CNN Founder Ted Turner Dead at 87

by Thinus Ferreira

CNN announced that Ted Turner, the creator and founder of the American TV news channel, has died. He was 87.

Ted Turner lost his battle against Lewy body dementia, which he revealed in 2018 and that is a progressive brain disorder. He died on Wednesday at home.

Ted Turner was instrumental in launching CNN on 1 June, 1980 as the world's first 24-hour TV news channel, followed by CNN International (DStv 401) in 1985.

Turner Enterprises issued a statement from the Turner family announcing and confirming Ted Turner's death.

"Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement," says Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, in a statement.

"He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world."

CNN to get rid of 200 workers in renewed pivot to digital, will debut new video streaming effort as TV schedule is overhauled

by Thinus Ferreira

Warner Bros. Discovery's CNN will get rid of 200 people within the operations of its traditional TV news channel business but will rehire 200 people within its digital division - 100 of which within a year - as part of its renewed pivot to digital news delivery which will include a second effort to launch a video streaming service.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson on Thursday told CNN staffers that the TV news channel is getting rid of 6% or around 200 of its workforce but will employ people within months - around 100 - on the digital side.

Warner Bros. Discovery is giving $70 million to CNN to invest in its latest digital pivot.

"The changes we're announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this great news organisation to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news," Mark Thompson wrote in a staff memo.

After it started a video streaming service, CNN+ that was abruptly shut down just a few months later, Mark Thompson will now again build out a new video streaming service for CNN and will "develop a new way for digital subscribers at home and abroad to stream news programming from us on any device they choose".

"It's early days but we've already established that there's immense demand for it not just in America, but across much of the world."

CNN will also unveil a new TV schedule for CNN domestic in the United States on Thursday, which will impact its international version CNN International (DStv 401), since several of the programmes on CNN are simulcast on CNN International.

Mark Thompson says the rejigged schedule is "intended to strengthen our domestic schedule throughout the day and deliver international programming to a wider audience around the world".

"A revised international schedule will follow in a few days' time."

"We're able to achieve that with this new schedule, which will be shared and distributed broadly later today, while also placing our production costs on sustainable footing to match the changing economics of linear television platforms."

"Like the rest of our industry, we have to respond to these economics if we're to maintain high-quality services for our loyal existing audiences."

"We're also streamlining and adjusting some important aspects of how we produce our TV programming going forward."

Financial Times: Warner Bros Discovery decides not to split off its linear TV channels from its streaming and studio business.

by Anna Nicolau and James Fontanella-Khan, Financial Times

Warner Bros Discovery's senior management is looking to avoid a break-up of the company as executives race to reverse the Hollywood group's plunging share price, according to people familiar with the matter.

Following a fall of almost 70% in its stock price since WBD was formed in 2022, chief executive David Zaslav and chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels have recently evaluated "all options" to arrest the decline, said two people familiar with the matter.

However, senior executives who carried out a detailed analysis of the consequences of a split have determined that fencing off the group's declining television channels from its streaming and studio business was not the best option at this time, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The Financial Times reported last month that WBD - which owns HBO, the Warner Bros. studio and CNN - was drafting a break-up plan.

But while such a split initially looked "compelling on paper, it would create very significant operational challenges: doing sports rights deals, determining what goes on linear television or what goes on direct to consumer streaming and when," said a person who was involved in the deliberations.

"In the best-case scenario, you'd be dealing with years of legal challenges," the person added. A company spokesperson declined to comment. 

Breaking up the storied Hollywood group would be likely to trigger lawsuits from debt investors, while also complicating the use of Warner's content across various platforms and networks, said the people familiar with management's thinking.

A corporate break-up was viewed as the "nuclear option", said another person close to WBD's management, but they cautioned that the situation was fluid and circumstances could change.

Zaslav and Wiedenfels are instead looking to offload smaller assets. They are considering offers to sell Polish broadcaster TVN or a stake in Warner's video games business, which holds valuable intellectual property to Harry Potter games, said people familiar with the matter. 

WBD's management hopes investors will remain patient as they work to turn around the company, they said, believing its true market capitalisation should be about $60 billion, or $25 a share, well above the $7.88 at which it closed on Monday. 

The group was formed in April 2022 out of a merger that was meant to help two legacy media companies, Discovery and WarnerMedia, compete in a brutal streaming battle with Netflix and Disney.

