After denying it e.tv now confirms it has cancelled sex-filled telenovela The Black Door as Black Brain Productions spin out some characters to resurface in new show Isitha The Enemy.

by Thinus Ferreira

After denying it's happening e.tv has cancelled The Black Door after just a year on air, with the sex-filled telenovela from Black Brain Pictures axed and getting replaced by another telenovela from the same production company.

After e.tv and the producers said they plan to keep The Black Door on-air for multiple seasons shortly after the show's debut, the production has been axed although e.tv publicity a month ago still denied that it's happening.

The Black Door producers were quickly forced to course correct on e.tv orders after the show made its debut in April 2022 and had to tone down several of the sex-filled risque aspects of the show following negative reaction from viewers. 

The show however continued production, although questions were raised later in 2022 on whether The Black Door would get more seasons. 

On 6 April TVwithThinus asked e.tv whether The Black Door has been cancelled. e.tv publicist Siyabonga Mposula responded and said "the show continues but with a story that is far more family-accommodating".

A month later, on 4 May, e.tv publicist Karabo Nkabinde in a press release suddenly confirmed that The Black Door has been cancelled and is getting replaced by a "new primetime family-orientated" telenovela Isitha - The Enemy. 

Isitha - The Enemy will take a section of The Black Door's already established characters and create a new telenovela out of the Sokhulu family and the "struggles to keep their family together in the face of adversity as new challenges and new rivals come onto the scene".

"We are committed to bringing the best South African local content to our viewers and we have to remain receptive to their changing needs and preferences," says Helga Palmer, eMedia head of local programming about cancelling The Black Door and replacing it with Isitha - The Enemy.

"With this in mind, we are excited to usher in the spin-off series, Isitha – The Enemy.  This story proves to be like no other, with a big focus on family feuds, drama and intrigue, peppered with some comedic elements."

Mpumelelo Nhlapo, executive producer at Black Brain Pictures, in a prepared statement says "We strategically intended for The Black Door to run for one year".

"Our goal was to break new ground and to push the boundaries of South African television. The greater vision has always been to tell the story of the Sokhulu family as a multi-chapter series that allows us to explore different themes in dynamic and interesting ways."

Show creator Mandla N, creative director at Black Brain Pictures, says "We can't wait for viewers to see how this new chapter delves deeper into the world of the Sokhulus as we explore new characters, new conflicts, and new challenges that will test their strength and resilience".

According to e.tv, Isitha - The Enemy will "pick up from a royal homestead in eSwatini".

"Here, we find out what happened to Chuma Sokhulu who was presumed dead in The Black Door chapter of the Sokhulu story. It promises to be a gripping drama with captivating storylines and exciting performances. The stunning visuals coupled with unexpected twists and turns as the story unfolds, will take viewers on a thrill ride that will keep them on the edge of their seats".

The cast of Isitha - The Enemy will include Sipho Ndlovu, Khanyisani Khwesa and Dawn Thandeka with Thobani Nzuza reprising his role along with some other actors from The Black Door.

TV RATINGS April 2022: e.tv loses a million viewers as its audience shut their eyes for The Black Door, revived Big Brother Mzansi ends as DStv's 9th most-watched.

by Thinus Ferreira 

Viewers fled the debut of e.tv's risque new sex-scene filled local telenovela The Black Door in April, with e.tv that lost a shocking one million viewers in a month during prime time after switching the 21:30-timeslot from Imbewu to the Black Brain Pictures produced show.

Elsewhere in April's South African TV ratings, instead of sinking, Titanic came to SABC3's rescue, SABC2's ratings decline continues and Biggie's live broadcast bye-bye on Mzansi Magic was only DStv's 9th most-watched show.

The big ratings shocker of the month is on e.tv, where, after its April debut, The Black Door managed to lure what would seem to be a respectable 2.44 million viewers (6.33 AR / 35.1 share) after it took over Imbewu's 21:30-timeslot.

In context, however, the 2.4 million viewers for The Black Door are a shocking plunge of one million viewers in the timeslot where Imbewu still got 3.44 million viewers in March. e.tv's audience share of the timeslot also drop from 42.6% in March, to 35% in April.

Imbewu itself also got damaged in the new timeslot that show got shunted to, still luring 2.86 million viewers in April in the 21:30-timeslot before it was moved earlier and then dropped. 

Also quite telling: The Black Door's TV rating of 2.44 million in April is lower than Durban Gen's 2.75 million viewers in April on e.tv - a show that e.tv has decided to cancel. 

Elsewhere on the red letter channel, Scandal! was up further from 4.89 to 5.27 million viewers retaining its title in April as e.tv's most-watched show, followed by House of Zwide also up from 4.3 to 4.58 million viewers - the show's highest TV rating since it launched on the channel in July 2021.

While e.tv's eNews TV bulletin at 20:00 continued strong and stable with 1.92 million viewers in April, eNCA's South Africa Tonight simulcast on e.tv at 19:00 made a good showing with 1.67 million viewers.

Scheduling the drama series Is'phindiselo which was originally meant to be an eVOD streaming service exclusive on Sunday nights, is paying off handsomely for e.tv and lured 1.74 million viewers. Viewers also love e.tv's Afrikaans-dubbed Turkish telenovelas with Droomverlore grabbing a strong 1.66 million viewers in the 17:30-timeslot. 

