NBCUniversal abruptly removed the Nurses telenovela featuring a gay couple from Telemundo in Africa in June during Prime Month but MultiChoice says the series will be back.

by Thinus Ferreira

In June NBCUniversal International Networks abruptly removed the Spanish telenovela Nurses from its Telemundo (DStv 118) channel in Africa without explanation, with the decision to axe the show - featuring a gay couple - coming during Prime Month after Uganda's president signed into law draconian new anti-gay legislation.

Nurses is the latest TV content removed from DStv across Africa over the last few years by international channel distributors like Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and NBCUniversal International Networks due to LGBTQ content or characters.

NBCUniversal International Networks has only one channel feed for Telemundo Africa for the entire continent so it's impossible to remove content for just one or two African countries. 

Operating on a lowest common denominator system, content banned in one country means it is removed on Telemundo's playout programming schedule for all countries, including South Africa.

NBCUniversal International Networks still issued highlights and programming synopses for Nurses for June and July although these episodes were pulled and never shown.

Nurses, filmed in Colombia and known as Enfermeras, is dubbed into English for DStv subscribers in South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and has been shown since February 2022 but last month the show abruptly disappeared and was replaced by a rebroadcast of Decisions in prime time after NBCUniversal Networks stopped the telenovela that was in its fourth season.

Nurses includes a gay couple, Álvaro and Felipe, portrayed by Julián Trujillo and Miguel González.

After Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni signed into law new legislation that criminalises identifying as LGBTQIA+ or the "promotion" of homosexuality, Cameroon's government censorship body, the National Communication Council (NCC), issued a notification with the subject "Warning", threatening that TV channels will be suspended that broadcast "scenes of homosexuality".

The NCC said that it has noticed "the proliferation of programmes promoting homosexual practices", "generally broadcast by foreign editors" and that it "calls on the promoters of channels broadcasting programmes showing scenes of homosexuality in Cameroon to immediately withdraw these programmes, which violate the law, morality and customs of our country, on pain of the outright suspension of the media concerned".

In June, about the sudden removal of Nurses, NBCU International Networks said "We intend to comply with local broadcast regulations in each market where we broadcast and are adjusting the programming as necessary".

Now NBCU International Networks in response to a media query from TVwithThinus says that Nurses will return to the Telemundo schedule. It's however not clear whether episodes of Nurses are getting edited with a reversioned edition removing the gay characters of Álvaro and Felipe.

"Following an adjustment to the planned schedule, Telemundo viewers can now look forward to Nurses rejoining the schedule in September," NBCU International Networks says.

MultiChoice was asked about Telemundo's removal of Nurses during Pride Month because of gay content and how it aligns with MultiChoice support of the LGBTQ community, as well as what will happen when more African countries demand content removal which will mean that it disappears for subscribers in South Africa and elsewhere.

In a response, MultiChoice says "We do not have editorial control over the content of third-party channels or their content schedules".

"From 11 September season 4 of Nurses will return from its season break and air on Telemundo. We encourage viewers to explore some of the great content offered on the channel including other DStv channels such as Zee World and TLNovelas".

MultiChoice won't show any gay content to DStv subscribers in that country - and likely wider - after Uganda passes harsh latest anti-LGBTQ law.

by Thinus Ferreira

After Uganda's government on Monday passed one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws criminalising the so-called "promotion and abetting of homosexuality", MultiChoice says it won't be showing any gay content on DStv in the country - although censoring content for pay-TV for Uganda could mean it's kept away for multiple other countries too.

MultiChoice makes use of satellite transponders for instance covering the whole of South Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa and West Africa as multi-country regions - as opposed to a satellite used per specific country.

This means that keeping Uganda's government happy through keeping LGBTQ content away and off the programming schedules of DStv's channels as they're beamed down through Eutelsat's transponder, is in effect a lowest-common-denominator type of soft-censorship of certain content in East African countries where Uganda's anti-gay laws are not applicable.

Reuters reports that Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni on Monday signed one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" - laws that now decree a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality.

