Content boss Tracy-Ann van Rooyen jumps from Disney Africa to head up MultiChoice's Showmax content strategy

by Thinus Ferreira

It's a homecoming of sorts for the South African content topper Tracy-Ann van Rooyen who has jumped from her programming perch at The Walt Disney Company Africa to MultiChoice's Showmax where she is now the the new executive head of of content strategy for the streamer since February.

The watch-a-lot programming executive spent years at M-Net and MultiChoice before she jumped to The Walt Disney Company Africa in July 2021 and took up the role of senior manager for programming and scheduling.

After three and a half years she is back at MultiChoice but will now oversee MultiChoice's content strategy for its Showmax streamer.

Previously at M-Net - first as head of programming for M-Net's set of local entertainment channels and then as head of acquisition and scheduling for M-Net series - the influential and tele-friendly exec amassed vast experience and a deep contact list of connections across content distribution and scheduling, formats, as well as local and international production.

Tracy-Ann van Rooyen now permanently fills the Showmax head of content position in which M-Net premium exec Nicola van Niekerk held the fort in an acting capacity since the middle of last year.

Nicola van Niekerk was the acting Showmax content boss in the wake of Allan Sperling's exit at the end of April 2024 to become the programming boss for Warner Bros. Discovery for the Nordics region in Europe since November.

At The Walt Disney Company Africa the programming and scheduling department is for the time being managed by the current internal team.

In response to a media query about Tracy-Ann van Rooyen's appointment, MultiChoice tells TVwithThinus "Tracy-Ann van Rooyen has been appointed executive head of content for Showmax, a role centred on strategic content development".

"This position expands upon the foundation laid by Nicola van Niekerk, who previously served as acting head of content. Nicola has since transitioned to acting executive head of programming for general entertainment."

"With over two decades of experience in the television industry, Tracy-Ann has a proven track record in creating, producing, acquiring, and curating content for diverse audiences across the African continent. In her new role, she'll assist the team to continue delivering top-tier content experiences for our customers."

"Her appointment, which commenced on 1 February 2025, reflects MultiChoice's strategic emphasis on strengthening its content leadership with great expertise, ensuring the delivery of high-quality and well curated content."

Next week at 2025's 7th Joburg Film Festival in Sandton, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen is set to be one of the speakers at the 3rd JBX content market running concurrently.

She will be a panellist on Wednesday morning for a session looking at Showmax's subscriber growth and talk about the streamer's content strategy, sharing various learnings on how audiences consume content on video streaming platforms.

David Blaine magic, megastructures and mysterious islands coming to Nat Geo in 2025

by Thinus Ferreira

National Geographic will show a documentary film about the discovery of the Endurance ship at the bottom of Antarctica's Weddell Sea, go up in the Alaskan air, share a magical David Blaine discovery and investigate more crashes, ice roads and megastructures over the next few months on the yellow frame channel.

National Geographic (DStv 181) shared content highlights between now and March 2025 at a programming upfront that was held on Wednesday morning.

ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 31 photos of National Geographic's programming upfront and Endurance documentary film screening

It included a screening of the documentary film Endurance which chronicles the discovery of this ship that sank in Antarctica in 1915 and was discovered by the SA Agulhas II during an expedition in 2022.

"Our top priorities are really a lot of brand-new stories coming to National Geographic," Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, senior manager of programming and scheduling at The Walt Disney Company Africa, said at the Johannesburg upfront event.

"We are really going for specials and life-storytelling that we haven't seen before - the first of which is Endurance. Endurance is a story of leadership, of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew who were stuck a century ago on the Endurance."

"It's the story of how now we were able to uncover that story to really understand what happened to them and how they survived." 

Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are the directors with Dan Snow as executive producer and Mensun Bound as the marine archaeologist onboard the icebreaker SA Agulhas II that left in 2022 from Cape Town to search for the Endurance. 

Endurance premieres on National Geographic on Sunday 3 November at 21:00, with a repeat on Friday 8 November at 20:30.

"Twenty years ago one of the biggest natural disasters in the world happened when a tsunami hit Asia. Tsunami: Race Against Time is telling that story in unique detail and perspective 20 years later," Tracy-Ann van Rooyen said.

Tsunami: Race Against Time follows the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the deadliest in history, minute by minute as it spreads, with unseen archive video and stories of survival and courage. 