SABC1's mixed bag 

On SABC1 the channel and the country's most-watched show sagged from its 7 million viewers in March to 6.4 million viewers for Uzalo in April, with Generations - The Legacy that remained flat at 5.56 million viewers.

Skeem Saam edged up slightly to 4.096 million from 4.040 million viewers in March, while Selimathunzi rose from 1.87 million to 2.15 million viewers during April. The Zulu TV news had 2.62 million viewers, while 2.6 million tuned in for the Xhosa TV news.

SABC2's ratings slide continues

SABC2's ongoing ratings slide continued in April as the channel starts to mirror the beginning of the troubles that led to SABC3's ratings problems. 

From just three shows left with over one million viewers in March, SABC2 further deteriorated to just two shows with more than a million eyeballs.

Muvhango as the most-watched show on SABC2 declined from 3.3 million to 3.28 million in April, while Hlala Kwabafileho at 1 066 447 viewers was the only other show to get more than a million viewers on the channel.

The Venda series Giyani dropped from 1 026 424 viewers in March to 987 098 viewers in April. 7de Laan remained stable at 897 739 viewers compared with 897 861 in March. 

The Afrikaans TV news improved from 595 955 to 649 046 viewers, while the latest season of the Afrikaans travelogue show Voetspore pulled a respectable 499 996 viewers to the channel in the 19:00 timeslot.

Morning Live continues to shine with 482 301 viewers.

SABC3 gets Titanic support

Titanic as a Saturday movie lifted SABC3's sinking ratings in April as the most-watched piece of programming and pulling the channel up from March's 576 562 viewers to higher viewer waters with 793 301 viewers.

Another film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, also helped lift S3 with 630 920 viewers as the month's second most-watch content. Even the English TV news at 18:00 was up from 440 491 to 524 295 viewers in April.

The channel's mix of BBC documentaries, films and variety shows had viewers tuning in for Serengeti (559 490), The Masked Singer (429 838), A Perfect Planet: Oceans (394 972), Britain's Got Talent: The Champions (375 071), The Shape of Water (349 121), and Water for Elephants (335 628).

Biggie's goodbye placed 9th on DStv

MultiChoice and M-Net's revival of Big Brother Mzansi showed slight improvement for its Sunday night finale on 3 April with 752 573 DStv subscribers who tuned to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) but the live broadcast still ended as only the 9th most-watched show on DStv for the month.

It caps a disappointing ratings season for the reality show during which the channel lost 25% of its DStv audience on Sunday nights - roughly 400 000 viewers less than what the channel used to get in the timeslot before Big Brother Mzansi and the ratings-damaged 17th season of Idols occupied it.

Gomora on Mzansi Magic remained the most-watched show on DStv during April and grew a bit from 1.063 million to 1.27million DStv viewers, with The Queen which also grew a bit again from 814 637 to 1 077 302 viewers.

The River on 1 Magic (DStv 103) also grew from 707 169 to 804 304 viewers, as did Umndeni on Moja Love (DStv 157) from 514 116 to 613 948. The latest season of Housekeepers pulled 497 549 viewers, while Diep City improved from 655 496 to 829 222 viewers.

e.tv drops Days of Our Lives from April, shakes up primetime schedule with new local sex series The Black Door.

Thinus Ferreira

e.tv is dropping Days of Our Lives from 11 April with the red letter broadcaster which is shaking up its primetime schedule with timeslot changes and adding a new local telenovela, The Black Door about a township brothel.

e.tv has not decided not to renew the contract for the American soap Days of Our Lives on its schedule, using the money to invest in making more local content for the channel as well as its eVOD video streaming service.

Days of Our Lives will end on 11 April on e.tv, a few years after e.tv took over the soap from SABC3 that decided to cancel it as well, with e.tv's decision that will likely not go down very well with loyal viewers who switched to e.tv from SABC3 to follow the daily dramas of the American townsfolk of Salem.

"By adding new things to e.tv's schedule and trying to create new content some of the things have to go since there are only so many hours in a day. Days of Our Lives is discontinued from 11 April," says Marlon Davids, managing director of e.tv channels.

From 11 April e.tv will be showing the Clive Morris Productions series Isono that was on Paramount Africa's BET (DStv 129), with e.tv that has acquired the free-to-air rights for its 20:30 timeslot after the channel's English TV news bulletin.

Imbewu which will start its 5th season is moving to21:00 from 11 April, with the new risque local series The Black Door that will be shown Mondays to Fridays in the 21:30 timeslot.

About the schedule change and dropping Days, Marlon Davids says "it's something that's needed for us to structure the schedule to create flow to navigate audience in early primetime and to keep them on e.tv".

e.tv is also dropping the American procedural dramas like the Chicago and NCIS series.

On Sunday nights the 20:00 movie timeslot is moving to 21:00, with the 20:00-timeslot that is going to be filled by local drama series.

The Rewind channel on eMedia's Openview platform is rebranded to Xposed and will add Viceland documentaries and current affairs programming.

The cast of The Black Door which has been commissioned for 260 episodes includes among others Linda Sebezo, Zamani Mbatha, Velaphi Mnisi, Sello Ramalahloane and Gabisile Tshabalala and revolves around township characters - both innocent and jaded - whose lives are intertwined with a secretive brothel run by a ruthless owner where neither clients nor ordinary folk dare cross her.