moment for you where you have felt the most pressure to be 'Oprah'?" Zack Anner asked her in the penultimate episode of the reality show Your OWN Show just shown on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107).

In Your OWN Show, viewers see contestants competing to get their own talk show on Oprah Winfrey's TV network, OWN.

"The most pressure to be 'Oprah' is actually in creating this network, The Oprah Winfrey Network," said Oprah Winfrey. " I think the world expects this network to immediately be what The Oprah Winfrey Show has been - and which has taken me 25 years. It has taken me 25 years to create The Oprah Winfrey Show.

"At my heart I'm really a teacher, and that is really the purpose of this TV network," said Oprah Winfrey. "It is to use it as a tool for teaching and inspiring and giving people back to themselves so that people can see the best of themselves."

OOPS, AND OFF. Oprah Winfrey dropped - for the first time ever - from TIME's 100 Most Influential list.

Oprah Winfrey - the only person to appear in every special issue - has been dropped from the TIME 100 Most Influential people in the world list.

TIME just announced the list and Oprah Winfrey who started her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in America is not on it. Her Oprah Winfrey Show ended last year; South African viewers now see OWN shows such as Your Own Show on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) and Soul Food Family starting on 22 April on The Discovery Channel (DStv 121).

Oprah Winfrey was included in the TIME 100 Most Influential when it first appeared in 1999 and appeared in every subsequent issue from 2004 when it became an annual special issue. She therefore appeared the most times of anybody.

Televisionists who did make the TIME 100 2012 very America-centric and esoteric list this year which I've just gone through, include actress Kristen Wiig from Saturday Night Live, comedian Chelsea Handler of E! Entertainment, Matt Lauer from the one morning show Today on an American TV network, Claire Danes from Homeland which just started on M-Net and Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central.

BREAKING. Robyn Curnow of Marketplace Africa on CNN International also gets a sit-down interview with Oprah shown tonight.

Erik Forster/CNN

It wasn't just CNBC Africa (DStv 410) - South Africa's TV reporter Robyn Curnow of CNN International (DStv 401) also scored a big sit-down TV interview with Oprah Winfrey which will be shown on Robyn Curnow's show Marketplace Africa tonight at 21:45 (South African time).

So much for the blatantly lying CNBC Africa which billed its South African sit-down TV interview with Oprah Winfrey on Tuesday as an ''exclusive''. It clearly wasn't.

Robyn Curnow's interview for Marketplace Africa also took the form of a sit-down interview in one of the classrooms at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Henley-on-Klip where the talk show titan visited this past weekend for the special graduation ceremony on Saturday of the first class of 72 girls who were the first to matriculate from her private girls' school.

''She was very generous with her time, delivered immaculate sound bites, offered up snippets of her own tragedies, created an intimacy with our crew in that small classroom and was, basically, a consummate performer,'' says Robyn Curnow, hinting about what viewers will be able to see in tonight's Marketplace Africa interview.

Robyn Curnow also fearlessly went there and asked Oprah Winfrey about the girl who secretly gave birth last year at the school after concealing her pregnancy. The pregnant teen's baby died and was hidden in a school bag. Oprah Winfrey answers, expressing her disappointment in the student, saying the girl showed ''poor leadership'' and is now at a different school.

Robyn Curnow also asks, and Oprah Winfrey answers, about the molestation scandal at the private girls' school, saying she did everything imaginable from protecting the girls but never imagined the danger would come from inside the school and women she had hired.

Robyn Curnow also asks about Barack Obama, and although Oprah Winfrey initially didn't want to talk about the American president (HERE is what Oprah Winfrey said on Tuesday on CNBC Africa in answer to the same question) - she then suddenly changes her mind and does.

Oprah Winfrey's interview on Marketplace Africa is shown tonight at 21:45 on CNN International, with rebroadcasts Saturday at 05:45, 08:15, 18:15 and Sunday at 03:15 and 18:15.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey called sexual molestation scandal at her school 'our little crisis'; still and will always believe her girls.

You're reading it here first.

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that she and her private school for girls, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Henley-on-Klip, referred to the sexual molestation charges that engulfed her school in 2007 as ''our little crisis'' and that she has, and always will, believe that the girls in the school spoke the truth. The accused woman, Tiny Makopo, was acquitted on the molestation charges in October 2010.