However, it has struggled to convince Wall Street, which has sliced its valuation and put pressure on WBD's management, to take action. The company is set to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. Since the merger, the group has focused on cutting costs and paying off debt, introducing several rounds of lay-offs and selling assets such as All3Media, the UK production company behind Fleabag.

Its news channel, CNN, last month laid off about 100 employees, or 3% of its staff, as part of a digital turnaround strategy. 

While WBD's management has been keen to sell assets, the bar for divesting CNN would be "very, very high" because of its strategic importance as well as the tax implications of a deal, said one person familiar with the matter.

This person added that WBD considered it unlikely that there would be an offer compelling enough to offset these concerns.

"Zaslav has also been very clear that he views CNN as a strategic and reputational asset. It is one of the flagship networks that helps us on the affiliate side," they said, referring to the payments cable companies make to television networks to run their programming.

Overall, WBD "should be worth significantly more. It shouldn't take another two to three years to get there," the person said. "But the market is tough right now and a lot of things have to go well."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 29 December 2020.

Here's the news about TV that I read and that you should read too:     

■ ViacomCBS CEO's plan for its global Paramount+ video streaming service: Breaking news, live sports and a mountain of entertainment content.

■ Donald Trump plans to wreck Fox News (StarSat 261) with his own MAGA digital channel.

"He plans to wreck Fox," says insiders, revealing that the reality TV star wants to start a digital media channel that would stream online since starting a traditional pay-TV channel would be expensive and time-consuming.

■ The new third episode of the 2nd season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian just fixed a major plot hole.

- SEE: Sets in Los Angeles almost completed for season 3.

- Second season of The Mandalorian sets a new standard in phallic symbols.

■ How Bridgerton on Netflix wants to revolutionise romance on TV.

■ Fox News (StarSat 261) identity crisis: Indulge Donald Trump election claims or reject it and watch viewers flee.

■ The film crews being directed from a continent away.

■ Will Disney+ ever be as big as Netflix?

■ CNN (DStv 401) ratings surge as boss Jeff Zucker's fate is uncertain.

■ Deadliest Catch fisherman star Nick McGlashan dead at 33. His cause of death is unknown but he has been struggling with drugs and alcohol for years.

■ When every set looks like Contagion: Inside Hollywood's pandemic year.

■ Apple TV+ was making a new TV show about Gawker. Then CEO Tim Cook found out and canned it.

■ The SABC's Monday meeting with the trade unions Bemawu and CWU over retrenchments has been postponed.

■ PODCAST - Access denied: Like in the industries its reporters cover, the lack of black representation in financial media has created blind spots where predominantly white newsrooms often miss stories about systemic racism or fail to reach an audience of more than one demographic.

■ MUST READ: How America's Trump administration suppresses photography of the Covid-19 pandemic.

How America's government reinforced media restrictions at hospitals to curb the media's ability to show disturbing images from inside hospitals and from preventing journalists from getting access.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 5 November 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ SABC3's Expresso TV presenter cheater Katlego Maboe: Society's hypocrisy in protecting men and their reputations. 

Their public image can be stained by real evidence, and they'll be supported.

- The alleged "other woman Nikkita Murray releases a statement - says she was tested and doesn't have any sexually transmitted disease (STD)

■ Apple TV+ one year later: Still on trial.

Apple will have to work harder and do a lot more content-wise to compete with Netflix and Disney+.

■ Amazon Prime Video has no big plans for British content from the United Kingdom.

■ SABC1's Uzalo produced by Stained Glass TV announces that it has finished filming on season 6 and will be taking a production break between seasons.

■ Brazil's Globo announces a massive deal to add Disney+ .

Meanwhile there is no communication around any plan for Disney+ in South Africa through MultiChoice or any other means for South Africans to watch any Disney+ content in a legal way.

■ Amazon Prime Video Channels launches in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

As South Africa just falls further and further behind.

■ SABC unions Bemawu and the CWU claim they are "saving jobs" although the overstaffed and bloated South African public broadcaster continues to sink away in financial problems while the staff bill drains it as the biggest single expense.

■ CNN's (DStv 401) John King was the only one having "fun" on America's 2020 presidential election day.

Viewers react to the CNN correspondent's "This is fun" catchphrase. 

- TV Critic's Notebook: Blue wave? Red wave? America's 2020 election night TV coverage was more like a whirlpool.

