Dumb-looking Nigerian singer Azadus damages Cartoon Network in Africa and MultiChoice's DStv by whipping up a frenzy over fake Teen Titans Go! toon

An idiotic-looking Nigerian singer called Azadus (real name Olalekan Fadeyi) inflicted damage on the reputation of Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network in Africa as well as MultiChoice Africa and DStv by taking to social media to condemn Cartoon Network (DStv 301) and DStv for an explicit toon image that's actually fake and has nothing to do with the TV channel or the pay-TV operator.

It's not clear whether the over-the-hill singer - who last had Nigerian prominence in the 90's and early 2000 - created the obscene image himself or if Olalekan Fadeyi is simply just to stupid and too much of a media-moron to realise that no kids show and no kids TV channel anywhere in the world would ever show or broadcast such filth.

Yet Olalekan Fadeyi, apparently trying to grasp for relevance, took to his Azadus Instagram page in the week to share a screenshot of the fake Teen Titans Go! image.

The trashy-looking singer ironically himself shared the fake toon uncensored and unpixelated.

Through "broadcasting" to his followers on social media the fake image, he did what Turner Broadcasting in Africa and MultiChoice Africa never did in the first place - making himself guilty of what he accused Cartoon Network and DStv of.

The single-frame image, not actually part of any real TeenTitans Go! episode, is altered trash that litters the internet and that is known as hentai manga pornography and depicts a Starfire with a Robin.

"Dear DStv, I hope you guys are not mad? Please, let's repost this until it gets to Oga Lai Mohammed," wrote the faded hip-hop star on his Instagram page together with the fake image.

Oga Lai Mohammed is Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture.

What is troubling is that Olalekan Fadeyi - who wanted to whip up a frenzy under equally uninformed and media-unsavvy African viewers - sought to get attention with the fake Cartoon Network image he either deliberately knew was fake, or didn't bother to be responsible and first do research over.

The fake Cartoon Network image did go viral and stirred up controversy in Nigeria and beyond in countries like Zambia.

It damaged the image of Cartoon Network, MultiChoice and DStv since even idiotic newspapers and trash-news sites whipped up outrage while stupid journalists failing their readers, didn't report that the image was fake and that it had never been shown on television.

MultiChoice Africa through country offices like MultiChoice Nigeria, MultiChoice Zambia, MultiChoice Kenya and MultiChoice Ghana were forced to issue a statement over the fake Cartoon Network image.

"We are aware of the justified concern of some of our African viewers regarding what purportedly shows inappropriate content on Cartoon Network," said Turner Broadcasting Africa's Cartoon Network in a statement that was channeled through MultiChoice Africa.

"We can confirm without hesitation that these images are not authentic and have never been broadcast or shared on any official Cartoon Network platforms in Africa in any capacity."

"The fake images on social media were never produced by Cartoon Network, and are in no way representative of our goal to provide suitable, age-appropriate entertainment for African children and families," said Cartoon Network.

MultiChoice, MultiChoice Africa and several international TV channel and content suppliers are already sitting with a growing censorship problem in conservative Africa.

Broadcasting regulating authorities and censorship boards from Nigeria to Kenya have ordered bans on innocuous content they've decided they don't want viewers have a choice to see or not see.

The irresponsible post by Olalekan Fadeyi has only served to add further fuel on the fire in a very sensitive issue.

A lot of African viewers and regulators are confused and don't understand how pay-TV and decoder parental blocks work, and are much more inclined - due to not bothering to be properly informed - to rather call for blanket bans on content instead of taking the time to understand what the actual content of shows are.

Kenya's censorship board recently banned several cartoons from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney after admitting it's never seen a single one of the shows in question and acting on fake news regarding supposed content in it.

It's sad that the big problem around media literacy in Africa isn't those delivering the content to consumers but the danger posed by imbeciles like even singers who don't know better and don't care to educate themselves.

Embarrassed SABC apologizes for referring to Nkozasana as 'mini-Zuma' on-air; SABC News says its putting measures in place 'to prevent further occurences'.

The embarrassed SABC is apologising for referring to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as "mini-Zuma" on the public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404) TV channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform and says SABC News is putting measures "in place to prevent further occurences".

Nkosazana is the ex-wife of South African president Jacob Zuma and a former chairperson of the African Union Commission, with aspirations to become the next president of the ANC and through that the next president of South Africa.

In the bottom-third descriptor the SABC on Sunday night at 20:00 identified Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as "mini-Zuma" on SABC News.

