Gareth Cliff bites the hand that fed him; tries to burn his orange SABC access card on the first day of The Gareth Cliff Show.

Gareth Cliff bit the hand that fed him for 10 years, trying to burn his SABC access card with a lighter on his first new internet radio show The Gareth Cliff Show, the studio video of which is also on a simulcast broadcast on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

On Thursday morning Gareth Cliff took open flame to his orange SABC access card (which interestingly is and remains the property of the SABC), declaring: "I just want to say, with peace and love, my time at the SABC is over".

The plastic card didn't want to burn. "I don't think we're going to get this thing lit," said Gareth Cliff. "I'm giving up on that. It's not going to work".

Gareth Cliff abruptly left the SABC's 5FM radio station after a decade on 31 March for the new internet radio station venture CliffCentral with its studio in Rivonia, which listeners can hear online and on wechat and which is also broadcast on television on Comedy Central on DStv.

Listening to the internet radio show for its 3 hours per day for a month, will use 900MB of internet data per month.

"Because we're on Comedy Central, this is going to be easier for us to get material from all their shows, like South Park and Jon Stewart and Tosh, Stephen Colbert - I think he's only on for a little while because he's taking over for Letterman soon," said Gareth Cliff.

"But we'll be able to use to use that material too, so we're going to have a whole lot of stuff".

Jansing & Co. on MSNBC cancelled as Chris Jansing leaves MSNBC to become senior White House correspondent for NBC News.

Jansing & Co. on MSNBC (StarSat 410) weekdays at 16:00 (South African time) is getting cancelled.

Anchor Chris Jansing is leaving MSNBC and returning to NBC News to become senior White House correspondent for the NBC Night News with Brian Williams (seen on CNBC Africa, DStv 410).

MSNBC will name a replacement for Chris Jansing, and with that a new name for the Jansing & Co. timeslot in coming weeks.

Chris Jansing anchored Jansing & Co. since October 2010.

BREAKING. Alex TV, now called lx tv, added to OpenView HD (OVHD) as a new TV channel, covering life in Alexandra township.

Alex TV, stylised as lx tv, has launched as a new TV channel on Sabido Investment Limited's OpenView HD (OVHD) free-to-air satellite TV platform in South Africa on channel 453.

The TV channel with Lucky Siwela as chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, revolves around covering and mirroring the life and issues of the vibrant, yet impoverished South African township and "suburb" of Alexandra.

More than 900 000 people call Alex home in the four kilometre radius adjacent to the wealthy Sandton business district of Johannesburg.

Alex TV, or now lx tv, started broadcasting exactly a year ago in May 2013 for three hours per day, with a staff of five producers and 10 different shows.

Now lx tv as a South African community TV station will get broader exposure and be available to a national TV audience since it launched on OVHD on 1 May at 18:00. The station's new slogan is "You have arrived" and programming loops for 24 hours per day.

Alex TV, or lx tv, is relaunching it's programming offering and schedule in conjunction with its launch and new availability on OVHD with new shows. Alex TV will also work with journalists from Eyewitness News to help with news and presentation training.

Shows on lx tv include Icon, billed as a "celebration of the heroes and heroines that have been leading the quest to develop the township" and presented by Nothemba Sulupha, healthy lifestyle show Booty Curves presented by Shirley Mthombeni and Thando Dahza fronting the talk show Girls Prerogrative.

Between the Sheets is a show focusing on relationships, Tagged is a gossip show and Monate Fela is a music programme.

Soon lx tv plans to add feature films revolving around, depicting and speaking about life in Alexandra.

BREAKING. Second public protest at the SABC in a week; protesters call for end to 'rot and irregularities', says SABC is a 'megaphone for ANC'.

With complete censorship at the South African public broadcaster with zero television news coverage in the main news bulletins on the SABC's 3 TV channels and on SABC News on Friday, the SABC failed to report to South African citizens about the second public protest action held today at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters about the SABC.

Following the public march and protest action of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to the SABC on Tuesday when thousands of people marched to the SABC earlier this week, today saw the Independent Producers' Organisation (IPO), Numsa (National Union of Metal Workers) trade union, the Right2Know campaign, the Support Public Broadcasting Coalition (SOS Coalition), the Voices of the Poor of Concerned Residents of South Africa, the Democratic Left Front and members of the public picket the SABC at the broadcaster's doorstep.

Protesters held up placards and banners saying things like "SABC murders local content", "SABC squanders, while film makers suffer", "The SABC is for public, not party broadcaster", "SABC for all, not political party", "Politicians' hands OFF the SABC", "Media for the Public and NOT for Profit", "Save the SABC, fire Hlaudi" and "SABC, where are the documentaries?"