In response to Uganda's new anti-LGBTQ laws, MultiChoice, in response to a media query after being asked its view on this, said the pay-TV operator will adhere to Uganda's laws. It means content that could be considered "promoting" LGBTQ people won't be shown on DStv.

"MultiChoice takes into account all laws and regulations under which we are governed and aim to adhere by those set rules in the countries in which we operate," MultiChoice says.

"We are a business that enriches the lives of many people through film and television in our quest to remain Africa's best-loved storyteller."

MultiChoice was asked how it will keep any LGTBQ content away from just Uganda, considering that the satellite transponder covers more countries than just Uganda. 

MultiChoice was asked if it had already done content interventions, for instance censorship of certain content in Uganda and since when this has been done.

MultiChoice declined to answer these questions.

Shifting strategy

Instead of outright censoring LGBTQ content, MultiChoice over the past number of years has shifted its programming and content allocation approach in two very specific ways in response to growing anti-gay sentiment in parts of Africa.

Firstly, MultiChoice has shifted the responsibility to international channel providers to package their programming schedules for channels on DStv with content that doesn't feature overt LGBTQ characters or themes.

Overseas channel providers have been asked to pro-actively not schedule certain content, to prevent the situation of having to pull content and change schedules after complaints from DStv subscribers and regulators in anti-LGBTQ countries.

In June 2022 Warner Bros. Discovery which ran a Pride Month content line-up on its TLC channel in South Africa for instance, self-censored and kept this content away from the TLC channel version running across MultiChoice's other satellite transponders so that it wouldn't air in anti-LGBTQ countries like Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.

Warner Bros. Discovery told TVwithThinus last year that it is "aware of the sensitivities in these regions and therefore TLC Pride isn't scheduled to air in these countries". 

In October 2015 Discovery Networks International was forced to pull the reality series I Am Jazz about a transgendered teen's struggle and life journey from TLC across Africa just before it was to begin broadcast following government censorship in Nigeria that impacted its screening across the entire continent.

In May 2016 NBCUniversal was forced to pull the second season of I Am Cait, a reality show about the transgender Caitlyn Jenner – formerly known as Bruce Jenner - from E! in Africa after complaints and a DStv TV-ban in Nigeria.

In July 2016, Viacom International Media Networks Africa, now Paramount Global, said it would be censoring an episode of The Loud House on Nickelodeon and won't be broadcasting it on its linear channel on DStv in Africa since it featured animated gay dads.

In June 2017 Kenya's Film Classification Board (KFCB) banned 7 kids cartoon for bogus reasons like saying one character "has a dick for a head", and that in another two characters of the same gender went on an (unseen) "implied romantic vacation", ordering MultiChoice Africa to remove Loud House, The Legend of Korra, Hey Arnold, Clarence, Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Star vs the Forces of Evil from DStv because of "homosexual themes".

In November 2017 Kenya banned the Disney Channel show Andi Mack because it featured a gay teenager, keeping it off television for the entire Africa, including South Africa.

Secondly, M-Net has also adapted its approach with its self-packaged M-Net, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic channel sets seen outside of South Africa.

M-Net (DStv 101) which has different regionalised channel feeds for South, East and West Africa is pro-actively keeping certain content away from DStv subscribers in East and West Africa which are shown in South Africa without any complaints, where the same timeslot on the DStv guide is filled with other shows.

In March this year eMedia launched Openview Ultra as a pay-TV add-on for its fast-growing Openview free-to-air satellite TV service in South Africa, and started with a gay bouquet consisting of the OUTtv and Fuse TV channels at a subscription fee of R75 per month.

Disney's new Strange World animation film kept away from Africa's homophobic countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda over gay content.

by Thinus Ferreira

In another keep-the-gay-away, The Walt Disney Company won't be distributing its new animation film Strange World in West Africa's homophobic Nigeria or Ghana or East Africa's homophobic countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda where these countries will likely impose censorship and edits on the Want Disney Animation Studios film, or ban it outright.