The 4-episode series features scientists who raced to understand the unfolding disaster and warn the world, journalists who broke the news, and rescuers who risked everything to save others. Tsunami will premiere in two double episodes on Thursdays at 20:30 from 28 November and 5 December.

"It's created by the producers of the 9/11 series One Day in America, and they went through this process of uncovering unseen footage and then went to go and find those people who took the footage. Twenty years later these people are telling the story of that day." 

The 8th season of To Catch a Smuggler starts on National Geographic on Thursday 28 November at 18:50 with more cases of Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security and what they find along the borders of the United States.

Megastructures Real Madrid Super Stadium will unspool on 11 December.

The film The Devil's Climb, directed by Renan Ozturk, premieres on National Geographic on Sunday 29 December at 21:00.

Rock climbers Alex Honnold of Free Solo and Tommy Caldwell set off on an epic adventure, cycling thousands of kilometres en route to a daring climb of the Devil's Thumb, a legendary Alaskan peak surrounded by old-growth rainforest. 

Tommy is recovering from a career-threatening injury, making the expedition's success uncertain.

Witches is a new special about the Salem Witch Trials and how rumours created catastrophe for women in the 1800s in the United States. Plane Crash Recreated is a new series.

From the Wreckage is another new series that will start in early 2025 on National Geographic.

"Mysterious Islands is a new 10-parter series also coming in 2025. It's an absolutely unforgettable adventure to explore the most enigmatic islands on our planet. Each episode has four islands and uncovering various secrets."

"Mutant Weather takes viewers on a fun and shocking view of bizarre weather phenomena - like dry lightning, thunder snow, ice snow - just really unpacking how the world from a weather point-of-view is quickly changing."

Tracy-Ann van Rooyen unveiled No Taste Like Home with Anthony Porowski as a new series for 2025 "who speaks to people about their food journeys and their food cultures like Issa Rae, Akwafina and Justin Theroux."

Destruction Decoded "is another new series about how a major disaster can be traced back to its original spot and how nothing really happens by accident. 

 

The 9th season of Ice Road Rescue starts on National Geographic on Tuesday 17 February 2025 at 19:40 when "the Ice Road bosses face ever tougher challenges than before".

"Heading into blizzards in the dead of night, in temperatures falling to -30oC, demands commitment, character and courage. It’s time for Norway's newest tow truckers to prove that they really are a breed apart."

David Blaine also comes to National Geographic in the first quarter of 2025.

"He comes to National Geographic and Disney+ and is an exceptional mind. His story is called David Blaine: Do Not Attempt and it will be on National Geographic in March 2025. It's a cinematic journey following him as he chooses to go to little-known parts of the world where people are experimenting with ideas of magic."

ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 31 photos of National Geographic's programming upfront and Endurance documentary film screening

IN IMAGES. 31 photos of National Geographic's programming upfront and Endurance documentary film screening

by Thinus Ferreira

National Geographic (DStv 181) held a programming upfront for content over the next few months, as well as a documentary film screening for Endurance, on Wednesday in Johannesburg.

The content preview and Endurance screening was done in the form of a brand immersion event. Guests had to get seven stamps on a card from visiting various booths and completing tasks and activities.

ALSO READ: David Blaine magic, megastructures and mysterious islands coming to Nat Geo in 2025

The Carte Blanche presenter Masa Kekana who had visited Antarctica was the MC, with Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, senior manager of programming and scheduling at The Walt Disney Company Africa, who took attendees through the National Geographic programming highlights between now and March 2025.

Attendees watched Endurance, a documentary film about the discovery in 2022 of the Endurance - the ship of Sir Ernest Shackelton that sank in Antarctica in 1915 and what happened to the crew.

In keeping with this theme the National Geographic venue was set up with the help of a cooler temperature, plush white couches and fog from a smoke machine to create the ambience of a white Antarctic landscape.

The Endurance directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin; marine archaeologist and director of exploration, Mensun Bound, as well as executive producer Dan Snow recorded a special video message.