- So bad, it's good: The embarrassing difference between TV election coverage in America and Australia.

- Pundits, proxies and pills: America's election TV overload.

- Fox News (StarSat 261) helped fuel Donald Trump's rise. Now it's reporting on a possible fall.

■ "Game of Thrones with parkour": How will Netflix adapt the Assassin's Creed video game as a TV drama series?

■ At 94, BBC actor Stanley Baxter says he's gay.

Says he brought men home with his wife's blessing.

■ Oh Captain my Captain: Below Deck season 8 kicked off with a historic twist: Captain Lee in hospital.

■ The loneliness of wedding reality TV shows.

■ Showmax and M-Net doing more Trash-TV.

■ Cocomelon: The unsettling kids show breaking Netflix records.

■ Michael J. Fox reveals his Parkinson's now makes it difficult for him to do the memorisation needed for acting.

"My short-term memory is shot."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 2 November 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ As South Africa's bloated and financially struggling public broadcaster gets ready to retrench hundreds of staffers the SABC is looking for an external service provider to do job evaluations for the SABC for 6 months.

■ Fox in America cancels its new drama series Filthy Rich and NeXt after single seasons (both of which are actually good).

■ James Bond actor Sean Connery dead at 90.

■ The correspondents of The Daily Show seen on Comedy Central (DStv 122) on the difficulties and how they've been adjusting to filming from their living rooms.

■ England in new Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic lockdown: TV and film industry can continue but cinemas will have to close.

■ CNN (DStv 401) reporter Amara Walker in 3 anti-Asian racist incidents in 1 hour inside an American airport.

■ Katlego Maboe: 6 things to know as the TV presenter now faces a court battle.

■ "The worst Top Gear I've ever seen!"

Many viewers feel that the "new" Top Gear seen on BBC Brit (DStv 120) doesn't work and is awkward.

■ eNCA (DStv 403) and e.tv fined over Gareth Cliff's Covid-19 conspiracy theorist show.

- Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) says the Gareth Cliff interview damaged eNCA and raised serious questions about the editorial failures at the eMedia Investments channel:

"While the host and producer should shoulder some of the blame, serious questions need to be raised about the editorial failure that gave the go-ahead to run the interview."

■ Nigeria's corrupt National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) that is handing out fines to TV channels like AIT, Channels TV and Arise TV for covering #EndSARS public protests should stop trying to "padlock the air".

■ The creator of This is Us, seen on M-Net (DStv 101) explains how #BlackLivesMatter and the Covid-19 pandemic will feature in the new 5th season.

■ Why Netflix will keep raising its prices for subscribers.

■ Shock-couple Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha apparently signed a R3 million contract to do a 13-episode reality series with MultiChoice's Showmax streaming service.

■ China's state-run China Central TV (CCTV) remains shrouded in secrecy.

- Mexican TV news anchor shot dead in his car.

■ How to look rich on TV: The Undoing that will be shown on M-Net (DStv 101) and what money looks like on the TV screen.

Creating a fictional world for the 1 percent isn't as easy as it seems.

■ SABC1's Generations creator and producer Mfundi Vundla on his art collection and what's hanging in his bathroom.

■ SABC: We can't make money from Google's YouTube.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 26 October 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ SABC3's Expresso presenter Katlego Maboe and that sexually transmitted disease (STD): No place to hide for TV personality.
Allegedly also cheated on Monique Muller while she was pregnant with their son and multiple other times claims her brother Seth Muller.

■ Monique Muller does tell-all sit-down interview over Katlego Maboe and alleged physical abuse:

Alleges that she got a restraining order the first time he hit her: "When the first physical attack happened, I got a protection order against him. He then admitted to sleeping with this woman".

- People called to couple's house late at night after alleged abuse.

- Monique Muller says there was a lot of intimidation against her brother Seth; other woman and her husband lock their social media accounts. (Afrikaans) (subscription required)

- Katlego Maboe "a wrecking ball of a human being".

- e.tv's Durban Gen drama series trolls with a "gown confession".

- Lessons from the Katlego Maboe debacle: Your private life on social media impacts your real professional life.

- The Katlego Maboe blame game saga:

Why are some people making the Katlego Maboe cheating and alleged abuse scandal about the issue that the shocking video should have been kept private, instead of the serious contents of the video?

