Top Billing Lures 133 320 Viewers in First TV Return, Revives SABC3 Primetime Ratings as Cardova's Glam Lifestyle Magazine Show Viewership Holds Steady and Builds

by Thinus Ferreira

"Good night and God bless" indeed: The revived Top Billing, back on SABC3 after an absence of six and a half years, is pulling boffo ratings with 133 320 viewers who tuned in to watch the first brand-new episode on 30 April on SABC3, and with Top Billing's weekly viewership remaining steady and rising since.

As the SABC's most struggling TV channel, Top Billing's addition is single-handedly reviving SABC3's moribund and sliding linear TV ratings, proving that original and high-quality production content will scoop up viewers for advertisers and bring them to the channel for appointment viewing.

Besides a SABC3 repeat, Top Billing episodes also get a weekly repeat slot on SABC1.

Stripping out the SABC3 repeat, and besides the SABC1 episode replay, Top Billing lured 133 320 linear viewers on Thursday 30 April to the 19:00 timeslot on SABC3 in the All Adults 15+ demo - the one that advertisers focus on.

The next week, Top Billing held steady, luring 133 326 viewers in the demo on 7 May 2026 to SABC3 at 19:00, which increased for the third episode on 14 May on SABC3 to 177 008 viewers. 

Total Top Billing viewers would be even higher if the SABC3 and SABC1 repeats, and SABC+ were added.

The ratings for the first three Top Billing episodes are far from bad - especially considering its debut on a neglected TV channel that hasn't had any real, original local content or anything high-quality or substantive for years as an audience draw.

Cardova Productions, the SABC, SABC3, as well as show sponsors and advertisers, are surely happy with the positive Top Billing reception from viewers and the SABC3 ratings bounce. 

Revived Top Billing Once Again Doing a 2026 Presenter Search This Time Using Social Media - How to Enter and Maximise Your Chance for an In-Person Audition

by Thinus Ferreira

The revived Top Billing on SABC3 is doing a new presenter search through social media to find a brand new presenter to join the existing presenters' corps of the weekly South African lifestyle magazine show.

At the end of the first episode of the new Top Billing on Thursday night on SABC3, Cardova, that is producing the show, announced that South Africans can now send in videos of themselves to audition for the show.

Previous Top Billing presenter searches through the years have been hugely successful. They were physical auditions over various dates in several South African cities, and people stood in line in long queues. 

These Top Billing presenter searches were filmed as TV reality shows, and underscored the desire of South Africans wanting to be a part of "the good life" put on display week after week by the show that has become an institution on South African television.

Simba Mhere was the winner of the first Top Billing Presenter Search in 2010, with Jonathan Boynton-Lee who won My Top Billing Dream in 2012 and is once again back as a presenter on the show.

Jade Hubner, Zoe Brown and Danilo Acquisto won the Presenter Search on 3 on 2015 and joined various SABC3 shows.

Ryle de Morny and Fezile Mkhize were two of the four winners of the Presenter Search on 3 in 2018 who joined Top Billing and are also both back as presenters of the revived Top Billing.

For the 2026 Top Billing Presenter Search, the search is moving to utilise social media.

People who want to enter must be 18 years old, must be legally entitled to work in South Africa and should exude Top Billing presenter qualities like the "it" factor with a lot of charisma, a sense of style and personality, and have a passion and knowledge of people and lifestyle content.

People who want to enter must record an audition video and explain and showcase briefly why they think they're the perfect Top Billing presenter, highlighting their personality, presenter style and what they would bring to the role in terms of perspectives, travel, culture and trends.

The video must be uploaded and posted on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or TikTok with the hashtags #TopBillingPresenterSearch and #TopBillingAudition, along with tagging @TopBillingTV and @SABC3, by 30 June.

Important for the audition video is to dress impeccably (no branded clothing) and to come across as self-assured and with charisma like a Top Billing presenter. 

The video should be one minute in length or shorter, and be a concise, professional clip or link about who you are and why you're the perfect choice to join the show as a Top Billing presenter.

The shortlisted candidates will go through to the next round of in-person auditions, currently set to take place during July and August. 

This will lead to on-camera challenges - similar to what the previous Top Billing Presenter Search shows did. With it will go possible TV appearances, background checks, and contractual negotiations and agreements.

Zozibini Tunzi joins as Top Billing presenter

by Thinus Ferreira

It's more than fitting: TVwithThinus can reveal that the former Miss South Africa and former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi is joining as a new Top Billing presenter when the magazine show returns from 30 April to SABC3.

Top Billing, produced by Cardova Productions, will return on Thursday 30 April to SABC3 at 19:00 with new weekly episodes, with a repeat on SABC3 on Sundays at 19:00, and another repeat on SABC1 on Tuesdays at 21:30.

The SABC ended Top Billing in October 2019 after 27 years on air but the show has thankfully, finally, been revived after a six-year absence.

Besides a group of former Top Billing presenters who are back on screen as part of the aspirational TV series - including Basetsana Kumalo, Michael Mol, Jonathan Boynton-Lee, Ryle DeMorny, Fezile Mkhize and others - a few new presenters will also join, including Zozibini Tunzi.

The former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe 2019 is a perfect fit for the return of the glamorous lifestyle magazine show and is destined to become "the new Bonang", following in the steps of Bonang Matheba who joined as a Top Billing presenter in 2012.

Zozibini Tunzi is perfectly suited and has a custom-made pedigree through experience as well as a sought-after profile for the iconic "walk and talk" Top Billing format - both she and the show will jointly elevate each other with her addition as a Top Billing presenter, representing "the best of the good life".

Zozibini Tunzi's role as a Top Billing presenter will fit Top Billing like a fine white beauty pageant glove, and in turn the show will add to her allure, soft power and influence as a media personality.

With her natural glamour and grace and her history-making reign as Miss Universe 2019 and Miss South Africa 2019, Zozibini Tunzi brings a global level of sophistication and poise that perfectly matches and will add to Top Billing's inspirational and aspirational, high-end aesthetic for South African viewers.

With a Bachelor of Technology in public relations management, she also has the professional foundation for the communication, hosting and interviewing demands of the programme.

She also has a long-standing brand connection already with Top Billing: Her history with the show runs deep with Top Billing that famously toured her luxury Sandton apartment during her Miss SA reign, and she even auditioned for the Top Billing Presenter Search earlier in her career.

Furthermore, Zozibini Tundi as a model and a black model and a black female model is the epitome of empowerment and female empowerment in South Africa. 

