2019 OSCARS - HOW, WHAT & WHERE TO WATCH. Your comprehensive TV guide to watch The 91st Academy Awards and all the various red carpet lead-up programming.

The 91st Annual Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, is taking place on Sunday in Hollywood from the Dolby Theatre and for the first time ever South African viewers will see Ryan Seacrest appear and doing pre-ceremony red carpet duty on both E! Entertainment as well as M-Net because of a fascinating broadcast contract twist.

Here's your comprehensive TV guide on exactly how, the channels, and the times, where you can watch the show as well as the surrounding red carpet coverage.

Two things are important to note - firstly, NBCUniversal's E! (DStv 124) for the 4th year in a row will again not have any actual red carpet coverage during the last hour of red carpet arrivals since those rights belong to the ABC network in America, so viewers will have to switch to M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) for the live red carpet coverage done and simulcast from the ABC network in America.

Secondly, South Africa's Anele Mdoda is at the red carpet for a M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) TV special that will be broadcast on Monday night. It's the second time in history that a South African TV reporter is doing red carpet duty at the Oscars, and the second time that South Africa will have its own red carpet Oscars TV special.

Here's your must-know rundown TV guide list:

On the Red Carpet: Oscars 2019 The Arrivals 
▪ Sunday 24 February 23:30 - 01:30 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The official red carpet coverage broadcast kicks off looking at the fashion as the stars arrive and interviews with the stars. Maria Menounos, Elaine Welteroth and Ashley Graham will interview nominees, performers and attendees as they arrive while Billy Porter will do fashion and glamour commentary.

Oscars: Live from the Red Carpet 2019 
▪ Monday 25 February 01:30 - 03:00 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The official red carpet coverage broadcast continues with interviews with the stars. 

Interesting to note is that E!'s Ryan Seacrest will show up from 02:30 in this broadcast on M-Net, joining the broadcast for the final half hour until the awards show starts at 03:00.

This is happening because Ryan Seacrest is the host of American Idol, showing in the United States on the ABC network, the same channel carrying the Oscars. 

ABC asked Ryan Seacrest to present and can choose who it wants to, and in this case, wants to use Ryan Seacrest since he's a talent on ABC and it will help to create buzz for the upcoming next season of American Idol.

Also note that E!, besides not having Ryan Seacrest for the last half hour, will also again not have live coverage from the red carpet for the last hour from 02:00 since ABC holds the rights as the official broadcast partner. This show will remain live from the red carpet until it switches to the awards show.

Live from the Red Carpet: The 2019 Oscars 

▪ Monday 25 February 00:00 - 02:30 (LIVE) E! (DStv 124)

While MultiChoice's electronic programme guide (EPG) is wrong and doesn't reflect the latest programming amendments of what E! will really be showing, this is what the televised coverage really will be for viewers in South Africa and across Africa:

 

E! for Africa will no longer show the usual Countdown to the Red Carpet preceding Live from the Red Carpet but will start at midnight with Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic headlining E!'s red carpet coverage and doing interviews. From 02:00  to 03:00 E! will do filler Oscar coverage not from the actual red carpet.

While Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic will cover from the red carpet The Real presenter Jeannie Mai, fashion and beauty expert Kahlana Barfield Brown, E! News style correspondent Zanna Roberts Rassi, fashion designer Christian Siriano, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski, and Very Cavallari star Kristin Cavallari will do commentary from The Roosevelt Hotel.

E! News correspondent and film expert Kristin Dos Santos and film expert Xilla Valentine will report live from Ripley's Believe It or Not! rooftop for a bird's eye view of all the action and the limo drop-off. E! News co-host Jason Kennedy and E! News correspondent Zuri Hall will also be at the Oscars red carpet.

The E! Glambot will also return to the Oscars with music video director and creative director, Cole Walliser, to capture one of a kind red carpet moments.

Red Carpet Rundown: Oscars 2019 

▪ Monday 25 February 02:00 - 03:00 E! (DStv 124)

Presented by Jeannie Mai looking at the fashion of stars who've arrived so far for the ceremony since E! isn't allowed red carpet access during the last hour before the awards show starts.