■ In America, media executives are finally accepting the decline of traditional pay-TV; trying to figure out a new path forward.

- 25 million pay-TV subscribers to cancel over next 5 years; 

- Pay-TV operators no longer care whether customers subscribe or not but just keep increasing prices;

- billions in losses in revenue for Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS, Fox, Discovery Inc., AMC Networks;

- golden goose of bundling TV channels dying;

- Video streaming not the saviour and not superior;

- pay-TV channels like ESPN likely to cut back on programming, that will likely lead to less viewers;

- the total TV channels bundle is going to shrink

■ You think you want it, but why you don't want that happy ending.

■ Niecy Nash doesn't care about losing fans because of her wedding.

■ "Daylight robbery": SABC wants payment for watching Netflix South Africa. (subscription required)

Absurd tax is similar to King William III of England who introduced a daylight tax in 1696, causing people to brick up their windows to block the sunlight.

■ SABC's last resort to try and recover lost SABC TV Licence fees.

- Attorney: Neither MultiChoice nor Netflix SA is obliged to accept the responsibility of collecting SABC TV Licence fees.

■ SABC wanting Netflix SA, MultiChoice and others to collect SABC TV Licence fees would create a highly uncompetitive and uneven playing field in the media space:

The SABC needs to choose whether it is a public broadcaster or a commercial competitor, it cannot be both.

■ Tuning out the SABC:

Advertisers and the public have been given every reason to tune out of the SABC. The SABC doesn't even know who has a TV set.

■ SABC execs confirm it has received the letter of demand from the Bemawu trade union demanding that no members of Bemawu will be fired in South African public broadcaster's retrenchment process.

- Bemawu threatens to go to Labour Court if SABC refuses to continue retrenchment talks.

- The CWU trade union that supported Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants to take the battle to the streets and strike.

■ Netflix subscription plummeted and cancellations increased 800% after the release of controversial film Cuties.

Netflix's growth may already have peaked:

Growing evidence that the video streamer is close to saturating its biggest markets.

■ Black staffers demand that Vogue editor Anna Wintour resign.

"I have made mistakes along the way."

■ New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik on the Donald Trump "season finale" and the media burnout from the White House reality show.

■ TV reporter robbed of his cellphone while preparing for a live broadcast.

Diego Demarco of the TV news channel En Vivo El Nueve mugged in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

■ WATCH: The holodeck The Volume: The technology that's replacing the green screen.

■ Is the global video streaming service market oversaturated? In a crowded space there's going to be casualties.

■ Fox News (StarSat 261) president Jay Wallance and several on-air presenters including Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Dana Perino and Juan Williams told to quarantine after they were exposed to someone with Covid-19.

■ CNN (DStv 401) could be forced to face a new era without boss Jeff Zucker.

■ MultiChoice, Somizi Mhlongo and producer Legend Manqele all get lawyer's letters.

Drama continues over disastrous Dinner at Somizi on M-Net's 1Magic (DStv 103) that is allegedly content theft of Hastings Moeng's original idea.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 24 October 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ Reputation in tatters: SABC3's Expresso presenter Katlego Maboe's affair reveals shocking revelations.

A golden couple, seemingly living an idyllic life - until Monique Muller accuses the Outsurance TV commercials frontman of giving her a sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cancer.

■ Celeb endorsement gone bad: Lessons to learn from Katlego Maboe's cheating scandal.

Katlego Maboe removed from Expresso and Outsurance is all about reputation. The same way Expresso would get more viewers had he been a hero, the same way they will lose viewers if they keep him on. His image represents brands.

■ Katlego Maboe's wife Monique slammed as he loses endorsements" - The actual headline from Zalebs!

- "Other woman" hasn't worked for Outsurance in 2 years.  - Pleads for video to be taken down.

- Friday's episode of Trending SA on SABC3 ignores the "trending" TV star scandal.

- What's next? Katlego Maboe faces "uncertain future".

- Katlego Maboe's Wikipedia page now reflects infidelity, pulled from TV jobs.

■ Secrets and betrayals upend a seemingly perfect life in new drama series The Undoing.

■ MUST READ: Barbara Blake Hannah - The first black reporter on British TV.

■ Security?? Fake Borat reporter makes it into White House, meets Donald Trump.

■ Lawyers of trade union Bemawu gives SABC execs ultimatum over retrenchment process.

