ADVISORY. Picketing action by disgruntled Creative Workers Union to go ahead this afternoon at the launch of M-Net's The Wild.

Public picketing and protest will go ahead today as planned at the media press launch of the new M-Net soap The Wild by members of the Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA) threatening to cast a shadow over the launch of M-Net's new weekday production.

CWUSA has confirmed to TV with Thinus that the organisation that on Thursday decided to picket outside Montecasino on Sunday (today) on the plight of actor's rights will go ahead with the picketing this afternoon as planned. CWUSA plans to hand a manifesto to the pay broadcaster.

The Media Workers Union of South Africa (MWASA) has come out in support of the picketing action saying they ''support this protest action unequivocally and without reservation''. Meanwhile the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) has set up a meeting with M-Net for 14 April to specifically discuss and talk about contractual issues and residuals of actors.

Unions are upset with South African broadcasters in general and now specifically with M-Net's new production as the lightning rod regarding actors' renumeration and how actors' contracts are structured, especially in regards to future payments for rebroadcasts and so-called ''residual payments''. The issue came to the fore after actor Tony Kgorore who started filming on The Wild refused to sign a contract with terms he didn't agree with and was replaced by actor Putla Sehlapelo.

ALSO READ: Public protest and picketing coming to M-Net's media launch of its new soap The Wild over actors' rights.

BREAKING. Hundreds of dancers show up as nationwide audition process kicks off in Johannesburg for e.tv's Step Up Or Step Out.

Hundreds of dancer wannabe's turned up at the Park station Blues room yesterday when the nationwide audition process for e.tv's new dance reality show Step Up or Step Out kicked off on Saturday in Johannesburg.

Among one of the groups which made an immediate impression on the Step Up or Step Out judges was 8.one.oh (pictured above) who's members consist of Armin van der Merwe, Lani Dorfling, Mario Gomes and Arno Trotter. Pictured below is another group, Emetic, who also entered the dance reality show yesterday.

Step Up Or Step Out with presenter Dalen Lance will start on e.tv. on 8 May at 18:05 with a weekly behind-the-scenes show starting on Tuesday 10 May at 20:30.

Step Up or Step Out's Cape Town audition will take place this coming weekend on Saturday and Sunday, 9 and 10 April at Theatre in the District, 106 Chapel Street, District 6. Registration will start at 08:00.
The Durban Step Up or Step Out audition will take place Saturday and Sunday 16 and 17 April at the Durban Natural Science Museum's Research Centre at 151 KE Masinga Road (cnr. Of Wyatt Road). Registration will start at 08:00.

ALSO READ: Dalen Lance to present e.tv's new dance reality show Step Up Or Step Out.
ALSO READ: The judges of Step Up Or Step Out.
ALSO READ: e.tv announces its brand-new dance reality show Step Up Or Step Out.
ALSO READ: e.tv looking to produce a brand-new dance reality show that will be entitled Step Up Or Step Out.

BREAKING. Almost 2 000 contestants rock up for the final chance to audition in the 7th season of Idols in Johannesburg.

Cobus Bodenstein/M-Net

The nationwide audition process for the 7th season of Idols on M-Net is drawing to a close today with the Johannesburg auditions taking place right now at Montecasino - the proverbial ''last chance saloon''. The 7th season of Idols will start its broadcast in June on the pay broadcaster's M-Net (DStv 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) channels.

Today is the final day that hopeful singers could register to audition for this season and according to M-Net thousands of potential Idols contestants turned up to try out. Idols host ProVerb welcomed a crowd of almost 1 900 contestants in the piazza outside the Teatro.

ALSO READ: The 7th season of M-Net's Idols visits Soweto for the first time.

ALSO READ: M-Net's Idols in Durban for the 7th season where Jason Hartman makes a surprise appearance.

ALSO READ: Idols having an awesome time in Polokwane with Yvonne Chaka Chaka where 10 contestants make it through to the Theatre round.

ALSO READ: Idols powers into Polokwane.

ALSO READ: Heaps of hopefuls show up as Idols kicks off its 7th season nationwide audition phase in Cape Town.

ALSO READ: Wonderfully awesome! New Idols judge Unathi Msengana a great new addition to the M-Net reality show.

AFTER ALL ACCESS: ''It's sad.'' Mark Bayly on the end of All Access on M-Net, parting ways with his TV family, and what he's doing next.

With All Access ending its run on the M-Net channel tonight after exactly two years on the air (it will continue later, retooled and shortened on the Mzansi Magic channel), presenter Mark Bayly tells TV with Thinus that it's unfortunate, that he feels sad and that he's disappointed that an entertainment magazine show such as All Access couldn't continue on the M-Net channel. But the suave Capetonian and a married dad of two is moving on.

''I think it's unfortunate. It was a show that had a dedicated audience,'' Mark Bayly tells me. ''I get that it was a business decision and I'm not privy to all the machinations that go on at the top level. I think it was a nice alternative and quite a fresh show. I'm not sure how much it's going to change. It's becoming a smaller show and no longer has a place for me so I'm moving on,'' he says.