In an exclusive sit-down interview earlier this evening with Godfrey Mutizwa in Africa Prime on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) Oprah Winfrey who's school experienced its biggest scandal shortly after it opened, referenced the sexual molestation case, the outcome over which at the time she said ''profoundly disappointed'' her.

''When we went through 'our little crisis' as we call it at the school – in our first year where there was the dorm parent accused of molesting the girls who was later acquited – when we went through that I brought in a leading trauma expert who said to me, 'You know, you're doing what has never been done,'' Oprah Winfrey said.

In the interview Oprah Winfrey said ''I believe the girls and will still always believe the girls'' and their version of what happened at the school.


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: ''Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder!''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network: ''Far more challenging than I imagined.''
ALSO READ: O so superstitious! Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and reveals why.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: ''He doesn't need me.''

Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''

''More challenging than I ever imagined.''

So says Oprah Winfrey about starting and running her private school for girls near Henley-on-Klip, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, which the talk show titan just visited this past weekend for her 29th time to attend a special graduation ceremony for the 72 girls who are the first class to matriculate.

Speaking to Godfrey Mutizwa in Africa Prime in an exclusive sit-down interview earlier this evening on CNBC Africa (DStv 410), Oprah Winfrey said ''there were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''

''Even I going into it, didn’t recognize the responsibility of taking in girls whose parents can't afford to send them to such a school.'' She said ''the challenges were number one not having the infrastructure. Number two not recognizing how difficult it is to create a structure and believing in the beginning that I will build this wonderful space, this building and the teachers will come – that I will be able to find great teachers.''

''If I had to do it again, I would do it in completely a different way. For every step forward it was two steps back. But from day one I visited the very first village and saw the very first girl, I held a vision for myself and for these girls of what could be possible for them. And because of the girls, everything has been worth it,'' she said.

Of her school she says ''this is just the beginning. The point was to use this as a model – as sort of an experiment – to see if it could be done. We're doing what no-one else has ever done here. Never have I've seen an institution created for disadvantaged girls that wasn't just a holding ground for them before they have to go out.''

''When I think about where these girls have come from - I found some of them walking, carrying buckets of water on their heads walking three or four kilometres a day – now those girls are not just going to college, they're going to college with four and five and six distinctions. And they will become artists and engineers; they will become social workers; scientists.''

Oprah Winfrey said she thought ''that you will just open the door and good teachers will just fall through. That is not so. Your school is only as good as your teachers. You can turn a school around with just one or two really great teachers. They can turn an entire school around. They can change the culture. So having solid leadership who understands what it means to create an environment that is 100% supportive of girls is important.''

''Every girl here has already endured what would take out most people. Most people – particularly in high school – if you have one bad thing happen to you, it can take you out. These girls come to this school with the most devastating things.''

''Every single week there is another tragedy at this school but these girls go on. They keep getting up. They're the most resilient people I have seen in my life and they come with such an open heart for hope. The fundamental key of success is what you believe about yourself. Not what you want, but what you believe.''


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey called sexual molestation scandal at her school ''our little crisis''; still and will always believe the girls.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: ''Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder!''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network: ''Far more challenging than I imagined.''
ALSO READ: O so superstitious! Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and reveals why!
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: ''He doesn't need me.''

Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: 'Now weaves have hit Africa and its a lot harder!'

You're reading it here first.

Oprah Winfrey had to lay down the hair law at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Henley-on-Klip to keep the hair of the girls at her private girls school under control - and blames weaves for causing all the trouble!

The talk show titan who've sported some over-the-top outrageous, and hair-raising hairdo's over the year on her Oprah Winfrey Show, the final season of which can still be seen in reruns currently on SABC3, blames the popularity of weaves in Africa for causing all the trouble.

In an exclusive sit-down TV interview earlier this evening on CNBC Africa (DStv 410), Oprah Winfrey told Godfrey Mutizwa in Africa Prime that weaves have made things very difficult at her private girls' school with the girls who simply love hair extensions. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls has its own private hair salon on the school grounds which Oprah Winfrey says have made a lot of money over the past few years.

Oprah Winfrey visited her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls this past weekend where the first class of girls who matriculated, had a special graduation ceremony on Saturday.

''When I started the school I came in with a hair rule and the hair rule was I wanted all the girls to have their heads shaved, or their hair pulled back neatly, or braided. That's how we all started out.''

