by Thinus Ferreira
For a second time MultiChoice has decided to show and preview a locally-produced drama series to industry insiders and media outside of South Africa first - this time the Yellowbone Entertainment-produced Blood Psalms for its streaming service Showmax - raising concern and stirring further resentment under the surface of South Africa's media covering television.
After MultiChoice and M-Net did an in-person screening of the Fremantle and Quizzical Pictures produced Reyka at the Monte Carlo TV Festival in June this year - complete with a cast and crew panel session - South African media were left out in the cold and got nothing of the sort either at the time or afterwards in the period before the series' TV premiere, with no in-person or virtual media launch.
It lead to barely any South African reviews or interviews for Reyka, scant media attention and very little earned-media press traction for the M-Net (DStv 101) series after South African media by and large directed their energies elsewhere to rather cover other programming.
Last week MultiChoice raised eyebrows yet again when it announced that it will do a so-called "Content Showcase" this week in Dubai - not to be confused with the MultiChoice Content Showcase it has held in South Africa and in various African countries for media in the past - to screen Blood Psalms.
Blood Psalms - a co-production with Canal+ meaning it is dubbed into a French version as well with French subtitling - was filmed in South Africa's Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North West provinces.
In a press statement MultiChoice said that on 18 and 19 October it will do a "Content Showcase where cast and production teams of M-Net's gripping international co-production Reyka and the upcoming international co-production and Showmax Original, Blood Psalms, will be in attendance along with invited guests for the viewings".
South African press covering television or including coverage of TV content in their publications and online sites are baffled that they've been excluded and that they won't get to see Blood Psalms at the same time as the new series is getting previewed outside of the country in what will be the creative duo Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T Qubeka's first preview screening.
Members of the media have been talking for several days, privately expressed unhappiness and frustration with MultiChoice's decision to once again seemingly demote South African media to second-tier status - just like in the case with Reyka.
South African journalists are saying that MultiChoice is signalling that so-called "international attention" is a bigger priority than showing a homegrown South African series to South Africa media first, or at the same time as an international "viewing".
In a media query MultiChoice was asked why the pay-TV service is previewing so-called "homegrown content" from South Africa not in South Africa to South
African media first, but premiering and previewing it in other countries
first.
MultiChoice was also asked how its marketing and publicity strategy changed when it comes to showcasing and previewing international co-productions like Reyka and Blood Psalms, and
why it changed.
Olwethu Leshabane at the Duma Collective, the PR company representing MultiChoice, said in a response that "Reyka and Blood Psalms are co-productions with
international partners which equally qualifies them for international
dissemination".
Longtime South African reporters - journalists, TV critics and editors who cover and continue to cover MultiChoice content - immediately took note and umbrage of what one described as "feeling like another slap in the face from DStv saying South African media are important and valued but showing and doing the opposite".
A veteran South African editor who commented anonymously on the issue since all of them have ongoing relationships with MultiChoice, told TVwithThinus that "It's baffling how it is easier
for South African media to get access to international screeners than they are
to get screeners of locally-produced TV series".
"In an age where TV content is
international and the audience has multiple sources of entertainment, it's
worrying that our channels still haven't realised that if we do not get the
screeners on time, ahead of the show's TX or episode, then it really
becomes difficult for us to write about the show in a nuanced way."
"I am
certain that M-Net was not happy with the coverage of their original series,
Reyka," the person remarked.
"Expecting journalists to watch the show in real-time, alongside the
viewers, is short-sighted. Relying on social media engagement is also
short-sighted. Surely getting nuanced critique and articles that explore the
themes of the shows, is better than tweets of people saying "I love this
show?" the person said.
"It's time we take our
industry seriously. And that means following the model followed by
international TV studios, channels and the streamers: Share the content ahead
of time with journalists who report on TV content."
"It will do both your show
and our platforms a world of good. It will also serve the audience who always
looking for analysis on their favourite shows."
Another veteran South African journalist covering television and writing about TV shows said "If they feel it's a bigger priority to do a so-called viewing of Blood Psalms in Dubai first, it sends a disrespectful and dismissive message to us".
"It intentionally or unintentionally minimises our role, my work and my publication's readership - some of whom might read about it online elsewhere, on foreign sites, instead of hearing about a South African production from South African media first or at the same time as stories appear there".
Another veteran editor and journalist said that if MultiChoice excludes the bulk of South African press when it does a Reyka or Blood Psalms preview screening internationally, it is damaging to media relationships in general and damaging to the status of the South African press trying to compete in coverage of content from their country.
"MultiChoice doesn't seem to have given any thought, or exhibits an understanding of why it's important that something made in South Africa should be previewed here first, or be seen here by local media at the same time. It's the principle. We need the same access."
"It is feeling like another slap in the face from DStv saying South African media are important and valued but showing and doing the opposite".
