OUT OF STYLE. Style is done on DStv as Universal Networks International (UNI) finally kills off the struggling channel in South Africa and Africa as well.

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Style (DStv 173) is going the way of the dodo coat and corduroy bell bottoms with The Style Network becoming the first TV channel South African viewers will lose in 2015 when Style is cut and killed off for DStv subscribers in South Africa and across the rest of the African continent by the end of January.

TV with Thinus asked Universal Networks International (UNI) about the demise of Style but got no response yet. In response to a media enquiry made to MultiChoice, the satellite pay-TV platform confirms that "Style will no longer air on DStv from Sunday 1 February".

After NBCUniversal decided to dump Style in September 2013 in American and then also terminated Style two months later in December 2013 in the United Kingdom, warning lights instantly lit up for the struggling style channel limping along with a lack of actual new content with which to feed the schedule.

The culling of Style instantly gave rise to questions as to whether, and for how long, Style would continue as a TV channel in South Africa and Africa on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

The practical difficulty revolved around how a channel like Style - with DStv getting the UK packaged version from Universal Networks International (UNI) - would continue and be sustained given that the original USA feed no longer existed and that no supplement content from Style UK were produced or sourced anymore.

In December 2013, Universal Networks International (UNI) told TV with Thinus that Style would remain as a TV channel on DStv.

UNI said then that "Style continues to be a key channel brand for Universal Networks International in South Africa, irrespective of any changes impacting Style in the United Kingdom," but after a year and with Style finally being shut down here as well, it is now clear that Style is no longer a key brand for UNI in Africa and South Africa.

Style relaunched with a new on-air look in March 2013, doing away with the pink dot logo design. MultiChoice added The Style Network in November 2007, meaning the channel survived on DStv for just over seven years.

MultiChoice says "Universal Networks International (UNI), who offers this channel outside of the US, has been evaluating options for the channel on a territory-by-territory basis in markets where Style operates".

With UNI which has finally decided to dump Style as a TV channel in South Africa and Africa with less than a month's notification to viewers, that leaves UNI's other channels on DStv like E! Entertainment, Universal Channel, Telemundo and Studio Universal.

While reality show Giuliana and Bill already crossed over to E! Entertainment, Style's Celebrity Style Story will also move to E!.


10:32 - UNI in response to a media enquiry now also confirms the demise of Style and has essentially the same sentences with which MultiChoice responded.

The Style Network announces the creation of Style Media as a global umbrella company.

The Style Network (DStv 183) has announced the creation of Style Media.

Style Media is a new global multimedia content company as an umbrella company.

Under it will fall Style International, which will include all the TV channels from the Style stable such as The Style Network and other international channels which are available to 17 million subscribers; Style Digital, which includes myStyle.com and Style Licensing & Merchandising which will produce branded products inspired by TV shows on Style.

Salaam Coleman Smith will continue to oversee all divisions as the president of Style Media.

The Style Network orders Chicagolicious as a 10 episode spin-off from Jerseylicious.

The Style Network (DStv 183) has ordered a new reality show Chicagolicious, as a spin-off from its flagship reality show, Jerseylicious currently in its 4th season.

Chicagolicious will also be produced by Endemol USA. The first season of Chicagolicious will have 10 episodes.

The spin-off will follow AJ Johnson, the owner of AJ's in Chicago.

Programming note: The Style Network has special bridal programming for the Royal Wedding on 29 April.

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The Style Network (DStv 183) will also be celebrating the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April with special bridal programming and bride shows for viewers.

The morning of Friday 29 April kicks off with How Do I Look? at 01:30 and a 25 year old bride to be who don't want to stop wearing rock band T-shirts and a grungy jeans, followed by two episodes of Whose Wedding Is it Anyway? at 02:20 and 03:15 looking first at a wedding that blends a timeless feel with Japanese heritage, and then a New York couple who wants a million dollar wedding with a Latin-American spin on it. Another Whose Wedding Is it Anyway? at 09:50 is all about a yellow wedding in New Jersey.

Glamour's 20 Wedding Do's & Don'ts follows at 17:25 looking at 20 things to remember to make a wedding day a day to remember forever. Whose Wedding Is it Anyway? at 20:15 is about a wedding in Hawaii with the 2007 Survivor winner Earl Cole, followed by Bridalplasty at 21:10 where brides-to-be battle to get plastic surgery.

BREAKING. The Style Report returns for a 3rd season with new presenters Warren McAslan and Latoya Mihaylova.