Joining as a Top Billing presenter perfectly aligns with Top Billing's "modern evolution" of the show for SABC3, focusing on authenticity and empowerment alongside traditional luxury.

Not only will Zozi interview and hobnob with the rich and famous - she herself is who viewers want to see and "be" with.

Besides covering high-profile people and events, she has zeitgeist cache and public interest power as a current "it-girl", underscored by things like the interest in her personal milestones, like her wedding in March 2025 to Luthando Bolowana, which underscores the exact type of cultural "magic" that she represents and will add to Top Billing.

"We are incredibly excited to bring Top Billing back to South African screens," says Patience Stevens, managing director at Cardova Productions and executive producer of Top Billing.

"This show has always been about celebrating what's possible. Bringing it back now, at a time when inspiring local stories matter more than ever, feels incredibly special. We're honouring the legacy while creating something that feels fresh, relevant and deeply connected to today's audience."

Bradley Van Den Berg, chief operating officer at Cardova Productions and executive producer of Top Billing, says "Top Billing has always stood for excellence, aspiration and storytelling at the highest level".

"This new chapter is about evolving that legacy for a modern audience, keeping the heart of what made the show iconic, while introducing a sharper, more dynamic take on the good life that resonates with South Africans today."

Dichaba Phalatse, SABC video entertainment marketing manager, says "The return of Top Billing marks a defining moment for SABC3 as we continue to position the channel as a home of iconic South African storytelling, reimagined for today's audience".

"This is not just about a comeback - it's a cultural rest where legacy meets a new generation of viewers who are shaping what aspiration looks like now. Top Billing remains a powerful expression of possibility, and we are excited to bring that energy back in a way that feels unapologetically South African."

UPDATE Tuesday 21 April 2026 09:00:

Also joining as new presenters are Bryoni Govender, the Miss South Africa 2023 runner-up, the actor Arno Greeff, as well as Sine Mpulu as this new season's dedicated social media presenter.

"We are incredibly excited to bring Top Billing back with this dynamic mix of returning favourites and fresh new talent," says Patience Stevens, in a statement.

"Each presenter brings their own unique energy and perspective. Together, they will continue Top Billing's proud legacy of celebrating the very best of our country while delivering the aspirational, feel-good content viewers have missed and new audiences are eager to discover."

Bradley Van den Berg says "Bringing together a mix of iconic Top Billing presenters and exciting new talent was a very intentional decision".

"This season is about honouring the legacy that audiences know and love, while evolving the show to reflect the energy, diversity and ambition of modern South Africa. Each presenter brings a unique perspective, and together they create a dynamic storytelling experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly new."

Revived Top Billing return to TV a no-show in March without explanation, SABC says lifestyle magazine show 'on SABC3 remains in development'

by Thinus Ferreira

After the SABC announced in late 2025 that a revived Top Billing would start as a new weekly show during March 2026 on SABC3, that didn't happen and the public broadcaster doesn't want to explain why.

In November 2025, the SABC announced that the iconic lifestyle magazine show Top Billing would be returning to SABC3 from March 2026 with several of the former famous presenters, six years after it was cancelled in October 2019.

The revived Top Billing is produced by Cardova Productions.

In November the SABC said that Top Billing is coming back with "a new chapter that will see the show back on air with a reunion special on 27 November on SABC3, followed by weekly episodes from March 2026".

The new "weekly episodes from March 2026" have however not come to pass and the SABC has been silent about why Top Billing isn't back this month, about the delay with the transmission or TX date, and when it will now start.

Caroline Phalakatshela, SABC publicist, in response to a media query about Top Billing, told TVwithThinus "The SABC confirms that the return of Top Billing on SABC3 remains in development, with final production and contractual processes currently being concluded".

"As these processes are being finalised, the broadcaster will confirm the official broadcast date once all requirements have been completed. The SABC looks forward to bringing the iconic lifestyle programme back to audiences on SABC3 and appreciates the strong interest from viewers and the media."

ALSO READ: SABC revives Top Billing with Cardova produced lifestyle magazine show back from March 2026 with former faces, adding a shorts format, looking at doing TikTok presenter search

SABC revives Top Billing with Cardova produced lifestyle magazine show back from March 2026 with former faces, adding a shorts format, looking at doing TikTok presenter search

Thinus Ferreira

The iconic weekly South African lifestyle magazine show Top Billing will return to SABC3 from March 2026 with several of the former famous presenters, six years after it was cancelled in October 2019. 

Returning within a social saturated TV era, Top Billing also plans to do a TikTok Top Billing Presenter Search to find new presenters and will interact and engage viewers by adding a Top Billing shorts format as a second-screen experience.

Talking about experiences, besides the weekly TV show, Top Billing also plans to branch out into finely-curated "Top Billing Experiences" where viewers, fans and VIP guests will be able to physically get together in unique locales and settings, together with the presenters, around certain experiences and curated lifestyle celebrations with sponsors.

The Top Billing announcement was made on Tuesday evening at the Chefs Warehouse restaurant at the Tintswalo Atlantic hotel near Chapmanspeak in Cape Town, where an exclusive gathering of 90 people, including several former Top Billing presenters, feasted on a specially curated 7-course dinner, in true "Top Billing"-style.

The SABC issued no press release about the Top Billing revival.

Also in attendance at the event were Patience Stevens and Batsetsana Kumalo, the original executive producers who steered Top Billing under the Tswelopele Productions banner, and who will once again run the show, this time as a Cardova Productions show, together with Bradley BalsamoVan Den Berg.

Top Billing will kick off with a special Top Billing reunion episode on Thursday 27 November on SABC3 with several of the former presenters back to do a special episode, after which the regular season will start from March 2026 on the channel.

In attendance on Tuesday night were various producers, influencers, SABC executives, Patience Stevens and Basetsana Kumalo, along with the SABC's head of local productions Lala Tuku.

Former Top Billing presenters also attended, including like Michael Mol, Janez Vermeiren, Jonathan Boyton-Lee, Fezile Mkhize, Ryle de Mornay, and Harmony Katulondi.

SABC2 cancels Pasella after 23 years, channel says final episodes of the longrunning Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show will be a ‘tribute season’.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC2 has cancelled Pasella after 23 years and 28 seasons, confirming that the longrunning Afrikaans lifestyle magazine show won't be back after the latest season.

