BREAKING. 'People complain all the time that we are repeating. We are not,' says Lulama Mokhobo, SABC CEO.

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Lulama Mokhobo, the SABC's CEO and highest ranking executive at the struggling public broadcaster defended the SABC live on the air on Wednesday evening in the SABC's flagship TV news bulletin saying that the SABC is not repeating programming all the time and that the SABC has "great new content".

"We've got great new content," said Lulama Mokhobo, asking that people don't judge the SABC by what they read, but by what they see on the SABC's three TV channels.

"There are people who I doubt actually watch the SABC, who complain all the time that we are repeating. We are not. We actually have a great deal of new content," said Lulama Mokhobo.

She went on the SABC's flagship daily news bulletin on Wednesday evening which underwent a massive makeover and was being interviewed live to talk and explain the reasons for the SABC changes.


ALSO READ: "For us, yes, the negative publicity has been very painful," admits Lulama Mokhobo, SABC CEO on SABC News.

BREAKING. SABC CEO Lulama Mokhobo explains the massive makeover of the SABC's flagship daily TV news bulletin on SABC3.

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Lulama Mokhobo, the SABC's CEO, appeared on the revamped and massively makeover-ed SABC News bulletin this evening on SABC3 - now an hour long on weekdays from today and starting at 18:30 (with a brand-new set, a new opening sequence and a new tri-anchor news team) to explain the reason for the change to the SABC's flagship TV news bulletin.

"We're doing the news differently from today. Many people probably thought it's an April Fools' Joke, I assure you it's not," said SABC News anchor Vabakshnee Chetty, before she started interviewing Lulama Mokhobo live in the new news studio.

It was very important for us to provide South Africans with an additional half an hour to the 30 minutes that we used to have from 19:00 to 19:30," said Lulama Mokhobo.

"The reason is quite simply that we do not have enough space in our 30 minute bulletins to be able to provide South Africans with perspectives from across the country. As you know there is so much going on, all the time, in all the provinces, which we're unable to broadcast because there's only so much you can do in the small time we have," said Lulama Mokhobo.

"Secondly it gives us an opportunity to not only expand on the news of the day but to educate South Africans a little bit more. We tend to think news is only for information; it is also partly for education. If you have a society that is very well informed, they're able to make better decisions about their daily lives and what they're going to be doing tomorrow and how they're going to interact with their environment," said Lulama Mokhobo.

Vabakshnee Chetty asked Lulama Mokhobo on SABC News whether market and audience research was done before the change to an hour long broadcast, and what viewers want to see the SABC deliver.

"There was indeed, there was viewer research that was done through our platforms." Lulama Mokhobo said "news took centrestage".

According to Lulama Mokhobo, viewers complained and told the SABC that "we need to see more of regional events and happenings, and we've taken that on board - very seriously. If we can't do that, then we can't be the public broadcaster."

"Would you say that regional broadcasting of regional news is what sets us apart from our competitors?" asked Vabakshnee Chetty of Lulama Mokhobo.

"Without a doubt, without a doubt. We are truly South African. And yes, while we do carry some international news, our focus should be on what is happening in South Africa and the region itself. When we look at provincial news gathering services, actually we have a huge amount of content, which you know as a news woman yourself, comes through our pipes - and we're unable to use it," said Lulama Mokhobo.

"I think for me, it's a bit of a tragedy that so much is going on and the country doesn't know about it. So yes, a major proportion of what will be happening in this one hour newscast will pay due respect and create space for the regions to be heard,'' said Lulama Mokhobo.

BREAKING. Try this: SABC News and the SABC surprise with South African television's first ever tri-anchor news team format.

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Try this out for size: In a try worthy of game upmanship over the eNCA (DStv 403) and its flagship news bulletin News Night with Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti as dual co-anchors (now down to just Jeremy Maggs as Iman Rappetti is on study leave abroad), the SABC and SABC Television News surprised by unveiling South African television, South African television news, and the SABC's, first ever tri-anchor news format this evening.

The SABC News, the new name for the News @ 7 on SABC3 which now will start at 18:30 on weekdays and be an hour long broadcast - news TV with Thinus broke last month, revealed three news anchors seated simultaneously behind the anchor desk - covering main news, business news and sport on a daily basis.

Besides the new tri-anchor news team, the news bulletin also has a brand-new opening sequence, and also has a brand new, gleaming, space-age set with a massive mosaic video wall.

"The show will be an hour long, with updates from news, business and sport and that's where my co-anchors come into the fray. Tumi Buys will be on the business desk with Simon Burke on sport. Hello guys, exciting times lie ahead," said anchor Vabakshnee Chetty.

"I must say, 'Great to be here.' I will bring you the latest in business and economic news and I look forward to tonight's bulletin," said Tumi Buys.

"We've got a world-class playing surface, this amazing studio, there's plenty of space. We're going to use it to its full potential. We've got a dedicated team of reporters, speaking to the people, getting the questions answered. It's very exciting times," said Simon Burke, referring to the new SABC News set.

