Russia's RT channel pulled from StarTimes Media SA's StarSat on the one-year anniversary of Russia's Ukraine war.

by Thinus Ferreira

On the one-year anniversary of Russia's war with Ukraine, Russia's propaganda TV channel Russia Today (RT) has now also been removed from StarSat in South Africa and StarTimes across sub-Saharan Africa after nine months.

Following Russian president Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and the subsequent war, Russia Today went dark on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service on channel 407 on 2 March last year, after a flurry of severe international sanctions and trade restrictions imposed against Russia. 

Russia Today has been widely criticised for its one-sided coverage of Russia's war with Ukraine.

Trade sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) saw Russia Today's satellite uplinking - a channel feed connection making use of European companies for transponder uplinking - cut off at the same time that Google and other companies blocked RT's YouTube streaming.

MultiChoice makes use of the Intelsat IS-20 satellite as a transponder through which the Randburg-based company leases capacity on and which is subject to the EU blocking of Russia Today.

Two months after Russia Today disappeared from DStv, the channel suddenly popped up on StarSat in South Africa and StarTimes in the rest of Africa since May 2022. 

StarTimes and StarSat are run by China's StarTimes Media SA on channel 260. 

While China officially takes a neutral position over Russia's war in Ukraine, the country has refused to criticise Russia for its actions or call it an invasion and is helping prevent efforts to condemn Russia at the United Nations.

StarSat told TVwithThinus in May 2022 in response to a media query about how it was able to show Russia Today when satellite transponder companies have been blocked from distributing the channel, that "After we reached a carriage agreement with RT, they deliver the feed to our uplinking station straightly, then we uplink to SES-5 and broadcast to our customers".

StarTimes was uplinking the Russia Today channel feed through SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space.

Similar to Intelsat which has its corporate headquarters in Luxembourg, SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe.

In May 2022, SES SA told TVwithThinus that the company had engaged with European regulatory bodies to suspend the distribution of specific Russia Today channels across Europe and that SES "turned the designated signals off per the European sanctions passed on 2 March 2022" but that Russia Today delivered through SES-5 "is not one that has been banned by the European Union".

SES SA said that the company has been "engaging with our customers and regulatory authorities to assess both what we can do and must do under the various legal regimes to which we are subject. SES is prepared to take immediate action and implement any instructions we receive from regulatory authorities".

On Thursday Russia Today abruptly disappeared from StarSat and StarTimes after nine months after EU sanctions have now been applied to block the channel on the Midrand-based pay-TV operator's platform as well.

StarSat in a notification says it "regrets to inform our subscribers that effective immediately, Russia Today (channel 260) will be offline until further notice".

"The satellite company responsible for beaming RT to StarSat has terminated the signal due to sanctions implemented by the European Union. Please note for now it will only be available on the StarTimes On App. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

Meanwhile, Russia Today's work continues on setting up its new African headquarters in South Africa under Paula Slier, the South African TV reporter who previously worked for SABC News and who was posted in Jerusalem, Israel, as RT's correspondent for that region. She is now overseeing the creation of an African bureau.

RT told News24 in July "We are indeed currently focused on developing our English-language Africa hub in South Africa, headed up by Paula Slier - a South Africa native, RT's longtime correspondent and formerly head of RT's Jerusalem bureau".

ALSO READ: The Russia Today TV channel abruptly disappears on Wednesday evening from MultiChoice's DStv, and TelkomONE in South Africa.

ALSO READ: Russia Today channel back on South African television after China's StarTimes Media adds it to StarSat.

ALSO READ: Russia's RT channel eyes African expansion with a South African newsroom run by Paula Slier.

Russia's RT channel eyes African expansion with a South African newsroom run by Paula Slier.

by Thinus Ferreira

Russia's RT channel has embarked on expansion plans in Africa, starting to set up headquarters on the continent in South Africa where the Kremlin-funded TV channel is carried and supported by China.

Paula Slier, the South African TV reporter who previously worked for SABC News and who was posted in Jerusalem, Israel, as RT's correspondent for that region, is now overseeing the set-up of RT's African headquarters in South Africa and will be managing the bureau.

On Monday an RT spokesperson told TVwithThinus "We are indeed currently focused on developing our English-language Africa hub in South Africa, headed up by Paula Slier - a South Africa native, RT's longtime correspondent and formerly head of RT's Jerusalem bureau".

"We will be releasing more updates about the particulars of this operation at the appropriate time," RT said.

According to an insider, the RT South African newsroom is currently being set up although it's still unclear how many South African staff, camera operators and reporters RT plans to hire as it takes a page from the playbook of what other global TV news channels like CNN International, Al Jazeera, BBC World News and China's pro-Beijing CGTN have done in Africa.

The African expansion of Russia's state-backed TV channel comes amid Russia's unprovoked invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine and widespread global condemnation of the pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine misinformation and propaganda on the channel over the past few months.

Earlier this year Russia Today, formerly Russia Today, was banned by the European Union (UN), as well as in Canada and in the United Kingdom by Britain's broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

Imposed EU sanctions also meant that RT abruptly went dark in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa on 2 March.