''That's easy to do when you're 12 and 13 - which is what the ages were of the first girls. So it was easier when they were in 7th and 8th grade. Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder,'' says Oprah Winfrey. ''I came back … oh my goodness! I didn't even recognize some girls – they had 12 pounds of hair on their head!''


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey called sexual molestation scandal at her school ''our little crisis''; still and will always believe the girls.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network: ''Far more challenging than I imagined.''
ALSO READ: O so superstitious: Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and the talk show host reveals why.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: ''He doesn't need me.''

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network: 'Far more challenging than I imagined.'

You're reading it here first.

Oprah Winfrey, in an exclusive hour long sit down interview broadcast earlier this evening on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) readily talked about her new venture, her TV channel the Oprah Winfrey Network (or OWN for short) and admitted that it was ''far more challenging than I imagined''.

Talking to Godfrey Mutizwa in a special edition of Africa Prime, the talk show host whose 25th and final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show can still be seen in reruns on SABC3, said starting a TV channel is a big learning curve for her but that she doesn't miss her talk show that ended last year. ''I don't miss it because I was ready for it to end.''

Speaking about OWN she said ''it's far more challenging than I imagined. When I came here [to South Africa last week] we just had our highest rating so far on this new show, Oprah's Next Chapter than I'm doing.''

''It is a gargantuan task and all my friends who've done it – like Ted Turner who've started CNN, Barry Diller who started the Fox network in America and other people who started the Comedy network said to me 'You don't understand, this is a gigantic thing you're taking on.''

''I went from doing one hour a day to trying to create 24 hours of content a day!'' Oprah Winfrey said. ''It has been yet another learning curve for me. But the reason why I did it was that I wanted to maintain the platform for being able to expose people to programming that I feel is stimulating, uplifting, interesting and that open the heart space of people. I didn't want to lose that. I would rather try and fail, than to be owned and controlled by someone else and their ideas of the work that I could do,'' she said.

On her new talk show Oprah's Next Chapter that is now getting the highest viewership on OWN since the channel launched a year ago, she says ''the new show is about me leaving the studio and going out and experiencing the world and talking to the people that I really want to talk to; me interested in their ideas and experiences. It's about opening up the world so people can see through my experiences that we are all more alike.''


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey called the sexual molestation scandal at her school ''our little crisis''; still and will always believe the girls.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: ''Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder!''
ALSO READ: O so superstitious: Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and reveals why!
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: ''He doesn't need me.''

O SO SUPERSTITIOUS! Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and the talk show host reveals why.

You're reading it here first.

O ..., whaddaya know! Oprah Winfrey is superstitious.

The talk show diva who spoke to Godfrey Mutizwa in an exclusive hour long sit down interview in Africa Prime on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) earlier this evening, revealed that she believes in round numbers.

''I believe in round numbers for everything,'' Oprah Winfrey admitted who visited her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls where the first class of girls who matriculated had a graduation ceremony this past Saturday. ''You know why? As I was growing up my father wouldn't give me any money unless his money was even.''

''I'd go 'Hey dad I need five dollars.' And he'd go: 'No I can't. The money not even.' So I grew up with this whole 'the money has to be even' thing,'' she said. ''So things have to be round numbers. If I'm on the treadmill and its not a round number I'll stay on it until it does. It's a crazy thing.''


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey called sexual molestation scandal at her school ''our little crisis''; still and will always believe the girls.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with the whole process.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: ''Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder!''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network: ''Far more challenging than I imagined.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: ''He doesn't need me.''

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey on if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a 2nd term as president of the United States: 'He doesn't need me.'

You're reading it here first.

Oprah Winfrey, asked on the CNBC Africa (DStv 410) programme Africa Prime by interviewer Godfrey Mutizwa if she's going to be endorsing the American president Barack Obama for a second term during this year's upcoming presidential election in the United States, the talk show host didn't give a straight yes or no answer and said ''he doesn't need me''.

Oprah Winfrey's endorsement - as reportedly the most influential woman in the world - ensured according to research as many as 1 million votes to Barack Obama's presidential bid in 2008 to help him become American president. The move reportedly cost Oprah Winfrey support as she lost some of her viewers who distanced themselves from her after her political endorsement.

While he will be seeking a second term in office in the United States later this year, Barack Obama's popularity has sharply declined in recent months in the United States due to a gridlocked US Congress, a stubbornly high unemployment rate and a resession hammered economy.

Asked if she will be endorsing Barack Obama for a second term, Oprah Winfrey told Godfrey Mutizwa that ''I don't need to do it again. I don't think he needs me''.