"The mistake ran for only one bulletin and was immediately noticed and corrected‚" Peter Ndoro, SABC News co-anchor told viewers.

"The SABC would like to sincerely apologise to the former AU commission chair for the error‚" Francis Herd, SABC News co-anchor said.

The acting GE of News has addressed staff on the matter. Measures are being put in place to prevent further occurrences."

The SABC didn't specify what these measures are on why these measures are only being put in place now to prevent more on-air mistakes.

It's not just SABC News that has problems with its on-air descriptor.

While ANN7 (DStv 405) makes multiple mistakes weekly, even eNCA (DStv 403) had several typos and very noticeable and embarrassing mistakes the past week, struggling to get the few words the channel places on-screen, correct.

There's a Gupta On My Stoep: Comedian Trevor Noah reveals the inspiration behind his stand-up show's title - 'Leon Schuster changed my life with his comedy'.

With his brand-new stand-up show, There's a Gupta On My Stoep, comedian Trevor Noah says he is trying to capture the mood of anxiety in South Africa right now and says the title was inspired by comedian Leon Schuster "who changed my life with his comedy".

The host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) is back in South Africa during his weekday TV show's end-of-season break, but while actually back on home soil for a holiday he also decided to do a new stand-up show in Johannesburg and Durban. Cape Town was left out because he simply didn't have the days.

Next year Trevor Noah will also reteam with M-Net (@DStv 101) where he had his first TV show, Tonight with Trevor Noah in 2010 for three seasons, and in 13-episodes of Trevor Noah Presents... as host he will showcase upcoming new South African comedians in 2018.

"There's a Gupta On My Stoep is an idea of what I'm feeling and what South Africa feels right now, is it not? That there's a Gupta on our stoep," said Trevor Noah who spoke about his new stand-up show at M-Net's press conference on Thursday.

"There's people who are old enough to remember the reference - the title of one of my favourite movies - There's a Zulu On My Stoep. Leon Schuster changed my life with his comedy when I was a young child."

"Essentially I felt that's what we're experiencing right now: We're a country where we are confused and trying to put together the pieces of how intense, and how much effect these people had on the running of our nation."

"People are still trying to piece together the Gupta emails, people are still trying to piece together the extent of their influence on our government, but it definitely feels like there's an encroachment on what we thought was 'us' defining ourselves."

"And the best way I could think of that was really There's a Gupta On My Stoep. It's South African," said Trevor Noah.

"It's a hint and a nod to the past. And it's not There's a Gupta In My House, it's just on my stoep. There's also some other things that are happening that I talk about and so that's why I went with that title."

"It also reminded me of home. It reminded me of a piece of my childhood. And it's a nod to the time that we are living in now."

Trevor Noah's big warning to all of South Africa and the country's entertainment industry: 'In South Africa we underpay and we over-enjoy'.

The successful comedian Trevor Noah has come out guns blazing with a big warning for not just South Africa's entertainment industry but for everyone, saying South Africans "underpay and over-enjoy" and that it needs to stop.

Trevor Noah said South Africans - from businesses in the entertainment industry to elsewhere, as well as ordinary citizens and consumers - need to start paying each other what they deserve "from a domestic worker to a petrol attendant to all the people where we take for granted how cheap we're paying for these people."

The South African comedian is back in South Africa during his holiday from The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122), to do a new stand-up show in South Africa, There's a Gupta On My Stoep, in Johannesburg and Durban.

Trevor Noah is also back in business with M-Net and will be hosting a new 13-part comedy TV series for M-Net (DStv 101), Trevor Noah Presents... that will be broadcast in 2018.

He was responding to criticism from a journalist at M-Net's press conference on Thursday about how seemingly expensive some of his concert tickets are.

"One thing I've never taken for granted is the cost of doing business and one thing that was tough is that I wanted to do a show, and I wanted to come back to South Africa and perform for as many of my fans as possible."

"In the time that I have allocated, with the venues that I could find, The Dome was probably the only place that I could do that. In South Africa we have a shortage of large venues and it's something that anyone in entertainment knows."

"So if you want to get more than a certain number of people into a room, you only have these few places."

"I don't want you to come to a venue and not see me, I don't want you to come to a venue and not hear me. And I don't want you to come to a venue and not have an extravaganza because that's what I believe it should be."

"I put together the show and I remember, funny enough, when Cassper Nyovest did #FillUpTheDome, I remember Cassper said 'You can sell out The Dome and lose money,' and I didn't understand what he fully meant at the time. It's an extremely expensive thing, and that's the cost of doing business."