This was the date when Luxembourg-based companies like Intelsat and SES SA flipped the kill-switch on the satellite uplinking of RT's channel feed to their satellite transponders like Intelsat's IS-20 on which a pay-TV operator like the Randburg-based MultiChoice leases bandwidth to bring the channel to DStv subscribers.  

Google and other companies also blocked the propaganda channel's YouTube streaming.

Two and a half months later, RT surprisingly flickered back on South African TV screens on 11 May - this time thanks to Chinese support.

The MultiChoice pay-TV rival, StarTimes Media - running the StarSat pay-TV service in South Africa and StarTimes elsewhere in Africa - added RT to its TV channels line-up in mid-May, using SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space.

SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe.

SES S.A. told TVwithThinus that it "engaged with European regulatory bodies to suspend the distribution of specific Russia Today channels and Sputnik across Europe" and had turned off the designated signals on 2 March.

"While the channel in question – Russia Today Global  – is being delivered via SES-5 (a satellite that SES owns) over sub-Saharan Africa, it is our customer who has leased our bandwidth and is distributing the channel over the leased capacity."

"SES also notes that this channel is not one that has been banned by the European Union."

"We have been engaging with our customers and regulatory authorities to assess both what we can do and must do under the various legal regimes to which we are subject. SES is prepared to take immediate action and implement any instructions we receive from regulatory authorities." 

StarTimes told TVwithThinus in May that as a pay-TV service it "takes pride in sourcing relevant and current content to enhance our packages, thus we regard RT Global as a 24-hour English-language news channel that focuses on all major economic, political and social issues of our time".

From Russia with love

While RT's original plan was to get a localised foothold on the African continent by establishing its African bureau in Nairobi, Kenya where the African headquarters of China's CGTN has also been set up and based for the past few years, RT has now switched from the East African country to South Africa where it won't be directly competing with CGTN for newsroom resources.

It's unclear if RT's move away from Kenya to South Africa to set up its first localised African hub is possibly a tit-for-tat move to get out of CGTN's way, after StarTimes' decision to sign a channel carriage agreement to showcase RT on channel 260 on the Chinese pay-TV platform. 

In February RT still posted adverts for journalist positions who would have had to work and be based in Nairobi.    

The RT spokesperson didn't comment on the African location change, how many South African staff RT plans to hire, or why RT is interested in creating a regional headquarter in Africa.

Russia Today channel back on South African television after China's StarTimes Media adds it to StarSat.

by Thinus Ferreira

Russia's state-sponsored TV channel Russia Today (RT) is back on South African television after China's StarTimes has suddenly picked up the channel despite international sanctions, with RT which is now available on StarSat on channel 260.

Russia Today has been widely criticised for its one-sided coverage of Russia's war with Ukraine. Observers have been faulting RT for presenting information as so-called news reporting although it's not factual or not fact-based.

Russia Today, which was carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, abruptly went dark on 2 March shortly after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war with its neighbouring country, resulting in a flurry of international sanctions and trade restrictions imposed against Russia.

Trade sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) saw Russia Today's satellite uplinking - a channel feed connection making use of European companies for transponder uplinking - cut off at the same time that Google and other companies blocked the propaganda channel's YouTube streaming.

For the past two months, MultiChoice has been showing DStv subscribers a title card on DStv channel 407 explaining how the EU blocking of Russia Today means that the RT signal is not available through Intelsat's IS-20 satellite transponder that MultiChoice is using and leasing space on.

China's StarTimes Media, operating as StarSat in South Africa, confirmed to TVwithThinus that it has acquired Russia Today and is now showing it on StarSat channel 260.

StarTimes says it's uplinking the Russia Today channel feed through SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space for South and Southern Africa. 

Similar to Intelsat which has its corporate headquarters in Luxembourg, SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe.

StarSat tells TVwithThinus in response to a media query it got TV channel application permission from South Africa's broadcasting regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to add Russia Today.

"We have received ICASA's approval on 10 May, therefore we launched this channel from 11 May 2022 and it's available in our Super package from R109 per month on channel 260".

Asked why it decided to add RT, a StarSat spokesperson says "StarSat as a platform takes pride in sourcing relevant and current content to enhance our packages, thus we regard RT Global as a 24-hour English-language news channel that focuses on all major economic, political and social issues of our time. RT is broadcast on the StarTimes platform in South Africa and the rest of Africa".

Asked how StarSat is able to show Russia Today although it was removed from transponder uplinking due to EU sanctions, StarSat says "After we reached a carriage agreement with RT, they deliver the feed to our uplinking station straightly, then we uplink to SES-5 and broadcast to our customers".

I've reached out to SES. S.A. with a media query on Thursday but didn't get a response by the time of publication which will be added here if received.

I've also reached out to ICASA about the approval process and a response will be added here if received.

In the United Kingdom where Russia Today was removed in March as well, the British broadcasting regulator Ofcom revoked RT's licence and said the channel is unable to comply with the impartiality rules of the UK's Broadcasting Code.

