SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng says 90% local music radio play isn't just for 3 months but 'for life; says the 90% number 'comes from reality'.

The SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng says his new mandated 90% quota for local music needletime on all the SABC's radio channels is not just for three months but definitely permanent and "for life".

It follows after the decree last week from the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) for all 18 of the SABC's radio stations to immediately start playing 90% local music.

In March, the SABC, quoted in the Government Gazette told the broadcasting regulator Icasa that a suggested increase in local music airtime to 70% is deemed too high and could lead to a loss of SABC audiences.

The unexpected move to suddenly move to 90% local music just two months later has been widely welcomed by South African artists although it left the SABC's commercial stations like 5FM and MetroFM scrambling to find and redo playlists and initially being unable to make the 90% quota.

On Tuesday, speaking at the latest The New Age Breakfast briefing held in Woodmead, Johannesburg and broadcast on SABC2's Morning Live, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the SABC's spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago was wrong when he said the public broadcaster's new 90% local music quota will be for 3 months and then reviewed.

In an interview last week on SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) Kaizer Kganyago said that "we have made a decision saying let us put this thing out there, and then the public will react to it. When the public reacts, we will review it, depending on what is happening".

""SABC itself, it has not been doing justice for local people in South Africa when you talk about content. And we have been saying to ourselves as colleagues, we need to turn the corner. And I think we have turned the corner."

"People are talking about three months, I don't know where three months is coming from. 90% is for life," said the controversial Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"And I need to explain where this three months comes from, it comes from Kaizer, and let me tell you, when Kaizer was explaining to media they did not understand him."

"What he was referring to is, quarterly we review all programmes. So we are going to review music, we are going to review our own programmes within the organisation, we review, after three months we revisit our performance that is what is going to happen, 90% will be there."

"Sometimes people believe that I'm mad. Which is good. Sometimes you need to be mad so that you can deliver," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.


'That number comes from reality'
When moderator Peter Ndoro asked Hlaudi Motsoeneng where the quota number of 90% came from, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "that number comes from reality ... and changing the lives of people and to be proud to be South Africans when we have our own artists".

Audience members asked how the SABC will ensure that the 90% local play doesn't only benefit existing celebrities, why SAMRO performance rights tariffs for royalties have not changed, what systems the SABC has to monitor the issue of local payola and allegations of playlist compilers being bribed,

"We are putting measures in place. We are aware that there's some allegations about our own colleagues within the organisation where they favour certain musicians. But we have already explained to them that we as SABC we must make sure that we are professional. We don't put favours in place," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

Asked what research was conducted and if its what audiences want, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "those who oppose this progressive decision of the SABC and stakeholders; they shall just forget. They should accept that we are moving on. They should not dream about Beyonce and others. They shall dream about local musician here."


'I am a bulldozer'
Hlaudi Motsoeneng who told the audience at the event that "I am a bulldozer", said that "when it comes to advertisers they don't have a choice. If they stay in South Africa because they do business in South Africa, they must invest in our own people".

Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "my favourite station since we played this 90 minutes [sic] is RSG. Music unites all of us even if you can't speak the language. I listen to RSG. I was happy."

Asked if the SABC isn't worried that listeners will tune out, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "people who are loyal, and people who want to build South Africa, they will stay with SABC. And we're not in competition with this other commercial broadcasters."

Veteran SABC News cameraman Peter Brewis brutally attacked, tied up, gagged and beaten in Cape Town; two robbers shot and arrested for attempted murder.

Photo: SABC

A veteran SABC News cameraman Peter Brewis has been brutally attacked by two men in his home in Cape Town with two men who have been arrested after a dramatic shoot-out.

Peter (Pietie) Brewis was savagely assaulted while working in his garage at his home in Cape Town's northern suburbs on Wednesday and forced into his home. He was tied up and beaten multiple times by his armed attackers.

The criminals tried to flee after neighbours heard Peter Brewis' cries for help. He was taken to a private hospital and is currently staying with his sister in Kuilsriver.

The SABC in the Western Cape reported through Facebook that two men have been arrested after a dramatic shootout in the Richwood suburb following the armed house robbery.

According to the SABC, the robbers demanded Peter Brewis' gun and then tied him up and gagged him. When he screamed for help, he was assaulted.

One robber was shot and wounded by a neighbour who came to the rescue and the other robber was shot by a security guard who responded to the call-out. Charges of robbery and attempted murder have been laid against the 23 and 26 year old suspects who are being treated in hospital.

SABC reporter Pimani Baloyi survives hijacking attempt while covering violent Vumani protests in Limpopo as two shots fired at her car.

The SABC's SABC News reporter Pimani Baloyi has survived being shot at last Thursday morning while she was covering the ongoing violent protests and vandalism in Vumani in the Limpopo province.

Pimani Baloyi's car was shot at, with a bullet damaging the bonnet of the vehicle and also blowing out one of the tyres.