The SABC and its news division had no coverage of it. The SABC's flagship evening news bulletin on SABC3 on Friday made no reference to what happened in front of the SABC today.

It's shocking given that the SABC is supposed to report on any news that involves the SABC itself, irrespective of how small or big - if it involves the SABC.

A public protest at the SABC against the SABC should be covered and be reported by the SABC - it falls squarely and legitimately in the public interest.

The Right2Know campaign, a civil society public pressure group with no political affiliation, organised today's public protest action and co-ordinated the picketing action with the various organisations.

The Right2Know organisation called for "an end to the rot and irregularities at the SABC", with Numsa saying that "the SABC is turning into the state broadcasting megaphone for Luthuli House" [ANC headquarters].

"Our public broadcaster, the SABC, is increasingly becoming the mouthpiece of the state and ruling party; willfully underplaying the state's illegitimate use of violence against the people of this country, censoring programming that asks why our public representatives have failed us and willfully misinterpreting its editorial policies and regulations to silence opposition parties and the public from airing their grievances and opinions," says Right2Know.

"We are raising concerns about threats to freedom of speech," said Dale McKinley of Right2Know.

"We want a free public broadcaster," said Sekoetlane Phamodi, SOS Coalition coordinator.

"There is a rot in the SABC and acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng must go," said Dinga Sikwebu, Numsa coordinator.

The American talk show The Talk suddenly, finally, inexplicably, started on SABC2 today - but the crazy is: next week it will be gone again.

The American talk show, The Talk, suddenly, finally, inexplicably, started on SABC2 at 12:00 today.

Strangely (or maybe not) SABC2 failed to promote or publicise the new on-air property to press, TV critics and viewers with not as much as a single word communicated about it.

It's completely and utterly insane. 

The Talk's first season is supposed to only have one episode every Friday on SABC2 - but this coming Friday it will be off and gone again after only one episode shown today. 

It's true. SABC2 is showing live election results coverage on Friday 9 May.

Why on Earth start a new show, broadcast only show one episode, then suddenly shelf it? 

Why then not rather keep it and start it on 16 May when you can do it as an uninterrupted run for a daytime talk show which you're already going to struggle with since you only have one episode on a Friday that viewers will have to remember is different when every other weekday in that timeslot it is Dr. Phil? 

How as a programming manager do you run a TV channel and a schedule and an on-air property like this by burning off expensive, foreign content acquired from CBS Studios International with not Monopoly money but SABC licence payers money, and then schedule it in such an erratic and crazy way?

It's no wonder that American and international content distributors have become weary of the SABC.

But very little that SABC2 has been doing and planning with The Talk makes sense anyway. 

The Talk first popped up on SABC2's preliminary schedule a year and a half ago - and it would just not materialise and start when SABC2 would say it would. The day and time would come and then SABC2's schedule would be retro adjusted with other filler or content.

Then, The Talk would be placed back on the SABC2 schedule by the programming department, only to again not start. Several false starts occured - the same as Dr. Phil, suddenly back on SABC2 since this past Monday.

The Talk first season - the season which debuted today on SABC2 - started on M-Net (DStv 101) in April 2011 - three years ago. 

The 4th season of The Talk currently shows on weekdays at 13:00 on M-Net.

BBC World News turnover turmoil continues as Jeremy Paxman packs it in and quits as anchor of BBC Newsnight.

The turnover turmoil continues at the BBC's news division where Jeremy Paxman is suddenly the latest on-air presenter who is done with BBC Newsnight which is seen on BBC World News (DStv 400 / StarSat 400).

Jeremy Paxman has quit as presenter of BBC Newsnight after 25 years. He will present his last BBC Newsnight in June. The BBC has also not named any replacement for Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight yet.

BBC World News viewers in South Africa are in for quite a number of changes as a wave of faces are leaving, changing to new timeslots and programmes.

Nik Gowing is done as anchor and leaving as a regular presenter on BBC World News, Jon Sopel is abruptly done with Global to move to North America to work for the BBC from there, and Yalda Hakim becomes the new anchor of Impact.

Then there's David Bond, the BBC's sports editor, who is leaving the BBC five weeks before the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Walter Mokoena replaces Andrew Levy as new sports anchor on e.tv's morning breakfast show, Sunrise.

Replacing Andrew Levy who left e.tv's Sunrise where he became the sports anchor but lasted less than a year, is Walter Mokoena who will appear on-air from Monday 5 May as the new sports anchor.

e.tv couldn't actually get itself to say and make public that Andrew Levy wo became sports anchor in April 2013 had left, but e.tv is now announcing that Walter Mokoena has joined Sunrise.as the sports anchor.

