TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 22 October 2020.

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

■ The Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatens a complete SABC blackout at the South African public broadcaster as retrenchment fight turns ugly.

- Unions CWU and Bemawu as well as the SABC Editorial Forum cry foul over SABC dismissal cost and retrenchments.

■ How out of tune is the SABC for wanting viewers to pay the public broadcaster for watching Netflix South Africa? (subscription required).

- Kfm listeners slam SABC's plan to extend SABC TV Licence fee to DStv and Netflix.

- South Africans up in arms after SABC now wants people to pay SABC TV Licence fees for watching DStv and Netflix.

- A SABC TV Licence for your smartphone in South Africa might not be a good ides (subscription required).

- Viewers give a thumbs-down to SABC's latest SABC TV Licence fee collection plan (subscription required).

- SABC's latest TV Licence fee ploy involving Netflix is an absolute joke.

■ "Pay Netflix, not the SABC" online petition started.

■ The SABC wants us to pay more by reminding us of why we shouldn't. (subscription required)

"People Don’t Want To Watch Kak And Thanks To The Internet They Don’t Have To"

■ TV at a tipping point.

How is the traditional pay-TV industry handling this "interim" period where subscription television is far from dead but where subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) video streaming services are rapidly growing their audiences?

■ Netflix versus Amazon Prime Video: The race to 200 million subscribers.

■ SABC in the dudu.

There is a reason the South African public has turned to video streaming services - the SABC isn't just struggling financially, it has a content deficit too.

■ Netflix's cancellations of multiple Netflix Original series show that even video streamers are governed by the very familiar rules of TV production.

■ Reality TV in South Africa: The tribe has spoken.

■ Why strong black stories are rarely seen on television.

■ How did Netflix's expensive $6 million per episode Away science fiction series go from space to flop and cancelled in 6 weeks?

■ Video-on-demand forecast for Africa for 2020 - 2025:

Africa will have 12.96 million SVOD subscriptions by 2025, with South Africa that will supply 3 million and Nigeria that will add 2.1 million. Netflix will remain the biggest, with Disney+ that is expected to start in 2022 in Africa and that will have 2.71 million paying subscribers by 2025.

"Local player Showmax will add more than a million paying subscribers, partly due to the launch of its Pro platform and its lower prices for mobile subscribers."

■ Showmax in Kenya renews drama series Monica for a third season.

■ The Walt Disney Company lost producer and showrunner Shonda Rhimes to rival Netflix over a Disneyland pass.

■ The thing about Netflix that keeps frustrating so many of its subscribers.

■ In America the TV ratings for a lot of sports are down.

■ Did American television ruin US presidential elections?

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 21 October 2020.

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

  

■ The SABC Editorial Forum tells South Africa's parliament about the "broken, depleted and demoralised" SABC News newsroom at the South African public broadcaster.

"We cannot speak out and tell of the challenges we are facing as staff of the SABC as a gag order was imposed on the staff." 

- Fearful SABC staffers are fighting commercialisation as SABC execs are shutting down SABC offices nationwide.

■ Donald Trump dumps America's 60 Minutes, walks away during interview after he doesn't like Lesley Stahl's "aggressive" questions.

■ Watching 50 hours of The Simpsons seen on FOX (DStv 125 /StarSat 131).

The show now echoes life during the Covid-19 lockdown, with the characters stranded, unable to authentically relate to its audience, clinging desperately to an old world that no longer exists, and just repeating the same things they have always done.

■ "Real life but better looking": Brit-soap Hollyoaks at 25.

■ The death spiral of SABC TV Licences.

The absurdity of the SABC that wants MultiChoice's DStv, StarSat, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others to tack on a SABC TV Licence fee is that the SABC doesn't even know who has or doesn’t have a TV. 

- Pinky Kekana, South Africa's deputy communications minister, gets dragged over her silly and hilarious plan to want subscribers of MultiChoice's DStv, Netflix and streaming services to pay a SABC TV Licence fee.

- "It's going to be a nightmare." "Symbol of a broken business model at the SABC." 

- CARTOON: The SABC and it's dinosaur law.

■ TV shows dealing with virtual audiences and live audience restrictions deserve applause.

■ The infamous Red Wedding twist in Game of Thrones highlights the absurdity of TV's storytelling conventions.

- A Lost producer stands by the series finale despite controversy.

■ Australia's broadcasters are not threatened by the future - they're driving it.

All TV will be watched through an internet connection and all advertising will be traded via programmatic pipes.

■ As an experiment, Netflix is giving an entire country Netflix for free for 2 days.

■ Netflix falls short on new subscribers as its Covid-19 pandemic lockdown boost fizzles.

- Netflix isn't worried about running out of content during/because of Covid-19.

- Netflix boss Reed Hastings on the stream of executive exits from the streamer: "You got to earn it every year".

■ TV cameraman killed during stunt scene in Ghana during filming of BBC and Netflix drama Black Earth Rising.

■ John Roberts signs a new deal to remain with Fox News (StarSat 261) as chief White House correspondent.

■ Teen Wolf's Tyler Posey says he's done with drugs and alcohol, uses sex toys, have been sexually active with men and looks very rough for 29.