''The moment for me to step up for Barack Obama – you know I am still a big supporter, a big fan, a believer in Barack Obama – but that was a moment that was needed then,'' she said in the hour long interview that was broadcast on the South African business channel Tuesday evening.

''I did that then because even my own friends didn't know who Barack Obama was. Now the world know who Barack Obama is. He doesn't need me. But am I a supporter of his? Yes.''


ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey called sexual molestation scandal at her school ''our little crisis''; still and will always believe her girls.
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on her school for girls in South Africa: ''There were times when I was brought to tears and to my knees with this whole process.''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey on the hair-raising problem at her private school for girls: ''Now weaves have hit Africa and it's a lot harder!''
ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey opens up about starting and running OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network: ''Far more challenging than I imagined.''
ALSO READ: O so superstitious! Oprah Winfrey believes in round numbers ... and she reveals why!

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey arrives in South Africa for the graduation of her girl school's first matric class.

Oprah Winfrey has arrived back in South Africa to attend the graduation of her first matric class at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls at Henley-on-Klip over the weekend.

ALSO READ: Oprah Winfrey back in January 2012 in South Africa for a very special event - the graduation of her first matric class of girls at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

Oprah Winfrey jetted into Johannesburg to possibly visit Nelson Mandela while she attends the graduation ceremony of her 72 girls who will all be studying at ivy league tertiary educations in America as well as in South Africa that she will be paying for.

Besides a 100% pass rate the 72 students achieve a combined total of 188 distinctions in South Africa's National Senior Certificate exam.

"I try to see Madiba each time I come. If he is able to see me, yes, I will (see him)," Oprah Winfrey told Reuters regarding the possibility of seeing the ailing stateman, aged 93, suffering from respiratory problems.

Oprah's final episode nervousness - and the post show parties and VIP reception which took place that you don't know about.

For the first time the secrets are revealed about what really happened behind the scenes and after the conclusion of the very final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah Winfrey is now revealing the moment when she started to feel nervous and emotional during the final episode. And what viewers don't know is that there was a VIP post show reception she didn't know about, as well as a massive staff party the next day she threw for her loyal Harpo staff.

The Oprah Show is still running on weekday afternoons in South Africa but concluded with its last three episodes at the end of May in America. Those last three episodes was also quickly scheduled and shown in primetime in South Africa in June. In Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes – the documentary reality show on Winfrey's OWN TV channel that's revealing what really went on behind the scenes – just gave the final episode a special three episode treatment. This show is now lifting the lid on what actually happened during the last episode and immediately after it.

During the finale when it was just Oprah Winfrey talking to the audience, the Harpo building was basically empty, with only a few producers not working on the actual episode, gathering together for champagne and two separate viewing parties in two empty, packed-up offices. Rosie O'Donnell and her production team is now going to use the Harpo studio for her new talk show on OWN.

''I wasn't having butterflies,'' reveals Oprah Winfrey while she was getting her hair and make-up done for the finale and was listening to Aretha Franklin on her iPad singing Amazing Grace. Meanwhile her friend Gayle King who brought her daughter Kirby along, was filming Oprah Winfrey with her cellphone camera while Oprah's boyfriend Stedman Graham sat silently holding her hand. ''It's not a funeral is it?'' he asked, to which Oprah Winfrey just said, ''No'' and laughed.

For more on what happened after the finale, click on READ MORE below.

BREAKING. In a stunning SABC3 timeslot change, Days of Our Lives to take over Oprah timeslot from October as multiple shows must move.

You're reading it here first.

I can exclusively break the news I've been working on for weeks which is that, in a stunning shake-up of programming at SABC3, the American soap Days of Our Lives is set to inherit the timeslot of The Oprah Winfrey Show from October when a massive cascading timeslot change comes into effect on the SABC3 schedule - meaning major changes also affecting shows such as All My Children, Three Talk, Dr Oz and even Isidingo and Top Billing.

ALSO READ: Top Billing on SABC3 again moving from October on the schedule to a brand-new timeslot.

I can reveal that from Monday 3 October Days of Our Lives - currently at 16:30 and perenially the most popular SABC3 show viewership wise - will move to 17:40 on weekdays pushing Oprah out (althought the midnight repeat of Oprah remains).