After 29 investigations, Ofcom said "RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK".

Last month Bloomberg reported that China's vice foreign minister Le Yucheng said that China will continue strengthening strategic ties with Russia despite Russia's widely-condemned war with Ukraine.

ALSO READ: The Russia Today TV channel abruptly disappears on Wednesday evening from MultiChoice's DStv, and TelkomONE in South Africa.

BREAKING. The Russia Today TV channel abruptly disappears on Wednesday evening from MultiChoice's DStv, and TelkomONE in South Africa.

by Thinus Ferreira

Russia's propaganda TV channel Russia Today (DStv 407) known as RT, late on Wednesday abruptly disappeared from the channel line-up of MultiChoice's DStv as well as Telkom's TelkomONE video streaming service.

DStv subscribers on Wednesday evening got a black screen on DStv channel 407 with the on-screen notification "This channel is closed".

On Wednesday night it wasn't immediately clear whether MultiChoice and Telkom decided to remove RT, similar to how pay-TV operators and streaming services in multiple other countries from America to Australia decided to do since this past weekend, or whether Russia Today decided to remove its signal, or whether other technical problems interrupted the RT channel feed.

MultiChoice and Telkom were asked for comment on Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday night MultiChoice said that "As of today, 2 March 2021, Russia Today (Channel 407) shall not be carried on the DStv platform until further notice. Sanctions imposed on Russia have led to the global distributor of the channel ceasing to provide the broadcast feed to all suppliers, including MultiChoice."

On Monday, MultiChoice in response to media queries said that "We have no editorial control over third-party channels". 

SA’s broadcasting regulator demands answers

South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in a statement to TVwithThinus on Wednesday night, said that "ICASA wants to put it on record that the broadcast of RT on the DStv platform is and continues to be a commercial agreement between the subscription TV broadcaster, MultiChoice and RT".

"The authority's role in the broadcasting of RT has been solely limited to channel authorisation as submitted by the licensee  – in this case, MultiChoice – and approved by ICASA prior to the channel being introduced."

ICASA said that this is a regulatory requirement fulfilled by the licensee before introducing any new channel for consumption by the South African public.

"Our licensing and compliance division has not received any notification by MultiChoice confirming the discontinuation of the channel on its DStv platform,” ICASA chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng said.

According to Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng "it is in the public interest to know the reasons for this discontinuation since the authorisation was approved by the authority".

"Given the underlying principle of the South African broadcasting system for promoting plurality of views, it is only prudent for ICASA to enquire with DStv on the rationale for the discontinuation of the RT channel."

Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng said that ICASA continues to monitor the developments regarding this matter.

Petition against and global RT offboarding

The Kremlin-backed TV channel came under fire globally especially since last week, following Russia's invasion and unprovoked war with Ukraine.

In South Africa, the country's Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) confirmed that it has been receiving complaints from DStv subscribers asking why MultiChoice has not removed RT.

A DStv subscriber Jared Myroff also started an online petition on change.org, directed to MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela and the pay-TV operator's chairperson Imtiaz Patel, imploring MultiChoice to remove RT from DStv.

The petition says that RT "is a tool of the greater Russia propaganda machine" and that is "currently using its air time to spread misinformation on the invasion that Russia has undertaken on Ukraine".

"As a DStv customer, part of your fees goes towards DStv to paying for this channel to have air time in our country and poison the minds of our citizens."

"Essentially our MultiChoice subscriptions help fund Russia and Putin's propaganda machine. The goal of this petition is to gain the attention of the top management of MultiChoice and to remove the Russia Today "news" channel from our screens," the petition states.  

Australia's biggest pay-TV operator Foxtel also removed RT on Sunday as a linear TV channel and from its streaming service. 

"In view of concern about the situation in Ukraine, the Russia Today channel is currently unavailable on Foxtel and Flash," Foxtel said in a statement.

Canada's two biggest pay-TV services, Rogers Communications and Bell Canada both announced on Monday that they're dropping RT completely.

America's DirectTV on Monday announced that it's removing RT "and will no longer offer their programming effective immediately".

The 1+1 Media Group, a Ukrainian media conglomerate, on Monday said they wrote to media companies worldwide, asking them to stop transmitting Russia's propaganda-filled TV channels like RT.

"More than 20 local providers from Poland, Australia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Germany, as well as representatives of international corporations have already responded to the request," 1+1 Media Group said in a press release on Monday.

"As of 26 February they have started the turning off of the propagandistic TV channels on their satellites, cable networks and across other platforms and sources."

YouTube also blocked RT from generating any advertising revenue from any of its content placed on Google’s video streaming service.

"In light of extraordinary circumstances in Ukraine, we're taking a number of actions,” Michael Aciman, global communications and public affairs manager at Google, said in a statement. 

"We're pausing a number of channels' ability to monetize on YouTube, including several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions. We will be significantly limiting recommendations to these channels. And in response to a government request, we've restricted access to RT and a number of other channels in Ukraine."