"What I've done in the pricing of my tickets I've always made sure that according to what you can afford, you can come to a show. So I have tickets that range from a very affordable ticket to some people who want to pay a premium price and they want to sit right up front at that show."

"And that's the best way I can amortise the cost and make sure that I can put on the show that people want me to put on. Is it expensive? Definitely."

"The cost unfortunately is going to be borne by some who are willing to pay it. Some people have the money. For those who don't, they can still make it to the show."

"I have surprise acts. I have more than just comedy at a show. I will say as a South African and a performer we have to value our own. When I was touring with Julio Iglesias seven years ago in my career - and the price of tickets then - and people went: But it's Julio Iglesias."

"And I thought: When do we pay for our own?"

"If we pay for our own, our own are more likely to stay here because they feel appreciated."

'I was exploited when I was new in the industry'
Trevor Noah said working with M-Net has been a "wonderful experience for me" when it comes to the payment of artists.

"I think a lot of the time in South Africa we take for granted how easy it's been to underpay people."

He said people read all the time how artists die poor - people who were legends.

"You read stories about the Brenda Fassies and you wonder how did these people die without a penny in their pockets when we saw them selling out stadiums? And then we've come to realise over time that in South Africa we've become used to paying people way below what they should be getting paid".

"One thing I'm proud of, any comedian who works for me - I don't care whether you're unknown, or a new comic or a new face - I will make sure that you are earning an income that will help sustain you as a person."

"I don't want to exploit you. I remember that I was exploited when I was very new in the industry. I made almost no money for doing what I love."

"But I'm proud that today I'm in a place where I can say that if you work for me, you're going to feel a difference in your life as a South African comedian. I'm not going to, because you're unknown, not pay you what you deserve," said Trevor Noah.

"In South Africa we must get better at paying each other what we deserve and I'm talking all levels - not just entertainment. Everyone from a domestic worker to a petrol attendant to all the people where we take for granted how cheap we're paying for these people."

"I realised it when I went overseas. I was 'Wow, in South Africa we underpay and we over-enjoy."


M-Net CEO: 'Focus on making African entertainment a big thing'
"We have to value who we are, we have to value what we do," said M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle.

"We can't be prepared to spend money and run after things which are outside of our country but when it comes to our own investment in our own country, in our own languages, in our own communities, in our own musicians, have double standards," said Yolisa Phahle.

"It doesn't cost a different amount of money to hire The Dome if your name is Kendrick Lamar, than what it cost if your name is a local artist. The costs are the same."

"I think sometimes we are very hard on ourselves. What we actually need to do is to support ourselves and focus on making African entertainment the big thing it should be."

"Hollywood was built on its own hype. People in Hollywood said: 'We're coming here, we're building an industry, we're supporting this industry, we're reporting on this industry, we're funding this industry - and those are the lessons that we can learn," said Yolisa Phahle.

"There's no shortage of talent, there are no limits for our industry. It's down to us to do every single thing we can to make sure it happens."

'Not just local, but quality local'
Speaking about Trevor Noah's upcoming Trevor Noah Presents... that will be broadcast in 2018, Yolisa Phahle said South Africa needs to make television that is not just local, but television that is of the quality that will be appreciated all over the world.

"We want to make television that will showcase South African talent, television that will bring to the fore the incredible diversity of comedy in the country."

"At M-Net historically, we've been very good at dramas - if you think about kykNET (DStv 144), if you think about Mzansi Magic (DStv 161). We've made a lot of drama, we've made a lot of telenovela."

"The one genre where we have under-invested is comedy. And maybe it's because comedy is very difficult. It is actually, possibly, one of the most difficult genres to write and one of the most difficult genres to deliver."

"But we do have that comedy, we do have the amazing dynamics in our country which ultimately you can cry over but also you can laugh a lot because we're together and we've come a long way."

"Trevor Noah Presents... is a 13-part series. It is something which we are taking extremely seriously," said Yolisa Phahle.

"We really want to make sure that we do bring through new comedians and that Trevor Noah is able to give them the profile that they deserve so that they too can go out, and they too can earn a good living that they deserve, and to put the spotlight on South Africa globally."

M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle reveals one of her TV career's 'Devil Wears Prada' moments - It's hilarious, it's magical, and involves David Copperfield, Dynamo, Koos Bekker and Trevor Noah.