In Strange World the character of Ethan, voiced by Jaboukie Young-White has a romantic crush on another boy.

The Walt Disney Company is now keeping Strange World away from 20 countries and markets, including homophobic African countries like Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa, as well as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa. Strange World is being released in South Africa.

Other countries where Disney isn't distributing Strange World include the entire Middle East region, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Russia.

The Walt Disney Company in a statement about keeping Strange World away from certain countries, says "In countries where we operate, we seek to share our stories in their original form as we and the artists involved have created them".

"If we make edits, because of legal or other considerations, they will be as narrow as possible. We will not make an edit where we believe it would impact the storytelling. In that circumstance, we will not distribute the content in that market."

The Turkish If Only drama series on Netflix that Turkey banned because of a gay character moves to Spain and restarts as If I Had Known with the same characters, screenwriter and plot.

by Thinus Ferreira

After Turkey's culture ministry and Islamist government last year demanded that Netflix remove a gay character from the streaming service's If Only drama series that was set and filmed in Turkey, If Only will be back with the same screenwriter but is now being done from and set in Spain under the new title of If I Had Known, but with the same plot.

Bloomberg Canada on Wednesday reported that If Only will be back on Netflix but retitled If I Had Known ("Si lo Hubiera Sabido") with a gay character part of the now-Spanish cast, exactly as the case was when the series was done from and shown in Turkey.

If I Had Known from the Turkish screenwriter Ece Yörenç will be shown in 190 countries, as well as Turkey and is currently being filmed in Paris in France, as well as Madrid and Seville in Spain.

"We are not telling a Spanish or a Turkish story, but a universal one," says screenwriter Irma Correa, who created the Spanish adaptation. "We have worked to reflect what we see as an open and plural society, in which everyone will feel represented."

If I Had Known tells the story of a 30-year old woman, Emma, who have gotten tired of her decade-long marriage. When a supernatural event sends her back in time, she once again finds herself in the younger version of herself and able to make differnt decisions to change her life.

Irma Correa previously worked with Ece Yorenc on the Spanish adaptation of the popular Turkish drama series Fatmagul.

The Bachelor star Colton Underwood reveals he's gay and that hiding caused suicidal thoughts: 'I ran from myself for a long time, hating myself for a long time, and ... I’m gay'.

by Thinus Ferreira

Colton Underwood(29) is gay, the star of season 23 of the American love reality series The Bachelor said on Wednesday in an emotional TV interview on the Good Morning America show on ABC in the United States, revealing that hiding his sexuality led him down a "dark and bad" path and that he suicidal thoughts.

Colton Underwood was famously a virgin when the 26-year old was chosen as the next bachelor for The Bachelor, causing the expected drama when he jumped a fence and fled during one of the episodes of his season.

Colton Underwood on Wednesday told Robin Roberts that "I ran from myself for a long time, hating myself for a long time, and ... I’m gay".

"I came to terms with that earlier this year and I have been processing it. And the next step in all of this was sort of to let people know. I’m still nervous, but it’s been a journey for sure."

JUST IN: Former “Bachelor” star @Colton Underwood speaks his truth and comes out to @robinroberts: “I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it… I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life.” https://t.co/PoYJUAPBpA pic.twitter.com/isP7SptUu7

— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 14, 2021

Colton Underwood said that "I'm emotional, but I'm emotional in such a good, happy, positive way. I'm the happiest and healthiest I've ever been in my life and that means the world to me."

In the interview, he said that hiding his sexuality led him down a "dark and bad" path that included suicidal thoughts. He said that he realised that he was "different" at the age of 6 but "couldn't process" it until he was in high school - and that it later in life led him to thoughts of suicide.

"I got into a place for me in my personal life that was dark and bad."

"I can list a bunch of different things but they’d all be excuses. I think overall the reason why now is because I got to a place where I didn't think I was ever going to share this. I would rather have died than say I'm gay, and that was sort of my wake up call."

"There was a moment in L.A. where I woke up, and I didn’t think I was going to wake up."

