Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 14 October 2015

■ New show Quantico on Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) gets a full season order.
There will now be 19 episodes in the first season of the new Priyanka Chopra drama and it could even be increased further to 22 to get to a traditional episode number for a season.

■ Dominion on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) cancelled.
Defiance's cancellation is likely next. Viewership dropped by almost half (47%) for the show that was filmed in South Africa by Film Afrika.

■ Beauty and the Beast on M-Net (DStv 101) cancelled.
Upcoming 4th season will be its last. It's never been much of a ratings performer.

■ The ANC has lost faith in Faith Muthambi.
The minister of communications further derailed the mess that was and is supposed to be digital terrestrial television (DTT). The ANC shows "the most public anger expressed at any serving minister since 1994".

■ You can now add ShowMax to your Mweb subscription
The video-on-demand (VOD) service of Naspers is getting bundled with its internet service provider service.

■ Trevor Noah of The Daily Show once again accused of stealing a joke.
The Comedy Central (DStv 122) star apparently again stole an exact replica of a decades-old joke of Dave Chapelle.

■ eNCA (DStv 403) anchor Joanne Joseph interview.
She talks to The Media about her new book, her short temper, human stories and shares advice for female journalists.

■ How the public broadcasting television system in the United Kingdom is under threat like never before.

■ The new 2 minute tralailer for upcoming fantasy series, The Shanarra Chronicles.
No response on a media enquiry from Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) on whether the new series it will be on MTV on MultiChoice's DStv from 2016 or on an M-Net channel like what happened with Teen Wolf and Vuzu AMP.

■ Why do we say someone is "on" TV, but "in" a movie?
The lexicon explained: TV is this ongoing thing, while a movie is a contained thing.

■ Russia Today (RT) is getting its budget slashed as Russia's economy falters.
The Russian TV news channel seen on MultiChoice's DStv (DStv 407) has gone into propaganda drive again over Russia's bombing of Syria. The channel's budget is being cut by 9% amid the faltering Russian economy.
- RT actually pays TV platforms like DStv to carry the news channel instead of being paid carriage fees as this Foxtel story from earlier in the year in Australia reveals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

M-Net's Vuzu AMP on DStv gets new dramas Quantico, Heroes Reborn, Power, and more How to Get Away with Murder in 2016.

Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) has acquired the new dramas Quantico, Heroes Reborn, Power and will have some more How to Get Away with Murder.

M-Net's Vuzu AMP announced the new dramas and acquisitions at the MultiChoice Content Showcase held just over a week ago in Mauritius.

So far only one journalist from Africa who attended it wrote about Vuzu Amp's shows and the actual programming announcement.

South Africa's press and TV critics were not invited and didn't attend, and Vuzu Amp's marketing and PR division didn't release the channel's upcoming programming announcement details to South Africa's press (so they couldn't write about it, even if they wanted to).

However, here is what Vuzu AMP viewers can look forward to on the DStv channel, which is as applicable for viewers in South Africa, and of course for the rest of the continent:

Quantico - starts 28 September 2015
This new drama looks incredible and its strange that it's allocated to Vuzu AMP and not to M-Net (DStv 101) - it belongs on M-Net.

I saw a few minutes of the first episode in July and was blown away. The new drama follows the lives of new FBI recruits training at the Quantico base in Virginia.

Someone is a secret double agent (we don't know who); people are romantically involved with each other; there's overtones of 9/11 (and a conspiracy theory); someone is ejected in the first episode and thrown out of the programme - and although i saw just a few minutes I love this show already.

Heroes Reborn - starts 29 September
Yep, SABC3 which had Heroes doesn't have this new, reset 13-part mini-series which starts in America on 24 September and on Vuzu AMP on 29 September.

Again, why this is on Vuzu AMP if M-Net has Resurrection, Under the Dome, The Whispers, Game of Thrones, Arrow and Gotham and other such shows, beats me.

It's becoming harder to tell and just know what would be on M-Net and what would be on Vuzu AMP because Vuzu AMP's channel positioning (or M-Net's - depending on your point of view) seems off.

While the dividing line between M-Net and M-Net Edge is clear, Vuzu AMP is trying to  - or feels like it is - becoming a "M-Net 2", instead of being its own thing.

The exact same type of shows should always be only on the one type of M-Net channel I feel so you instantly know where future, similar shows are going to show up.

Anyway, there's a lot of new humans in Heroes Reborn who discovery they have super powers, and a few familiar older faces will also return. And this time you'll be able to watch it in high-definition (HD) and series producer Tim King is back as executive producer.



Power - starts 31 October

Uhm, just kinda one question: Why is this show on Vuzu AMP and not on M-Net when its totally, completely not aligned to Vuzu AMP and an ill-fit when M-Net has Suits, House of Cards and Mr. Robot?

Power, which is more like FOX's Empire and Tyrant, is gritty - but actually great (and ironically also stylish but in a strange way).

Power is also definitely not a youth television show - meaning its not actually suitable for Vuzu AMP.

Power suffers by comparison with Empire, but definitely still watch it. It's actually very good, and very much the same, although lesser known. Two seasons ( 8 episode first season, 10 episode 2nd season) are done and the show has been renewed for a third.

Power, a Starz drama like Black Sails on History (DStv 186), revolves around successful executive James "Ghost" St. Patrick who has a wonderful Manhattan penthouse and owns the nightclub Truth. But the truth is that he runs a drug empire - and now he wants out.



I wonder what would happen if you did a marketing focus group and had young and old people who've watched M-Net and Vuzu AMP and put them in a room, then show them Quantico, Heroes Reborn and Power, and ask them to guess what TV channel each show would be on.

I'm sure they would say M-Net for all of these besides perhaps Heroes Reborn, which could also easily be M-Net.

Besides these shows, How to Get Away with Murder (yet another extremely oddly Vuzu AMP allocated show that's an ill fit) will be back from 11 January 2016 for a new season.