The highly-respected M-Net boss Yolisa Phahle on Thursday surprised the media gaggle known as the Press Covering Television when she humorously revealed one of her personal TV career's The Devil Wears Prada moments - a moment that's connected to comedian Trevor Noah.

The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006-film, based on the novel of the same name, in which the patient assistant of a fashion magazine editor takes a lot of deep breaths as she valiantly performs miracle after miracle for her extremely demanding boss.

In the the film Meryl Streep's character demands impossible things - like copies of an unpublished Harry Potter manuscript for her twins, and suddenly wants a flight out of Miami although there are no planes due to a hurricane: 'Call Donatella, get her jet".

"Basically the M-Net 30th anniversary was a big thing because Koos Bekker who founded M-Net is very hands-off these days, but he becomes incredibly hands-on when it comes to M-Net's 10th, 20th and 30th anniversaries," Yolisa Phahle said.

She spoke during M-Net's press conference with Trevor Noah who is doing a new stand-up show in South Africa, There's a Gupta On My Stoep, in Johannesburg and Durban, as well as a new 13-part comedy TV series for M-Net (DStv 101) that will be broadcast in 2018.

"So the 30th anniversary was my first time as the manager of M-Net having to deal with this big event and I had to go to Cape Town to meet with Koos to present a concept for the show."

"So M-Net is all about magic. And I said to Koos Bekker 'Should we get David Copperfield? Maybe we must get Dynamo? And lets get Trevor Noah," said Yolisa Phahle.

"And he just said 'Forget David Copperfield, forget Dynamo - just get me Trevor Noah!"

"And he said I don't want anyone else."

"Meanwhile Trevor is in New York. He does his show which is live every single night. How on earth am I going to get Trevor Noah? It was like my Devil Wears Prada moment where in the media world someone is basically asking you to do something that is impossible."

But of course Yolisa Phahle did get Trevor Noah for M-Net's 30th anniversary, and with his help she did pull it off in a revolutionary and a very surprising way.

Since Trevor Noah simply couldn't physically be in South Africa during the specific week in November 2016 due to his Daily Show commitments, M-Net flew a film crew to New York to record him doing his special M-Net performance, and turned him into a larger-than-life hologram.

"So firstly it worked incredibly well, people were laughing in the audience as if Trevor Noah was really, really standing there," said Yolisa Phahle.

"Some people were even saying 'Can I go and meet Trevor' afterwards - very high-profile, intelligent people wanted to go and shake your hand."

"So the reason I still have my job today is because we actually managed to get Trevor Noah because I wouldn't be standing here today if you haven't done that," she said to applause and laughter.

"The hologram was an interesting idea," added Trevor Noah who is currently on holiday in South Africa during the end-of-season break as host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

"M-Net said 'hey we're celebrating our 30th anniversary, can we do something special? Let's try something crazy. Lets do a hologram."

"Let's see if you can do comedy and host your show from ... nowhere."

"Let's see if it works, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn't then we know we tried something new. It was a scary but exciting experience," said Trevor Noah.

Trevor Noah reteams with M-Net for new 13-part comedy show in 2018, Trevor Noah Presents ..., to showcase young new South African comedians.

Comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is reteaming with M-Net (DStv 101) and will be doing a 13-part TV series set for broadcast in 2018, currently with the working title Trevor Noah Presents ... in which he will showcase upcoming young comedians in South Africa.

Back in South Africa to do a new stand-up show in Johannesburg and Durban during his holiday, Trevor Noah slammed criticism that tickets are too expensive, saying that it's time that South African talent and performers start valuing their work in the way that overseas artists are doing.

Trevor Noah, currently the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) made the announcement about his new comedy show partnership at a M-Net press conference on Thursday morning.

Trevor Noah who in the past credited M-Net as the first South African broadcaster that was willing to give him a TV show, Tonight with Trevor Noah that ran from 2010 on M-Net and Mzansi Magic, reiterated on Thursday that M-Net was a "big stepping stone" to getting his The Daily Show gig.

"I've had a great partnership with M-Net for many years now, M-Net was first to give me a shot to have my own TV show where I was involved in the creation of the show," said Trevor Noah.

"I've always wanted to give young comedians the opportunity to connect with their audience - young comedians doing comedy in different languages," he said about his plans for Trevor Noah Presents... 

"In the series I will be working with M-Net, me being in South Africa, gathering the finest comedians from across the country, and showcasing them to viewers in South Africa and saying 'hey, these are the comedians who will make you laugh' for every walk of life, every single race, every single language".