ALSO READ: David Blaine magic, megastructures and mysterious islands coming to Nat Geo in 2025

National Geographic goes HD on DStv, as Nat Geo Africa unveils upcoming Summer 2022 factual content slate.

by Thinus Ferreira

The National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD linear TV channels finally switched to high-definition (HD) on MultiChoice's DStv this week with National Geographic using the upgrade to unveil its upcoming Summer 2022 factual entertainment content slate for Africa, including its first pan-African kids show Team Sayari, more Bear Grylls, and the celebrity chef-adventurer Gordon Ramsay competing against other chefs and eventually also his own daughter in a new series.

After many years as standard-definition (SD) channels, National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD - also available on China's StarTimes and StarSat in Southern Africa - finally switched to high-definition (HD) on Wednesday on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service in South Africa and across pan-African countries.

"The exciting line-up of National Geographic programming delivers on our core purpose to tell exceptional stories that ignite wonder and inspiration for people of all ages, enabling them to better understand the world and their place in it," said Christine Service, senior vice president and general manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa.

"We can't wait to bring these wildly entertaining documentary series, feature documentary films and extraordinary natural history shows from the best storytellers in the world to viewers across the continent, and especially in HD for the very first time."

Speaking at the National Geographic Africa Summer 2022 factual showcase about how The Walt Disney Company Africa keeps its collection of linear TV channels like National Geographic strong with vibrant, first-run content to keep these channels a compelling TV destination amidst the growth of video streaming, Christine Service said "our linear channels business is hugely important to us - and certainly on the African continent".

"We continue to produce vast amounts of for all of our different distribution platforms - our linear business, our direct-to-consumer [Disney+], for cinema. So we're just about great storytelling and great content that we can deliver in many different ways to audiences across the globe."

Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, senior manager for programming and scheduling at The Walt Disney Company Africa, said she's personally looking forward to keep watching Primal Survivor: Mighty Mekong, as well as another season of Running Wild with Bear Grylls.

"Hazen Audel is that real adventurer with that real spirit and he goes through the Mekong basin and it just happens to be monsoon season and he has to go through all of the treachery of climbing mountains. Every season of Primal Survivor has showcased this man's mental capacity to just overcome what he's doing."

"You as a viewer sit back and go 'why?' but it's that adventure spirit that you just keep tuning into. I've been a fan of Bear Grylls for many years and I love what he's done with Running Wild with Bear Grylls. Not only are you watching him teach survival skills but also going on an emotional journey".

"Gordon Ramsay's next series is Gordon Ramsay: Unchartered Showdown. He'll be going up against other Michelin-star chefs and in the final episode you'll see him go up against his own daughter. So it's really a question of practice what you preach, who did you raise?"

Amping up pan-African content

On supporting the South African and pan-African TV industry, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen said "we're doing the best we can with Team Sayari".

As National Geographic's first locally-produced pan-African children's production starting on Saturday 24 September at 13:00, Nat Geo hopes the series which features a group of young conservationists will be the springboard for even more local content.

"We're making sure that the story we're telling is pan-African and in South Africa we have our satellite production companies which are producing and telling the stories that you see, and we are briefing them from a National Geographic perspective - so grooming production teams in South Africa to be able to meet a brief that is of a National Geographic standard."

"Alongside that, we do have local series such as Snakes in the City and of course the stories being told by filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, so we are amping up."

From Arabia to athletes and Tut to cooking

Bear Grylls is back with Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge on Wednesday 28 September at 21:00 in which he goes on more survival outings with American celebrities ranging from Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman to Simu Liu and Anthony Anderson.

The fourth season of Europe from Above will start on 28 September at 19:00 on National Geographic, tracking the changing seasons across a year in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Serbia and Scotland. 

Lost Treasures Of Arabia starts on Friday 28 October at 19:00, investigating AlUla's unsolved mysteries. This TV special reveals the historical heritage, natural assets and immense legacy of art that continues to inspire future generations in this Middle-Eastern city.

To celebrate the centennial anniversary of the tomb of King Tutankhamen by Howard Carter 100 years ago in 1922, National Geographic will premiere Tut’s Toxic Tomb on Friday 18 and 25 November at 19:00, with library content King Tut in Color on Friday 4 November at 19:00 and Tut’s Treasures, The Golden Pharaoh on Friday 11 November at 19:00.

Gordon Ramsay: Unchartered Showdown starts on 9 November at 21:00 on National Geographic in which the Michelin-star faces off against those closest to him, including going head-to-head with his daughter Tilly in a culinary showdown.

