2023 Silwerskerm Film Festival | Day 3: How too controversial reality TV literally becomes a turn-off.

by Thinus Ferreira

As more producers globally as well as in South Africa are enticed by the lure of especially the reality TV genre to create real-life drama on the small screen, they are being warned not to push in-show controversy too far since on-screen fights and uncomfortable viewing don't always lift ratings and in fact could alienate viewers who flip to another channel.

"In the current climate of the golden age of television and where feature films don't make the money at the box office that they did before, it's likely not such a bad idea to consider reality television as an additional income," says Marguerite Albrecht, a commissioning editor for reality content at MultiChoice and M-Net.

She was one of the panellists at a discussion about the new era of reality TV at kykNET's 11th Silwerskermfees film festival currently taking place at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Cape Town where the pivot from traditional reality TV, reality competition television and docudrama were discussed.

Marguerite Albrecht said that producers who previously never would have considered this genre, are not warming to what used to be TV's "stepchild".

Terja Beney, senior manager for reality and entertainment for M-Net's premium channels, said that "any filmmaker at their heart is a storyteller and storytelling - whether in the genre of documentary, whether in the genre of scripted. Story is at the heart of reality as well".

"If you can tell a story and if you love telling stories, then you can flourish in the unscripted genre as well, especially in the reality space".

Marguerite Albrecht said that M-Net and kykNET are first and foremost TV platforms "and our budgets first and foremost go towards making television. For that reason reality is a good option for any filmmaker."

Terja Beney however warned reality TV producers and said they should be careful with how they present real-life drama, since buzz over certain moments or televised events, might not actually lead to ratings.

"It's an interesting conversation to have about talkability versus ratings. Sometimes 'talkability' is talkable because it has a push-factor. People are talking because they're uncomfortable about things. Sometimes uncomfortability however extends to a drop in your TV ratings and not necessarily a push in your rating."

"In what you're putting forward is: How controversial are you being, and what really is the appetite for that controversial content that you're putting out?"

Marguerite Albrecht says the new era of reality TV is just an evolution of what producers, broadcasters and viewers already know.

"Internationally we're starting to see a nice blend of different mechanics from different reality formats coming together. They're blending in a logical way."

"It's not like 'I want a tribal council thing at the end like Survivor. I want a bit of Wipeout in the middle. And the whole first section is just docu-reality.' No. That makes no sense."

Marguerite Albrecht said it's an open question as to whether the news media, like broadcasters, should adopt what the industry calls a "duty of care" in their approach of reality show participants, after the negative media coverage that engulfed the women who chose to take part in kykNET's Die Real Housewives van die Wynlande which had its first season on DStv earlier this year. 

kykNET shocked that background check failed to find Boer Soek 'n Vrou farmer's criminal record for physical assault and starts investigation: 'Gender-based violence has no place in our society'.

by Thinus Ferreira

kykNET is reacting with shock and surprise that its system of background checks into reality show participants failed to find the criminal record of a Boer Soek 'n Vrou farmer for physical assault of a woman, with kykNET saying an investigation has now started into the serious flaw and that it strongly condemns gender-based violence.

The latest issue of Huisgenoot magazine on Friday reported that the Boer Soek 'n Vrou ostrich farmer in Oudtshoorn, Francois Fourie (51) has a criminal record on the police computer system for physical assault which he didn't reveal to the producers.

Wolflight which produces the Afrikaans Boer Soek 'n Vrou according to the Fremantle format, wasn't aware that Francois Fourie had physically attacked a woman.

Francois Fourie admitted guilt and paid a fine with police records showing he was involved in a case of physical assault in 2013 in which he used his hands to "strike, hit, beat" a woman. 

Fourie couldn't immediately be reached on Friday for comment but admitted to Huisgenoot in a sit-down interview that he was involved in a fight with an unnamed woman and that he "pushed and shoved a little here and there". He says he wasn't aware at the time that he was paying a fine as an admission of guilt of physical assault.  

The failure to pick up the criminal record is raising red flags for M-Net's system of background checks, as well as its so-called duty-of-care policy which sets out guidelines for content makers to keeping contestants and participants in reality shows safe and out of harm's way. 

kykNET on Friday told TVwithThinus that the M-Net channel as well as the production company conduct "thorough background checks on all the participants of each season of our reality-TV shows" and that contestants are also obliged to declare any criminal charges laid against them.

According to kykNET, the correctness of information supplied by all participants - including both the farmers and potential romantic matches - is verified by an independent assessment company which collects and compares information from various platforms, including the database of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Company and Intellectual Property Commission, as well as the department of home affairs.

kykNET says that during the vetting process for Boer Soek ‘n Vrou in 2022 no criminal record or any payment of a fine that would constitute an admission of guilt was found for Francois Fourie and that the channel became aware of the R200 fine over the 2013 assault earlier this month.

The channel "immediately conducted an investigation into this matter".

kykNET tells TVwithThinus that the independent company which conducts background checks on its reality TV shows is in the process of conducting an investigation to determine why Francois Fourie's criminal record wasn't detected last year "to ensure that this does not happen again in the future".

"kykNET advocates for the safety of not only the public and our viewers but also our co-workers, which includes all the participants in our TV programmes. Gender-based violence has no place in our society and we condemn any acts of violence in the strongest terms," the channel says.

Netflix releases trailer of its latest reality show Too Hot to Handle in which island love contestants have to 'find deeper emotional connections' without kissing or any sexual activity.

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix continues the video streaming service's expansion in reality shows and has released a teaser trailer for its latest upcoming series Too Hot to Handle in which island contestants will look for love with a twist - no sexual contact of any kind allowed, including kissing.

In Too Hot too Handle which will release episodes weekly, Netflix has cloistered "10 hot, horny, swipers" from across the world on a tropical island when they've given the shock news: no canoodling or fornicating allowed or they lose money.

The first episode of Too Hot too Handle's 8-episode first season will become available on 17 April 2020 as Netflix tries to imitate series like Temptation Island and Britain's Love Island.

A multi-coloured Alexa-like voice named Lana is the host of Too Hot too Handle, telling the sex-crazed young ones "no kissing or sex of any kind", saying that the aim of being at the retreat is "to gain deeper emotional connections". Of course kissing and sexual activity ensue.