91 Annual Academy Awards 

▪ Monday 25 February 03:00 - 06:25 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The live simulcast of the awards show. Look out for South Africa's Trevor Noah of The Daily Show on Comedy Central and Charlize Theron who will both appear on stage during the course of the show as presenters.

M-Net will broadcast the Oscars across Africa in South Africa as well as with the following countries and territories covered by the M-Net Africa agreement: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malabo, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nambia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion Island, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, St. Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zaire, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe.

Anele at the Oscars 

▪ Monday 25 February 20:30 M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

A pre-recorded half-hour with Anele Mdoda in Hollywood covering the glitz, glam and excitement of Hollywood's biggest night.

91 Annual Academy Awards 

▪ Monday 25 February 21:00 M-Net (DStv 101)

The prime-time rebroadcast of the awards show.

Daily Pop: Oscars 2019 

▪ Tuesday 26 February 14:30 E! (DStv 124)

Presenters Carissa Culiner, Morgan Stewart and Justin Sylvester will discuss the most unforgettable moments and hottest fashion from the Oscars. The panel will be joined by Very Cavallari star Kristin Cavallari and film expert Nikki Novak.

E! News: Oscars 2019 

▪ Tuesday 26 February 19:05 E! (DStv 124)

Giuliana Rancic, Jason Kennedy and E!'s team of correspondents will do a special Oscars recap with all the insider secrets, surprises, snubs and backstage shockers, plus the biggest fashion risks and hottest after-parties.

Otto Bathurst to direct Showtime's science fiction series, Halo; production on the 9-episode first season to start later in 2019.

Otto Bathurst will be the director and executive producer of the science fiction series, Halo that Showtime will produce later in 2019 based on the hugely successful video game series.

Halo now has a 9-episode first season order, with Kyle Killen who will also be serving as executive producer, as well as writer and showrunner.

Otto Bathurst will helm multiple episodes of the live-action series that Showtime is producing in partnership with 343 Industries, along with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television.

No international or South African broadcaster has yet been announced but it's very likely that M-Net (DStv 101) will eventually grab Halo for South Africa and Africa where several other Showtime drama series reside on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

Halo will be distributed globally by CBS Studios International.

Halo will begin production later this year.

In a statement Showtime says "Halo will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant."

"Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future".

Wendy Williams set to return to The Wendy Williams Show seen on BET on 4 March, announces distributor and producer Debmar-Mercury.

Debmar-Mercury producing The Wendy Williams Show seen on Viacom Africa's BET (DStv 129) announced that talk show host Wendy Williams (54) will be returning after a long absence on 4 March.

"Wendy Williams is an incredible talent with the most unique voice in daytime," says Debmar-Mercury, the distributor and producer of the show, in a statement.

"We can't wait to welcome her back to her iconic purple chair on the set of her show on Monday, 4 March. We so appreciate all of the guest hosts and panellists who filled in for Wendy during this time."

"These people are, and always will be, true family to the show. And we want to thank all of the loyal and supportive fans who have been with us for 10 years now. And of course, we thank our station and business partners, who stepped up in such a supportive way."

Wendy Williams in a statement says "Salute to Debmar-Mercury for believing from the start and thanks to my staff for tirelessly holding it down for me."

The Wendy Williams Show has been making use of a variety of revolving hosts, including Nick Cannon, Sherri Shepherd, Michael Rapaport and Jerry O'Connell.

Wendy Williams fractured her shoulder in December 2018 and was supposed to be back on 14 January.

Her talk show return was then abruptly pushed out to 21 January, with the show then abruptly postponed again for a third time, saying Wendy Williams is taking an extended break to focus on her health, that will include hospitalisation.

Wendy Williams suffers from Graves' disease affecting her thyroid.

Staffers on The Wendy Williams Show has reportedly "moved on like she doesn't exist" and are furious with Wendy for not communicating about what's wrong with her and what's going on.

7th season of Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets on M-Net filming on location using the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific.

The 7th season of Survivor South Africa, entitled Survivor SA: Island of Secrets is set and being filmed on location using the islands of Samoa, east of Australia in the Polynesian region of the South Pacific Ocean.