The attempted car hijacking took place when the two shots were fired on the car as she drove over a bridge between Rotterdam and Olifantshoek villages in Limpopo on Thursday.

"When I got to the bridge, I saw men wearing balaclavas," she told SABC News.

"So I quickly put the car into reverse gear. And when I looked on the side, two other men came out of the bush and one of them was carrying a gun. I quickly pressed on my accelerator. I went uphill in reverse."

"When they saw that I was running, they ran after me and fired two shots," said Pimani Baloyi.

Naspers' ShowMax video-on-demand streaming service in South Africa expands to another 36 African countries; 'African market growth potential huge'.

Naspers' subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service ShowMax in South Africa has expanded to 36 African countries.

ShowMax that was launched in August 2015 is now available in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and has the largest SVOD catalogue in the continent where it now competes with rival services like Netflix that's been available across Africa since January 2016.

ShowMax outside of South Africa is priced in dollar and costs $7.99 per month for unlimited viewing of the catalogue of around 15 000 TV show episodes and films.

The service includes a Kiswahili language section and a Nollywood section, as well as a section of classic African films.

"We've been busy testing the service in key locations across the continent and optimising our delivery network," says Barron Ernst, ShowMax chief product officer in a statement.

"We've adapted our apps to address the needs of consumers in Africa, introducing features like downloads for viewing TV shows and movies when not connected."

"We've added Kiswahili and Nollywood shows and movies to our existing class-leading catalogue of Hollywood and British favourites."

"The growth potential of the African market is huge and we're not the only internet TV service looking to meet that demand," says Barron Ernst.

"The difference is that we're not simply cutting-and-pasting an existing model from elsewhere, and instead have built a product and content selection designed specifically for Africa."

Flood of complaints over South Africa's first TV commercial showing two gay men kissing; TV channels reluctant to broadcast ad deemed too risque.

Complaints have flooded in over South Africa's first TV commercial showing two gay men kissing and ending with a condom taken out.

The advertisement from wethebrave.co.za that's part of a gay men sexual health campaign, an initiative by the Anova Health Institute and the Elton John Aids Foundation, has triggered a flood of viewer complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

"The aim of the advertisement is not to shock, but to attract our market through creating scenarios to which they relate," says the Anova Health Institute.

"With 4.9 million South Africans – 10 percent of the population – identifying as homosexual, this is a matter of public interest and urgency, and we do not have the luxury of tiptoeing around the issues."

The TV commercial entitled "Kiss" done by the Foxp2 Cape Town advertising agency is the first television ad showing two men kissing and was broadcast for the first time on Sunday 21 February.

It has since triggered a litany of complaints, ranging from "this is offensive and disgusting" to "a step too far", "explain this to my daughter" and "family time" to "inappropriate" and "such an inappropriate ad".

Several TV channels declined to broadcast the commercial and others in the series that's been deemed too risque.

The Anova Health Institute says "we have exercised our right to freedom of expression, contained in clause 16 of the Bill of Rights, which states 'Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to receive or impart information or ideas".

BBC considering merging its international TV news channel, BBC World News, with its domestic BBC News channel in the UK to cut costs.

The BBC is considering merging its two news channels, its international TV channel BBC World News, and its domestic BBC News channel in the United Kingdom to cut costs.

In July last year plans emerged to turn the BBC News channel seen in the UK only, into an online channel only.

That has not happened. 

Of course, the TV viewership and reach of the BBC's international TV news audience keeps growing, making it unlikely that BBC World News will become an online-only channel or close down. 

And yet the BBC is being forced to dramatically cut costs. Now, one of the solutions on the table is to merge the local and the international BBC News channels, as first reported by The Guardian.

The BBC runs BBC News as a domestic 24-hour TV news channel, alongside an international and slightly differentiated channel feed, BBC World News, using the same resources.

Sometimes international viewers get to see BBC News coverage when BBC World News switches to BBC News for certain events - similar to when CNN International (DStv 401) switches to the CNN version seen in America.

Programmes like Outside Source is also simulcast and shown on BBC World News and BBC News at the same time.

James Harding, the BBC's director of news and current affairs, has said that closing down one of the channels is not on the agenda.

Yet, possibly merging the two channels into one will effectively mean the loss of a channel if the plan is enacted.

In South Africa and Africa, BBC World News is carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on channel 400, and on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat on channel 256.

As part of cost-cutting plans announced on Tuesday, the BBC is looking at the possibility of replacing BBC News and BBC World News with just one 24-hour TV news channel as "a single new BBC channel offering a global agenda from London".

The BBC News channel alone costs the BBC £63 million (R1,45 trillion) per year to run. It's not clear how much BBC World News costs per year to operate.

SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng now targeting public broadcaster's TV channels for local content make-overs: 'We are going to revamp your SABC3 first'.

The controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng is now targeting the public broadcaster's TV channels for the next phase in his local content make-over plan and says he will start "to revamp your SABC3 first" as the SABC's only commercial TV channel.