The Navy veteran Big Moe Cason goes on an epic journey to seek out the most mouth-watering dishes cooked over an open flame in World of Flavour with Big Moe Cason starting on National Geographic on 30 November at 21:00, exploring the connections between American barbeque and cultures around the world.

The second season of Critter Fixers will premiere on Friday 11 November at 18:00 on Nat Geo WILD with Dr Hodges and Dr Ferguson, two longtime friends who operate their veterinary hospital in Georgia in the United States.

Edge of the Unknown starts on Sunday 25 December on National Geographic as an epic new 10-episode series by the Oscar producers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Audiences get to go inside the minds of pioneering adventure athletes as they recount the most consequential moments of their lives on their journey to perfect the mastery of their craft.

Top TV programmer Tracy-Ann van Rooyen exits M-Net and jumps to Walt Disney Africa's media networks as senior programming and scheduling manager.

by Thinus Ferreira

TVwithThinus can reveal that the TV programmer Tracy-Ann van Rooyen has exited MultiChoice and M-Net and is jumping to The Walt Disney Company Africa where she is taking up the role of senior programmer and scheduler for the Mouse House's television networks in South Africa and across the African continent. from July.

As a respected and influential TV programming topper Tracy-Ann van Rooyen has been the head of acquisitions and scheduling for M-Net and related M-Net channels like VUZU and M-Net City across DStv for 4 years, before which she was the head of programming for M-Net's local entertainment channels since August 2013.

Before that Tracy-Ann van Rooyen worked at EndemolShine for 5 years as an assistant producer and then producer since November 2007, before which she was also a promo producer at Clearwater since 2003, and a producer and director at FremantleMedia since April 2005.

At M-Net, the highly-informed and jovial executive always struck a convivial tone with the media during upfronts and content presentations, often entertaining, informing, educating and regaling TV critics and the press covering television with witty comments and remarks about shows and sharing witty anecdotes and behind-the-scenes insider takes about American series. 

At Disney, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen will report directly in to Christine Service, senior vice president and general manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa.

In her new role, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen will oversee and contribute to the scheduling and programming - especially locally-produced content - for The Walt Disney Company Africa's collection of pay-TV channels available in South Africa and across Africa, namely The Disney Channel, Disney Junior, ESPN, FOX, National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD.  

With Disney's video streaming service, Disney+, that Disney has not yet decided to launch in South Africa or sub-Saharan Africa, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen will undoubtedly be tasked with shaping some of the longterm strategic direction in terms of how and which of the channels within the Disney networks fold to keep strong and vitalised as linear pay-TV channels within the Africa market, as Disney prepares to shutter over 100 of its channels internationally just this year.

Tracy-Ann van Rooyen will be taking up her new Disney television executive role from July 2021 with no word yet from M-Net as to who is replacing her role there or stepping in within an acting capacity in the scheduling and acquisition position.

"We can confirm that Tracy-Ann van Rooyen has been appointed as senior manager, programming and scheduling at The Walt Disney Company Africa," a Disney Africa spokesperson told TVwithThinus on Monday in response to a media enquiry.

Love Island South Africa is coming to M-Net in 2021, Rapid Blue to produce lusty reality series likely set in Cape Town.

by Thinus Ferreira

Get ready for local Love Island lust and likely sex scandals: South Africa is getting its own version of the reality TV series Love Island, with Love Island South Africa that is coming to M-Net (Dstv 101) from late-February 2021.

Love Island SA will very likely be produced in Cape Town.

It started looking increasingly likely that M-Net would commit to and do a local South African version after broadcasting seasons of the British and American versions of Love Island, and on Thursday night M-Net told TVwithThinus that the channel is doing Love Island SA in 2021 after picking up the licensing rights to a local version. 

M-Net has not yet done a call to entry but will soon be looking for energetic, externally beautiful young people willing to go and live, play, compete and possibly sleep together in a Cape Town villa as they try to remain a competitive couple despite newcomer seductions.

M-Net often tests the waters in terms of ratings and audience reception by first showing overseas versions of reality series like The Voice, MasterChef and others before the pay-TV channel commits to doing a localised version of a TV reality format.  

In Love Island, a selection of beautiful young people who are not in existing relationships - often competing with as little clothing as possible - are put together in a mansion in a beautiful locale.