Pasella weathered multiple day and timeslot changes over numerous years on SABC2 and was a yearlong show with weekly episodes until the SABC2 changed it to shorter, broken-up seasons in 2013 after 15 years.

Pasella started in March 1998 on SABC2 when Pieter Cilliers Productions began the series as a studio-based show. Filmmedia took over production a year later in 1999 and then Tswelopele Productions got the contract in 2001. 

Amor Engelbrecht was the longrunning producer of Pasella until she left and started her Media Club production company producing series for Media24's VIA (DStv 147) channel.

The final current season of Pasella on Wednesdays at 19:30 will be a "tribute season", meeting up with some of the presenters from previous years and showing the history of the series, along with everyone who had a role in creating and producing the series, including veteran Pasella crew and staff behind-the-scenes.

Maritha Greenland, SABC2 commissioning editor, says Pasella will end with a final episode that will be a wrap party, called a "Pasella party" to "give the show a proper, heartfelt goodbye".

The current crop of Pasella presenters are Paul Rothmann, Vicky Davis, Amalia Uys, Hemelbesem, Rumacques Gelderbloem and Sasha-Lee Davids.

Pasella is produced by Tswelopele Productions with Patience Stevens and Basetsana Kumalo as executive producers, with the company that was a powerhouse producer for SABC content for decades.

SABC3 cancelled Top Billing, also produced by Tswelopele Productions in October 2019 after 27 years after the South African public broadcaster could no longer afford the luxury lifestyle show.

Gerhard Pretorius, SABC2 channel head, said Pasella over the years was very good at adapting with how television changed.

"The decision has been a hard one, but it is necessary with the new schedule introduced in April this year, aimed at diversifying SABC 2’s Afrikaans magazine offering," he said. 

"This will also enable the channel to showcase different stories which represent the diversity of our nation and offer more opportunities for independent producers to bring their creative works to the channel."

The axing of Pasella is part of the ongoing restructuring of SABC2's linear schedule to replace old programmes with fading ratings with new on-air properties that could hopefully lure more viewers back to the channel.

SABC2 recently cut down both 7de Laan and Muvhango to just 3 episodes per week because of sagging ratings to slowly try and introduce other programming in the timeslots to see if the replacement series can attract higher viewership.

The final Pasella episode will be broadcast in January 2022.

This is why the SABC decided to cancel Top Billing on SABC3 after 27 years - and why it decided to keep the axing secret.

The struggling SABC has axed its longrunning Top Billing magazine show on SABC3 - which did well in the TV ratings given the channel it was on - but has an expensive production budget that the cash-strapped public broadcaster can no longer afford.

Viewers as well as South Africa's TV industry have expressed their shock and bewilderment that the SABC has deteriorated to such a state that it can no longer "afford" to keep a legacy and premium brand like Top Billing on its airwaves which bring the viewers that most advertisers crave.

On Thursday evening TVwithThinus spoke to over 20 local producers, showrunners, bosses of production companies and TV executives who all said that they're gobsmacked and shocked at the SABC's decision and struggle to fathom how the SABC could have failed to keep a brand like Top Billing going and failed to leverage it to make money on its only commercial TV channel.

Top Billing is the latest show getting axed in a shock decision as far as the SABC3 schedule is concerned.

So far the ongoing SABC3 bloodletting has seen it get rid of basically all of its iconic and longrunning legacy programming that for decades drew viewers to the SABC, with SABC3 that in succession ended Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, as well  as local shows like High Rollers, 3Talk and even its replacement Real Talk.

The final legacy show on SABC3 remains its longrunning weekday soap Isidingo that is struggling in the ratings.

Although the SABC said that Top Billing has not been fairing well ratings-wise, it doesn't paint an accurate picture.

The Tswelopele Productions show survived and thrived through multiple, often jarring, timeslot and day changes over many years, drawing and building new audiences wherever the SABC decided to place it on the schedule next.

While the show has a set production budget and a cost that the SABC buys it at, the show itself is not responsible for selling the actual ad space on the SABC's only commercial TV channel during the weekly hour that it's broadcast.

That is the task and responsibility of the SABC's advertising sales division where sales reps must sell the inventory of 30 second spots at such prices that the content firstly makes the money back that the SABC paid for it, as well as then make money for the SABC.

As a blue-chip on-air and lifestyle brand - one of the very last remaining on the SABC - the escapist and aspirational show was one of less than a handful media properties in South Africa that weekly painted a positive picture through profiles of local South Africans, their lives and lifestyles, and what success, achievement and even local weddings could look like.

While SABC3 is the terrestrial TV channel with the smallest geographical broadcast footprint and therefore the channel with the smallest overall possible audience - coupled with SABC3's overall and ongoing sinking ratings, Top Billing remained a top-rated show.

In September 2019 Top Billing was the 8th most-watched show on SABC3 with 438 847 viewers (1.23 ARs), up from August when it was also the 8th most-watched show on SABC3 with 421 690 viewers (1.18 ARs).

"The SABC's decision to bring Top Billing to an end has not been an entirely easy one," says Zandile Nkonyeni, SABC spokesperson in response to TVwithThinus' media enquiry asking for the rationale for the show's axing.

"Like any programme on our schedule, the show is ultimately based on its performance and market relevance and to that end it has not been faring well against set targets and in light of the review processes actioned within the last two years."

"With a quarter of a century on our television screens, we all agreed that the show has had a good run," Nkonyeni says.


Great but too expensive for the SABC
"Secondly, Top Billing is a premium production which documents and represents a high-end lifestyle. That, combined with the expensive travel and crew capacity required, does need a considerable investment directed into that show," the SABC said.

"The broadcaster was always able to afford this investment so long as there were healthy returns against that investment. Of late, the production return on investment had declined significantly, thus making us operate at a loss. Hence a part of the decision to decommission the show," says Zandile Nkonyeni.


Very little warning - and no goodbye
Asked why viewers and the industry were only officially told that Top Billing is cancelled after 27 years and will have its final original episode on Saturday just two days before it airs, the SABC said that SABC3 and Tswelopele Productions decided to do it that way jointly.

Although cancelled months ago Saturday's final Top Billing episode will contain no goodbye, nostalgic lookback or tribute clips and SABC3 will now pad the schedule with Top Billing rerun episodes until March 2020 until it finds a replacement for the timeslot.

"After careful consideration between both SABC3 and Tswelopele Productions, a decision was taken to inform the loyal title and platform viewers at the penultimate episode and for the farewell statement to be issued in the week of the finale episode."