In the United Kingdom where RT still remains on the air, that country's broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, on Monday announced in a statement that it had " opened 15 new investigations into the due impartiality of news programs on the RT news channel."

"We have observed a significant increase in the number of programs on the RT service that warrant investigation under our Broadcasting Code," Ofcom said.

On Wednesday Ofcom announced that it has added another 12 investigations into RT, bringing the total number to 27.

"We are very concerned by the volume of programmes on RT that are raising potential issues under the Broadcasting Code, and as we progress our investigations we are considering whether RT should retain a U.K. license," Ofcom said in a statement late on Wednesday. 

ALSO READ: As DStv viewers wonder why MultiChoice continues to carry the propaganda channel Russia Today, the BCCSA gets complaints while MultiChoice says it has no editorial control over RT and a subscriber starts a petition for its removal.

As DStv viewers wonder why MultiChoice continues to carry the propaganda channel Russia Today, the BCCSA gets complaints while MultiChoice says it has no editorial control over RT and a subscriber starts a petition for its removal.

by Thinus Ferreira

While DStv subscribers are wondering why MultiChoice hasn't removed Russia's RT propaganda channel in the way that other pay-TV operators in the world have done and with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission receiving complaints from DStv subscribers, MultiChoice says it has no control over RT.

Meanwhile a DStv subscriber Jared Myroff has started an online petition, directed to MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela and the pay-TV operator's chairperson Imtiaz Patel, imploring MultiChoice to remove RT from DStv.

RT is also carried on Telkom's TelkomONE streaming service, with an RT documentary channel carried on StarTimes's StarSat pay-TV service.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine that started an unprovoked war last week with Ukraine, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) told TVwithThinus on Monday that it has received 3 complaints from DStv subscribers so far asking why MultiChoice has not removed the Kremlin-funded propaganda channel from DStv's channel line-up.

With pay-TV services in America, Canada, Germany, Poland and several other countries including Australia that removed RT since Saturday from their channel line-ups, MultiChoice was asked whether the Randburg-based pay-TV operator is looking at doing the same, and what MultiChoice's stance is on the content being broadcast by RT on its DStv platform.

MultiChoice on Monday through one of its external PR agencies said "We have no editorial control over third-party channels". 

According to the BCCSA and Broadcasting Code, operators like MultiChoice are responsible for all of the content - whether local channels or international third-party channels - they broadcast.

Australia’s biggest pay-TV operator Foxtel also removed RT on Sunday as a linear TV channel and from its streaming service. 

"In view of concern about the situation in Ukraine, the Russia Today channel is currently unavailable on Foxtel and Flash," Foxtel said in a statement.

Canada's two biggest pay-TV services, Rogers Communications and Bell Canada both announced on Monday that they're dropping RT completely.

America's DirectTV on Monday announced that it's removing RT "and will no longer offer their programming effective immediately".

The 1+1 Media Group, a Ukrainian media conglomerate, on Monday said they wrote to media companies worldwide, asking them to stop transmitting Russia's propaganda-filled TV channels like RT.

"More than 20 local providers from Poland, Australia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Germany, as well as representatives of international corporations have already responded to the request," 1+1 Media Group said in a press release on Monday.

"As of 26 February they have started the turning off of the propagandistic TV channels on their satellites, cable networks and across other platforms and sources."

YouTube also blocked RT from generating any advertising revenue from any of its content placed on Google’s video streaming service.

"In light of extraordinary circumstances in Ukraine, we're taking a number of actions,” Michael Aciman, global communications and public affairs manager at Google, said in a statement. 

"We're pausing a number of channels' ability to monetize on YouTube, including several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions. We will be significantly limiting recommendations to these channels. And in response to a government request, we've restricted access to RT and a number of other channels in Ukraine."

In the United Kingdom where RT still remains on the air, that country's broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, on Monday announced in a statement that it had " opened 15 new investigations into the due impartiality of news programs on the RT news channel."

"We have observed a significant increase in the number of programs on the RT service that warrant investigation under our Broadcasting Code," Ofcom said.

A DStv subscriber Jared Myroff has started an online petition on change.org that already gained traction, saying that RT is "a tool of the greater Russia propaganda machine" and that is "currently using its air time to spread misinformation on the invasion that Russia has undertaken on Ukraine".

"As a DStv customer, part of your fees goes towards DStv to paying for this channel to have air time in our country and poison the minds of our citizens."

"Essentially our MultiChoice subscriptions help fund Russia and Putin's propaganda machine. The goal of this petition is to gain the attention of the top management of MultiChoice and to remove the Russia Today "news" channel from our screens," the petition states.  

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 9 July 2020.

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


■ MUST READ. "I was on a British TV diversity scheme - and saw why they don't change anything."

■ Hamilton, The Simpsons, and the problem with colourblind casting.
Animated shows are finally moving away from letting white actors play characters of colour. But even well-intentioned efforts at increasing diversity create complications.

