e.tv and VIU to court over streaming rights contract for Scandal! and Imbewu after online piracy fight.

by Thinus Ferreira

e.tv and VIU are squaring off in court today with the free-to-air commercial broadcaster and the foreign video streaming service operating in South Africa that are fighting over piracy claims that led to an alleged breach of the R38 million content licensing contract for streaming.

VIU an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service, trading as PWWC Vuclip PTE Ltd, applied for an urgent court interdict in the Johannesburg High Court in a case that will be heard on Tuesday, 17 August, demanding that eMedia stops streaming e.tv's own soaps Scandal! and Imbewu on its own, just-launched video streaming service eVOD.

e.tv launched eVOD a week and a half ago but before that licensed the streaming rights of shows like Rhythm City, Scandal! and Imbewu to VIU. 

Box set episodes from season 14 of Rhythm City, season 3 and 4 of Imbewu, as well as seasons 18 and 19 of Scandal! are still available on VIU but e.tv has halted sending VIU any new further episodes or any new e.tv content.

At eVOD's media launch when TVwithThinus asked e.tv if its content will still be available on VIU, the broadcaster said that its existing shows of which Catch Up rights have been licensed to MultiChoice's DStv Now will remain accessible on that pay-TV provider's streaming service but that e.tv's content is no longer available on VIU and is being moved to eVOD.

"As our contractual obligations ride themselves out, we're consolidating our content on our OTT service which is the logical thing to do," Khalik Sherrif, eMedia Holdings CEO, said.

Sunday World reported that according to the court papers filed by VIU, the streaming service says that it acquired the exclusive streaming rights from e.tv for Scandal! and Imbewu for over R37 million on 31 December 2019 as part of a content licensing agreement that is supposed to run until 2024.

According to the terms of the contract VIU is supposed to get the back catalogue of library episodes from the series older than a year, as well as the latest episodes that collectively contributes to 20% or one-fifth of the overall revenue that VIU makes in South Africa.

Ryan Solovei, country manager and co-founder of VIU Africa, claims that e.tv allegedly abruptly cancelled the streaming content licensing contracts with VIU, after eMedia discovered that another platform, Philosopher App, was uploading pirated copies of Scandal! and Imbewu to a type of online streaming platform called Philosopher: Stream Mzansi SA Soapies.

According to Ryan Solovei, e.tv allegedly accused VIU of colluding in the piracy of e.tv's content and cancelled the content licensing deals, damaging VIU that is allegedly suffering financial harm.

"The ineluctable conclusion is that e.tv engineered a contrived cancellation of Vuclip's licensing agreements to gain access to exclusive content, which was exclusively licensed to Vuclip, but which e.tv wished to broadcast on its own platform," the court documents state.

e.tv told TVwithThinus that it stopped funneling content to VIU due to piracy concerns, that Scandal! and Imbewu is e.tv's content and confirmed that there is a case pending.

"eMedia can confirm that we are aware of the pending case and allegations made by VIU," e.tv said in response to a media enquiry.

"eMedia had a licensing agreement in place with VIU to stream the eMedia owned-programmes Scandal! and Imbewu, which it recently terminated due to piracy concerns."

"We have a responsibility to safeguard the intellectual property and integrity of our programming content, and we are acting in the best interest of all our stakeholders. Piracy threatens the livelihoods of many and we have a duty to act against it."

Ryan Solovei didn't respond to a media enquiry at the time of publishing and comment will be added here if received.

'Are you the "before"?' Anyone can become the world's first black Betty in the open casting call for South Africa's uBettina Wethu series adaptation of Ugly Betty.

by Thinus Ferreira

uBettina Wethu, South Africa's localised Ugly Betty adaptation, is looking for a black Betty and it could literally be any young black woman with the show that is doing an open casting call. 

A funny scene in the first episode of Ugly Betty is when Betty arrives on her first day at work at a magazine and the receptionist mistakenly assumes that she's the "before" - meaning the person who was specifically cast to look as bad as possible when makeover photoshoots are done to show the "before" and "after" transformation.

Now that "before" could be any young black woman in South Africa between the age of 22 and 26 who will get the role as Bettina Sikhakane.

uBettina Wethu, a co-production between the SABC that will broadcast it on SABC1 and the video streaming VIU.

The series is produced by the South African production company Known Associates Entertainment, with Tshepiso Sello as producer with the company that has been responsible for series like Keeping Score, Hustle and Emoyeni as Fireworx Media.

The uBettina Wethu project is also supported by South Africa's department of trade and industry and is a South African adaptation of Colombia's Yo Soy Bety La Fea, known as Ugly Betty.

The popular series holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful telenovela after it has been adapted in 19 territories, broadcast in 180 countries and dubbed into 15 languages with uBettina Wethu as the South African adaptation that will be the first in the world to feature a black Betty along with a majority-black cast.

In South Africa's version of uBettina Wethu the main premise follows the journey of a wholesome, intelligent, but gawky, people-pleaser with a dated, unsophisticated sense of style, who finds her self-worth and image challenged when she is employed at Nubia, a brand management company, a place where at times people value image over substance. 

Bettina Sikhakane is a kind-hearted, smart, career-focused woman, with a dream of running her own company but when she lands a job as the personal assistant to Nubia’s new boss, she has to contend with her colleagues' assumption that because of her quirky style and kindness, she must be stupid.