"In light of this, an on-air promo was scheduled for this past week to air on SABC3," the broadcaster says.


ALSO READ: SABC cans Top Billing after 27 years as broke public broadcaster can no longer afford to keep one of its last top legacy brands on the air.

SABC cans Top Billing after 23 years as broke public broadcaster can no longer afford to keep one of its last top legacy brands on the air.

Saturday will see the abrupt end of another of the SABC's last remaining top legacy brands with Top Billing on SABC3 that has been cancelled after 23 years with the South African public broadcaster that can no longer afford to pay for it.

As yet there's been no official statement from the SABC or its SABC3 channel, or Tswelopele Productions who saw its longrunning contract for the aspirational show with the SABC axed because of the broadcaster's ongoing financial problems.

It's not clear why the SABC didn't make an announcement sooner about Top Billing's demise but its axing will come as a shock to generations of South African viewers who grew up with it and emulated the styles it lifestyle trends it showed.

The SABC was asked for comment about why the SABC cancelled Top Billing and whether it is because the broadcaster can’t afford it anymore, as well as why the SABC didn’t announce the show’s ending sooner to viewers when the contract wasn’t renewed. 

Vuyo Mthembu, SABC spokesperson, said “we will be releasing a statement”.

Saturday's final Top Billing episode at 18:00 will include no nostalgic lookback, although the show's one former host and co-executive producer Basetsana Kumalo, will appear in an insert reflecting on her "25 year journey".

The iconic show that has adapted over the years since it was started by Patience Stevens, always showing "the best of the good life", has made name stars of multiple walk-and-talk presenters who found fame after being hand-picked to front the glamorous lifestyle magazine show that has been a weekly staple on the SABC schedule for decades.

The show became such a permeating force in South African popular culture that people started referring to mega-mansions as "A Top Billing house" or lavish weddings as a "Top Billing wedding" - referencing the weekly mansion and over-the-top wedding day profile inserts.

Meanwhile its walk-and-talk signature presenting style became often-imitated, widely seen as the pinnacle of what would-be presenting on local television should be.

The iconic show that moved between SABC2 and SABC3 and that weathered multiple day and timeslot changes over decades managed to keep its audience as it kept up with the times, constantly evolving and adapting to changing styles.

With high production values, including overseas travel inserts and Hollywood interviews, Top Billing kept courting a high LSM viewership as one of the last remaining legacy shows on public television that managed to bring affluent viewers, highly coveted by advertisers, to the SABC.


ALSO READ: This is why the SABC decided to cancel Top Billing on SABC3 after 27 years - and why it decided to keep the axing secret.

SABC3 on-air broadcast blackout on Easter Sunday afternoon goes unexplained by the public broadcaster.

The South African public broadcaster's SABC3 channel suffered an unexplained on-air blackout on Easter Sunday.

The abrupt on-air outage that lasted for about 15 minutes on Sunday afternoon, interrupted a rebroadcast of the magazine show, Top Billing, produced by Tswelopele Productions.

There's been no explanation or apology from the SABC, and nothing from SABC3 on the channel's communication on social media.

Viewers complained and wondered what was going on, but got no response from the SABC or SABC3.

"SABC3, is it only my TV or you're down?" asked Stephen Lekoba on Twitter.

"SABC3 currently dead air. Black screen. Should SABC remain open for business or shut its doors?" asked Neil Stoffberg. "They are insolvent."

"This SABC3 broadcast blackout couldn't have come at a really bad time," said Tinock. "More than 10 minutes of Top Billing that I've missed out on. I'm so frustrated".

This @SABC3 broadcast blackout couldnt've come at a really bad time 😡😠😡😠😤

More than 10mins of @SABC3Topbilling that I've missed out on. I'm so frustrated

— Tinock (@Tinockmax) April 21, 2019

On SABC3's Facebook page Ne Lokuwe asked, "SABC what's wrong??" but got no response or reply.

Neither did anybody else.

"What's going on?" asked Olwethu Yamba. "Was watching Top Billing and y'all just went blank."

"What's going on?" asked Megan Adderly. "Blue screen ..."

"The next minute there's Top Billing, the next minute there's no Top Billing. Nxa!!!" said Joules Winnfield.

INTERVIEW. SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed on the channel's new schedule, The Amazing Race, Real Talk with Anele, Top Billing and Bollywood - and what's happening with the news and Supernatural.

At the beginning of February SABC3 once again changed its schedule, with SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed saying the channel's ongoing prime time evolution "is not the beginning nor is it the end. It's definitely the start of much more. It is our journey".

TVwithThinus sat down with Aisha Mohamed, to hear why the new schedule change happened and what it means, why Top Billing moved to Saturdays and why the news and Real Talk with Anele moved to later timeslots.

Aisha explains how SABC3 is trying to catch up with The Amazing Race, those Supernatural episodes that got cut and new seasons coming, what viewers' response are to the Bollywood content and how SABC3's schedule is responding to viewer feedback.




Why did SABC3 decide to change its schedule again from the start of February?
The changes have been coming for a while and we thought it would be really great to start a new year.

The changes are definitely part of our thinking and our strategy and we've spent a lot of time so that the changes we put forward from February are sustainable but also come with longevity. We decided to launch it in February and it can sustain itself to as soon as May when we get new titles in again, and then in the next 3 months again, we get new titles in again. So it made sense for me to start a new year with a new, fresh feeling.

We also had a lot of feedback and time to get feedback from viewers. So we've spent time reading that feedback, researching that feedback, having a look at what people actually want - you know, what are they saying to us.

What is nice about our audience is that they're very vocal. So they will tell you exactly what are the things that they like and that they don't like. And that actually assisted us in this process, with simple things like Real Talk with Anele that we've moved a little bit later. They're very much a part of those decisions, telling us things like "I'm not home when this is on" and SABC3's schedule is very much about those decisions - so we considered all of those things.

The thing is that you're never going to make everybody happy all the time. It's a competitive schedule for us as a channel, so we can compete aggressively but also make our viewers happy in the same vein.

Can you talk a bit about Top Billing and its 25th anniversary and what a show and a brand like that and its longevity means for South Africa and for the SABC and SABC3 and why did you decide to move it to Saturdays at 18:00?
That Top Billing has been on the air for so many years is a testament to the kind of product that it is and the fact that it has such high value. It is regarded in the viewers' mind as something that's really unique.