■ Lithuania bans Russia's propaganda TV channel RT (DStv 407).
Follows Latvia and Baltic countries who sees Russia Today as a Kremlin propaganda tool aiming to influence the region’s ethnic Russian minority.


■ MultiChoice continues to fall even further and further behind with its DStv Explora decoder as Sky launches massive decoder upgrade.
Sky's Sky Q in the United Kingdom announces a raft of feature improvements for its decoder with an even better user interface (UI), so-called "show centres" where every TV show will now have a go-to destination for every available episode; and with all seasons, episodes, recordings, broadcast schedules and on-demand links together in one place.


■ Amazon Prime Video will finally offer one of Netflix's most basic and desired features.
Subscribers can now create different user profiles for multiple people sharing an Amazon Prime subscription to maintain separate watch histories and watch lists - along with parental controls.

■ Uganda censorship continues as Urban TV's Scoop on Scoop show is yanked from the air.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) got complaints that the shallow gossip show presented by Tina Fierce is "abusive, demeaning and inciting; opinionated and not attributed to any reliable source".

■ Peak Comfort TV.
Coronavirus and political anxiety in the United States have accelerated the shift toward comfort TV.

■ Blow-up dolls for The Bold and the Beautiful sex scenes.
Because of Covid-19 the American daytime soap is now using life-like dummies for intimate on-camera sex scenes where actors have to look like they're "in the throes of passion".

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 3 April 2018

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

■ Why the massive ratings of the Roseanne reboot is a big deal for TV.
- The ABC network in America held an executive meeting the day after Donald Trump got elected and asked themselves what audiences they're not serving well as execs tell The New York Times about why the Roseanne reboot was made.
- The Roseanne reboot is funny "but I'm not going to keep watching problematic pop culture". And the announcement of a Roseanne second season is "imminent" according to sources. And then a late Friday announcement from ABC that it's renewed.
MUST READ: The Roseanne revival shows how broadcast TV can survive in the streaming age: "Things that bring people together for a shared experience - that's what we do best."


■ International TV news channels like Russia's RT, China's CGTN and France24 went dark on 1 April in Washington, DC in America - and here's the reason.

■ The regular original actress Willa Holland who've played Thea Queen (Speedy), Oliver's younger sister for 6 seasons in Arrow seen on M-Net (DStv 101), is done with the show. The executive producer says it's been planned since the 4th season.


■ Suzie Hardy who says she was sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by Ryan Seacrest of E! (DStv 124) and ABC's new American Idol, has now filed a police report and says "everyone in Hollywood who stands by Ryan now is choosing not to believe me".


■ American TV reporter for FOX Sports hit in the eye by a baseball in Atlanta and her eye socket broken.

■ The new CBS crime drama series Instinct apologises to FOX's Bones for blatant plagiarism and copying in what is just its 3rd episode.

■ Oprah Winfrey is deliberately moving her OWN network into scripted series, exclusively selecting black creators.

DAILY TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 13 February 2017.

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


■ Zimbabwe government going to try and revamp Zimbabwe Television (ZTV), slams DStv.
Similar to South Africa's SABC, the Zimbabwe government is desperate to lure back viewers lost to MultiChoice's DStv.
Zimbabwe slams slams DStv for "programmes in conflict with our values and culture" and wants to launch 5 new TV channels as part of digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration to try and win back viewers.


■ Naspers' ShowMax launching in Poland.
The South African subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service will launch in Poland on 15 February costing 5 euro (R70.90) per month. ShowMax's little publicised development hub is of course based in the neighbouring Czech Republic.


■ GOtv Zambia to court to force ZNBC to restore its channels on its pay-TV service.
GOtv Zambia (with MultiChoice Africa as shareholder) wants Zambia's national broadcaster ZNBC to put back its channels and to stop interfering with its digital terrestrial television (DTT) services.

■ For context: It's part of a much bigger fight as rival China's StarTimes - a private foreign company - shockingly bought a 60% share in ZNBC's and its digital migration joint venture. This of course caused ZNBC wanting to dump MultiChoice Africa and GOtv Zambia.

The growing Zambian TV scandal has become so bad that Zambia's government is forced to say "ZNBC has not been sold to StarTimes" although it clearly looks that way.


■ Australian TV news anchor terrorised by a stalker sending death threats.
Peter Hitchener bombarded with death and abuse threats from a crazed stalker.

■ From now on all BBC TV shows will "track their carbon footprint".
BBC says its an attempt to "make TV productions more sustainable". Springwatch is reducing carbon emissions by using waste vegetable oil, while Dragon's Den uses low-energy lighting to keep the temperature of the lights on the contestants down.

■ TV's surprising staying power.
A must-read Economist long-read on the ongoing evolution of television and how "TV is now the best it has ever been".

■ Two abducted and severely abused Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257) staffers released in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The two Congolese were freed 5 days after they were kidnapped when the kidnappers took the two local staffers hostage but left the 3 foreign journalists - a Brit, an Italian and a Kenyan alone.

■ Pakistan TV crew member shot dead.