They are paired up, while viewers vote. Slowly new men and women are introduced to try and break up the existing pairings, while contestants who end up not being in a couple are eliminated from the show. The most popular couple at the end wins the prize.

M-Net acquired and showed a a season of the British Love Island in 2018, again in 2019 on weeknights, and followed it up with a season of the American version of the show, Love Island USA.

M-Net then broadcast the 6th season of the British Love Island since mid-April this year that was filmed at the beginning of 2020 in Constantia, Cape Town with presenter Laura Whitmore.

Besides the British version, Amazon Studios also filmed the French version, Love Island: France this year in Cape Town in South Africa. Unfortunately because of the Covid-19 pandemic, production on the season abruptly ended in mid-March with an online finale.

Rapid Blue, responsible for The Bachelor SA and currently filming the first season of The Bachelorette SA and who produced the overseas versions of Love Island in South Africa will be producing the South African version for M-Net.

Love Island SA will be the 20th localised version of the Love Island format that is owned by ITV Studios and Motion Content Group and distributed internationally by ITV Studios. 

Maarten Meijs, ITV Studios president of global entertainment, in a statement says "The multi-channel phenomenon is having a fantastic year, travelling the world at a rapid pace. This is the second version on the African continent, following the Nigerian acquisition earlier this year, and we can’t wait to see how this local adaptation will find its way to the South African viewers".

A year ago in October 2019, TVwithThinus asked M-Net specifically why it decided to acquire and slot Love Island on the blue-chip channel and whether the VUZU channel, also programmed by M-Net for MultiChoice’s DStv satellite pay-TV service, wouldn’t have been a better fit.

"We've noticed that with Love Island on M-Net, even though we think that nobody's watching it, Love Island tripled M-Net's ratings in that timeslot in live viewership," explained Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, M-Net's head of acquisitions and scheduling.

"So Love Island has a place - maybe not for everyone, but definitely attracting a different audience and M-Net's premise is to bring the best of the best. Right now, as far as formats are concerned, in over 53 countries worldwide Love Island is it."

"There was a lot of debate internationally of 'is it too this? Is it too that?' but the fact of the matter is that Love Island is bringing people to M-Net, they're sitting together and watching it."

Kaye-Ann Williams, M-Net's head of local content and independent films, said "the interesting about Love Island is that it's attracting a younger viewership at that time. So the main audience it attracts is between 24 and 39 years old. It's a big group."

Jan du Plessis, director of M-Net channels, said "the job that Love Island has done for ITV is incredible. I think it was a 150% ratings increase in the timeslot over 3 seasons. They struggled with seasons 1 and 2 and then suddenly season 3 just took off."

ALSO READ: As ITV sells the rights to CBS for an American version of its British reality show, Love Island, how long before M-Net announces a possible South African version?

M-Net adds terrific winter TV dramas on DStv for June, July and September with Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke series.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net is adding terrific new programming for the upcoming winter months on DStv with premium American and British series that will bring marquee-names like Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke to television in dramatic roles.

On Thursday night M-Net (DStv 101) gave the media an update during a Zoom-webinar held press briefing on upcoming June, July and September programming on the premium-positioned pay-TV channel that will include the terrific 6-episode HBO and BBC miniseries Years and Years starring Emma Thompson as a Donald Trump-like demagogue - with a secret - whose rise to power in Britain has terrible consequences for the country.

The second season of the medical drama series New Amsterdam is back on M-Net (DStv 101) from Monday 1 June at 19:00, along with The Block Australia season 12 returning (Wednesday 3 June at 18:00), as well as the 5th season of the Showtime series Billions starting on Tuesday 23 June at 22:00).

M-Net also has the start of some final seasons including Homeland (Thursday 11 June at 21:00) and Will & Grace (Saturday 27 June), and the Emma Thompson miniseries from HBO and the BBC, Years and Years, starting on Monday 22 June at 22:00.

In the terrific 6-episode Years and Years - set in the very uncertain now and an unnervingly prescient first episode followed by gradual time-jumps to show the societal changes - Emma Thompson plays a business woman who becomes a conservative politician in Britain as the country grapples with issues ranging from vast technological change, structural financial problems, immigration, and global instability that have a very real-world impact on ordinary families.