Top Billing is a very unique property. It encapsulates a little bit of everything. But also we found that in the viewing experience we're moving into a very different age. So as Top Billing is changing and evolving - and you would have seen if you've watched it for the last couple of months - it's definitely moving to a different direction.

It's moving to the direction that SABC3 is moving, but it's also moving in a digital age, it's savvy about how it's responding to it's viewers from a social media perspective, but it's also about ensuring that we give it a home that it can really shine.

And we felt that Thursdays are definitely our home for reality and for drama and that kind of thing. We found from a viewer perspective those people appreciated watching it over the weekend, so it's about giving Top Billing the opportunity tor really shine on a Saturday, and with a repeat on a Sunday. So we're really hoping to see good things in the new timeslot.

The move of the SABC's English TV news bulletin from 18:00 to 21:00, is that to make a less interrupted flow?
That's exactly what it is. So it was about flow and balance, and also allowing our viewers the opportunity to have news and lifestyle strands where they are.

We've got a 2 minute bulletin at 6 o'clock that's you'll still get that's very much the headlines. And then a very detailed bulletin at 9. So it's 2 minutes at 6 and then a very detailed bulletin at 9 encapsulating what's been going on the day.

Also our viewers are very savvy. They're aspirational. They are aware. They are aware of what's happening around them. Often a lot of the news stories, they've seen what's going on around them, they know what's happening. So it's about bringing it all together for a more detailed conversation at 21:00, which I don't think we could have done at 6 o'clock.

And then the rationale for moving the talk shows Afternoon Express and Real Talk with Anele to early prime time, is it to leverage the more viewers that potentially available later?
So definitely, definitely in terms of Real Talk with Anele that has been the feedback from viewers who told us "I have to catch it on YouTube", "I can't believe I missed it again today", "I can't believe I missed so and so" - it's all of that feedback.


So the later timeslot is a testament to the show's success?
Yes. Absolutely. Also, it's a SABC3 production. So we're invested it in. And we want to give it the best possible opportunity to shine. So 6 o'clock makes a lot of sense.

And I hoping that people are comfortably at home then and can enjoy the viewing experience as opposed to being still at work, which is the feedback we got.

Also Afternoon Express has sustained itself over time. It came on as a new show, we weren't sure how it was going to do, and it really has improved our schedule tremendously.

A lot of viewers have been scared about the possibility of Survivor and The Amazing Race disappearing from SABC3's schedule?
We've kept Mondays as adventure, so our reality and adventure on Mondays sustain itself. So Survivor is definitely still on a Monday.

We chose to put The Amazing Race on a Wednesday because we want to bring our seasons forward. So we're looking at what's happening with how many seasons there are and where we are at, and to bring things forward so that we can give viewers the next season sooner rather than later.

So we've got season 25 of The Amazing Race on Wednesdays and then we've got Survivor coming in shortly. And we've got further seasons actually. So there'll be a one and then a break and then another one. But again, just to make sure that we maintain interest and make it relevant, because we find that the gaps otherwise are a bit too far apart.


Will SABC3 ever show the last four episodes of Supernatural's stopped season?
We are still playing the last 4 episodes out. In the schedule change one of the shows that were affected was Supernatural on a Sunday night.

Unfortunately it is a little bit later, so it's not in the same timeslot that it was at, but we are most definitely showing it a bit later, so we are finishing the season. And it's nice that we also have the next seasons of Supernatural coming.

Do you know which ones?
I think its 11 and 12. So they're coming in and will come in on a drama slot on a Wednesday.


What has been the feedback in terms of the Bollywood content and will there be more of that?
So we're very excited about that. The viewer feedback has been well around Bollywood, also the pairing of Mela and Bollywood together was also very much in favour. The movies feedback was really great. So we got a lot of feedback around the types of movies.

We've also got really good titles, and we've got a good combination of for instance Hindi, Tamil and how we can pair them together and can ensure that both communities can enjoy that equally. So it is a bit of a touchy area sometimes. So we are very careful how we schedule them; so that we ensure we have enough titles, pair them nicely.

Also we try to get latest movies, we've just acquired a lot of new ones with some new titles coming on as well. I think we acquired 20 or 25 new ones.

SABC3 and Top Billing's Presenter Search on 3 returning for a 4th TV turn in May, will once again look for new on-air talent to join the channel's shows.

SABC3 and Top Billing's Presenter Search on 3 will return from May for a 4th time, once again looking to add new South African TV talent to joins shows like Top Billing, Expresso or Afternoon Express.

The Presenter Search on 3 will once again be produced by Tswelopele Productions with the search for a new presenter or presenters to join various SABC3 shows that is taking place to co-incide with the 25th anniversary of the venerable weekly gloss entertainment and lifestyle magazine show Top Billing that started on the SABC in 1992.

Previous seasons of the highly popular Presenter Search on 3 have made bona fide TV stars and celebrities of Simba Mhere and Jonathan Boynton-Lee with thousands of hopefuls who queued across the country in 2010 and in 2012 when it known as My Top Billing Dream.

The last season of Presenter Search on 3 was held in 2015 with the winners who were Zoe Brown who joined Expresso, Danilo Acquisto who joined Afternoon Express and Jade Hubner who joined Top Billing.

The show was however also a star vehicle launching pad for Chris Jaftha who made the Top 5 and was picked up soon afterwards by Top Billing as a presenter as well anyway, and who is currently also the co-presenter of Dancing with the Stars South Africa on M-Net (DStv 101).

Likewise Mishka Patel was picked up to join Tswelopele Productions' weekly Afrikaans magazine show Pasella on SABC2.

The presenter of the new Presenter Search on 3 will include among others Jonathan Boynton-Lee, Ayanda Thabethe and the evergreen Jeannie D.

Contestants will once again be put through their paces in grueling real-life TV challenges before and behind-the-scenes with various presenting tasks taking place in-studio and shot outside on-location to not just test the telegenic mettle of those who want to be on TV but also their adaptability and how they respond to unexpected production curveballs.

Top Billing on SABC3 celebrates its 25th silver anniversary with a special nostalgic look-back episode with Michael Mol and Basetsana Kumalo back as presenters.

Tonight South Africa’s longest-running, uninterrupted lifestyle magazine TV show will celebrate its 25th anniversary on South African television with Top Billing doing a special, nostalgia-laden look-back episode as current and former presenters, and the show's executive producers, do revealing and personal oral histories of their time working on the show.

Former presenters – a now greying fox Michael Mol, and ever-youthful Basetsana Kumalo are back as tonight's special presenting duo.