Bemawu demands SABC return to consultation process and that no Bemawu staffers are dismissed.

■ Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts(Scopa) identifies problems at the SABC.

Discrepancies in information from SABC management and in its annual financial statement, as well as financial problems in supply chain management.

■ Is Jeff Zucker on his way out as president of CNN (DStv 401)?

- Also: CNN could be an AT&T spinoff target.

- Get ready for Trump TV, America.

■ The reality of Reality TV: Can cause viewers to become more aggressive in life and relationships.

■ Why the reviews for Netflix's Rebecca remake are so negative.

Main roles all miscast, film lacks bite. - "Awful, rushed, confusing"

■ New Zealand's film and TV industry booming thanks to it being a Covid-19 safe-haven.

■ When good clothes happen to bad TV shows. (subscription required).

TV has become the new medium for great fashion, but is that good news for TV?

■ Take a Jedi to Work Day: Ewan McGregor wore his old Jedi robes on the set of Disney's Star Wars: The Mandalorian.

■ How man rescued his wife Tope Mark Odigie who is a co-anchor at the TVC News channel in Nigeria when protesters stormed and started burning the Television Continental building in Lagos, Nigeria during #EndSARS protests.

■ Namibia: Royalty payments will be a record-low for 2021.

■ Why are such a lot of people binge-watching such a lot of terrible TV like Emily in Paris on Netflix, causing more bad shows to be made? (subscription required)

■ Covid quarantine and social distancing shows are causing Zoom fatigue.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 20 October 2020.

 

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:  

■ Almost naked on the ice: ITV signs up a bunch of Britcelebs to take their clothes off and skate, skate, skate over Christmas in a The Real Full Monty on Ice Brit-TV special.

■ Former NBC CNN correspondent Michelle Kosinski who allegedly got pillow-talk state secrets from her UK ambassador lover Kim Darroch in America during their extramarital affair says the reporting is "nonsense" and "incorrect information"; is talking to her lawyers.

■ Netflix had a great 2020. But 2021 could be rough.

Will report its 2020 Q3 earnings and subscriber numbers late on Tuesday.

■ Britain's ITV commercial TV broadcaster announces restructuring; will now focus on digital video-on-demand (VOD) as it starts a new media and entertainment division.

The United Kingdom's version of e.tv says that linear TV channels will be around and still profitable into the future but that ITV urgently needs a video-on-demand business.

- ITV's increased focus on video streaming comes as it shifts away from traditional TV to compete with Disney+ and Netflix.

■ CNN's (DStv 401) chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin suspended by The New Yorker magazine after showing his penis during Zoom staff meeting. Will also no longer appear on CNN while he deals with "personal issues".

- Jeffrey Toobin says "I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me".

- Jeffrey Toobin was masturbating says the shocked people who had to witness the Zoom election simulation.

■ Thailand's government censors and suspends Voice TV covering the growing unrest and public protests in that country.

■ Netflix's disappointing Away science fiction drama with Hilary Swank cancelled after a single season.

■ SABC strike looms as talks with unions fail over massive retrenchments at the bloated South African public broadcaster.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatens to strike along with Bemawu.

■ After getting rid of 13 workers the SABC says more staffers are getting fired soon who were not properly appointed.

The SABC News Forum says the group is appalled by the decision to fire workers.

■ Mzwanele Manyi is hiding the former ANN7 / Afro Worldview assets liquidators that he got from the Gupta's notorious DStv propaganda TV channel.

High-end studio equipment, three vehicles, financial books and other documents allegedly kept away from liquidators with Mzwanele Manyi and his Lodidox refusing to cooperate with liquidators as creditors are over R5 million.

■ Top TV shows that get sex right according to experts.

■ MultiChoice Nigeria was forced to explain to the country's government that hates the pay-TV company, why it can't offer DStv on the imaginary "pay-as-you-go" basis. Stupid Nigerian media still can't and won't understand and calls MultiChoice Nigeria's explanation "an unacceptable excuse".

■ SABC2's Morning Live presenter Leanne Manas mesmerised by a birthday painting from Rasta that doesn't look like her at all.

■ Fewer than 2% of writers within the British TV industry are black.

■ Why "docusoaps" are the new reality TV.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 17 October 2020.

 

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:  

■ "We followed his furled umbrella": The TV critic who dressed for success.

- British showbiz journalist and award-winning TV critic Herbert Kretzmer dead at 95.