"I will be hosting the episodes, showcasing some of the comedians who I think deserve to be out there".

'M-Net provides a platform to launch incredible careers'

"We've always been passionate about showcasing local talent," said Yolisa Phahle, M-Net CEO, "not just because audiences love it, but also because at M-Net we firmly believe in giving ambitious, talented and creative people a platform on which they can hone their skills."

"Over the years M-Net's channels have provided a platform for many great South Africans who – through their own sheer hard work – have gone on to launch incredible careers."

"If we are going to grow this industry we have to compete with the biggest and the best. And that is actually what Trevor did."

"He left at a time when his star was rising very, very fast. He was a big name. But he realised there was a whole world out there and actually the best of South African talent can compete with the best of the world," said Yolisa Phahle.

'Take the no's as an opportunity to find the yes'es'

TVwithThinus asked Trevor Noah what his advice is for up-and-coming young South Africans, looking to him, dreaming of emulating him and of having a career in talk or stand-up and working in television.

"It's about determination," said Trevor Noah. "It's going where the work leads you. And taking the no's as an opportunity to find the yes'es."

"When I worked in South Africa, my dream was never to leave South Africa. That was never my dream. I just went where the work led me. I love doing shows in South Africa as much as I love doing shows out there in the world."

"I encourage people in South Africa to create excellence here. We have opportunities here that you don't have in the rest of the world. We have a shortage of local productions. We have a shortage of local talent because so many people think we have to turn elsewhere."

"The truth is we can create it here. Many movies are coming to South Africa. So we know we have the technical ability. South African actors are appearing in movies and TV shows overseas, so we know we have the talent over here."

"What we have to build on is the personal and physical infrastructure and working on our excellence. Just because it's South African doesn't mean it has to be inferior. For anyone I would say be excellent here."

"Don't wait for overseas. Just work on making the best thing possible in your country and you will find overseas will come knocking."

The blessing that South Africans take for granted

"One thing in America like South Africa, is we have free speech over there," said Trevor Noah, when asked if he isn't scared of American president Donald Trump. 

"So what's great is working in an environment where you can speak your mind. And I think that's a blessing that South Africans take for granted."

"I know from just my parents' generations – 20 years ago you couldn't say certain things. We live in a country where we take for granted the leeway we have with our arts and our press."

"I know people fight about that and go 'we don't have the free-est press but our press freedom is pretty high up there in the world."

High ticket prices because ...

After a journalist criticised Trevor Noah over how seemingly expensive the ticket prices for his latest stand-up shows are, he said he's actually using his holiday to do them which is why he couldn't fit Cape Town in, and "wanted to do a great show that looks good, sounds good, is good".

"I want to put on the show that people want me to put on. It is expensive? Definitely? Would I do it again? Probably not."

"In South Africa for a long time we've had that attitude that 'oh these tickets are expensive for a South African audience’. And yet when an international artist comes here I don't see anyone complaining when its R4000, R5000 a ticket."

"I've worked very hard to keep my costs as low as possible. But at the same time I don't want to fall into the same trap as many South Africans where you go: I will keep the price cheap, and you attend, and go: 'Yes I can see the price was cheap here' and that this wasn't on the standard of an international show."

"If I bring you a show, I have to bring it to you on a standard that I bring to all of my shows around the world," said Trevor.

"As a South African and as a performer I must say that we have to value our own. If we pay for our own, our own are more likely to stay here because they feel appreciated. We've got to build our industries here."

"I'm not just doing Trevor Noah. When I do Trevor Noah I hire people here, I'm hiring South African production companies, I'm hiring South African crews specifically, I'm hiring South African people managing the venue, I'm hiring South African comedians."

"So this isn't a show of me, this is a show of us. And I'm proud that people are willing to come and to be a part of that."

RATINGS JULY 2017: Bold and Bonang are rating disasters - while David Tlale and Tumi Morake also flop and the SABC continues to shed viewers.

The struggling SABC continues to lose millions of viewers with SABC2 and SABC3 that again saw ratings and audience share losses in July while strikingly all the new celebrity-driven shows on public and pay-TV from David Thlale's The Intern SA, Tumi Morake's #WTFTumi and even Being Bonang are big viewership flops.

July's just-released audience ratings (AR) data shows that the struggling SABC continues to lose millions of viewers.

Only SABC1 managed to keep its audience share stable while the troubled SABC2 and SABC3 continued their tumble and again shed eyeballs in July.

July is also the month that the SABC finally managed to kill The Bold and the Beautiful. After shoddy treatment and ongoing disastrous timeslot changes for the once-popular American soap, the show suffered month-on-month viewership plunges and is now no longer on the already low-rated SABC3's list of its most watched shows.

Viewers are not bothering to watch David Tlale's The Intern SA and Tumi Morake's talk show on SABC3 that both failed to find any significant number of viewers, together with possibly the biggest surprise of all: Bonang Matheba's Being Bonang.

Her reality show isn't managing to pull significant viewers to VUZU AMP possibly because it's placed on the wrong M-Net packaged channel on DStv.

Elsewhere the SABC1 weekday soap Uzalo reached its highest viewership yet, e.tv keeps doing well, and the 13th season of Idols is again a ratings hit showing that the reality singing competition has several more seasons of life left.

SABC1
While SABC1's overall viewership remained stable during July, the KwaMashu-set weekday soap Uzalo on the channel continued its ratings surge, luring its biggest audience yet in July since the start of the soap.

In July Uzalo continued its rise as South Africa's most watched TV show with a series high rating of 8.896 million viewers (26.4 AR) and a whopping 70.6% share for its most watched episode.

It managed to further widen the slow growing gap between Generations - The Legacy in second place with 8.56 million viewers ( 25.4 AR / 68.2 share) that also grew its audience.

Over-achiever Skeem Saam marginally improved its strong performance, growing to 7.29 million viewers for its most watched episode.

Evenly maintaining their viewers were both the Xhosa (4.0 million) and Zulu (4.2 million) TV news bulletins and Now or Never (3.6 million), while Selimathunzi was slightly off with 3.91 million viewers.

Growing for the third consecutive month was Throwback Thursday to 4.03 million viewers. Khumbul' Ekhaya improved back to 3.4  from a low 3 million viewers.

Down and losing viewers were Mina Nawe (3.82 million), Live Amp (3.6 million), Ithuba Lokugcina (3.7 million) and Stumbo Stomp (3.64 million) while Friends Like These plunged from its 3.6 million viewers just a few months ago to 3.17 million at most in July.

SABC2
SABC2 continues its journey on the ratings train to trouble.

While nowhere near the ratings disaster of SABC3, SABC2's slow but ongoing viewership erosion should be extremely worrisome for SABC TV executives who haven't been able to stem the bleeding.

Also problematic is that, similar to SABC3, a lot of the newly commissioned local shows on SABC2 turned out to be rating flops, failing to find traction with viewers.

In July Muvhango remained the most watched show on SABC2 with 5.48 million viewers (16.3 AR / 51.6 share) and although up from June, it's far off from earlier months this year when it lured 6.4 million.

Since April Muvhango has lost almost a million viewers - and that's for SABC2's top show.

In July Vodacom Siyakha fell from 3.9 to 3.52 million viewers while the Live Lotto Draw lost over a million viewers from 4.5 to 3.3 million viewers.

Also down was Speak Out (2.12 to 2.07 million) and Wipeout USA (1.37 to 1.31 million). (Interestingly Wipeout USA is also on e.tv where it lured 2.11 million viewers - almost double - that indicates what is actually possible ratings wise.)

Thola remained flat at 1.64 million from 1.65 in June.

Meanwhile Thursdays continue to kill the once-popular Noot vir Noot. The Afrikaans music competition literally has lost half its total audience and SABC2 share.

In July it scraped out 1.25 million viewers (10.6% share) compared to the 2.12 million viewers and 20.7% share it brought to SABC2 in January when the show was still in its Friday night timeslot before the bad move.

The Afrikaans soap 7de Laan has recovered somewhat from its disastrous ratings levels and at 2.63 million viewers and a 26.5% is almost back at its 2.78 million of January after its ratings took a shocking months' long plunge.

Marginally up on SABC2 was telenovela Keeping Score (1.74 to 2.04 million), Ga Re Dumele (1.22 to 1.54 million) and rebroadcast Vetkoekpaleis (1.28 to 1.4 million).

The Afrikaans TV news bulletin bounced back a bit to 1.48 million from 1.34 in June and the Sotho/Tswana TV news at 1.31 million in July seems to be recovering although its far off from its 1.8 million viewers it had when 2017 began.

SABC3
With ongoing anemic ratings, July will go down as the historic month the SABC finally killed off the American soap The Bold and the Beautiful while more viewers chose to watch a repeat of the old Vetkoekpaleis than a lot of the channel's costly new local shows.