Tracy-Ann Van Rooyen, M-Net senior manager for content acquisition and scheduling, said that Years and Years has fascinating characters who are "thrust 15 years into the future with a controversial, conservative business woman, turned political figure, who has all of these opinions that polarise the nation - which I'm sure sounds familiar right now".



"In July we've also got some great new titles for you. We spoke at the beginning of the year about Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector based on The Bone Collector series, that comes to M-Net in July, and also we've got a really great series which is also a reboot but a very exciting reboot on the 1960's Perry Mason, with this HBO series starring Matthew Rhys."

"Then, of course, we have Mark Ruffalo coming to television, starring as the twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in the new miniseries I Know This Much is True novel of Wally Lamb. It's a much deeper, sadder version of Rain Main I suppose, if they were twins," said Tracy-Ann van Rooyen.



"In August we've got a lot of really great returning series that I'm really excited for, Nathan Fillion comes back in The Rookie. Christine Baranski comes back in the 4th season of The Good Fight - there's only 7 episodes of The Good Fight because that's how many they managed to get through before Covid-19 shut down Los Angeles."

"Britain's Got Talent comes through in August on M-Net and then in September on M-Net followed by America's Got Talent with Simon Cowell who of course released the clip of the man who was put in prison for 35 years and is now released, so please keep your eyes open for those starting dates in our 18:00 reality slot."




Tracy-Ann van Rooyen said "something that I'm really excited to talk to you about is Ethan Hawke is coming to TV in this exciting TV drama called The Good Lord Bird which is basically the story of American abolitionist John Brown told through a fictional character who is a young boy".

"It's in a time of slavery in the United States and it's based on a true story of how John Brown who was an abolitionist but unfortunately he wasn't able to instigate the uprising that he wanted in terms of the slave uprising. M-Net will come through with that Showtime title Express from the US."



"That's all I have to share with you guys," said Tracy-Ann van Rooyen. "Usually this time it's questions and answers but right now in times of Covid-19 it's just me talking - which is great because I love to talk. Keep warm and stay safe."

M-Net on why it added the Love Island reality franchise to its blue-chip channel schedule: 'There was a lot of debate internally of is it too this or is it too that but the fact of the matter is that it brings people to M-Net'.

It's trash TV. It's vulgar. It's lowest common denominator reality content. So why has M-Net (DStv 101) decided to add the Love Island franchise to the blue-chip channel schedule when it doesn't fit with the brand?

After acquiring and broadcasting a season of the British Love Island reality show in 2018, M-Net not only brought it back for another season in 2019 of late-night trash television stripped across weeknights, but is following it up with the American version of the show, Love Island USA at 23:10.

TVwithThinus asked why M-Net decided to acquire and slot Love Island on the M-Net (DStv 101) schedule when the lurid show would fit better on a channel like VUZU.

"We've noticed that with Love Island on M-Net, even though we think that nobody's watching it, Love Island tripled M-Net's ratings in that timeslot in live viewership," explains Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, M-Net's head of acquisitions and scheduling.

"So Love Island has a place - maybe not for everyone, but definitely attracting a different audience and M-Net's premise is to bring the best of the best. Right now, as far as formats are concerned, in over 53 countries worldwide Love Island is it."

"There was a lot of debate internationally of 'is it too this? Is it too that?' but the fact of the matter is that Love Island is bringing people to M-Net, they're sitting together and watching it."

Kaye-Ann Williams, M-Net's head of local content and independent films, says "the interesting about Love Island is that it's attracting a younger viewership at that time. So the main audience it attracts is between 24 and 39 years old. It's a big group."

Jan du Plessis, director of M-Net channels, says "the job that Love Island has done for ITV is incredible. I think it was a 150% ratings increase in the timeslot over 3 seasons. They struggled with seasons 1 and 2 and then suddenly season 3 just took off."

M-Net is bringing back The Block, starting with season 11 of the Australian renovation reality series.

M-Net (DStv 101) is bringing back the Australian version of the reality home renovation show, The Block that will start on 29 October on the channel in the early prime time timeslot as a stripped series.

M-Net previously broadcast seasons of the Australian version, and also did some local versions of the series in which various couples each get a unit in a rundown apartment block, and then are given weekly challenges to renovate and do-over rooms until the whole unit is done, and having to try and sell it for the biggest profit.