"Walter's experience and industry knowledge has already made him a key addition to the e.tv family," says Nicholas Maphopha, Sunrise executive producer.

"We view his appointment as a sign of commitment to being the leading breakfast show. I am confident that Walter Mokoena will play a key role in providing an informative, current and entertaining presentation for our viewers with the upcoming Brazil 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup," says Nicholas Maphopha.

Walter Mokoena previously was at the SABC for a decade working for the SABC Sport division where he was the Laduma presenter, he also worked for Trace Sports Stars (DStv 188) last year.

e.tv tells TV with Thinus in response to a media enquiry that "Walter Mokoena is not replacing Andrew Levy. Andrew Levy resigned at the beginning of this year and the Sunrise team, Ayanda Bandla and Faith Mangope have been handing the sports".

BREAKING. SABC fuming over fake Twitter account of its famously matricless acting COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng serving up words for an appreciative nation.

You're reading it here first.

The SABC is fuming mad over a fake Twitter account impersonating and mocking the famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC's enfant terrible acting chief operating officer (COO).

The angry SABC is now on a witch hunt trying to shut down "the individual deceiving the nation and the world, pretending to be Hlaudi Motsoeneng".

The famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng achieved a meteoric rise inside the beleaguered South African public broadcaster and is whispered in Auckland Park corridors to be "a close friend" of president Jacob Zuma.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng for instance "personally" oversaw and is part of the team "screening" all political parties' political TV commercials before the SABC perhaps broadcast it.

The SABC top management and the SABC board has done nothing to Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who has not been placed on suspension, since a scathing report was released in February by South Africa's Public Protector.

In a recorded interview with the Public Protector, Hlaudi Motsoeneng admitted that he lied about having matric, that he lied about having a matric certificate, and admitted that he "made up symbols" for a fake matric certificate he knew he could never produce.

The Public Protector implicated Hlaudi Motsoeneng in abuse of power, maladministration and corruption, ranging from being directly implicated in numerous quick salary increases amounting to millions at the SABC and the direct involvement in the firing of everybody at the SABC who testified against him in a prior disciplinary hearing.

The Public Protector's February final report found that Hlaudi Motsoeneng should "never have been appointed at the SABC" in the first place - let alone being promoted to acting COO.

The SABC is now barking mad at "an imposter who is masquerading himself or herself on Twitter as the acting COO, Hlaudi Motsoeneng".

The "Hlaudi Motsoeneng" Twitter account sprang up on 10 April, but things came to a head this week for the SABC and the real Hlaudi Motsoeneng, when "Hlaudi Motsoeneng" with wild abandon, gave followers bon mots of joy, advice and photos of a busy day in the life of Hlaudi Motsoeneng - especially when the political party EFF decided to march on the SABC.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng is outraged and wants the Twitter account disabled, and ordered a press statement to be issued.

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng" at the Twitter handle @SABC_COO has been serving up a laugh a minute with precious images of Hlaudi Motsoeneng in a red beret of the EFF (Hlaudi Motsoeneng is an ANC Jacob Zuma loyalist), and hilarious Twitter messages like:

"Tough day for comrade Kaizer Kganyago. Keep your head up!"
(the SABC's corporate communications tzar)

"#EFF led by failed matriculant. Cadre Julius runs a party (business) but my matric is questioned? Double standard much?"

"Long enough day. Might not have a matric but I know and value hard work!"

"SABC reserves the right & privilege to change content as and when it sees fit to."

The SABC says it "views this matter in a serious light as this is not just a violation of Hlaudi Motsoeneng's rights and identity theft but it affect the SABC as the organisation that Hlaudi Motsoeneng represents".

"The individual deceiving the nation and the world pretending to be Hlaudi Motsoeneng is communicating messages that are in conflict with the SABC's standpoint on several issues which is in turn causing a problem for the organisation and misrepresenting the acting COO".

The SABC says Hlaudi Motsoeneng "does not have a Twitter account and any account with his name and photograph is deemed fake and must be disregarded".

Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC now plan to get the Twitter account taken down and want to "possibly prohibit anyone who will open a Twitter account impersonating Hlaudi Motsoeneng".

CNN International readying a new hour long show starting in June with Hala Gorani back in London.

CNN International (DStv 401) is readying a new hour long show starting in June with Hala Gorani.

Hala Gorani has returned to London from CNN headquarters in Atlanta and will do the show from there.

Hala Gorani anchors International Desk and sat in for Amanpour last week.