"I didn’t have the intentions of waking up - but I did. For me, that was my wake-up call of, like, 'This is your life. Take back control.' You know, driving my car close to a cliff, like, 'Oh, if this goes off the cliff, it’s not that big of a deal.' I don't feel that anymore."

Colton Underwood said that "I thought a lot about this: Do I regret being The Bachelor and handling it the way that I did?"

"I do think I could have handled it better, I do say that. I just wish I wouldn't have dragged people into my own mess of figuring out who I was. I genuinely mean that but I also at the same time I can say I'm sorry to all of those women, I can also thank them, and without The Bachelor franchise, I don't know if this would have ever come out."

In South Africa M-Net (DStv 101) has so far had two seasons of The Bachelor South Africa, followed by a first season of The Bachelorette South Africa, with Qiniso Van Damme as the bachelorette, that is currently broadcast on the channel.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 14 July 2020.

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


■ ESPN employees say racism continues behind-the-scenes at the TV sports channel.
ESPN admits it has a problem with diversity.
■ Globally autocrats are cracking down on digital news sites.

■ ABS-CBN, the top broadcaster in the Philippines, has its licence cancelled.
President Rodrigo Duterte can't cope with the criticism and decided it's "payback" time and to shut the broadcaster down.

■ Media and technology companies in identity crises.
Distribution and content companies are redefining themselves because the definition of distribution is changing with broadband-connected television. As a lot of companies are now trying to "control the living room", there are now 3 different tiers to content distribution, each relying on the layers below it.

■ Netflix removes gay character from its Ask 101 series in Turkey.
"The problem with that character was eliminated," says Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) after the gay character of Osman was censored by the country and Netflix agreed. 

■ Netlix's The Old Guard is decent enough but could have been so much more.

■ The SABC is a sad, abject bunch of creeps, not the vibrant broadcaster we need (subscription required).

■ Q&A with SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini about looming job cuts (subscription required).

■  Netflix expected to announce record subscriber growth when it reports latest subscriber numbers this week as it benefits from Covid-19 global lockdowns in many countries (subscription required).

- Data suggests fewer international cancellations because of Covid-19 will be what's boosting the overall subscriber number.


■ MultiChoice and Eutelsat abruptly dump 2 TV broadcasters in Ethiopia from DStv.
Tigrai TV and Dimtsi Woyane TV taken off DStv as the latest media censored by Ethiopian authorities.

■ Racist head writer of Tucker Carlson's show on FOX News (StarSat 261) is gone.

■ South Africa's Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhebane demands an apology from eNCA (DStv 403) and has lodged a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA).

■ SABC staffers furious with the South African public broadcaster for revealing the identities of those who gave evidence in the commission of inquiry into editorial interference at the SABC.

■ The Pan African Congress (PAC) furious at the SABC for alleged "repeated bias and fake reporting".
The political party has laid a complaint at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA).

■ Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix's head of original African series, says the biggest challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns in Africa have been loadshedding, electricity blackouts and data which subscribers are struggling with.

■ Thandeka Gqubule-Mbeki, SABC economics editor, announces that she will be wearing black and embark on a hunger strike to protest against job cuts at the bloated SABC.

■ Coronavirus: From Nollywood to South Africa, CNN International looks at how Covid-19 has impacted Africa's TV and film industry with lockdowns and curfews and how they've been forced to try and adapt.
Is the industry going to run out of content?

■ Tanzania bans Kwanza TV.
Tanzania's draconian government that can't cope with free media shuts down local broadcaster for 11 months ... because of "unpatriotic" Instagram post.

■ The science-fiction TV series version of Aldous Huxley's 1932-novel Brave New World arrives in the future it predicted.

kykNET's Afrikaans farmer love-seeking reality show, Boer Soek 'n Vrou, adds first gay farmer looking for a man.

The Afrikaans farmer love-seeking format reality show, Boer Soek 'n Vrou (Farmer Wants a Wife) has added a gay farmer - the Afrikaans version's first - looking for a man for the 12th season that will be broadcast from October on kykNET (DStv 144).