Top Billing's silver anniversary is a phenomenal feat for not just the show but also for the South African public broadcaster where the now iconic programme, as TV arbiter of the "good life" on SABC3 has managed to captivate audiences for two and a half decades of weekly episodes telling and showing inspiring South African success stories with a revolving roster of glambod presenters over the years, widely admired and often imitated.

Keeping up appearances for 25 years in South Africa's TV industry, Top Billing, has managed to pull off an incredible production record, only equaled by M-Net's long-running investigative magazine show, Carte Blanche that will turn 30 in 2018 – both shows bravely travelling internationally, working unrelentingly at getting exclusive interviews and access to eye-popping visual stories.

Now iconic for its hobnobbing with the rich and famous locally and abroad, exotic travelogues, fashion and movie junket inserts, jaw-dropping mansion features and presenters walking (and talking!) in designer evening wear, the Tswelopele Productions show has spawned colloquial phrases like "that's definitely a Top Billing house", "it's a Top Billing wedding" and its sign-off "goodnight and God bless!" that has become synonymous with this South Africa TV royalty institution.

More than any other local South African TV show, Top Billing has successfully spawned a bevy of presenter beauties – people South African viewers don't just love to see, but want to be.

Over the years, their names have inextricably become linked with any event – anything – "top billing" since 1992: from Neil McCarthy, Ursula Chikane, Janez Vermeiren, Jeannie D, Simba Mhere and Jo-Ann Strauss to Bonang Matheba, Nico Panagio and lately names like Jade Hubner and Chris Jaftha.

While viewers drink in the beautiful and carefully curated "Vanity Fair on television" type content weekly – sometimes criticised as empty calorie glam-TV – they're oblivious to the immeasurable production focus, energy, man hours and stressful navigation of often-impossible inserts behind the scenes and the gargantuan achievement of Top Billing that has kept it up for 25 years.

In fact, it's not just Top Billing's longevity of 25 years on the cash-strapped and often-erratic SABC (the show that started on TV1, moved to SABC2, then SABC3 and saw an untold number of day and timeslot changes) where programmes are subjected to the whims and vagaries of an ever-changing echelon of TV executives that is extremely impressive, but that it has been able to establish and keep up very high production values week after week after week, unequaled by any other local show on South African television.

What viewers don't see on Top Billing are producers constantly pushing forward and navigating through the byzantine maze of difficult publicists and gatekeepers for access to A-list stars from the worlds of entertainment, sport, business, music, film, and news - the rushed editors working late, insane global travel logistic arrangements often changing last minute and exasperated cameramen valiantly trying to still frame stars looking their best even though someone like Kim Kardashian would refuse to put down her cellphone and look up during an exclusive one-on-one interview.

Still aspirational

As fleeting styles, fashions and viewer interest all blossom and fade, Top Billing has smartly managed to adapt, change and constantly evolve over the more than two decades not just with its audience but staying carefully always just slightly ahead of them. 

Nothing is more tragic than anything old in pop culture that's lost its relevance, attraction and reason for being – yet Top Billing with agile pop culture agility, remains ahead of the pack.

Viewers keep tuning in because Top Billing, even after 25 years, remains inspiring. 

Viewers don't just want to see the spectacular house – the show makes them dream that they can maybe one day have it too. 

Viewers don't just tune in for the celebrities – they watch the interviews, although sometimes too sweet, that are carefully orchestrated to make famous folk come across as accessible, ordinary and relatable.

The glitz, glamour, décor, design, exotic cuisine and luxury travel appearing on Top Billing are at heart not show-off pieces; viewers keep watching because they see things and people they want to emulate.

For 25 years, Top Billing has continued to give South Africans on public television – in a country pummelled by a barrage of negative and disturbing news headlines – an escapist out: a passport saying that it is okay, even if just for an hour a week, to have a dream.     

Thursday night’s must-watch episode at 20:30 on SABC3 will look back with Michelle Garforth-Venter, one of the original presenters, now living in Atlanta in America, reminiscing with her family about her Top Billing years. 

Current presenter Jonathan Boynton-Lee will relive the Top Billing Presenter Search reality show that he won, while Michael Mol’s family will look back on their life over the years with Top Billing.

The one wearing the Top Billing tiara in real life is Patience Stevens who started Top Billing for the SABC 25 years ago with a dream and a lot of guts in one small editing suite, and who is still the executive producer of this glamarama TV train steaming ahead a quarter of a century later.

In another insert on Thursday the show charts the friendship between this indefatigable uber-producer who noticed and roped in Basetsana Kumalo years ago – first as a presenter and then as a production partner – and their incredible producing partnership and friendship working on Top Billing all these years.

Top Billing doesn't like vagina: Former director Pamela Power tells of how she botched an insert for The Vagina Monologues because the show didn't want the word 'V' mentioned.

A former director on the SABC's Top Billing has revealed that the opulent magazine show doesn't like vagina.

In a funny anecdote, Pamela Power, a TV scriptwriter and script editor, shared a funny anecdote with talk show host Anele Mdoda on SABC3's Real Talk with Anele, saying she was once responsible for doing an insert on the play "The Vagina Monologues" but was ordered not to use the word "vagina" anywhere in the insert for the SABC3 show produced by Tswelopele Productions.

In another insert she wanted to do for Top Billing - South Africa's longest running uninterrupted local programme on South African television and that focuses on the lives of the rich and famous - she wanted to film homeless people for the show because she says "I was so much more Special Assignment".

Special Assignment is SABC3's weekly investigative magazine show strand.

The director who has worked on TV shows ranging from Top Billing and SABC1's Generations and Uzalo to Mzansi Magic's Rockville and who is currently a script editor at SABC2's Muvhango, didn't know how she was supposed to tell a story about "The Vagina Monologues" without using the word "vagina".

"I was the worst director ever and I think they were so happy to wave me goodbye," said Pamela Power who authored the books Ms Conception, Things Unseen and Delilah Now Trending.

"The Vagina Monologues, I was supposed to film that and without ever having the word 'V' mentioned," explained Pamela Power.

"So I didn't film any of the show. And then I got back and they were like: 'But you haven't filmed any of the show, you just did everything in the background".

"I said [its] because you didn't want me to mention the word!" said Pamela Power.

SABC 'putting thousands of livelihoods at risk' with failure to pay its biggest shows, as public broadcaster again hovers on the brink of financial collapse.