■ The new American TV series made during and about the Covid-19 pandemic will be a fascinating first draft of American pop culture history - even if they have mixed results.

■ Heard the one of the NBC CNN lover who got whispered state secrets by her ambassador during their extra-marital affair?
Britain's former ambassador in America, Kim Darroch leaked to his secret lover, the former NBC CNN (DStv 403) Michelle Kosinski correspondent all kinds of government and White House secrets to the consternation of the United States.

- He quit his job in July 2019; she left CNN 5 months later.

■ HBO Max and Disney+ are fast catching up to Netflix in the video streaming service wars.

■ Ghana's government arrests journalist David Tamakloe with fake charges.

■ Don't expect answers or resolutions early in the new 4th season of The Good Doctor seen on M-Net (Dstv 101).

■ Rose McGowan responds after the starlet of the new Charmed reboot Sarah Jefferey called the original Charmed cast "pathetic": "I honestly had no idea who you were".

- Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs are responding as well.

■ The Witcher on Netflix added a bizarre plot so that it could be different from Harry Potter.

■ Disney+ now adds disclaimers before certain of its films to acknowledge racist stereotypes and the harmful impact it has.

■ Why TV's portrayal of Muslims still falls short.

■ With a male stripper in charge, this might be a bridge too far for even reality TV.

■ Why Netflix wants to try and compete with Disney in the animation genre.

■ Why TV series like Amazon Prime Video's The Boys is destroying you.

■ New Zealand TV critic Diana Wichtel about TV: IIt's still useful - and watched" (subscription required).

■ Tanzania's communications regulator is used as a government censorship hammer before elections to stifle the media.

■ Women now represent more than half of the creative roles in Australia's TV & film industry as the gender balance keeps shifting.

■ The non-TV story of the day: What you dream about as a kid - 12-year old finds a dinosaur skeleton that palaeontologists call a significant discovery.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 6 April 2018.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ The BBC admits that it it faked the treehouse scenes from its series Human Planet and that a Papua New Guinea tribe building tree houses were staged for the programme makers.

■ The Hollywood Reporter asks if CNN in America, stuck in 3rd place in the TV news channel ratings, should CNN abandon its food fight formula?" that doesn't leave viewers better informed.


■ After MultiChoice dumped the Glow TV channel, the Glow TV boss Nazeer Noormohamed of Nis Media tells TVSA he thinks its because MultiChoice is on the side of Zee TV with links to the Gupta family.

■ Inside Amazon's massive $250 million Lord of the Rings TV series deal that's not just TV's most expensive TV series ever, but also "the most complicated deal I've ever seen".

■ Insanity: Iranian TV can't cope with the Italian soccer club Roma's iconic badge and censor-blurred it because it features a wolf's teats.

■ Science fiction is taking over television - what was once "geek TV" is now being watched by everbody.

■ The Westonarea police arrested an idiot who stole an unassembled TV stand - complete with shopping trolley.

■ The streaming service that Formula 1 wanted to launch is a mess with the initial roll-out that is being postponed.

■ It's not just e.tv's breakfast show, Sunrise, that has problems - Australia's Sunrise morning show is blasted as "commercial TV at its worst".

CNN launches a new weekly online, live business show, Markets Now, with Richard Quest and Maggie Lake from the floor of the NYSE.

CNN, through its CNNMoney brand, on Wednesday launched a new digital live show of 15 minutes that will play out online every Wednesday for 15 minutes, Markets Now, that will be presented by Richard Quest and Maggie Lake.

Markets Now will be done from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and is done in addition to the existing Quest Express and Quest Means Business programmes broadcast on CNN International (DStv 401).

Markets Now will mark "half-time" of the markets week, and the 15 minute show will include interviews with "investing legends" from the floor of the NYSE.

CNN International strengthens its Moscow bureau, appoints Nathan Hodges as CNN Moscow bureau chief, moves Fred Pleitgen to Moscow.

As Russia grows as a global news focal point - no less because of the "Russia collusion" investigations in the United States - CNN International (DStv 401) is strengthening its Moscow bureau with the appointment of Nathan Hodge as CNN Moscow bureau chief and moving international correspondent Fred Pleitgen there as well.

Nathan Hodge is joining Turner Broadcasting's CNN International from The Wall Street Journal as CNN Moscow bureau chief.