The openly gay Damian (37), a cattle and sheep farmer from Bapsfontein, is looking for man love with men who can now write him letters, along with the 9 other shortlisted farmers who are looking for women.

The singer Leah will again be the presenter of the new season, produced by Marche Media.

Men who like Damian can write for him in the hope that he is one of the farmers who manage to get enough letters from viewers in order to qualify to be one of the 5 farmers and their suitors who will appear in the season.

For the 12th season the farmer range between the ages of 26 and 51, including five from the Western Cape province, two from the Northern Cape, two from the Eastern Cape and one from Gauteng.

BBC News appoints Ben Hunte as its first gay correspondent, will focus on 'finding and telling stories from the LGBT community'.

The BBC has named Ben Hunte as the British Broadcasting Corporation's first gay correspondent for BBC News.

In the newly-created role, BBC News says that Ben Hunte as its first LGBT correspondent, will report on the stories, issues and debates surrounding sexuality and gender and focus on providing insight and analysis on matters affecting the LGBT community in the United Kingdom.

Ben Hunte who also appears on BBC World News (DStv 400 / StarSat 256 / Cell C black 501 / Openview 121) in 2018 became the presenter of BBC What's New?, the BBC's first TV programme and digital service for children in Africa.

"I'm delighted to be taking on this important new role for BBC News and I am looking forward to finding and telling stories from the LGBT community," says Ben Hunte in a statement.

"BBC News has a rich heritage of covering issues and debates from the LGBT community," says Richard Burgess, BBC News' UK news editor.

"I'm thrilled that Ben will be taking up this dedicated role which aims to strengthen our offering of LGBT stories and original journalism across the BBC".

Ben Hunte graduated from the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus with a degree in neuroscience, before studying TV journalism at City University of London.

From a gay bachelor, a stripping game show, to a peek behind porn – here are the shows from playful to provocative that MultiChoice is showing on the DStv pop-up channel OUTtv.

A gay bachelor looking for love, a stripping dating game show with full frontal nudity and a peek behind a gay porn site production - these are some of the more provocative programming MultiChoice and OUTtv is bringing to DStv subscribers from today on channel 198 on the pop-up channel that will run until 4 November.

MultiChoice decided to only add OUTtv for DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers in South Africa for a month with the channel that is being kept away from DStv subscribers elsewhere in Africa and with the content rights of the gay-focused programming that was specifically only cleared for the South African market.

OUTtv doesn't come with an age restriction or any overall age blocking and MultiChoice told TVwithThinus that age restrictions will be programme specific. 

A look at the OUTtv TV guide indicates that age restrictions of various OUTtv shows and films range from the lowest PG up to the highest of 18SVNL.

OUTtv will broadcast programming ranging from movies, drama, lifestyle, comedy, reality, music and travel shows that appeal to the LGBTQI+ community.

Titles on OUTtv range from general entertainment and lifestyle show like RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Big Freedia Queen of Bounce and Hey Qween! to more provocative fare like Don’t Quit Your Gay Job, a look behind the making of gay pornography in Broke Straight Boys, the drama series Queer as Folk and the controversial British dating game show Naked Attraction in which contestants get naked to try and snag a date.

Here are some of the OUTtv programming highlights:

Finding Prince Charming, Friday 5 October 20:00

Basically The Bachelor but with a gay man, Robert Sepulveda Jr., looking for love in a house with 13 gay men. Cue the drama as Robert - with a porn past - eliminate the men in "black tie" ceremonies after dates, together with a lot of in-fighting inside the house between the potential suitors.

Naked Attraction, Friday 5 October 21:00 (16NL)

Does it matter if you have an artificial leg? This controversial British dating game show has led to a flood of complaints in the United Kingdom due to the full frontal nudity, but viewers have kept watching nonetheless. Contestants (men and women) looking for love, strip down and reveal their naked bodies hoping to snag a date. Anna Richardson is the host.