■ TV set of the diner of the new youth drama Archie on M-Net (DStv 101) diner is so realistic
that an 18-wheeler truck driver stopped at Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe, thinking it was real and open.

■ Russia Today (DStv 407) is expanding; set to launch a French version in France.
RT's French operation is set to expand dramatically with the launch of RT en Français, that will joins RT's existing channels in English, Spanish and Arabic.

■ Why CNN International (DStv 401) now foist White House press briefings on viewers.
Almost every time there's a White House press briefing by the obnoxious Sean Spicer CNN International dumps its scheduled programming to show it although international viewers don't care and are not given actual news - here's why: it lifts viewership in "daytime" in America.

■ Netflix dominates Saturdays in America.
Research suggest people binge-watch most over weekends.

■ American Idol is planning a possible come-back.
But will jump from FOX to NBC.

■ Hong Kong's TV broadcasting industry is in shambles.
The South China Morning Post on the TV biz "slowly committing hara-kiri" and how it's better TV content that might save it.

■ When did TV get so meta?
Vulture on how almost every TV series has now gotten self-referential and self-aware through in-show references.

■ A woman secretly video-recorded on cellphone in restroom on NBCUniversal's Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles.

■ It's time to restore the SABC's image.
Never in the history of the SABC has the image of the public broadcaster been so soiled as by Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

■ Ghana government officials allegedly stole DStv decoders
right out of the president's office.

■ New HBO drama Big Little Lies coming to M-Net (DStv 101) from 22 February
leaves TV's "male anti-hero era" behind.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 12 November 2015

■ Mikhail Lesin, the founder of the Russian TV news channel RT (DStv 407) dead in a hotel room.
Apparently died from a heart attack in Washington hotel room, but conspiracy theories now swirl.

■ India news channel NDTV (DStv 413) apologises for disastrously wrong coverage.
NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy apologises for totally botched Indian election coverage; "we've never made such a big error - we've made big errors - but not as big as this one"; blames pollsters' statistics.
- NDTV which just posted its Q2 results, is actually still running at a loss as a TV news channel.


■ Turkey dramatically clamping down on freedom of speech gives CNN Türk a massive fine for simply having someone voice opposition to the government.
- Meanwhile TRT World starts as Turkey's new state-run 24-hour TV news channel, mimicking CNN International with its on-screen lower-third graphics.
- The Istanbul based news channel will have studios in Washington, Kuala Lumpur and London.


■ Snowpiercer the movie adapted as a new science fiction TV series.

■ The Daily Show has dropped and lost 38% of its viewers with Trevor Noah.
Hollywood Reporter chart reveals the new pecking order and where the Comedy Central (DStv 122) late-night show now fits in ratings wise.

■ South Africa's StarSat from StarTimes expands into Zambia.
Enters the market with extremely low monthly subscription packages to compete with MultiChoice's DStv.

■ "Poor people will get 100% subsidies for set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television migration," says embattled communications minister Faith Muthambi.
Says poor households earning less than R3 200 per month will get one of the 5 million STBs needed for the switch from analogue to digital migration.

■ The Netflix effect: More streaming means more and better TV shows.
Internet video economics and the growth in video-on-demand (VoD) services mean more,original, and higher-value production TV shows.
- Netflix boss says there's not "nearly enough TV content".

■ And why the Golden Age of "Peak TV" isn't going to end soon.
There's just more and more great, original TV shows: Why there's no TV bubble to burst.

■ Moronic Nigerian lawmakers "alarmed" over "immoral" content on DStv.
Clueless and out-of-touch Nigerian politicians who know nothing about television nor broadcasting condemn MultiChoice Africa and wants more censorship of DStv. Political idiots in Nigeria worried about the "spate of uninhibited display of obscenities and uncensored programmes on the Nigerian airwaves".


■ The "Age of Denial" of American broadcasting TV.
American broadcasters no longer want to admit shows are bad and are cancelled - they now just give "reduced episode orders".
- How broadcasters are now cancelling TV shows without you knowing.

■ Jeremy Clarkson of BBC's Top Gear "showed a lack of respect" to colleagues.
Script editor who've worked on Top Gear for 13 years trashes the disgusting Jeremy Clarkson in his new book, saying he let the crew down and his apology was "half-hearted".

■ Wendy Williams Show on BET (DStv 129) extended for several more years.
Although the actual talk show's contract hasn't been extended itself, it's basically a formality as a 7-year extended contract has been signed between Wendy Williams and Lionsgate.

■ Shonda Rhimes doesn't know how Grey's Anatomy will end but has the end of Scandal! planned.
Creator and writer of both shows seen on M-Net (DStv 101) in South Africa where Scandal! is renamed The Fixer, doesn't know how Meredith Grey's story will end, but is sure of what will happen when Scandal! eventually finishes.

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.

Another Russia Today correspondent quits after bombed Ukraine Malaysia airlines disaster; says RT 'lying and finding sexier ways to do it'.