I asked Mark Bayly what he enjoyed the most about his two years as part of the presenters' team of the show that won a Safta award last month as the best entertainment magazine show on South African television. ''I like the variety. I got to meet a lot of different people from different backgrounds - different lines of work from actors to events, to people working behind the scenes. That's what I really liked about the show. It wasn't all about the celebrities upfront. It wasn't always so directly celebrity focused and I really liked meeting and talking to and showing the real people behind the scenes who are ultimately responsible for how things look.'' Also he says ''I had a really, really great team of people that I worked with besides the other presenters. We had great camera men and sound guys and directors. We really were like a family for a couple of years. So it's sad. It's always sad when you part ways. You just stay confident that you'll meet up again in future and work on other projects.''

On what he's doing next after leaving All Access, Mark Bayly who was the first Survivor SA presenter says he's been working on a travel show idea. ''I've been working on a travel show idea, that I've pitched to a company and they're very keen about it but they're also very busy at the moment. I'm starting my DJ career this coming Wednesday in fact on 2oceansvibe radio. I'll be doing the Wednesdays drivetime 15:00 to 18:00 slot. I'm looking forward to be unrestrained and just being myself on air. I'll start off with one day a week and then see how that goes.''

''My MC'ing work is continuing and I'm doing a lot of that and I absolutely love it. And I've got my feelers out there. The thing with M-Net and their marketing strategy is I don't think they've even put it out there yet to the public that All Access is leaving the M-Net channel so there might be people who are planning stuff and might be interested in using me but might think I'm not available because I'm on All Access. Hopefully now they'll know that I am available. So as much as I've got my own feelers out I'm always interested in hearing from people.''

He tells me he's ''surprised and a little disappointed that a show like that didn't stay on''. ''Whether I would have continued to stay on is another thing. I kind of feel like my time on the show would have come to an end soon anyway, regardless of the move. I do think its unfortunate that that kind of quality of show – that wins a Safta award for best magazine show in the country… well I'd like to see a show like that continue. I probably would have been moving on within a few months anyway.''

Mark Bayly says he wishes them well. ''It's going to be interesting, I will tune in and see how it changes and the kinds of things that they will be covering which the remaining – well, everybody much besides me and Koula – will be doing. And I wish them well.''

ALSO READ: A look back at All Access as it ends on M-Net - The numerous changes the show went through during 2 years.
ALSO READ: All Access cut to half an hour; revamped for a black audience as it moves to Mzansi Magic when it restarts at the end of April.
ALSO READ: Mark Bayly adds radio to his repertoire.

A look back at All Access as it ends on M-Net: The numerous changes the vaunted magazine show went through over the past 2 years.

It's the end of All Access with the last episode on M-Net tonight, exactly two years after its high-buzz debut on the pay broadcaster. After a retool, a truncated half hour new version will restart in a month's time on the new Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) channel but very little will be left of the weekly entertainment magazine show that in April 2009 promised a brand-new, and different take on covering the entertainment biz in South Africa on television.

Before the first All Access episode in 2009 there was no launch party - probably the show and the broadcaster's very first big mistake. The cast and crew huddled for pizza and wine by themselves and didn't want the press there, allowing some of the buzz and early eagerness to cover the show to disappate. On television All Access still started off strong though, a high-concept, vaunted try by M-Net that returned to the entertainment magazine genre for the first time since it canceled Front Row years earlier.

Before its first episode All Access - a show carefully crafted by Helen Smit, M-Net's former head of local productions -  was put through a pilot phase during which Homebrew Films that produces All Access, were noticed at glam events. The TV industry got so excited about this new alternative to what the public broadcaster and e.tv have been cranking out weekly for years.

M-Net and All Access had what can unequivocally be called the best TV set South African television had ever seen - a sprawling, perfectly high defintion ready, multi-level expanse that was coloured in black, white and red. It was the perfect platform and backdrop for the crop of choice presenters to lord over with glamour wear bring viewers the week's entertainment must-see's. But a few months after its high gloss debut it became clear that trouble was brewing and the major tinkering on everything began.

After less than 40 episodes the monumental set by Michael Gill was dispatched (the space given to SuperSport's new HD studio). Mark Bayly and Pabi Moloi - originally the two main co-hosts for every episode were broken up and replaced by a merry-go-round of presenters doing the show from select locations - seemingly imitating a format already done by all the other shows. Presenters for theatre and movies were added.
By April last year the logo was changed and All Access was moved from Thursday to Friday nights at 19:30 after it left the air for several weeks to make way for sport. Then in 2011 it moved to another new timeslot of 19:00 after no new original episodes were broadcast over the Christmas period while all other magazine shows stayed new. By then presenter Ewan Strydom left to jump to SABC3's Expresso.