"We do have a world-class studio that we're broadcasting from, and we will be bringing you the latest in terms of business, sport, econ and weather and we will bring the people into the studio - the newsmakers - and ask them the questions you want answered," said Vabakshnee Chetty.

Zinhle Tshabalala was introduced as the new primetime news "weather girl", the new meteorologist who viewers will be seeing on the SABC News on SABC3 from now on.


ALSO READ: Brand-new opening sequence for SABC News and the SABC's flagship TV news bulletin on SABC3.
ALSO READ: SABC News reveals a gleaming, brand-new space-age set; giant mosaic video wall; and a new opening sequence.

BREAKING. SABC News reveals gleaming new space-age set; giant video-wall; and brand-new opening sequence for news on SABC3.

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It's not the bridge of the starship USS Voyager but the SABC and SABC Television News unveiling a brand-new and gleaming grey and blue news set for the SABC and SABC3's SABC News main flagship  TV news bulletin this evening as part of a massive overhaul of the daily television newscast.

The former News @ 7 on SABC3 which will now simply be SABC News moved to 18:30 from today and will now be an hour long on weekdays.

Part of the massive news broadcast revamp which includes the flowing news set which the SABC revealed this evening, is a brand-new opening sequence for the SABC News, a massive 18 monitor mosaic video wall (a first ever for South African television news and South African TV news), as well as another South African television first: a simultaneously seated tri-anchor news team.

The new news set has a main section with a tilde grapheme, grey anchor desk with a black inlay ribbon design and what appears to be a kingstone blue tinted glass countertop on a raised dais.

The main section has a curved grill light design at the back sloping to a mosaic video wall on the slightly curved back wall.

The main section of the new SABC News set and the anchor desk gives way to the side and the immediate left as viewers see it, for a trapezium middle section with a mounted flat screen in the middle of the wall and translucent blue panelling to provide faux depth and background perspective. 

This section with stand-and-talk anchoring is where the news and weather sections of SABC News is now being done from.

To the left of this is yet another, third, new section of the set, where live on-set, seated interviews, aka "talk show style" in-studio interviews will be conducted from.

This section has a wall mounted flat panel TV screen with side murals, white grill detail at the bottom, a two-tone floor, swivel chairs and a clear glass or perspex curved rectangle table,positioned around a round smaller, clear glass or perpex side table on top of a white bench elevation.

ALSO READ: Brand-new opening sequence for SABC News and the SABC's main flagship TV news bulletin on SABC3.
ALSO READ: The SABC and SABC Television News surprise with the first ever South African television tri-anchor news team.

BREAKING. Brand-new opening sequence for SABC News and the SABC's main flagship TV news bulletin on SABC3 now at 18:30.

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The SABC and SABC Television News introduced a brand-new opening sequence for the main news bulletin on SABC3 - the public broadcaster's flagship TV news bulletin of the day.

Formerly known as News @ 7 (now just called SABC News), the SABC and SABC3's main flagship TV news bulletin moved this evening from 19:00 to the new timeslot of 18:30 where it will be an hour long newscast on weekdays from today.

The brand-new SABC News opening on SABC3 incorporates bright cobalt blue and muted bronze (changing into subdued amber) as the primary colour palette, with concentric rings and a sphere of the Earth as the main theme of the circular presentation.

The brand-new aerospatial theme echoes the opening theme of BBC World News and the widening concentric rings are clearly symbolic of how news - like pebbles thrown into a pond - constantly emanates outwards.

The spinning orb and rings culminate in the transluscent spinning pieces of the SABC logo all settling and coming together to present the SABC News logo.

The professional and beautiful new SABC News opening sequence which was introduced for the first time this evening is part of a brand-new news set; a massive new 18 monitor set mosaic video wall as backdrop which is a first ever for SABC television news, a tilde grapheme anchor desk, as well as yet another South African television and SABC television first: a seated tri-anchor news team.

The various "bumpers" or interstitials for the business news section, the sports news section and the weather also changed. Here is the bumper for the business section:

Here is the new bumper for sports news, containing a wispy rugby ball morphing into a soccer ball:

And finally there is the new bumper to introduce the weather on SABC News:

Piracy of Game of Thrones 'is a compliment' and 'comes with having a wildly successful show', says HBO which produces the fantasy drama.

The online international piracy of the downloading and viewing of episodes of Game of Thrones seen in South Africa on pay-TV broadcaster M-Net and MultiChoice's DStv platform "is a compliment" says HBO which commissions and shows the hit fantasy drama in America.

The third season of Game of Thrones with 10 episodes is set to start in South Africa on M-Net in high definition on Friday 12 April at 21:30 after the first episode of the latest third season was shown in America yesterday. It means that South African M-Net viewers will get to see episodes 2 weeks after they've been shown in America.

In 2012 Game of Thrones topped the lost as the most illegally downloaded TV show of the year, having been downloaded illegally 4,28 million times in 2012.