Nathan Hodge has been The Wall Street Journal's bureau chief in Moscow from 2015 until now.

The CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is also relocating to Moscow from CNN's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in London.

The CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance, who has covered several Russia stories for CNN International for over a decade will remain in Moscow.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of Russia internationally, whether that pertains to its own upcoming elections, its alleged role in the recent US elections, or issues relating to Ukraine, Europe, China, Iran, and Syria,” says Deborah Rayner, CNN's senior vice president of international newsgathering, TV and digital in a statement.

“Vladimir Putin is a uniquely compelling figure, and his agenda at home and abroad is fascinating for audiences worldwide. No-one is better placed to tell those stories than Matthew and Fred, and we could not wish for a better person to head up our Moscow operation than Nathan.”

Nathan Hodge says “The fact that CNN is doubling down on its commitment to Russia was a big factor in me taking on this role.”

 “I know Fred personally from working alongside him in Syria, and I have followed Matthew’s career for a long time; both are exceptional journalists, and the whole team at the Moscow bureau is formidable.”

“This is a crucial year for Russia, and the passion I have seen for the story at CNN makes me very excited about what’s ahead.”

CNN wins the most awards in American president Donald Trump's Fakies.

The American president Donald Trump finally announced his inaugural “The Most Dishonest & Corrupt Media Awards of the Year” with TV news channel CNN (DStv 401) winning the most "categories" and with mentions also going to The New York Times, ABC News and The Washington Post.

The Fox News channel, Breitbart and Drudge got shut out and won no mentions at the "awards" that was quickly nicknamed the "Fakies".

The American GOP political party's website crashed on Thursday where the list was published while Donald Trump failed to have a ceremony or hand out actual awards.

Donald Trump originally announced that his 2017 Fake News Awards would be taking place after the Golden Globe Awards.

The American late night host Stephen Colbert immediately started a "For Your Consideration" campaign like what producers and studios do for the Emmys, Globes and Oscars, and created and rented a massive Times Square billboard in New York for his The Late Show, promoting the show to win in categories like “Fakest Dishonesty,” “Smallest Button” and “Least Breitbarty”.

He had competition.

The South African comedian Trevor Noah of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) responded by taking out a full-page ad in The New York Times and canvassing for The Daily Show as "most deserving" of a Fakie.

Then Donald Trump inexplicably postponed his Fakies to Wednesday, January 17. He explained that his fake news awards were moved since “interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!”

Wednesday also came and went and finally on Thursday a list was published. It had no categories and was just a badly done 11-point list:


1. The New York Times' Paul Krugman for claiming on the day of Donald Trump's election victory that the economy would never recover.

2. Brian Ross who was suspended and demoted by ABC News after inaccurately reporting that the ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was going to testify that Donald Trump, while still a candidate, ordered Flynn to make contact with Russians.

3. CNN wrongly reporting that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks.

4. TIME magazine reporting that Donald Trump had removed the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval office in the White House.

5.The Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel's photo of a Donald Trump rally suggesting low turnout.

6. CNN video showing Donald Trump overfeeding fish while visiting the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

7. CNN wrongly reporting that Donald Trump's aide Anthony Scaramucci met with the chief executive at a Russian investment fund.

8. Newsweek reporting that the Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda declined to shake Donald Trump’s hand.

9. CNN reporting that the former FBI director James Comey would dispute Donald Trump’s claim of being told he’s not under investigation.

10. The New York Times article on Donald Trump's administration's climate report.

11. "And last, but not least: "RUSSIA COLLUSION!" Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION," says Donald Trump.


No laughing matter
In reality "awards" trashing the press are no laughing matter - a record number of journalists were jailed or killed worldwide in 2017, while journalists continue to be censored, abused, arrested, jailed and killed for their reporting around the globe.

The number of journalists globally in prison is at a record high.

In response to Donald Trump's "Fakies", The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) announced their own CPJ Global Press Oppressors Awards.

The Global Press Oppressors Awards recognise world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media.

They are:

1. Most think-skinned: Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Runner-up: American president Donald Trump.

2.Most outrageous use of terror laws against the press: Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Runner-up: Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

3. Tighest grip on media: China's president Xi Jinping.
Runner-up: Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

4. Biggest backslider in press freedom: Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Runner-up: Polish president Andrzej Duda.

5. Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom: American president Donald Trump.

CNN now approved to fly camera drones over breaking news events that involve large crowds of people.