Broke Straight Boys, Friday 5 October 22:00 (16NL)

In what's known as "gay for pay," straight men perform in gay pornographic films. The series goes behind-the-scenes and looks at the producers and stars of the gay porn site and the "house mom" who looks after the porn stars.

Shadowlands, Friday 5 October 23:00

An anthology style series that explores love between men in separate stories and times - a couple renegotiating a relationship, a narcissist grasping to comprehend it, and star-crossed lovers mourning its loss.

Fit for Fashion, Saturday 6 October 07:00

A reality show hosted by Louise Roe, with fashion photographer Todd Anthony Tyler. The fitness trainers Christine Bullock and Mitch Chilson put contestants through their paces who try to master challenges and learn new skills while training and transforming their bodies at the beautiful and luxurious Tanjong Jara Resort on Malaysia's East Coast.

Golden Gays, Saturday 6 October 10:30

A reality series following outrageous characters in Palm Springs where everyone is gay, gray or both. The parties are legendary, the residents are eccentric and everyone knows a good plastic surgeon. In this unpredictable community there are outrageous and neurotic residents from a single vegan lesbian looking for love, to a burly conservative contractor struggling to open his gay resort.

Noah's Arc, Sunday 7 October 21:30 (13SL)

An American drama series following the lives of four black gay friends living in Los Angeles.

Lip Service, Sunday 7 October 22:00 (16SL)

A British drama series following the lives of a group of lesbians living in Glasgow, Scotland.

Queer as Folk, Tuesday 9 October 23:00 (18SVNL)

A gay young adult drama series (the original British version) that chronicles the lives of Stuart and Vince, as well as the 15-year old Nathan who is in love with Stuart. 

Disney Channel to make history with first gay main character as Cyrus Goodman in tween show Andi Mack is set for a gay storyline.

In a dramatic first for The Disney Channel (DStv 303), it will have a main character come out as gay in the tween show Andi Mack in a move that could spell potential trouble for MultiChoice's DStv and the kids channel in Africa.

The Disney Channel, available in South Africa and throughout Africa on DStv's satellite pay-TV platform, will soon break new ground with its first gay storyline and a main character going through a journey of self-discovery of his sexuality.

In Andi Mack, the 13-year old main character Cyrus Goodman, played by Joshua Rush (15) will be coming out to his friends as gay, starting the storyline from the first episode of Andi Mack's second season.

Subsequent episodes will follow Cyrus' ongoing story, that will include wrestling with how to tell his new girlfriend Iris that he is actually falling in love with Andi's boyfriend, Jonah (Asher Angel).

"Andi Mack is a story about tweens figuring out who they are," says The Disney Channel in a statement announcing the news.

"Creator Terri Minsky, the cast and everyone involved in the show takes great care in ensuring that it's appropriate for all audiences and sends a powerful message about inclusion and respect for humanity."

The Walt Disney Company says "Disney remains committed to continuing to create characters that are accessible and relatable to all children."

"For more than 90 years, The Walt Disney Company has been home to some of the world's most beloved characters and cherished stories."

"The Disney brand has always been inclusive, with stories that reflect acceptance and tolerance and celebrate the differences that make our characters uniquely wonderful in their own way."

"We constantly strive to live up to that legacy by continuing to create and share compelling storylines from our studios and media networks that entertain with inspirational and aspirational themes and reflect the incredibly rich diversity of human experience."

The move could rile DStv subscribers in Africa where countries like Nigeria and Kenya have increasingly banned several general entertainment and kids shows they say are promoting a "pro gay" agenda.

These African nations over the past few months ordered MultiChoice Africa to immediately remove content deemed offensive from several carried TV channels - including Disney's Disney XD channel for instance, as well as shows on Turner Broadcasting Africa's Cartoon Network and Viacom International Media Networks Africa's Nickelodeon.

Since several of these channels have only one channel feed into Africa, the removal and banning of specific shows and content mandated by one country, means that it impacts the viewing and content available on linear broadcast channels to the entire sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa.