SABC2's Venda soap Muvhango again warns the South African public over yet another fake casting call scam; drops a casting agency it used.

Muvhango is once again warning against yet another fake casting scam involving the SABC's Venda soap and has now even gone as far as dumping a legitimate casting agency its used for years.

The Word of Mouth Productions soap which in previous years had to warn people not to fall prey to fake casting exploitation and not to pay money for fake auditions, is once again warning people about a casting scam and says it has also cut ties with Becky Casting Agency.

Muvhango says potential soap stars should never ever have to pay for an audition or a screen test.

"Muvhango would like to disassociate ourselves from the acting scam currently making rounds in and around Johannesburg," says the soap's associate producer, Morishe Matlejoane.

"The scam invites prospective actors to audition or screen test for different characters at 224 Louis Botha avenue Orange Groove venue in Orange Grove for a fee of R300."

"The scammers unfortunately used the name of a casting agency we have been doing business with for years and as a result we are left with no choice but to cut ties with Becky Casting Agency as their name was roped in from an e-mail we had sent to the agency," says Morishe Matlejoane.

"Production companies don't charge a fee for auditions or screening and any company or individual who does so, is committing fraud. We would like to encourage the victims of this scam to report the matter at the police station nearest to the venue of the bogus auditions."

Sony Channel blames fast turnaround times with filming for GoggleBox South Africa, for showing DStv viewers the families watching a show that never aired.

The Sony Channel says a fast turnaround time is to blame after filming the latest GoggleBox South Africa episode that showed families watching RuPaul's Drag Race on M-Net's VUZU channel - although the show and the episode never actually aired on DStv.

GoggleBox South Africa as the first local South African commission for Sony Pictures Television's Sony Channel (DStv 127) purports to show DStv subscribers how other South African viewers are reacting to what is being shown on television in the country.

The Sony Channel admits that the families are not actually filmed watching all of the shows live at the time it's broadcast on MultiChoice's various DStv channels.

The Sony Channel says the GoggleBox South Africa producers worked from the print schedules for April supplied by M-Net for its VUZU channel - a schedule that then changed.

In the 8th episode of GoggleBox South Africa that was broadcast on Thursday night, the Sony Channel showed how families watched the 8th season premiere episode of RuPaul's Drag Race.

The episode was however never screened on VUZU since M-Net ran into content licencing issues and pulled the show from its line-up. The 8th season of RuPaul's Drag Race will now only start on 26 June on VUZU.

It's not clear where Eject Media and Picture Tree got the episode to show the GoggleBox SA families, since it wasn't broadcast on DStv and therefore also couldn't be recorded. Passion Distribution is responsible for the international distribution and licensing of the World of Wonder produced RuPaul's Drag Race.

The inclusion of the "staged" programme that never aired but was presented in GoggleBox SA as being on TV in South Africa and Africa on DStv, is damaging to the authenticity of the show and Sony Channel's reputation.

"GoggleBox South Africa is a past 7 days review show, where our households review programmes which have aired in the past 7 days," says Sonja Underwood, Sony Channel territory director in a statement to TVwithThinus.

"Due to the fast turnaround of the show, some of the programmes are watched live and some are pre-recorded as the filming schedules don't allow for the live viewing of all programmes."

"Confirmed channel highlights are used when deciding on which shows to feature in each episode. Unfortunately there was an unforeseen schedule change resulting in the show in question not being broadcast," says Sonja Underwood.

How Sony Channel's GoggleBox South Africa is cheating viewers; people made to believe that families are watch DStv content that's not been shown on DStv.

The Sony Channel and Gogglebox South Africa have so far remained silent on how its cheating DStv viewers by showing how families are purportedly watching content on MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV platform - although it was never actually broadcast.

Serious questions are now being raised over Gogglebox SA's production integrity and the show's authenticity.

It comes after DStv viewers are apparently being duped following the latest episode of the show, broadcast this past Thursday night, that showed how families were watching RuPaul's Drag Race on M-Net's VUZU channel on DStv.

The problem is that the show the families "watched" never aired.

The Sony Channel (DStv 127) showed that the first episode of the 8th season of RuPaul's Drag Race - the show's 100th episode - was watched by the GoggleBox SA families while it was actually never shown on either the VUZU or VUZU AMP channels in the first place.

That made it virtually impossible for the several families included in GoggleBox South Africa to really have watched it as they were shown doing in a lengthy part of the episode on Thursday night on the Sony Channel.

On screen, GoggleBox SA credited VUZU AMP channel and World of Wonder Productions, but M-Net's VUZU says RuPaul's Drag Race isn't actually on its schedule and line-up at all as either a first-run new season or as any repeats.

