INTERVIEW. As All Access Mzansi enters its 2nd season 'content and opportunities are getting better and better,' says producer.

The second season of the local weekly entertainment magazine show All Access Mzansi has just started on Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) with presenters Jason Greer and Pabi Moloi.

I asked Paul Venter, All Access Mzansi producer from Homebrew Films about the second season of the show, the new black male presenter All Access Mzansi wants to add, what has happened to Tammy-Anne Fortuin, whether the show is going to change this season, and how the show has adjusted moving from M-Net to the Mzansi Magic channel.

With the shift and relaunch of the show as All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic, what has been some of the big things over the course of the first season that the show had to adjust to and perhaps learnt from the experience of making a ''new'' show for basically a newly started TV channel?
Paul Venter: The only real shift for us was the target market. We now exclusively focus on content that will appeal to a black market audience ages 25 to 49. And if anything, it is an absolute joy, as the target market is so clearly defined.

Are there certain segments and inserts that viewers gravitate to more or like more? How do you determine the mix of any given week's episode and is it difficult to find something of everything to sprinkle in there that you're looking for?
All Access Mzansi is and has always been a celebrity, events and entertainment programme, so we keep the mix around this every week. But yes, as with any magazine programme, the scoops are extremely popular, and exciting: if I have to make an exception of one insert, it must be Kimora Lee Simmons at ZAR in Cape Town - it was a major scoop and hit the proverbial ''bulls-eye'' with our target market!

The show has now been renewed for a 2nd season. Anything new or different coming up either in the way the show is produced or the way it looks, or what viewers will see in terms of content or will the 2nd season be more focused on solidifying and building on the first season?
It takes a magazine programme at least 6 months to settle on a channel and I think it would be unwise to change and mess with the formula so early into its Mzansi Magic lifespan. The brand is getting out there more and more, and content and opportunities are getting better and better as we prove our commitment to quality content and professional broadcasting.

There was talk that All Access Mzansi is looking for a black male presenter. Is that still on or not? What happened and what's the latest with this process?
It was never a driven search for a presenter, but with content getting more and more and events happening all over the country, we realized it would be easier on production to have a bigger presenter pool. More news about this will follow soon.

Is it ta-ta Tammy-Anne Fortuin? Where is Tammy-Anne Fortuin and what is she going to do?
Tammy is in New York at the New York Film Academy where she will be studying for the next 4 years. She will however stay on our ''books'' – so to speak – and our first insert with her from New York is scheduled to be produced very soon. And with all the contacts she will be building in New York….

The show has evolved numerous times on M-Net, and seems to be doing the same now on Mzansi Magic. In what sense do you think the show will be different or have evolved from the first episode of All Access Mzansi that was on Mzansi Magic?
The show's look and feel stayed exactly the same since the first episode on All Access Mzansi on 21 April 2011 and we are keeping the look, feel and production qualities exactly the same for the future episodes.

All Access Mzansi II, Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107)

BREAKING. New Top Gear episodes in 2012 to start in South Africa on BBC Entertainment within days of being shown in Britain.

As I've reported RIGHT HERE in early October when BBC Worldwide Channels talked about the growth and future plans for the BBC channels in South Africa, BBC Worldwide Channels re-iterated today that programming shown on channels such as BBC Entertainment - Top Gear for instance - will be moving much closer to the original broadcasting date of such shows in Britain.

''The latest series of Top Gear, the world's most popular motoring show, will be coming to global television screens just days after the British premiere transmission,'' says BBC Worldwide Channels in a press release.

''Kicking off with a new Top Gear special in early 2012, series 18 will follow a maximum of 14 days after the British broadcast of the series, on BBC Entertainment in India, Africa and Latin America and on BBC Knowledge in Poland and Asia.''

''It's an important part of our programming strategy to bring as much of our acquired content to air as closely on our global network as it does in the United Kingdom,'' says David Weiland, the senior vice president of programming and channels at BBC Worldwide Channels. UK. ''Top Gear is a hugely popular programme with viewers across all our territories and I'm delighted we are able to bring the latest series to them so close to the United Kingdom premiere broadcast.''

FIRST LOOK. The first promo for the new show Global Exchange starting on Monday 7 November on CNN International.

I broke the news last week RIGHT HERE that a new show Global Exchange with John Defterios is coming to CNN International (DStv 401) and now the first, brand-new on-air promo is available.

Global Exchange will start on Monday 7 November at 18:00 (South African time) and will be broadcast live from Abu Dhabi. Global Exchange, as I've said, will look at emerging markets, and in the promo (disregard the time, its made for the Asian feed), Johannesburg, South Africa features prominently.

''CNN is constantly looking to anticipate its audience's needs and dynamic, relevant business output has long been core to the news mix we offer,'' says Katherine Green, CNN International's senior vice president and general manager.

''There is no question that understanding the impact of emerging markets on your business is key to unlocking future success in the global market place. Global Exchange will provide the information and the context that matters to keep our smart, forward-looking audiences right on top of the emerging market news they need to know. The international spread of our correspondents and contributors makes us perfectly placed to cover the countries and markets that really matter,'' she says.