The SABC racing to the brink of financial collapse is putting "thousands of livelihoods at risk" as some of the SABC's biggest shows like Uzalo, Muvhango, 7de Laan and others are not getting the money they need to produce the content the SABC needs with actors, presenters and production crews anxious as they wait to be paid.

With ongoing plummeting SABC viewership and listenership to record lows, and with the public broadcaster's cash reserves basically depleted, more information is coming to light about the SABC once again finding itself in the precarious position in 2009.

In 2009 after mismanagement, maladministration, corruption and gross overspending, the South African public broadcaster came to the brink of financial collapse and was only saved through a government bail-out in the form of a government-guaranteed loan of R1,4 billion from Nedbank.

Although the public broadcaster was pulled back from the brink, the SABC inflicted massive damage on South Africa's TV industry and decimated independent producers with some who were forced to sell their houses and cars.

Now the SABC is once again in a dramatic cash-crunch months after the controversial former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng ordered a dramatic increase in local radio airplay on the SABC airwaves and announced his plan for an abrupt increase in local content on SABC TV channels, starting with 80% on SABC3.

SABC executives in July 2016 already raised the alarm that the SABC will be running out of money within months, something the SABC at the time denied. Last month acting SABC CEO James Aguma told parliament that the SABC's finances are stable.

In reality the SABC at the end of this month will have used up the last of its cash reserves.

After the SABC abruptly failed to pay all of its service providers, production companies and creditors at the end of March, the SABC's acting chief financial officer (CFO) Audrey Raphela, in a hurried letter told service providers and producers that "you will be contacted individually by your SABC counterparts to clarify how our obligation to you will be honoured by no later than the week ending of 7 April".

The Daily Sun now reports that SABC1's most watched show, Uzalo, only received partial payment. SABC2's Muvhango and 7de Laan were reportedly not paid and are waiting for their money. It's the same with SABC3's Isidingo that the SABC also allegedly failed didn't pay.

The SABC as a public broadcaster doesn't want to publicly comment about who didn't get paid at the end of March, with SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago that told The Daily Sun "we will not engage in the public domain with the people that we work with. That's why we have decided to engage them directly."

According to insiders several SABC shows ranging from SABC1's Selimathunzi to SABC3's Top Billing have allegedly not been paid, as scores of production crews, actors and presenters are waiting on their money.

The Independent Producers' Organisation (IPO) representing hundreds of producers and production companies in a statement to TVwithThinus says it is alarmed over the SABC's latest payment failure.

"These payments are generally for work that has already been delivered or is in the process of being made. These payments go towards paying suppliers including actors, directors, technical crew, caterers, equipment suppliers, car hire companies and fuel. These are the people who work 12 hour days to bring some of the country's favourite programmes to life".

"The failure of the SABC to pay not only places the industry in crisis, but also puts thousands of livelihoods, bond and loan repayments, school fees and living expenses at risk. The impact on the many thousands of lives is dire," says the IPO.

The IPO says the dire situation the SABC is once again finding itself in, is negatively affecting "the general industry, including actors and crew".

Tell-tale signs of the current cash-crunch was foreshadowed in October 2016 when the SABC's failure to sign new contracts in time saw Muvhango's executive producer forced to take out a bank loan to try and pay cast and crew while 7de Laan warned actors and crew in a shocking note that they won't be paid.

Later that month the SABC rushed to finally sign new contracts. By delaying signing contracts the SABC was able to keep more money in the bank for longer.

In November 2016, despite a signed contract for a third season that was months into production, the SABC suddenly pulled the plug on SABC3's High Rollers, ordering it off the air within 30 days and suddenly leaving hundreds of crew and actors without jobs.

Meanwhile pressure is mounting as South Africa's treasury and the new minister of communications Ayanda Dlodlo will have to decide what form the possible latest government bail-out of the SABC will take.

Without a massive cash injection within weeks, the cash-strapped SABC's operations will start to seize up from the end of the month.

NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE. SABC3 in yet another massive schedule shake-up as the channel's line-up is rejigged for the 3rd time in a year from April.

 In a desperate attempt to lift ratings, stem its ongoing viewership slide and slow its cash drains the SABC will announce yet another very dramatic schedule shake-up for its loss-making SABC3 channel that will come into effect from 1 April.

It’s no SABC April Fool's joke: SABC3's latest upcoming schedule shake-up will be the SABC's third for the struggling and loss-making channel in just a year.

SABC3's shake-up follows sister channel SABC2's latest big schedule change that was introduced in February and that angered a large number of viewers – SABC2's sixth big schedule shake-up since mid-2014.

Just as with currency fluctuations in an economy, public and commercial transport commuter timetables, and even a family's nightly dinner time, stability and predictability over time of a broadcaster's TV schedule – or the lack of it – is a strong indicator and signal to the organisational and systemic health or chaos behind the scenes.

Constant and erratic TV schedule changes – the SABC for instance again disrupted all three of its TV channel's schedules in January for Afcon 2017 coverage – confuse viewers who are creatures of habit and who struggle to find their shows and what they want to watch.

With every major TV schedule change of the SABC, some viewers sample competitor channels and programming, find new favourites, form new habits and never return.

SABC3 saw its ratings tank the past nine months following the SABC’s controversial former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng's abrupt decree of 80% local content that was haphazardly introduced on the channel since July 2016. The badly implemented move saw viewers flee, viewership fall and then advertisers leaving.

The SABC introduced big schedule changes for SABC3 in April 2016, followed by yet another dramatic schedule shake-up just three months later in July 2016 – with a new SABC3 logo and-on air look.

That was also when Motsoeneng – now still currently employed by the SABC but ordered to stay at home with no job title – wreaked havoc on the cash-strapped SABC3 by abruptly ordering a decree of 80% local content for the SABC's only commercial TV channel.

Not a single one of the new and mostly badly produced local shows introduced on SABC3 since July 2016, except for a new season of Neill Anthony Private Chef, managed to lure enough viewers to crack SABC3's most watched month-on-month ratings list.

With disastrous AR's (audience ratings) in prime time for the batch of new content, the SABC still had to splash the cash to produce the ratings-failed content that viewers flipped the switch on.

The new SABC3 schedule shake-up is the first under SABC TV boss, Nomsa Philiso. 

She was appointed as the SABC's new head of television in August 2016 to replace the veteran Verona Duwarkah who was abruptly fired for refusing Hlaudi Motsoeneng's allegedly irregular content orders and dubious production contracts and reportedly accused him of of harassment and gross mismanagement.