CNN has been approved by America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly camera drones over large crowds of people in the United States during breaking news events in order to broadcast aerial panoramic shots to viewers.

CNN will soon start to use these unmanned aircraft systems or UAS over crowds of people after it received approval.

"This waiver signifies a critical step forward not only for CNN's UAS operations, but also the commercial UAS industry at large," says David Vigilante, CNN's senior vice president of legal in a statement.

"We are truly grateful to the FAA for allowing CNN to demonstrate its continued commitment to safe UAS operations".

The FAA now allows CNN to operate the Snap UAS, a frangible aircraft with enclosed rotors that's made of "deformable material", over crowds of people.

"Vantage created the Snap for the purpose of safely capturing aerial video over people," says Tobin Fisher, Vantage Robotics CEO. "We are pleased that Vantage was able to work with CNN to present and establish the safety case for the Snap to the FAA".

The Snap camera drone weighs 0.62 kg and its four rotors are encased to reduce the chances of injury.

The Snap is designed to break into harmless smaller pieces if it crashes and can be "snapped" back together and reused after a crash.

CNN has started a new daily news show, The Update on Snapchat as it reaches out to try and reach more younger news consumers.

CNN has ended its Snapchat Discover magazine to launch a new Snapchat daily news show, The Update in an attempt to reach more younger news consumers.

CNN announced the news only today, Wednesday, in South Africa and Africa, two days after the Snapchat show announcement was made elsewhere in the world and launched on Monday.

In a statement CNN says The Update includes a rundown of the biggest news from stories of the day from CNN reporters and bureaus around the world and will include breaking news segments.

Each The Update show includes five or more stories as CNN targets digital news consumers on smart devices.

"We are introducing our brilliant cast of world class anchors and reporters to a young audience in a smart, accessible way with The Update," says Samantha Barry, CNN’s executive producer for social and emerging media in a statement released by Burson-Marsteller in South Africa on Wednesday.

"In today's news environment, people are hungry for news and they want a quick update of where things are at within one tap of their phone. So, we're serving that up, speaking their language and delivering it in beautiful, vertical, mobile friendly video."

"Since launching content on Snapchat, we have believed in the importance of giving our community access to accurate and authoritative news coverage, and CNN has played an important part in that from the beginning," says Sean Mills, senior director of content programming for Snapchat.

"It's more critical than ever that Snapchatters have access to the best journalism in the world, right when news breaks, and we’re excited to watch CNN deliver that to them through The Update."

Snapchat users can find The Update in the Shows section of their Stories pages.

CNN says The Update will build on and complement news coverage Snapchat offers its community through all of its content formats on Discover.

CNN dumps Reza Aslan and the second season of his Believer on CNN International after he calls Donald Trump 'a piece of sh*t'.

CNN has dumped Reza Aslan and its already announced plans for a second season of Believer on CNN International (DStv 401) with the presenter after he called the American president Donald Trump "a piece of sh*t".

Production on the second season of Believer was already in production, with CNN that announced a second season to advertisers a few weeks ago.

"CNN has decided to not move forward with production on the acquired series Believer with Reza Aslan," says CNN in a statement. "We wish Reza and his production team all the best."

CNN dumped Reza Aslan shortly after getting rid of comedian Kathy Griffin from its annual New Years celebration coverage broadcast on CNN and CNN International after she held up a bloodied, plastic decapitated head of Donald Trump in a controversial photo shoot.

Reza Aslan in a statement says "obviously I am very disappointed in this decision. Believer means a great deal to me and to the countless viewers it's reached."

Reza Aslan ironically says in his statement that Believer on CNN International carries a message of religious tolerance, but doesn't realise that he himself showed a lack of tolerance for someone else.

"Its message of religious tolerance and exploration is extremely important right now. I am deeply grateful to CNN for giving me the opportunity to launch the show and to amplify my voice on their network."

"I am especially grateful to the legion of people within the Turner organization who worked so hard to make the show a hit series. However, in these politically charged times, the tenor of our nation's discourse has become complicated, and I recognize that CNN needs to protect its brand as an unbiased news outlet."

"Similarly, I need to honor my voice. I am not a journalist. I am a social commentator and scholar. And so I agree with CNN that it is best that we part ways. I look forward to partnering with another platform in the future to continue to spread my message. I wish CNN all the best."