As part of an open casting call, people who want to enter can access the script at www.ubettinawethu.co.za, take a video of themselves doing an audition performing parts of the script and send it to the Whatsapp number of 087 240 5150. Entry is free and the closing date to submit an "audition tape" is 15 January 2021.

Besides auditioning for Bettina, the producers are also looking for Dingaan, a main character and a love interest of Bettina who must be a black actor between the age of 27 and 30 and who is the Nubia boss, as well Dingaan's black mother with the show looking for an actress between the ages of 52 and 56. 

After the initial selection process during which people will be able to get to vote as well to narrow down the search to the top 3 choices for each role, a closed audition process will take place to choose Bettina as well as Dingaan and his mother.

"These public auditions are an exciting and appropriate way for us to welcome uBettina Wethu into our lives and on our screens," says Ryan Solovei, VIU Africa country manager.

"This production is already capped with many firsts and for VIU, it echoes our commitment to developing local productions and unearthing local talent in South Africa."

"We’re excited to see the entries and the final outcome for the three main characters of the story, and we look forward to the public’s participation as they have their say into who gets to be the next big stars of Mzansi."

Producer Tshepiso Sello says "the social climate in which we find ourselves necessitates a coming-of-age story with a twist. It is meant to allow the audience the chance to see themselves in the characters of the story - to not only root for their success or downfall but see the characters as an extension of themselves."

"The road to achieving this starts with finding the right talent, by engaging the public we want our audiences to feel part and parcel of the show from the onset of our production process before it even hits their screens, after all its uBettina Wethu."

Yet another video streaming service, Viu, from PCCW Media launches and scoops up digital rights to SABC shows like Uzalo and Skeem Saam getting yanked from YouTube.

Yet another video streaming service, Viu, from PCCW Media, is launching in South Africa, scooping up the digital playback rights to the SABC's most popular locally produced shows like Uzalo and Skeem Saam that are getting yanked from YouTube at the end of the month.

PCCW Media with Viu is giving it a second try in South Africa after the failed ONTAPtv, with the SABC that as part of a 24 month deal with Viu, will remove some of its most popular local shows like Uzalo and Skeem Saam from YouTube at the end of the month and putting it on Viu exclusively.

Viu, offering a hybrid of both free and paid content has launched in South Africa with the app now downloadable, amidst the growing subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming wars.

Viu will try to duke it out in a crowded field with the likes of streaming services like Netflix South Africa, MultiChoice's DStv Now and Showmax, Amazon Prime Video, Cell C black, Acorn TV, TV2GO and others in the increasing battle for digital eyeballs.

Viu, operated by PCCW Media and Vuclip, is the next try after PWWC shuttered its ONTAPtv streamer in South Africa in mid-2018 without so much as a word after it launched in September 2015.

Viu launched in October 2015 in Hong Kong for the Asian market and has since expanded into other countries and is now available in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan, besides South Africa.

Ryan Solovei, Viu country manager for South Africa, says Viu has over 20 million monthly active users, had 1.2 billion video views in 2018, has over 70 Viu original titles, and is now in South Africa.

In a deal between Viu and the South African public broadcaster, some of the SABC archives has been licensed exclusively to Viu, along with shows that are in-production like Uzalo, although the programmes remain the property of the SABC.

The price of the content licensing deal isn't being disclosed by the SABC and Viu.

The digital rights to Uzalo, the most watched show on SABC1 and in South Africa as well as Skeem Saam are moving to Viu as part of a 2-year deal. It means that viewers will no longer be able to watch episodes of these shows on YouTube from 28 February.

From March - Viu's official "launch date", although it's already accessible to consumers - digital playbacks of episodes of the latest seasons of Uzalo and Skeem Saam will only be viewable on the Viu app as a catch-up service.

Besides Uzalo and Skeem Saam Viu also acquired the rights to 18 other shows from the SABC catalogue, including The Docket on SABC3, as well as Yizo-Yizo, Single Galz, Taryn and Sharon, Ngempela, The Sober Companion, When We Were Black and Emoyeni.

The SABC's content will be carried on Viu under the header "SABC Collection".

Viu currently offers over 2000 hours of content. Users can watch free videos on Viu without having to register, but to access premium content users must register and log in. Viu however provides a 30-day free sampling period to watch premium content.

It's not clear whether all of the SABC Collection of content like Uzalo and other shows will remain free to watch on Viu as is currently the case, or move behind the pay subscription.

"The SABC is proud to have partnered with Viu SA in this exciting new initiative," says Madoda Mxakwe, SABC CEO. "As a broadcaster, it is imperative that we continuously move with the times and ensure that our programmes are available through video-on-demand platforms".

"With its experience in delivering and successfully monetising over-the-top (OTT) and VOD services across the globe, Viu SA will assist the SABC's mandate of ensuring universal access for South Africa's rich, home-grown content. This strongly aligns with our strategic objective to identify new revenue streams and in this particular case, increasing revenue through sub-licensing SABC-owned intellectual property, specifically in the video entertainment space."

Ryan Solovei says Viu SA is "proud to partner with the SABC to provide a digital platform for the broadcaster's incredible shows. We believe in the power of South African stories and we look forward to increasing access to these stories to as many people as possible through our digital platform".