Another Russia Today (DStv 408) correspondent, this time Sara Firth who was based in Londen for RT, quit over the Krelim-funded 24-hour Russian TV news channel's coverage of the bombing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MN17 over the Ukraine, saying RT is spreading "lies" and that she cannot do it anymore.

"We work for Putin. We are asked on a daily basis if not to totally ignore, then to obscure the truth," Sara Firth, who joined RT in 2009 wrote on Twitter and that "Rule number one" is that "it is always Ukraine's fault".

While the world's TV news channels did stories that pro-Russian terrorists in the east of the country likely shot down Flight 17, RT has been blaming the tragedy on Ukraine and refuses to mention pro-Russian separatists in connection with it, or that Russian president Vladimir Putin should bare responsibility following the instability and conflict in the region.

"I couldn't do it anymore. Every single day we're lying and finding sexier ways to do it," she told BuzzFeed.

"It's the level of disrespect for the facts that really bugs me," she told Press Gazette.

In a statement RT says "Sara has declared she chooses the truth; apparently we have different definitions of truth. We show all sides of the story, even if everyone else has already decided which side is to blame".

Sara Firth's resignation on Friday follows Liz Wahl who shockingly quit on-air on RT in March this year.

Sara Firth spoke to Christiane Amanpour on Amanpour on CNN International (DStv 401). "It was the final nudge, watching RT handling it".

"There's not that journalistic network in operation where you can trust that what's getting put on air is verified and true," said Sara Firth.

"It's a very difficult situation with RT. I've worked there for five years. RT is always called the Kremlin propaganda channel. But that's quite a lazy assessment of what RT is. It's a very complex thing and there is a lot more going on there than that".

"There's wonderfully talented people and there's so many people who really believe in getting the truth out there. And for RT to exist, there is Russian bias, there is misreporting and I've been inside that. So I've felt it. I've felt what that's like".

"At the same time I don't think you counter that by doing the same thing and worse. And I felt that's what we've been doing," said Sara Firth.

"It's such a shame that it has to be such a struggle for us to be able to do our jobs properly. And I cannot emphasise enough how talented and driven and ambitious and honest so many of the people who work at RT every day are".

"But the truth is truth and facts are fact and they exist. I wish that RT would acknowledge that sometimes".

"Our tagline is 'Questioning more'. We're just not doing it," said Sara Firth.

New docu-reality show, News Team, starting on Russia Today (RT), following 7 reporters, including South Africa's Paula Slier and Thabang Motsei.

A new news reality show starting today on Russia Today (DStv 407), News Team, will be following several of th 24-hour TV news channel's reporters - including the two South Africans who work for RT - Paula Slier and Thabang Motsei.

News Team starting at 12:30 (South African time) will be broadcast on RT on Wednesdays from today for the next 22 weeks with repeats on Thursdays and Saturdays. According to RT News Team offers "an unprecedented glimpse into the world of field journalists".

The docu reality show was produced by Josh Silberman who says he developed an interest in doing a TV show about news correspondents "because it doesn't get any more real, unpredictable or exciting than news, especially in a war zone".

"Rather than being a series about television or news, it's a TV show about people - people who risk their lives to tell the world about what is happening outside of their living rooms".

News Team which is shot in a documentary reality series format, follows South Africa's Thabang Motsei and Paula Slier, the Englishman Peter Oliver, as well  as the Russians Maria Finoshina, Egor Piskunov and Alexey Yaroshevsky as RT reporters.

Viewers will see Paula Slier ending up in a gas attack in the West Bank for instance.

Since Russia's military invasion of the Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last month, the Kremlin-based TV news channel went into a blatantly slanted and propaganda fuelled news delivery style.

That has dented not only RT's reputation but especially the credibility of Thabang Motsei who, as an RT anchor, suddenly started reading biased news reports and doing slanted interviews with people of a mind-boggling nature. It makes for unintentionally hilarious viewing, harking back to Cold War era type propaganda news reels.

Russia Today's mind-boggling, rolling propaganda is placed in stark contrast when RT's Thabang Motsei comes up against CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

While Christiane Amanpour of Amanpour on CNN International (DStv 401) showed global TV viewers on Monday night with honest facts and insight exactly how Russia is going to get damaged economically and politically through imposed sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine's Crimea ...

... at the exact same time South Africa's Thabang Motsei on Russia's RT (DStv 407) was spouting insane propaganda-driven drivel not just damaging her and RT's credibility, but making for hilarious viewing for anyone interested in media studies.

RT's ongoing laughably one-sided broadcasting favouring Russia and nothing else and not giving any other side of the story, came into sharp contrast on Monday night when the once-respected anchor Thabang Motsei inflicted further serious career-damage to her name and journalism brand.

Thabang Motsei came across as a sad, light-weight, and out of her depth propaganda TV drone when she presented RT's nightly newscast directly opposite the best, the most informed, and the most respected global TV news woman, Christiane Amanpour.

Never in the history of Russia Today has the 24-hour TV news channel been so utterly blatantly propagandist and one-sided.