M-Net will start with season 11 of Australia's The Block that was broadcast in 2015 with Scott Cam as presenter, labelled "The Block: Blocktagon", and Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer as the judges.

The contestants - 5 teams of two - had to renovate the rundown former Hotel Saville in South Yarra, Melbourne which is an octagonal, 8-floor brick building.

"Season 11 is where The Block started to shift again and made it more physically challenging for the contestants. In the early-2000's The Block started and it was on Sunday evenings on M-Net and M-Net also made its own version of it - I was an editor on that one," says Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, M-Net's head of acquisitions and scheduling.

"So we are bringing The Block back. In Australia it's also a stripped series and it has the same highs and lows that we see and experience in My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef, except that it takes place within the setting of reconstructing a whole apartment building."

Season 11 of The Block Australia will start on Tuesday 29 October at 18:00 on M-Net and will run from Mondays to Thursdays, replacing America's Got Talent.

M-Net explains why it passed on picking up The Bold and the Beautiful after the SABC dropped it: 'We did consider it but our schedule is full and timeslot ratings up 120% with lifestyle reality'.

M-Net (DStv 101) has considered taking over The Bold and the Beautiful after SABC3 dropped it earlier this year but the pay-TV broadcaster ultimately decided against picking up the American weekday soap because it's late afternoon schedule is already full and timeslot ratings up 120% with lifestyle reality shows.

The South African public broadcaster abruptly ended The Bold and the Beautiful, produced by Bell-Phillip Television Productions Inc., in March 2019 as the last remaining American soap opera left on the SABC's channels, after the struggling SABC could no longer pay for it.

The Bold and the Beautiful remained a very strong ratings performer during its many years on SABC1, as well as with its move to SABC3 for three years, until the end in March.

Bold was the 6th most-watched show overall on SABC3 in March 2019, excluding once-off sport events, when it left with 358 864 viewers. The Bold and the Beautiful is running on EVA (DStv 141) but with episodes that are two years behind what was shown on SABC3.

e.tv couldn't accommodate The Bold and the Beautiful as a second American soap since it already took over Days of Our Lives from the SABC3 since September 2017 when the SABC dumped that soap.

TVwithThinus asked M-Net what the possible future of The Bold and the Beautiful is on M-Net and whether it wouldn't be a fit for the late afternoon 17:00 or 18:00 weekday slot, since the high viewership indicates that there are a lot of South African viewers who like and watch the show despite the SABC no longer able to afford to broadcast it.

"The Bold and the Beautiful is not something we've got planned for M-Net. We did consider it. We met with Christine Waage, vice president of international sales at BBL, but at the same time we didn't believe that a soap is something that we want to do," says Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, M-Net's head of acquisitions and scheduling.

"We know what our audiences are liking in that time of day which is very much family viewing, which is why the lifestyle reality does so well."

"So we don't have plans for that or to bring talk shows back to M-Net at 17:00 because the changes that we've done there has increased the ratings for our slot by over 120% as it stands. So what we've got there is working but obviously we will see what comes out from America because Kelly Clarkson has now brought her talk show, I've watched it, I'm a fan."

"But the fact of the matter is that on M-Net right now and what we've seen, is that audiences are chasing in terms of talk is topical and current affairs - Carte Blanche and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. You will not believe the ratings that Last Week Tonight gets live on a Sunday night when it's on."

"Viewers of M-Net as channel 101 on DStv want to be engaged with the world," says Tracy-Ann van Rooyen. "They have the opportunity to engage with real, topical conversations like on Carte Blanche and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and of course the documentaries.


Talk show delays
About the delay of episodes of The Late Late Show with James Corden, Tracy-Ann van Rooyen says "there are challenges because of licensing because of his music".

"We have to wait for all of that to be cleared, sometimes because of who the artist is. So we do the delay on purpose to make sure that we can get everything cleared before we broadcast it. Music rights is such a big deal, especially on Ellen."

"So M-Net has to wait for all of that to be cleared before we can put it on the air. We go as close as possible but sometimes we have to delay because we don't have all of the rights for the music broadcast. It's music rights that make our TV talk shows be delayed," she explained.

"And they keep putting more and more music in them all the time, so Kelly Clarkson's new talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, would be very difficult for me to license because she sings almost all the time." 