A few days before the first birthday party of All Access last year (which was a great event) numerous productions sources involved with the show were exasperated with what they called ''the massive amount of changes on screen and behind the scenes'' of All Access. ''It's a lot of tinkering and adjustment for something that's not even a year old,'' said one at the time.

Now All Access ends it run on M-Net after just two years and about 90 episodes. Tonight's episode will look very different from how it started in April two years ago. Which leaves us wondering: Will viewers see a local entertainment magazine show in the vein of Front Row and All Access on M-Net again - if ever - in the future?

ALSO READ: After All Access: ''It's sad.'' Mark Bayly on the end of All Access on M-Net, parting ways with his TV family and what he's doing next.

AFTER ALL ACCESS: Mark Bayly adds radio to his repertoire; starting his new radio show on 2oceansvibe radio this coming Wednesday.

With Mark Bayly no longer with the entertainment magazine show All Access that's broadcasting its last episode on M-Net tonight, I can reveal that Mark Bayly is starting his radio career as a DJ (amongst other things) next Wednesday on the Cape Town radio station 2oceansvibe radio.

''I'm starting my DJ'ing career; this coming Wednesday in fact,'' the always suave and funny Mark Bayly tells me. Radio listeners will now be able to hear Mark Bayly on radio.
''I'm doing the Wednesdays drivetime 15:00 to 18:00 slot. I'm very excited about it,'' he says about the radio station broadcasting in Cape Town (or if you listen on the web, everywhere).

''It doesn't have the top heavy structures that normal radio broadcasters have. It's very maverick. So I'm quite looking forward to be unrestrained and be myself on air. I'm starting off with one day a week on air and we'll then see how that goes.''

ALSO READ: ''It's sad.'' Mark Bayly on All Access ending on M-Net and parting ways with his TV family.

BREAKING. All Access cut to half an hour; revamped for a black audience once the show resets on Mzansi Magic end of April.

The weekly entertainment magazine All Access will end on M-Net tonight exactly as I told you RIGHT HERE in February, and be resurrected as i told you RIGHT HERE last month on Mzansi Magic for a black audience and dropping the white presenters Mark Bayly and Koula.
Now I can reveal that All Access will be cut down to half an hour show that will start on Thursday, 21 April at 20:00 for 26 episodes.

''All Access is ending on the M-Net channel tonight. It will be revamped as a brand-new half hour show starting on Mzansi Magic on Thursday 21 April at 20:00,'' M-Net's commissioning editor Nirvana Singh just told me. ''There will be a tweak to the All Access content as well. The show will change to reflect the look and feel to match the brand of Mzansi Magic as a channel,'' she says.

''All Access on Mzansi Magic will no longer have some of the presenters. The presenters of All Access on Mzansi Magic will be Pabi Moloi and Tammy-Anne Fortuin, Bridget Masinga and Jason Greer. The show will remain in terms of content the same, we're just going to make it more accessible to the Mzansi Magic audience,'' says Nirvana Singh.

Homebrew Films that did All Access for 2 years for M-Net will produce the new half hour All Access for Mzansi Magic with an initial contract of 26 episodes running for half a year.

ALSO READ: M-Net's All Access to end on Friday 1 April; to be resurrected on Mzansi Magic later.

TOLDJA! SABC3 moves Special Assignment to Wednesdays at 21:30 from next week; adds Ashraf Garda as new presenter.

SABC3 has just announced that its weekly and longrunning investigative news magazine show Special Assignment will be moving to Wednesdays at 21:30 as from next week which is exactly what I've told you would happen RIGHT HERE at the beginning of last month. Special Assignment also adds a new presenter, Ashraf Garda.

Ashraf Garda can be heard om SAfm and has been regularly seen on CNN International, Al Jazeera and CBC Canada during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

ALSO READ: Major primetime scheduling shake-up coming to SABC3's line-up from April.

BREAKING. M-Net's new logo for its M-Net HD channel has a more streamlined, chrome-finish look.

Here's your first look at the brand-new logo for the M-Net HD (DStv 170) channel that came into effect as a channel ident just after midnight this morning, 1 April.

The new gleaming M-Net HD logo changed the font of the ''HD'' wording to a sans serif font, made the ''M'' blue ribbon bigger and now separate from the ''HD" to be more visible and to also be exactly the same as not jus the ''M'' of the main M-Net channel (DStv 101) but also similar to how the ''M'' is now big and at the front of all the other M-Net sister channels (M-Net Stars, M-Net Action, M-Net Series).

Exactly as I broke the news last year, all the logos changed today, 1 April and all the channel idents for M-Net Stars, M-Net Action, M-Net Series, M-Net Movies 1, M-Net Movies 2, M-Net Movies 1 HD jumped from the top right corner to the top left corner.
M-Net HD was first to change its logo and TV screen corner, followed by M-Net Movies 1, then M-Net Movies 2, then M-Net Action, M-Net Stars and M-Net Series.

ALSO READ: How the new M-Net Series logo looks.
ALSO READ: How the new M-Net Stars logo looks.
ALSO READ: How the new M-Net Action logo looks.