In a major change All My Children will move from 09:30 to 14:00 and will be followed by The Oprah Winfrey Show at 14:50 - it's new timeslot until December when the show ends its repeat cycle. This pushes Dr Oz, currently at 14:30, later to its brand-new timeslot on SABC3 of 15:45 from October. Dr Oz will also be on SABC1 from Tuesdays to Fridays from October at 10:30.

This cascade effect means that Three Talk with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu currently at 15:30 on weekday afternoons will also be moving - an hour later on SABC3 from 3 October to 16:40. It will be followed by Days of Our Lives at 17:40.

Here's basically what's going to happen if I colour code and roughly time-correlate what SABC3 is going to do from October:

Currently                           New from 3 October on SABC3
09:30 All My Children         14:00 All My Children
14:30 Dr Oz                       14:50 Oprah
15:30 Three Talk                15:45 Dr Oz
16:30 Days of Our Lives     16:40 Three Talk
17:30 Oprah                       17:40 Days of Our Lives



ALSO READ: Isidingo on SABC3 permanently moving to 19:30 on weekdays from Monday 3 October - an hour later than the current 18:30.
ALSO READ: The Bold and the Beautiful on SABC1 moving to 18:30 on weekdays from October; swapping with the local magazine shows moving to 18:00.

BREAKING. The Oprah Show finale in South Africa on SABC3 pulls a massive viewership for the final farewell episode in primetime.

You're reading it here first.

The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show this past Thursday on SABC3 at 19:30 clicked with viewers who tuned in in droves to say a final goodbye. The final hour clocked a fitting farewell rating with an impressive South African viewership that showed up for the queen of talk's TV show swansong.

The final Oprah episode as well as the preceding two parter ''Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular'' were moved to SABC3's primetime Thursday night slot in July. The queen of talk created an impressive viewership jump for the SABC's only commercial television channel in the tough Thursday night timeslot.

The Oprah Winfrey Show finale on SABC3 on Thursday night pulled a 2,5 AR in total viewership, or 911 103 viewers for the hour - higher than the average of 2,2 ARs for the channel's usual viewership in the competitive hour. The Oprah swansong also scored a 6,6% share - the number of TV sets in total tuned to a specific TV channel - compared to the monthly average share for the timeslot on SABC3 which is 5,9%.

Programming note: Rob Lowe, the Obamas, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts visit Oprah this week and how to look 20 years younger.

The Oprah Winfrey Show (SABC3, weekdays, 17:30) has Rob Lowe as a guest today who, at 47, is on the couch to talk about his life and escapades.

On Tuesday (19 July) American president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama visits.

On Wednesday (20 July) Oprah's personal trainer Bob Greene is back with some other experts like a dermatologist and nutritionist to talk about how to reverse the ageing process and look and feel 20 years younger.

On Thursday (21 July) Shania Twain does her first TV interview in more than five years and talks to Oprah Winfrey about her past, and the betrayel and crisis that caused her to lose her voice.

On Friday (22 July) Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts return to The Oprah Winfrey Show for their farewell to look back at their funniest moments over the years.

THE DEFINITIVE REVIEW PREVIEW: The Oprah Winfrey finale tonight on SABC3 at 19:30 is a fine, must-see TV hour.

If you've ever watched The Oprah Winfrey Show, you'd want to watch tonight. Hold those tissues handy; yes, there might be a tear.

After 25 years the final episode of The Oprah Show is tonight on SABC3 at 19:30. I've watched it and I can give you the definitive review preview of tonight's must-see TV hour.

''We decided to do what we do best – and that is a show about, and with, everyday people. This show always will allow people, hopefully to understand the power they have to change their own lives. If there's to be one thread running through every show we do, it's the thread that you – you – are not alone.''

It's with this highly nostalgic opening clip from her very first episode on 8 September 1986 – her effervescent personality on full display and in hindsight an indicator of the shape of things to come – that Oprah Winfrey and the very final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show will start tonight on SABC3 at 19:30.

Click on READ MORE below.

Oprah's final 'aha' moments: A round-up of the best pieces of wisdom she's sharing in tonight's final episode on SABC3 at 19:30.

Talking to almost 30 000 people over the course of a quarter of a century, Oprah Winfrey has had many – what she calls – ''aha moments''.

Here, from her very final Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast tonight on SABC3 at 19:30, is a round-up of the best pieces of wisdom that she's sharing – the things in life she says she knows for sure.

Click on READ MORE below.