Last month TVwithThinus dropped some hints about the mystery locale where the South African production company Afrokaans, again producing the Banijay Group's Survivor format show for its second consecutive time, stranded 21 contestants for its 7th season, again filming for 39 days like the previous season.

There's a big difference between the ages of the contestants this season - there are very young contestants and there are much older contestants as well.

With Nico Panagio once again back as Survivor SA host, the new season is set on a location further away from South Africa than ever before, with the show that previously had exotic set-piece seasons playing out as far away as Panama, the Maldives, Malaysia and even the Philippines in the previous 6th season.

With a rough time difference of between 10 to 11 hours compared to South Africa, it takes the production crew, filming equipment and contestants between 4 to 5 different - including extremely long - flights just to reach the fantasy island locale in its far-flung time zone.

The travel time? Roughly over a 24-hour day and a half spent on planes and waiting in international airports for flight connections to get there.

"What we can tell viewers, is that they must be prepared for twists and turns, unlike anything they've seen on the show before. It’s called Island of Secrets, after all," says Lani Lombard, M-Net's head of publicity.

On Friday M-Net released a video with Survivor SA host Nico Panagio announcing Samoa as the location of the 7th season of the reality show.

Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets will start on M-Net on Thursday 16 May after the conclusion of The Bachelor South Africa on 9 May. 

The frigid fight before Winter arrives between MultiChoice's DStv and Ster-Kinekor over the upcoming final season of HBO's Game of Thrones on M-Net.

Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryn, the Mother of Dragons, can't stand each other in a fight over territory and neither apparently can MultiChoice and Ster-Kinekor who are fighting over the HBO series Game of Thrones - while South African viewers are wondering whether they will get to see an episode or episodes on cinema big screens or IMAX.

The satellite pay-TV platform and the cinema chain started a public and very frigid skirmish on Thursday over the upcoming 8th and final season of the HBO fantasy drama series that will start on M-Net (DStv 101) as an Express from the US title with a simulcast broadcast on 15 April at 03:00 in the morning and then again during prime time on Mondays at 22:00, starting from the same date.

In April 2016, M-Net did a simulcast screening at 03:00 of the debut episode of the 6th season of Game of Thrones in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town as South African fans of the HBO series, in full cosplay regalia, swarmed movie theatres to watch the show together.

On Thursday a social media influencer called Rabasadi asked whether Ster-Kinekor would be showing the 8th season of Game of Thrones at Ster-Kinekor.

That erupted a Twitter war on social media between MultiChoice's DStv and the cinema chain, both slinging Westeros-level hits at each other hurting each other's brands.

"While Ster-Kinekor is thinking, catch the previous seasons on Showmax," said DStv, to which Ster-Kinekor responded: "You can catch the latest movies in a Ster-Kinekor theatre near you a whole year before they'll play on DStv, and another zinger: "if only you'd stop playing the same movies 500 times. Good thing people can come to us for fresh movie releases".

DStv retorted: "I'd say the same thing if I made people watch movies inside a fridge" with a meme of the character Jon Snow.

"Not as cold as repeat," remarked Ster-Kinekor,

Meanwhile DStv subscribers and fans of the series just want to know whether there would be a big screen event again, or if the debut episode or one of the promised massive upcoming battle episodes - the biggest, most elaborate and most expensive ever produced for television - will be seen on a big cinema screen, preferably IMAX, in South Africa.

M-Net is as yet silent about the possibility of a big screen season 8 debut for Game of Thrones in South Africa, but sources told TVwithThinus on Friday that M-Net is planning a 03:00 screening in Cape Town and Johannesburg on 15 April.

A week ago MultiChoice and M-Net were asked whether episodes of the 8th season of Game of Thrones will become available on DStv Now or on Showmax as catch-up viewing, or on both once the show starts on M-Net.

M-Net said it would answer but hasn't yet responded with details of how the stream watching of Game of Thrones will work and where it will be available.