There's growing buzz that the SABC could perhaps be shuttering the beleaguered SABC3 before the end of the year, while insiders are wondering how the SABC wants to programme and run its promised five additional new TV channels for digital terrestrial television (DTT) if it is struggling to keep the three existing channels on the air and just three schedule line-ups filled that's already stuffed with repeats.

Zandile Nkonyeni, SABC TV publicist, was asked about talk that SABC3 might be shutting down, what the situation is around SABC3's future, and what assurance there is from the SABC to viewers about the channel, but she didn't respond. 

Major programming moves

Now the SABC is again tinkering with SABC3's schedule in another big shake-up.

According to insiders, SABC3 will announce that it is switching a large number of its shows' timeslots with viewers who will once again have to adjust their viewing patterns.

SABC3 will introduce yet another new swathe of local content – some with dubious public broadcasting value – as it also gets ready to dump late night and overnight repeats to cut back on rebroadcast fees, cancels long-running programming like Interface and even moves its news bulletin, The Bold and the Beautiful, Top Billing, Special Assignment and other shows yet again to new times and days.

Zandile Nkonyeni was asked why SABC3 is doing yet another big schedule change again and what prompted the latest shake-up. She failed to comment.

SABC3's latest schedule do-over stretches from the very early morning to late night.

SABC3 will cut its breakfast show Expresso back by half an hour, with the morning show that will move from 06:00 to a new starting time of 6:30 in mid-April. SABC3 is also slowly moving the beloved American soap Days of Our Lives back from its midnight banishment to an earlier timeslot.

Here’s what’s happening on SABC3 from April

Major coming SABC3 changes from April include:

 ■ Expresso is being reduced again, back to two and a half hours, after its timeslot was increased in July 2016 to three hours. From Monday 17 April Expresso is set to start half an hour later at 6:30 to make space for a half hour of kids programming at 6:00 on weekdays.

■ The existing line-up of SABC3's 09:00 hour of repeats is dumped for repeats on weekdays of Real Talk with Anele from Monday 3 April.

■ After taking away the Venda-language soap Muvhango repeat on SABC3 in July 2016, it is suddenly back – at 11:30 on weekdays.

■ The weekday chatter, Afternoon Express that was moved from 16:00 to 17:00 in July 2016 as part of a failed experiment, will move back to 16:00 from Monday 3 April.

■ Real Talk with Anele gets upgraded and moves from 16:00 to 17:00. Basically Afternoon Express and Real Talk with Anele are switching timeslots, with SABC3 now believing that Real Talk – that constantly attracts more buzz – has more potential to lure a bigger actual audience.

■ The SABC is once again moving the public broadcaster's flagship daily TV news bulletin on SABC3 that's been hammered in the ratings and that shed tens of thousands of viewers over the past few months.

The news at 18:30 on SABC3 is once again becoming News @ 6 from April – a simulcast of the news done on DStv's SABC News (DStv 404) channel with anchors Peter Ndoro and Francis Herd.

■ That knock-on effect means that the American soap The Bold and the Beautiful is also once again shifting timeslots – from 18:00 to 18:30 on weekdays on SABC3 from Monday 3 April.

■ The hugely popular The Bold and the Beautiful, perennially the most watched show on SABC3, will now serve as the lead-in for the struggling local soap Isidingo that stays put at 19:00. SABC3 hopes that Bold’s buoyant viewership will filter through to the Endemol Shine Africa produced Isidingo.

■ The local talker Trending South Africa that started in daytime on SABC3, switched to night time and then got a 12:00 weekday repeat, is getting cut down from five days to four episodes per week, losing the Friday episode.

Trending SA will also no longer get any daytime repeat on SABC3 from April but will see its broadcast timeslot move half an hour earlier from 22:00 to 21:30.

■ From Thursday 6 April Top Billing sees yet another timeslot change in the glam magazine show long broadcast history – moving from 20:00 to 20:30.

■ SABC3's investigative magazine show Special Assignment is once again moving in April – this time from Wednesdays at 21:30 to Mondays at 21:00.

■ SABC3's long running Sunday night current affairs interview show Interface at 21:30 is apparently abruptly getting axed. Interface's last episode will be on Sunday 2 April, thereafter replaced by a celebrity-driven type profile show entitled Celebuville in the same timeslot from Sunday 8 April.

  

Flurry of unknown new local content

Instead of phasing individual new shows in over time to help them gain viewer recognition and support, SABC3 is unleasing a next new wave of unknown local content from April as part of the latest schedule shake-up.

This programming will all compete at the same time for viewers' attention, battling each other to stand out in a crowded nightly 19:30 to 21:30 timeslot.

The previously announced channel switch from SABC1 to SABC3 of Clover's latest season of the advertiser-funded production (AFP), Tropika Island of Treasure Seychelles will start on SABC3 on Monday 27 March at 19:30.

While TVwithThinus saw it already and this show's production values look much improved, the same can't be said for new and unknown SABC3 shows like the female presented car maintenance and driving test show Driving in Heels starting Tuesday 4 April at 21:00, Hostess with Lorna Maseko starting Tuesday 4 April at 20:30, and the food competition reality show Dinner Date set to start on Wednesday 5 April at 19:30.

After several pushbacks the delayed Uyanda It’s On that was originally scheduled for 2016 is finally set to start on SABC3 on Wednesday 5 April at 21:00. 

The reality show follows the former SABC1 publicist and socialite Uyanda Mbuli and her various worldwide luxury indulgences captured on video for public broadcasting consuption.

Friday 7 April will finally see the start of the new SABC3 half hour sitcom Soap on a Rope at 19:30 that was also originally supposed to start in August 2016 on the channel. The comedy stars Luthuli Dlamini, Melanie du Bois, Alfred Ntombela and Sonia Sedibe and is set on a fictitious TV show's set.

Publicist Zandile Nkonyeni was asked why SABC3 is introducing another batch of new local programming in a burst and what the programming strategy is behind the move but she failed to respond.

Late night changes

Days of Our Lives on SABC3 is moving from midnight to an earlier timeslot of 22:30 from 3 April.

The late night Isidingo and The Bold and the Beautiful repeats are both dumped in favour of the German TV news service Deutsche Welle that will now start at 23:30 and run until 02:00 in the morning.

From 02:00 the SABC’s feed of the SABC News channel on DStv will be simulcast overnight with the repeat of American TV series that used to be at 03:30 that's all getting axed in the latest shake-up.