The trust and credibility RT had, has now surely completely evaporated as global viewers will definitely not see Russia Today any longer as a news channel but as a direct propaganda communication tool for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

RT's shocking lack of balance, avalanche of spin and propaganda, and unbelievable bad presentation in terms of covering Russia's invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region came into stark clarity and contrast on Monday when RT's propaganda pandering played out at the same time against a show such as Amanpour.

Christiane Amanpour showed in a clear, concise and full perspective how Russia is getting, and going to get damaged economically and politically, and explained why, and also showed how the damage and fallout is and will be much greater for Russia.

On RT, viewers waited for Thabang Motsei to tell then that Hobbits really do exist, that dragons really do exist, and that dwarfes (that really do exist) have started a fight with a dragon.

Thabang Motsei's unrelenting and insanely dished up news melodrama on Russia Today was headshakingly odd. It seems as if RT is clueless or deliberately oblivious that global TV news viewers (and RT is made and broadcast specifically for global viewers) also have access to other TV news channels.

Cold War type trashaganza only works and worked due to the absence of other knowledge or information or the deliberate drowning out of other points of view. But Russia Today is surrounded by multiple TV news channels on the pay-TV platforms in countries such as South Africa and elsewhere.

If RT remained more subtle in its approach, more restrained and more cleverly in its presentation and "facts" perhaps it wouldn't have been so jarring.

Watching RT and its unrelenting Russian propaganda on full display, is like watching a temporal worm hole broadcasting a modern-day, yet 80s inspired version of what a 24-hour global TV news channel would have been if it existed then - but done looking like Russia today.

BREAKING. South Africa's Thabang Motsei on Russia's RT goes on a jaw-droppingly one-sided, Russian propaganda-fuelled news rambling.

South Africa's anchor and reporter on RT (DStv 407) Thabang Motsei is shockingly going along and damaging her own brand and credibility anchoring the one one-sided, Russian propaganda-filled story after another on the RT news channel - which has seemingly overnight changed into a heavy slanted, extremely biased 24-hour TV news channel.

The once highly respected Thabang Motsei who knows the history of, and comes from South Africa where an apartheid government used extreme nationalist and media propaganda to destroy a nation and its people, is now spouting eye-popping rhetoric, slanted and biased stories, and jaw-dropping unproven statements suddenly masqueraded and presented as "news" in surreal TV broadcasts on RT.

Her shocking behaviour - coming across as a puppet saying whatever she is told to say - is evaporating Thabang Motsei's reputation and credibility as a real journalist and TV reporter.

At issue is wall-to-wall coverage on RT about Russia's military invasion of the Ukraine, and the region of Crimea which will soon "belong" to Russia after residents in Crimea vote in a "referendum" to join Russia. No "no" vote can be marked on referendum ballots.

RT's shocking sudden change in hardline propagandist news coverage favouring Russia and trashing Western Ukraine and Kiev since a week ago is breathtaking to watch in South Africa as reporters and anchors like Thabang Motsei suddenly turned into on-air robots, saying the most unbelievable things.

Anchoring RT's news coverage on Saturday night, Thabang Motsei, usually level-headed, informed and impartial, anchored, read and talked for story after story after story about Russia and Crimea - all with the same narrative refrain: the Ukraine and the rest of the world is bad and Russia is standing and helping residents in Crimea.

The news coverage and the words coming out of Thabang Motsei's mouth, smiling and friendly - yet blatantly one-sided - is clearly helping to incite division in Crimea and the Ukraine (and possibly even violence) as she says unsubstantiated and unproved things.

Watching RT the past week it is as if somebody has flipped a switch editorially and turned RT into an English speaking propaganda TV channel for a specific subject (Ukraine and Crimea region) for Russia. 

The interesting part is how blatantly obvious it is, moreover due to the lack of basically any stories positive about West Ukraine or telling the other side of a story, and with the abundant availability of other 24-hour TV news channels covering the same story with wide additional perspective.

It is as if RT wants to convince somebody that Russia is justified to invade an annex a certain part of another country. 

Yet RT's global audience - viewers for instance who can watch RT in South Africa - can very plainly see through the shocking and badly done propaganda slant - since RT is flanked by numerous other TV news channels to the left and the right of it on the channel line-up grid. 

It's surprising how quickly RT which used to be much more balanced and fair in terms of stories, suddenly took a sharp and blatantly biased editorial position, one of being pro-Russia and is demonising everything and anything regarding the Ukraine "which is a state falling apart", except for Crimea wanting to be a part of Russia - its the same refrain, the same narrative, the same theme in basically every story.

Looking viewers straight in the eye, Thabang Motsei tells them about neo-Nazis from Kiev threatening lives in Crimea and post-revolt Ukraine, how "Russian reporters are coming under attack from radicals", and how "satellite providers have refused to work with RT over anonymous threats".

It's unbelievable, yet really happening. 

South African academics and lecturers should watch and record RT and anchors such as Thabang Motsei to show their students in media and TV studies how once credible reporters have become - seemingly overnight - part of a vast propaganda machine. It is jarring to watch.