Whilst @sterkinekor is thinking catch the previous seasons on #Showmax: https://t.co/4klVrFetvO 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uYQ2lFtLdl

— DStv (@DStv) February 21, 2019

... And in other news, you can catch the latest movies at a Sterkinekor theatre near you, a whole year before they'll play on DStv. pic.twitter.com/qysKf4VMrW

— Ster-Kinekor (@sterkinekor) February 21, 2019

Let us know how #GoT was on the Big Screen 🍿oh wait.... #WinterIsComing❄️ pic.twitter.com/Sugcb5bXWH

— DStv (@DStv) February 21, 2019

Hmm... If only you'd stop playing the same movies 500 times... Good thing people can come to us for fresh movie releases. Thank us later. 😛😎 pic.twitter.com/q2x5AYsdxa

— Ster-Kinekor (@sterkinekor) February 21, 2019

I'd say the same thing if I made people watch movies inside a fridge. #TooMuchSnow⛄ pic.twitter.com/b3GCEPiIa1

— DStv (@DStv) February 21, 2019

Not as cold as a repeat. 😉 pic.twitter.com/xGMkVoOErX

— Ster-Kinekor (@sterkinekor) February 21, 2019

FOX's Empire star Jussie Smollett arrested, judge calls charges 'despicable', after police say the actor staged a racist attack because he was 'dissatisfied with his salary'.

Actor Jussie Smollett of Empire on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) was arrested by Chicago police saying that the actor staged and paid for his racist attack because he was "dissatisfied with his salary" and wanted to boost his career and the money he could get from FOX and the studio 20th Century Fox Television.

Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson in a press conference said Jussie Smollett paid two Nigerian brothers, Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, $3 500 to stage an attack on him in late-January to take "advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career".

"I'm left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?" said Eddie Johnson who is black.

Jussie Smollett (36) was arrested on Thursday morning and was released on bail of $10 000 after which he went to the Empire set. Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke called the charges "utterly outrageous" and "despicable".

Eddie Johnson who called Jussie Smollett's action a "shameful publicity stunt" says police believe that "the scratching and bruising that you saw on his face were most likely self-inflicted" and that police believe Jussie Smollett "staged the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary".

FOX and 20th Century TV, the studio producing Empire, issued a statement after his arrest no longer fully supporting Jussie Smollett as it did earlier, suspending Jussie Smollett and immediately cutting him from the remainder of the episodes of the current 5th season of the show.

On Thursday FOX and 20th Century TV still called Jussie Smollett a "consummate professional" and said the actor won't be written out of Empire in a statement, but has now suspended him and dumped him from appearing in any further episodes, saying in a new statement: "We understand the seriousness of this matter and we respect the legal process. We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options".

Jussie Smollett already makes more than $100 000 per Empire episode.

"The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us," said Empire executives Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer in a statement released Friday.

"Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply."

"While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of Jamal from the final two episodes of the season."

Jussie Smollett last month told police detectives that he was attacked near the entrance of a Loews hotel in Chicago and that the two men yelled,  "Empire fa***t" and "Empire n***er," while hitting him and that one shouted "This is MAGA country", a reference to American president Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Eddie Johnson said Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo told police that Jussie Smollett who is black and gay "first attempted to gain attention by sending a false letter that relied on racial, homophobic and political language. When that didn't work, Jussie Smollett paid $3 500 to stage this attack".

The brothers' motive for helping stage the fake attack was money.

A week before the attack, a letter was sent to the Chicago set of Empire. It contained white powder which turned out to be aspirin, and a drawing of a "stick figure hanging from a tree".

The police say Jussie Smollett told the brothers what to say while attacking him with the staged attack that was supposed to have happened on 28 January but was postponed until 2:00 on 29 January because his flight was delayed.

Jussie Smollett took the brothers to the place where he wanted the staged attack to occur on 27 January and pointed out a surveillance camera on the corner he thought would record the attack. The plan was changed so bleach would be used during the incident instead of petrol.

Chicago police called on Jussie Smollett "to apologise to this city that he smeared" over his "hoax" that "received national attention for weeks" and may deter future hate crime victims from coming forward for fear that their allegations may be met with scepticism.

Jussie Smollett's lawyers in a statement said "Like any other citizen, Jussie Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one, where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked".

"Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense."

Pierre van Pletzen abruptly drops out of Comedy Central Africa and Showmax's Comedy Central Roast of AKA without any reason.

Pierre van Pletzen on Thursday abruptly dropped out of Comedy Central Africa (DStv 122) and Showmax's Comedy Central Roast of AKA as a panellist without a reason, hours before the show was recorded on Thursday night at the Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg.

No reason was given with Viacom Africa citing "unforeseen circumstances" that wasn't explained.

It left the Comedy Central Roast of AKA  (real name Kiernan Forbes) with one less panellist on stage at the sold-out show that will be broadcast on 11 March on Comedy Central, with an uncensored version that will become available on 12 March on MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax.

Pierre van Pletzen was originally announced to form part of the panellists including Nigeria's Davido, Moshe Ndiki as well as Papa Penny, Joey Rasdien, Moonchild Sanelly and also including Mark Fish, Nina Hastie and Francois van Coke, with Pearl Thusi as the roastmaster.

"However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Pierre van Pletzen is unable to participate in the panel of the Comedy Central Roast of AKA," Viacom Africa said in a statement received on Thursday night before the start of the recording of the show.

Trevor Noah will be on the Oscars stage for the 91st Academy Awards, joining the already announced Charlize Theron as a presenter.

The South African comedian Trevor Noah will be on the Oscars stage very early Monday morning South African time for the 91st Academy Awards in Los Angeles, when he, together with a diverse group of other stars, will introduce the 8 Best Picture nominees.

Besides Trevor Noah, Charlize Theron has also already been announced earlier this month as one of the presenters for this year's Oscars ceremony that will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Trevor Noah is the presenter of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

The producers of the 91st Academy Awards on Wednesday night in a statement said that Trevor Noah, Barbara Streisand, Serena Williams, Dana Carvey, Queen Latifah, Diego Luna, Mike Myers and some others will introduce the 8 Best Picture nominees during the ceremony.

"Movies connect us all," said producer Donna Gigliotti and producer-director Glenn Weiss in a statement from the Academy.

"They move us, and they create moments and memories that unite us. We are thrilled to assemble this well-known array of film lovers to introduce and share their reflections on the Best Picture-nominated movies."

The Oscars will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

The 91st Academy Awards will be broadcast on M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) from 03:00 on Monday morning, 25 February, with a delayed broadcast later on the same day on M-Net (DStv 101) at 21:00.

Right2Know calls for urgent, full and transparent investigation into possible state capture of South Africa's TV and broadcasting sector.

The Right2Know organisation (R2K) and public pressure group in an open letter is calling for an urgent, full and transparent investigation into how possible state capture of South Africa's TV and broadcasting sector, and how this alleged state capture has impacted broadcasting and public broadcasting in the country.

Right2Know, in its open letter, is urging Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, chair of the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, to investigate what R2K refers to as "evidence and allegations of state capture and associated corruption in South Africa's broadcasting sector".

Lazola Kati and Dale McKinley of R2K say that R2K aligns itself with a previous submission done by the SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) non-profit organisations and public pressure groups acting as media and broadcasting watchdog organisations in South Africa.

In September 2018 both SOS and MMA submitted a joint statement to the commission asking for an urgent investigation into the extent of state capture in South Africa's broadcasting sector.

R2K refers to "serious allegations in the public domain" as part of the reason for a full and transparent investigation that is needed into South Africa's broadcasting sector.

This in part relates to Naspers' MultiChoice pay-TV operator (that will be listing on the JSE at the end of this month), the notorious Gupta family's now-shuttered ANN7, the SABC as South Africa's public broadcaster, eMedia Investments' e.tv, Faith Muthambi as South Africa's former minister of communications and the department of communications.

Big unanswered questions remain around South Africa's seriously delayed and allegedly "hijacked" switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT), a process known as digital migration that has been fraught with delays, corruption, infighting and incessant changes.

Evidence "strongly suggests that various actors colluded to shape South Africa's broadcasting policy and sector to their advantage," says R2K.

This severely affected "ordinary South Africans' access to affordable and quality public media and telecommunications".