Vuzu told viewers who asked how it's possible that Gogglebox South Africa is showing families watching RuPaul's Drag Race on the Sony Channel, that the drag show reality competition show "will not be airing on VUZU AMP due to an oversight relating to the content licence deal".

Vuzu told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry that RuPaul's Drag Race "has been pushed back due to an oversight with the content licence deal" and that it will now only start on Sunday, 26 June at 22:00 and on the VUZU (DStv 116) channel, not VUZU AMP.

Gogglebox SA is the first local South African TV production for Sony Pictures Television's Sony Channel in South Africa and Africa, and is produced by Eject Media and Picture Tree.

The apparently staged "viewing" with in-show families watching DStv content that isn't actually on TV, raises questions about how real and authentic Gogglebox SA is.

The show's whole premise is predicated on showing viewers at home how others viewers in South Africa are responding to what everybody can watch on television and the content that was shown on MultiChoice's DStv in the previous week.

Before launch, the Sony Channel touted the show's authenticity, saying the "topical show is filmed 7 days before the episode airs, allowing viewers to observe the households watching the week's TV shows, encouraging up-to-date discussions".

Gogglebox South Africa and the Sony Channel's territory director Sonja Underwood have not responded yet to a media enquiry made last week after the airing of the episode about how it was possible for the families to watch RuPaul's Drag Race on Gogglebox SA and DStv if the show wasn't broadcast and isn't on television at all.

Sony Channel says it is looking into the matter and is working in the issue.

It's not clear if there's possibly been other programming from the range of DStv channels included in the previous 6 episodes of Gogglebox SA that families were shown to be watching that might also not actually have been broadcast on MultiChoice's pay-TV service at the time of those episodes' recording.

Also not clear is where the shown footage for RuPaul's Drag Race comes from and how it was acquired in the first place.

It wasn't possible for the families in the show to watch it live on DStv sitting on their couches, or as a recording since it wasn't shown in the South African territory, yet the production somehow has the episode and showed families responding to it while watching it.

ALSO READ: The Sony Channel blames fast turnaround times with filming GoggleBox SA, for showing DStv viewers the families watching a show that never aired.

eNCA editor-in-chief Prof. Anton Harber: 'We are more committed than ever to ensure our news meets audience needs and is of the highest quality'.

Image from the commemorative book, e: The First 10 Years

The new editor-in-chief of the eNCA (DStv 403) news channel on DStv, Prof. Anton Harber, personally reached out to me just over a week ago regarding the news that e.tv no longer wants to do a TV news bulletin during prime time on e.tv.

As a TV critic (and a journalist who loves TV news) I also shared my personal thoughts and that I feel that e.tv is moving away from its once lofty TV news ideals.

It feels to me that e.tv overall seems less and less willing to want to fight for, and do more when it comes to TV news for South African viewers.

I have since asked e.tv for an interview with Prof. Anton Harber about his new job and position and about the news changes at eNCA and e.tv, and willtalk to him next week about that.

I didn't publish or make public Prof. Anton Harber's communication to me when he wrote to me, but today he said that he feels that I should be carrying his letter to me in response to my article about e.tv's proposed plan to drop its news bulletin in prime time.


Here is his letter:

"You asked in your blog today, what I, as the new eNCA Editor-In-Chief, think about e.tv's application to Icasa to allow it to change its news programming.

Your suggestion that this is e.tv dumping its news is misleading. 

Rather, the station is looking for some flexibility to deal with changing audience and revenue demands. We will still have the same obligation to do two hours a day of news.

I would not have joined this company if I was not convinced that it had a serious commitment to serving its audiences with news and current affairs.

I can assure you that everything I have seen in my few weeks in this post has confirmed this commitment.

News may shift around and change and we live in a world in which news consumption is changing radically but we are more committed than ever to ensure our news meets audience needs and is of the highest quality."

Prof. Anton Harber

Sunday's upcoming Carte Blanche on M-Net will be a special 90 minute edition looking at the fleeing Gupta family; rising South African food prices.

Sunday's upcoming episode of Carte Blanche on M-Net at 19:00 will be another special 90 minutes episode that will look at whether South Africa is on the verge of going hungry, and where the fleeing controversial Gupta family went.

Here's the preliminary line-up for this Sunday's Carte Blanche on M-Net for Sunday 17 April:


Is SA Going Hungry?

The cost of food could rise by a whopping 30% in the next year. Due to severe drought and an unstable exchange rate, the price of all essential products has been steadily escalating. So far, these increases have largely been absorbed by retailers, but consumers are advised to brace themselves for tough times at the tills. How will ordinary South Africans cope when a trip to the supermarket becomes unaffordable?