It follows after the decree last week from the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) for all 18 of the SABC's radio stations to immediately start playing 90% local music.

The unexpected move that was widely welcomed by South African artists left the SABC's commercial stations like 5FM and MetroFM scrambling to find and redo playlists and initially being unable to make the 90% quota.

Now Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants to rejig its SABC3 channel where popular American soaps like The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives lure more viewers than local programming struggling in the ratings race like local soap Isidingo and telenovela High Rollers.

American shows on SABC3 like Survivor, Botched, The Mentalist and Nikita lure a bigger viewership to the channel than local programming like Top Billing, Afternoon Express and others.

In January for instance the set of The Fast and Furious films together with Bold and Days held 7 out of the top 10 most watched slots on SABC3's list of highest rated programming for the month.

Two weeks ago Hlaudi Motsoeneng told South African producers that although people notice "more and more repeats on the SABC channels" that "there's no reason why we have to broadcast these American soaps and dramas".

On Tuesday, speaking at the latest The New Age Breakfast briefing held in Woodmead, Johannesburg and broadcast on SABC2's Morning Live, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "we are going to revamp your SABC3 first".

"If you look at SABC, all those movies, they are old. I grew up watching those movies. Even today, some of them.

"But if you look in that industry of content, even if people are producing new content, you wait for MultiChoice, example, to play those movies on their platform. For us we are given [it] after two years."

"And I said, 'We have film makers here in South Africa, why can't we create our own soapies, our own movies? Because we have people in South Africa," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The commercially-driven SABC3, created in 1996 with largely lifestyle-focused programming, caters for and strives to reach a cosmopolitan audience.

According to the SABC, SABC3 targets "South Africa's affluent English-speaking community; the channel's primary target market is viewers aged 18 to 49" and broadcasts a combination of international programming as well as locally produced soap operas, talk shows and drama series.


R2 billion for 4 new SABC channels.
Speaking at the same event, SABC board member member Aaron Tshidzumba told the audience that the SABC’s plans to launch 4 new “language-based” TV channels will cost "each channel, minimum R500 million".

"Which means, Motsoeneng is going to get, raise, R2 billion for us as the SABC for us to get 4 new TV channels."

"We have been promising government as the SABC board a SABC Sport channel; we will launch 8 TV channels [as digital terrestrial television]. And when they showed us the executive the figures, we realised we don't have this money."

"And he [Motsoeneng] said to us 'Look, we will get channel by channel. When we raise money, we will launch a channel. So he is promising us four new channels," said Aaron Tshidzumba.

SABC2 soap 7de Laan adds new Afrikaans family, the Welmans, with soap alums David Rees, Deirdre Wolhunter, Carina Nel and André Lotter.

SABC2's Afrikaans weekday soap, 7de Laan, is adding a new Afrikaans family, the Welmans, all hiding secrets with the new family that will be introduced from June.

The Welmans are portrayed by several well-known soap alums, including David Rees of M-Net's Egoli fame as patriarch Chris Welman, Deirdre Wolhunter as matriarch Mariaan Welman, former SABC1 Generations star Carina Nel as older sister Alexa, kykNET Villa Rosa's André Lotter as son Rikus and newcomer Kristen Raath as youngest daughter Amorey Welman.  

The Welmans in a sense returns 7de Laan to its origin-story, when the extended Terreblanche family with Madel, Jan-Hendrik, Tiaan and others held sway in the Hillside community. 

The Welmans who've lived in Hillside years ago, relocated to the Eastern Cape, after which they emigrated overseas and is now returning to South Africa with Chris Welman looking to expand his work as a property developer.

"As a family the Welmans appear to be as close to perfect as perfect comes," says the Danie Odendaal Productions show in a statement announcing the new family and cast addition.

"But peak through the front door, listen in from the kitchen and maybe you will find there's so much more to this bunch than meets the eye."

NBCUniversal International Networks adds more local African programming to E! on DStv with E! VIP, profiling African celebrities.

NBCUniversal International Networks is adding more local African programming to E! (DStv 124) with a new series, E! VIP, that will profile African celebrities.

E! VIP is focused on stars from the African continent and follows after the E! News Special Africa series that rolled out in 2015 profiling South African celebrities.

Episodes of E! VIP will be presented by the Nigerian celebrity Dolapo Oni or MzzAbby who will do sit-down interviews with Rita Dominic, Diamond Platnumz, Mafikizolo, D'Banj and Cassper Nyovest about their lives in the limelight.

The first E! VIP episode on 12 June at 21:00 will feature Nigeria's Tiwa Savage, followed by 5 more and then further episodes later in the year.

"After the great success of the E! News Special we are delighted to debut E! VIP on E! in Africa," says Colin McLeod, the managing director at NBCUniversal International Networks for the UK and emerging markets region.

"E! is committed to bringing audiences across the continent more local content and we are proud to showcase some of Africa's biggest names in music and entertainment in this new series."