While Bold was a top performer on SABC3 for several years since its move from SABC1, July is the month the public broadcaster finally killed it through multiple and steadily worsening timeslots until its audience finally abandoned the Forresters.

On SABC3 Bold's ratings dramatically plunged from 1.05 million in January 2017 to 890 100 (February), 665 445 (March), 469 814 (April), 585 828 (May) and 465 067 (June) to entirely dropping off SABC3's list of 20 most watched shows in July.

Nothing else signifies more SABC3's ongoing ratings and programming woes than what happened with Bold and American sister soap Days of Our Lives now jumping to e.tv.

Before the disastrous tampering, both consistently delivered top-rated and strong viewership to SABC3 in their stable timeslots and with audiences that advertisers knew and could count on.

The big problem is that no new shows that are trusted and consistent performers on every weekday replaced them after the SABC decided that it wanted to kill off Days and Bold and with advertisers who are reluctant to spend money on inconsistent audiences.

With barely there viewership its no longer possible to call anything on SABC3 a "hit", although weekday local soap Isidingo is the channel's most watched show, slightly increasing its viewership from 1.45 to 1.6 million in July.

Every local new show on SABC3 is a costly ratings disaster, with David Tlale's flopped design competition The Intern SA, Khanyi Mbau's The Scoop, China Diaries, #WTFTumi! and It's OK, We're Family that all started in July and failed to attract any significant audiences.

These local show flops are all similar to the trend of SABC3's last few months that saw its first, second and third batches of local programming that got rolled out and getting shunned by viewers.

Literally not one of SABC3's crop of new shows manages to lure enough viewers except for local talk show Real Talk with Anele managing 479 698 viewers for its most watched episode in July and Dinner Date with 466 271 viewers.

In July SABC3 viewers continued to watch Top Billing (422 400), the English TV news bulletin (608 162), the end of Survivor San Juan Del Sur (561 416) and the start of Survivor: Worlds Apart (514 452), and The Big Bang Theory (448 329).

e.tv
The red letter channel keeps growing - very likely because of the SABC's woes as more viewers are switching over to the commercial free-to-air channel.

Weekday soap Scandal! grew to its second highest viewership this year (since March) with 4.65 million viewers in July with sister soap Rhythm City stable at 3.13 million viewers, while local telenovelas Broken Vows and Harvest remain ratings disappointments and continue to be no-shows on e.tv's top 20 most watched list.

e.tv decided to end it but WWE Raw pulled 2.71 million in its swansong with WWE SmackDown going out with 1.9 million viewers.

e.tv continues to do incredibly well with a spread of quality movies and local and international series.

The channel cornered over 2.1 million and more viewers each for the three Hangover movies on three July Sundays, 2.24 million viewers for The Incredibles, 2 million viewers each for Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc and a massive 2.9 million for Cars.

Another 2.1 million watched the reality show Mahadi-Lobola with Lip Sync Battle Africa (1.91 million), Z'Bondiwe (1.9 million) and American comedy Modern Family (1.72 million) all firm rating hits.


DStv
On pay-TV Idols roared back as a TV hit, with the start of the 13th season on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) hitting 1.57 million viewers on MultiChoice's DStv.

With that Idols gaining a second place behind perennial top-achiever Our Perfect Wedding (also on Mzansi Magic) further growing its audience from 1.49 to 1.84 million viewers.

New Sunday night grit-drama iNumber Number (also on Mzansi Magic) drew 1.36 million viewers to secure the top 3rd place on DStv's most watched list, followed by Igazi that dropped slightly from 1.44 to 1.42 million viewers.

Mzansi Magic royalty keeps rounding out the top shows on MultiChoice's platform with The Queen (1.13 million), Isibaya (1.01 million), Date My Family (1.04 million), Isikizi (793 700), Isithunzi (767 490), and Isithembiso (729 626) that round out the top 11 most watched shows on DStv.

M-Net likely made a mistake by placing Bonang Matheba's new reality show Being Bonang on VUZU AMP (DStv 103) instead of on Mzansi Magic.

Being Bonang on VUZU AMP failed to lure significant viewers following its debut in mid-July, while reality show Living the Dream with Somizi on Mzansi Magic managed 559 373 viewers and a 15th place on DStv's most watched list for July.

Sexed-up Generations: The BCCSA orders the SABC to add an additional audience warning for SABC1 soap's 'ultra-suggestive sex scenes'.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has found that the public broadcaster's sexed-up soap Generations didn't breach the broadcasting code but ordered the SABC to add an additional warning for the "ultra-suggestive sex scenes" that SABC1 is broadcasting before the so-called "watershed period" when millions of children are still watching TV.