Producer: Sophia Phirippides

Presenter: Claire Mawisa

Researcher: Chwayitisa Futshane

Philippi Under Threat

The Philippi farming community gives the Cape 200 000 tonnes of vegetables and flowers every year. Only 20 kilometres from the centre of town, Philippi has been Cape Town’s bread basket for nearly 2000 years. Carte Blanche asks: why are the city’s own town planners threatening its survival during one of the most devastating droughts this country has ever seen?

Producer: Liz Fish

Presenter: John Webb

 Who are the Guptas?

From multi-billion rand business interests, to a wedding party landing at a national key point and a President seemingly under their influence.  Who are the Guptas really? Carte Blanche takes an in-depth look into the lives of SA’s most controversial family.

Producer: Este de Klerk

Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender

Researcher: Chwayitisa Futshane

 Love in the Time of Zika

As the Zika virus continues to spread beyond Brazil, this moving report follows three mothers caring for babies with Microcephaly. Spread by rampant mosquitoes attracted to stagnant water, the disease has resulted in a sudden spike in newborn babies with underdeveloped brains, deafness and blindness. In the lead up to the 2016 Olympics, Brazil's soldiers have had to step in to help combat the virus.

Producer: Journeyman

Jasmine Thompson

When 15-year-old Jasmine Thompson released her acoustic cover version of Chaka Khan’s “Aint Nobody” at the tender age of thirteen, the song climbed the UK charts and peaked in other countries. Videos she’s posted online have since received millions of views and launched her international career on stage. Carte Blanche catches up with the tech-savvy singer on tour in South Africa.

Producer: Diana Lucas

Presenter: Derek Watts

Dumped soap actress Connie Chiume was actually fired from e.tv's Rhythm City after 8 and a half years; says it 'wasn't nice but the nature of the industry'.

The dumped actress Connie Chiume who filmed her last scenes at the Quizzical Pictures produced soap back in February already, didn't quit and didn't retire - she was actually fired from e.tv's soap Rhythm City and says being forced to go "is not nice".

Of course you wouldn't know it from e.tv's prosaic statement yesterday: so rosy, and filled with such heartfelt goodbyes and parting sorrows from everyone (it's not just e.tv that does this) that it deliberately obfuscate what really happened and what is really going on.

Part of why South Africa's TV industry is so bad is because it struggles to be honest with itself and to be honest with viewers.

Other countries are hardly better, but at least America's TV biz - and the press covering it - do a slightly better job being more forthcoming, more direct and more upfront about the comings and goings (and the real reasons why) of executives, crew and talent.

Connie Chiume's contract wasn't renewed. The actress was let go after 8 and a half years. "It is how the script was written and one cannot argue with the writers. It was my time to go. It is not nice but that is the nature of the industry," she the Daily Sun.

Why should it be a "bad" thing? Or a "secret"? It's bad on a level yes - an actress lost a nice long term gig, but it's exactly like she says - the nature of the TV industry.

A slew of local soap stars and channels announced departures the past few days and weeks, all looking to "spread their wings", "focus on family", "look for new challenges" and "sail away on the endless sea of love".

Puh-lease. It's the start of a new financial year for companies and certain actor's contracts ended (for whatever reasons).

Contracts start and end at all times, but the cutting of talent are always more pronounced during this beginning time of the year (just like TV channels will do their new on-air looks usually around September and October when the new marketing budget money rolls in). It's all very cyclical.

The real "sad" is that the majority of talent can't be honest about why they're really gone in their "announcements", and that the local press can't be better to report the real actual reason(s) instead of copy and pasting publicist's carefully crafted press releases.

The biz and actors need to get over the perceived stigma of saying "I was let go", "I was fired for creative reasons", "I negotiated for a higher fee, it didn't work and I walked" and "I didn't like it there anymore".

Just because our soaps sell fantasy, doesn't mean there shouldn't be more upfront honesty about the production of it in reality.

Veteran M-Net executive Jan du Plessis broadens his portfolio with M-Net's general entertainment channels folded into his existing movies division.

South African TV industry veteran Jan du Plessis has broadened his job responsibility as a director at M-Net, with oversight of M-Net's general entertainment channels that were folded into his existing portfolio of looking after M-Net's movie channels.

Jan du Plessis from this month now also looks after channels like M-Net (DStv 101), M-Net Edge (DStv 102) and a few others, following Gideon Khobane's appointment as new SuperSport CEO and departure.

I'm told Gideon Khobane's specific position as director of M-Net's general entertainment channels was not filled; rather M-Net decided to combine the M-Net series and movie channel clusters in one "division".

This "new" bigger grouping is now headed up by veteran M-Net executive Jan du Plessis who returned from his sabbatical in October last year and who has been the M-Net director for movies since August 2014.

The precise job title of Jan du Plessis, a longtime M-Netter, is now channel director: M-Net general entertainment and movie channels.