Global Exchange will have regular contributions from Robyn Curnow and Erroll Narnett in South Africa.

BREAKING. The Home Channel snags the great Australian renovation reality show, homeMADE, starting on 29 December at 21:00.

You're reading it here first.

Renovation shows are a dime a dozen but this is a really great one - and after The Home Channel (DStv 182) issued their December schedule which I perused I can spill first that the awesome home MADE is coming to the channel, set to start on Thursday 29 December at 21:00.

home MADE is a great renovation reality show with David Heimann as presenter, pitting 10 designer from across Australia against each other in the biggest home renovation competition ever attempted in that country.

With echoes from Australia's The Block, which also had local seasons on M-Net, the two telegenic groups quickly starts to froth at the mouth as they have to completely make over two family homes in just five days, before they have to move on to the next challenge. Over the course of the 16 episodes the masks quickly come off and there's tears and lots of drama.

BREAKING. Originally schedule for April, Unnatural History is back on the schedule; set to start on 21 December at 19:30 on M-Net Series.

You're reading it here first.

I can be first to tell that the drama series Unnatural History is finally coming to M-Net Series (DStv 110) and will start on the channel on Wednesday, 21 December at 19:30 for 13 episodes.

In September 2010 I first talked about the show about a kind of young Indiana Jones-type, high school pupil going on awesome adventures and seeking artefacts while enrolled at a preppy school set inside a museum. Then in January this year I broke the news RIGHT HERE that M-Net Series has secured the broadcasting rights to Unnatural History.

Unnatural History that was supposed to start in April on M-Net Series, was pushed out. Now Unnatural History is back on M-Net Series' schedule and the new starting date is 21 December, the channel tells me.

Programming note: Special 2 hour documentary Gettysberg on History on 12 November looking back at the American Civil War.

It was actually shot right here in South Africa, had Ridley Scott and Tony Scott as executive producers, and won 4 Emmy Awards - and next Saturday, 12 November at 20:30 on History (DStv 254) viewers will be able to see the 2 hour special documentary Gettysburg.

Gettysberg looks back, on the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, at this terrifying battle by creating a cinematic experience and placing the viewer inside the fighting.

The documentary looks at the turning points, technology and also shares little known facts of the bloodiest battle in American history which took place over three days from 1 July 1863. Gettysburg combines expert analysis with intense, brutal action sequences for a dramatic documentary with epic scope.

Ready, steady...

The AfricaCast 2011 summit taking place in Cape Town next week shaping up to be a jam-packed 2 day televisionary event.

The AfricaCast 2011 two day summit and conference taking place next week in Cape Town on 9 and 10 November is going to deliver a breath-taking array of more than 150 speaker that promises to be a true televisionary experience.

A level executives from the entire spectrum of South Africa's TV and telecom industry and its biggest players - ranging from the SABC and MultiChoice, from SouthTel, MTN, Vodacom, the BBC and Facebook to Google, as well as regulators, satellite providers and content providers are getting ready to converge on the Mother City to talk all things television. The continent's migration to digital television gets top billing and will be high on the buzz agenda.

People can register online at www.africacast-event.com/ or email itmevents@informa.com for more information about the AfricaCast 2011 summit.

AfricaCast 2011 is a new event organised by Informa's Com World Series and IP&TV World Series, and the massive summit - the first of its kind will try to address, discuss and look at the challenges and opportunities in Africa's entire broadcasting and television market.

Fascinating keynote speakers and breakaway panel discussions are scheduled for AfricaCast 2011. TV with Thinus will attend over both these days and try to bring as much special coverage of this summit as possible.

ALSO READ: AfricaCast 2011 summit in November in Cape Town to look at TV, telecoms, IT and the entire broadcasting market across Africa.

BREAKING. SABC getting ready to spend thousands to find out ... what people are thinking of the SABC.

The SABC is getting ready to spend thousands of rands on what is most likely an open secret and what anyone can tell the beleaguered public broadcaster if the SABC cared to listen. The SABC will soon be spending thousands to find out what people think of the SABC.

The SABC, mired in allegations of corruption, stunning losses, constant executive turnover and turmoil, wasteful expenditure, cutbacks on local content and besieged by angry trade unions, now wants to do what it calls ''stakeholder perception research''.

The SABC wants to find out what stakeholders - that would include sponsors, advertisers, the production community, the media and press, and viewers obligated to pay an annual SABC TV license - think of the SABC. The public broadcaster has just issued a request for proposals for stakeholder perception research, which means that the broadcaster wants someone to investigate and tell the SABC what the external opinion is of people, groups and specific industry sectors towards the public broadcaster.

Not generally known or talked about, but most companies and large corporations - also South African broadcasters - are subscribed to what is known in the trade as a ''clipping service'', a daily barrage of news stories that gets sent to a company in which it's name, products, properties and executives appear which helps them to ascertain exactly what is being said and written about them and what public opinion about them there is.

While the SABC subscribed to clipping services during periods in the past and which yields quite a broad overview regarding its corporation and its programming, the SABC and its separate TV channels (let alone its radio stations) has no comprehensive, day-to-day meticulous idea of everything that's published, said, written or appearing about its programming or its existence.