M-Net's amazing The Amazing Race take-over: Here are the 11 teams of two, racing from Sunday through 9 countries.

M-Net (DStv 101) that stepped into the breach and rescued the amazing reality show, The Amazing Race for South African viewers, will start the 8-episode, 30th season this Sunday, 14 July at 18:00 with 11 teams of two racing across nine countries.

M-Net scooped up the first-run broadcasting licensing rights from Disney Media Distribution to the reality competition show, The Amazing Race, after Sony Pictures Television Networks shuttered The Sony Channel, and with SABC3 showing older seasons in a highly-erratic schedule due to financial problems.

Phil Keoghan remains the host of the reality show race around the world.

At M-Net we take pride in bringing ‘the best of the best’ in international series to our viewers, and with over 10 Emmy awards and numerous other accolades under its belt, The Amazing Race was always a must have for the channel," says Tracy-Ann van Rooyen, senior manager for acquisitions and scheduling series at M-Net.

"The opportunity to add this much loved series to M-Net’s Sunday night line-up was serendipitous and an awesome addition the channel’s already impressive slate of international reality series competition shows."

Here are the 11 teams taking part on season 30 of The Amazing Race:

1. Kristi Leskinen (36) and Jen Hudak (30) (#TeamExtreme)

Connection: Former professional freestyle skiers

"Besides winning, I hope to reignite my inner competitor, to fight hard for something again, and to work as a team toward a common goal! My competitive ski career ended short because of injury and I left some things on the table - I don’t want to let that happen ever again!" says Jen.

2. Trevor Wadleigh (31) and Chris Marchant (33) (#TeamWellStrung)

Connection: Musicians part of string quartet Well-Strung

"I'm excited to do this race with Trevor. He and I push each other in life, both musically and intellectually. I want to put all the skills we've been using in life together to the test in The Amazing Race."

3. Joey Chestnut (33) and Tim Janus (41) (#TeamChomp)

Connection: Competitive eaters

"I want to show myself and the world that competitive eaters are the best at solving problems and have a blast beating people," says Joey.

4. Henry Zhang (22) And Evan Lynyak (22) (#TeamYale)

Connection: Dating management consultants

"I think Evan and I, though young, have a serious relationship, and running the race, I'm hoping to learn lots more about her and about us. Also, it'll be an awesome travel experience!" says Henry.

5. Eric (33) and Daniel Guiffreda (33) (#TheFirefighters)

Connection: Twin brothers and firefighters/paramedics

"It's a chance to reconnect with Eric outside of the work environment - we work at the same place - and to put everything we have into accomplishing the same goal," says Daniel.

6. Dessie Mitcheson (27) and Kayla Fitzgerald (26) (#TheRingGirls)

Connection: Instagram models

"Besides winning, I would like to experience different cultures and places around the world that I haven't yet and experience more adventures with my best friend. I'm a foodie so I'm also excited to get to try and experience different foods around the world that I normally wouldn't," says Kayla.

7. Cody Nickson (32) and Jessica Graf (26) (#TeamBigBrother)

Connection: Dating former American Big Brother contestants

"I fell in love with Jess on Big Brother and we made an incredible team. I want to compete with her by my side again," says Cody.

8. Cedric Ceballos (48) and Shawn Marion (39) (#TeamSlamDunk)

Connection: Former NBA players

"Maybe [doing this] opens more doors and opportunities for future endeavours," says Shawn.

9. April Gould (39) and Sarah Williams (39) (#TeamGoatYoga)

Connection: Goat Yoga owners

"The Amazing Race has always been a dream of mine, so being able to race is literally a dream come true! I am excited to go to different places, meet new people, and soak in the whole experience!" says April.

10. Alex Rossi (26) and Conor Daly (25) (#TeamIndyCar)

Connection: IndyCar drivers

"We are always seeking adrenaline-filled experiences outside of a race car and I hope to have lots of those experiences on The Amazing Race," says Alex.

11. Lucas Bocanegra (35) and Brittany Austin (31) (#TeamOceanRescue)

Connection: Dating lifeguards

"Besides the money for a beautiful wedding and home renovations, I hope to learn to work better with Lucas, improve our communication, and have his undivided attention," says Brittany.