"It is a compliment of sorts," says Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO programming talking to Entertainment Weekly. "The demand is there. And it certainly didn't negatively impact the DVD sales." Michael Lombardo says that it "comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network".

"If you look at an aggregate of international and DVD sales - which are the two revenue streams we look at since we're not selling it domestically on another platform" Game of Thrones remains the top money earner for HBO Michael Lombardo says.

He says HBO is actually concerned about the creative side of things when it comes to piracy and illegal downloading as far as Game of Thrones is concerned. HBO is worried that people who watch Game of Thrones illegally, don't/won't see it in the way it is actually intended as a high quality version with high production values.

"The production values of this show are so incredible. So I'm hoping that in the purloined different generation of cuts, that the show is holding up," says Michael Lombardo to Entertainment Weekly. He says HBO is anti-piracy but is not sending out "the Game of Thrones police".

"We obviously are a subscription service, so as a general proposition we try to stop piracy when we see it happen, particularly on a systematic basis when people are selling pirated versions."

Cory Monteith of Glee checks into rehab for substance abuse while the 4th season is still in production.

Cory Monteith (30) portraying the character of Finn on Glee has checked into rehab for substance abuse while the 4th season of the show is still in production with Cory Monteith who will be missing from the last few remaining episodes of which the filming will continue as scheduled.

"Cory is a beloved member of the Glee family and we fully support his decision to seek treatment," says 20th Century Fox Television in a statement. "Everyone at the show wishes him well and looks forward to his return."

The actor has had previous addiction problems and has been in rehab before.

The 4th season of Glee is set to start in South Africa on Thursday 11 April at 19:30 on M-Net Series (DStv 114).

IN VOGUE. The faux news anchor and news desk (remains) a popular go-to advertising TV trope on South African television.

The authority figure telling you it is so "because I say so", the mimicry of the news values of credibility, importance and newness, and the heightened sense of urgency and call to action remain the reasons why South African companies keep co-opting and using the traditional news anchor and the milieu of the news anchor desk as the setting for their TV commercials.

Two South African cellular companies, Cell C as well as MTN, are running concurrent TV advert marketing campaigns using news anchor characters talking about their services.
 

While the news anchor desk setting isn't new as a TV trope, the way the anchor desk is projected is keeping up with the times and incorporating subtle changes.

They now come complete with rolling "news" scrolls, and where the backdrop in the background used to be static, it's now often filled with people or working people (as both these ads are), helping to aid the illusion of supposed greater "transparency" in a post-modernistic world.

The news anchor's rigid formalism - symbolised through their formal attire - is getting more relaxed (self-evident in the growing absence of the traditional tie which is forsaken for an open collar or bow-tie).

Blue (red is the other colour but interestingly not employed in this case by either Cell C or MTN - possibly since their competitor Vodacom is red) still remains the symbolic best tone from the colour palette to convey breaking news in the real world (and in mock adverts) when the news needs to be underscored with a sense of lofty yet authoritative credibility.

DSTV (REALLY) GIVES SO MUCH MORE. New dramas Zero Hour and 666 Park Avenue will have episodes on M-Net Series before America.

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It never happens ... but it's going to: South African viewers are not just going to see the brand-new episodes of an American primetime TV drama before it's shown in America, viewers are going to see two series' episodes before American audiences.

I can reveal that M-Net Series (DStv 114) on DStv will be rolling out the entire seasons' episodes of Zero Hour and 666 Park Avenue before they're broadcast in America.

Both the supernatural series - the conspiracy theory Da Vinci Code's-ish Zero Hour and the spooky 666 Park Avenue - got cancelled in America after it recently began, due to bad timeslots and little marketing. It doesn't mean the shows are not good. I've seen both and I've liked both - especially Zero Hour.

In South Africa the intriguing and thrilling Zero Hour on Thursdays at 22:30 on M-Net Series (DStv 114) will reach its 3rd episode this coming Thursday - the last episode which was broadcast in America and Canada.

But from next week there will be more Zero Hour with the rest of the produced episodes which will continue in South Africa on DStv and which can't be seen, downloaded, streamed or found anywhere else than on DStv.

The rest of Zero Hour's episodes will only start again in America in June. South African viewers following the show will see how the serialised global conspiracy theory using clocks and old secret Nazi experiments and secret church sects within sects play out and conclude.

"All 13 episodes of Zero Hour will be aired with no breaks in between," M-Net Series tells me.

The same goes for 666 Park Avenue starting on M-Net Series on Friday 5 April at 22:30 of which there is also 13 episodes in the produced season.

Only the first 9 episodes have been shown in America (and the remaining 4 in Australia and Spain since the beginning of the year) and now South Africa and DStv subscribers will get to see the whole season of 666 Park Avenue and the conclusion before America.

"The series has been cancelled but M-Net Series, with permission from Warner Brothers, will air all 13 episodes," M-Net Series tells me about 666 Park Avenue.