Jan du Plessis joined M-Net in 1994 from Sterk-Kinekor where he headed up the acquisition's division, and was previously the head of the M-Net channel, then the director of group content services until that division was shut down and he became director of movies in August 2014.

When M-Net celebrates its 30th anniversary this coming October, Jan du Plessis will have been at M-Net for 22 of those years.

Marlon Davids appointed as the acting managing director for e.tv channels at e.tv following the departure of Monde Twala.

Marlon Davids has been appointed as the acting managing director for e.tv channels at e.tv following the departure of Monde Twala.

Monde Twala left e.tv last month to join Viacom International Media Networks as the new vice president for the BET channel, youth and music at its African content and channels hub in Johannesburg.

The well-liked and experienced Marlon Davids is e.tv's general manager for content strategy and planning.

The executive rose through the ranks through hard work, previously working at e.tv in international programming and acquisitions.

Marlon Davids jumped to M-Net where he became the head of content planning and scheduling for channels like M-Net, M-Net Series and the M-Net Movies channels, after which he returned to e.tv two and a half years ago.

BREAKING. M-Net grabs and adds brand-new After the Thrones companion show to M-Net Edge on DStv as a Game of Thrones after-show.

You're reading it here first.

M-Net is set to make the world of Westeros and the TV world of South African Game of Thrones viewers even better by adding the brand-new after-show, After the Thrones, to M-Net Edge (DStv 102) exactly like in America when the 6th season starts on 25 April.

M-Net will announce later today that it has acquired, and will schedule, the brand-new companion Game of Thrones talk show, After the Thrones.

HBO is starting After the Thrones for the 6th season of its popular fantasy drama series that's enjoying global appeal with a rabid fan base.

After the Thrones will be a weekly half hour show, presented by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan.

The show will be taking a lively, humorous and sophisticated look at Game of Thrones, recapping the latest episode, explaining the who, what, when and where, while exploring the complicated politics and history of the story and speculating about upcoming events in future episodes.

Besides adding After the Thrones as a new companion show to Game of Thrones on M-Net Edge, the new weekly show will also be made available by MultiChoice on its DStv Catch Up service for DStv subscribers.

M-Net calls its M-Net Edge channel "the official home of HBO in South Africa" and by adding something like After the Thrones, M-Net signals and accomplishes two things.

Firstly M-Net executives show that they're serious about not just Game of Thrones as a prestige programming title, but also about M-Net Edge and building the channel out as a unique and distinct premium content destination on DStv.

The programming - something that would have been seen as "overkill" for a TV series even 5 years ago - now helps to enhance a channel like M-Net Edge where viewers realise they can go to for a "deep dive" and an extended, more immersive viewing experience around a specific property to dissect the smallest details of a story they're following.

Secondly M-Net executives, through slotting in After the Thrones directly after each week's Game of Thrones episode, are at the same time enhancing the show and the channel's so-called "stickiness" factor.

DStv subscribers who tune in to M-Net Edge for the fantasy drama's weekly episode will likely now stay tuned in for even longer and to the specific channel, resulting in higher ratings for a larger timeslot duration for M-Net Edge and DStv.

The 6th season premiere episode of Game of Thrones will start on Monday 25 April at 03:00 on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) as a simulcast broadcast at the same time as on HBO in America and episodes will then be broadcast during prime time on Thursdays from 28 April at 21:00.

MultiChoice is also making Game of Thrones episodes of the 6th season once again available instantly after broadcast on the DStv Catch Up service, similar to what it did for the 5th season.

Episodes of After the Thrones will start to roll out from 25 April in America, one day after each new Game of Thrones episode.

After the Thrones episodes will not be simulcast in South Africa but M-Net and MultiChoice will make the first episode available on DStv Catch Up from Tuesday 26 April already, just a day later.

After the Thrones will then be broadcast every Thursday night at 22:00, from 28 April, directly following Game of Thrones. 

All other M-Net Edge programming on Thursday nights from 22:00 will move half an hour later.

These so-called "after-shows", like After the Thrones, are rapidly growing as a new TV trend. 

TV channels and producers are realising that dedicated fans of hugely popular TV dramas will stick around to watch even more - especially when the episode that they've just seen is being discussed and analysed by like-minded people on a channel they're already tuned to.

While the Fox Networks Group for Africa failed to bring FOX viewers of The Walking Dead its popular after-show entitled Talking Dead, AMC added it to its own channel line-up for South African viewers from the start of the second season of the spin-off Fear The Walking Dead since Talking Dead covers both zombie dramas.

Other after-shows not seen in South Africa include Talking Saul (for Better Call Saul), Survivor Live following Survivor, Empire B-Side for Empire, After the Black following Orphan Black, and after-shows for The Bachelor, BET's The Wendy Williams Show and The Dirt following the Discovery Channel's Gold Rush.