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I can be first to break the news that The Style Report will be back for a 3rd season on the eNews Channel (DStv 403) from Thursday at 21:00 with the 3rd set of new presenters - this time with hot and sexy Cape Town models Warren McAslan (31) and Latoya Mihaylova (24) fronting the weekly magazine show looking at the South African and international fashion, design, art, and interior decorating scene.

The Style Report, produced by Nicky Greenwall's Greenwall Productions, has again chosen new TV faces as presenters. Besides modeling Warren McAslan appeared as Max in the made-for-TV movie Spring Break Shark Attack. Latoya Mihaylova has appeared in FHM. The Style Report will debut a brand-new season on Thursday evening with 10 new half hour episodes.

ALSO READ: The Style Report is back on the eNews Channel for a second season.

INTERVIEW. Giuliana Rancic on babies, her fear of flying, and the exciting second season of Giuliana & Bill.

Giuliana Rancic of Giuliana & Bill is back for a second season of their reality show in South Africa on The Style Network (DStv 183), Mondays at 21:00.

I spoke with Giuliana on whether there's any baby news, her fear of flying and what she has learned from doing her own reality show. She told me how she manages to fit everything in her hectic diary, how she and Bill discovered who some of their real friends are, and some of the exciting changes coming to E! News on E! Entertainment in the year ahead.

For my complete interview with the lovely Giuliana Rancic click on READ MORE below.

BREAKING. Working girls! Brand new local reality show set INSIDE a local magazine. And I have the EXCLUSIVE scoop on it - and how to enter!

You're reading it here first. I've been BEGGING South African television to do something like this, and now, a while after I left a one of the places that would have made viewers' jaws drop on the floor with what they would have seen, my dream is coming true!

A BRAND NEW LOCAL REALITY SHOW SET INSIDE A LOCAL MAGAZINE.

Get ready for Style Apprentice! Words is the glossy women's mag FAIRLADY is doing a reality show for M-Net Series (DStv 110) called Style Apprentice. The show is loosely modelled on the American reality show Running in Heels which you can see on The Style Network.

Filming of the show will start in January. 

Now, besides just watching something that has the potential to be so much fun (girl, can i tell you about backstabbing and deadlines and crazy colleagues and Wilhemina Slater type behaviour and goody bags and a jetset lifestyle in the literal sense of the word and awesome experiences - all of which the show should bring to viewers), people can also ENTER to actually be the people who get to work at FAIRLADY.

This is how it will work:

The producers are looking for energetic, creative and talented individuals between 18 and 30.

Okay, so you have to be kinda ruthless and ambitious. It's all about girl power. If you've EVER EVER watched Ugly Betty (i call THAT show a docmentary, NOT a dramedy. It's VERY VERY REAL) - that is what you can expect. All those characters and types are at EVERY magazine. I've lived it. I'm living it.

You have to have a strong desire to make it big in the FASHION WORLD and beauty.

20 gals will be shortlisted for one on one interviews with the judging panel headed by . . .drumroll please, FAIRLADY editor Suzy Brokensha.

Suzy (yes, I worked in the very same building as her. Yes, i dropped by a few times to exchange my one magazine for a FAIRLADY) will hand-pick her top 6 interns, who will then battle it out for the title of Style Apprentice, a paid internship at the magazine and a foot in the door of the super glam mags in this country. Ooh!

Huge opportunity, but as I've said, also be prepared for what awaits. Of course the pace and drama (and there WILL be drama) will be caught on camera, reality TV style and broadcast on M-Net Series from 26 March.

The gals will live together in a Cape Town penthouse for the duration of the production.

''We're very excited about being able to give such a fabulous opportunity to the hundreds of talented young South Africans we know are out there,'' says Suzy. ''We thought this was really a great way to combine print and TV.''

I guess! Done right and it will be AWESOME!


People will be able to apply from 9 November until 14 December. Entry stuff will be in the December and January issues of FAIRLADY. Entries can be submitted to FAIRLADY here.
Besides the 6 month paid internship at FAIRLADY, the winner also gets a new wardrobe, a laptop, a cellphone and ''all the right accessories''. No. That isn't code for ''hot boyfriend''.

And here is what you REALLY win - and what they won't tell you:
Networking opportunities with the who's who in the publishing biz and media world.

Late nights working on amazing but terrifying projects with impossible deadlines.

NO social life - except when the producers deliberately take you to a place (and going to work functions and media events don't count as ''social life'')

Access to a terrifying world at once grandeur and spectacular as well as hamster wheel like where you spin all the hay away like Rumpelstilzkin just to come back with heaps more work on your desk.

I've worked at many publications and all I can say is, if you've EVER contemplated entering this biz, this is a golden opportunity!