The BCCSA case and judgment came after the SABC and the viewer watchdog organisation were flooded by viewer complaints two weeks ago over a kinky sex story line and accompanied visuals ripped from "Shades of Grey".

Viewers complained that they're no longer able to watch the supposedly family entertainment weekday prime time soap opera from Morula Pictures over the "soft porn" content in a storyline in which a woman uses sex to take revenge and that's been deemed not suitable for children.

Viewers like Segomoco Morake said that Generations - The Legacy has "too much sex now" and that "either the producers change the script or we make a petition to remove it from our televisions because I can't afford to watch pornography with my children while I'm a loyal SABC TV licence payer".

Audrey Mathebula said "Generations - The Legacy is no longer suitable for viewing with the whole family. It's disgusting the way it's being shown, it should move to 10pm when the kids are fast asleep."

The complaints over the racy visuals placed new emphasis on the question of what the real role of the SABC as South Africa's public broadcaster is that has a mandate to foremost inform and educate, and then entertain.

The SABC, with TV ratings that keep falling, is battling to stay relevant while its TV audience keeps shrinking, as it tries to compete with commercial and pay-TV channels who can get away with more risque content according to their broadcasting licences.

The risque Generations - The Legacy scenes caused a flood of complaints with the BCCSA that received 160 complaints from viewers.

Interestingly the SABC broadcast the Generations - The Legacy episodes at 20:00 - an hour before the so-called "watershed" period kicks in at 21:00. It is only between 21:00 and 05:00 when the SABC is allowed to show somewhat more racier entertainment content with adequate on-screen warnings.

Following the complaints, the SABC did pull the Saturday omnibus at 09:00 in the morning, but the weekday repeats at 09:00 remained. Both these time periods also fall outside of the watershed period when a lot of children are watching public television.

The BCCSA in its judgment found that the SABC "has not breached any of the provisions of the Code of Conduct".

The BCCSA found that Generations - The Legacy didn't show explicit sex scenes but "do test the line between suggestive sex and explicit sex".

"The groaning kisses and/or systematic removal of clothing do also test the thin line between suggestive sex and explicit sex."

According to the BCCSA "The subsequent actions of the SABC do indicate that the SABC did concede that the audience complaints may have some validity".

"The SABC decided not to flight the offending episodes on its usual omnibus on Saturday 22 July 2017, and the episode of 14 July has since been completely removed from YouTube without explanation".

The BCCSA ordered that the SABC "must place an additional audience advisory whenever such ultra-suggestive sex scenes" are shown.

The BCCSA ordered the SABC to use the words: "Today's episode may contain some scenes which involve suggestive sex. Viewer discretion is advised."

Thando Thabethe quits her soap role on SABC1's weekday Generations for her upcoming new talk show.

Thando Thabethe has quit her TV soap role in the public broadcaster's weekday soap Generations after almost three years for the chance to do her own talk show that will be starting soon.

After revealing two and a half weeks ago that that she has a new talk show on the way, Thando Thabethe - who also added a weekday co-presenting DJ job since May in the afternoon drive slot with Msizi James on 5FM - felt that she could no longer fit in the time required to be on the Generations set as well and resigned.

Thando Thabethe joined the rebooted Generations - The Legacy two and a half years ago in January 2015 after executive producer Mfundi Vundla and the SABC fired the striking principal cast and repopulated the soap with new faces.

Although Thando Thabethe is existing the Morula Pictures produced soap, Generations - The Legacy films episodes some months in advance and the actress last scenes in the role of Nolwazi Buzo will only be broadcast on SABC1 in early January 2018.

"It is with great sadness we announce the resignation of talented actress Thando Thabethe from Generations - The Legacy," says the SABC soap in a statement.

"The cast and crew of Generations - The Legacy wish Thando well and will miss her great work ethic and her abundant talent," says Mfundi Vundla, Generations executive producer in the statement.

"Thando Thabethe is one of South Africa’s most talented TV actors. She has a great future to look forward to."

In the statement Thando Thabethe says her years at "Generations - he Legacy have been nothing but amazing", calling the role of Nolwazi "life-altering".

"I have learnt so much about myself and the incredible art of acting and I'm forever indebted to the producers, directors, writers, cast and crew and most especially the viewers."

"This was not an easy decision to make but I take forward with me great relationships, a better understanding and appreciation of my craft, and the confidence that it will take me to greater heights."