Disney renews Tangled for a 3rd season, retitles the animation series as Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.

Tangled, on the Disney Channel (DStv 303) has been renewed for a third season with the animation series that is being renamed with a new title, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.

The retitling of the series comes 3 weeks before the premiere of the second season of the show of the Disney Channel, produced by Disney Television Animation.

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, along with the rest of the voice cast including Eden Espinoza, James Monroe-Iglehart and Jeremy Jordan, will all be back for the third season.

America's Newsroom on the Fox News Channel expanding from 2 to 3 hours as Happening Now gets dumped.

America's Newsroom on the Fox News Channel (StarSat 261 / Cell C black 502) is expanding from 2 to 3 hours from 11 June, with Happening Now that used to follow America's Newsroom getting dumped.

Jon Scott who has been the presenter of Happening Now will be moving to Fox Report Weekend from 16 June.

America's Newsroom is currently seen in South Africa and Africa on Fox News between 15:00 and 17:00 but will expand from 15:00 to 18:00 on weekdays.

Bill Hemmer has been the presenter of America's Newsroom since it started in 2009 and Sandra Smith joined him last year.

"Bill and Sandra’s ability to cut through the headlines and provide hard-hitting interviews with the nation's leaders have made it must-see television, and we're excited to add an extra hour of this informative program to the weekday lineup," says Jay Wallace, Fox News president and executive editor in a statement.

"Adding Jon Scott's extensive experience in breaking news will help ensure our weekend coverage remains unparalleled in the industry."

Encounters documentary film festival forced to possibly close down after National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) abruptly withdraws funding on opening night, organisers start crowdfunding page in desperate bid to keep festival going.

In a shocking move the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) that has lots of money to splash the cash on luxury overseas trips for executives to exotic film festivals has abruptly pulled its financial support of the 20th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival - on its opening night - with the festival that might have to shut down this week if it can't urgently raise R700 000.

The Encounters Film Festival faces a dramatic shutdown if it can't find funds from somewhere after the department of arts and culture's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) abruptly withdrew its support of the film festival that it supported financially since it started in 1999.

Zama Mkosi, former CEO of the NFVF abruptly resigned last week and left under a cloud, while arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa, has refused to publicly release the report, completed in March 2018, following a forensic investigation into mismanagement, waste of money and allegations of corruption in the NFVF implicating senior management executives.

An NFVF delegation just returned from the 71th Cannes Film Festival splurging thousands of rands to purportedly market South Africa, but the NFVF apparently doesn't have money to support South Africa's own local film festivals and documentary film makers.

The NFVF has said nothing about abruptly withdrawing its support of Encounters that the NFVF supported since 1999 on the festival's opening night of 31 May.

The Encounters Documentary Film Festival is the premier documentary festival in Africa and one of the few solely dedicated to the documentary genre as one of the oldest film festivals on the continent.

The 20th Encounters festival runs from 31 May to 10 June and has now started a crowdfunding page in the hopes of raising enough money to keep the film festival going. By Sunday the festival received pledges of R82 700 - 12% of its goal.

The theme of the 20th Encounters is "Power of Womanhood". Of the 40 films set to be shown at this year's festival, over half has female directors. 

"This is a call to action to all documentary fans, filmmakers and the media to save our festival," says Encounters board member Mandisa Ralane.

"Encounters has a proud two decade legacy of bringing the best documentary films to South African audiences but will be unable to continue unless R700 000  is raised in the next week."

The 20th Encounters opened with Whispering Truth to Power, Shameela Seedat's award winning film about the last year in office of Thuli Madonsela. The festival organisers say that without Encounters there would be very limited opportunities for films like this to be seen in South Africa.

"It is sad that it should happen at this juncture, at the last minute, after years of providing a platform to so many filmmakers to present their work, aiding filmmakers with development of their films into marketable and distributable products, providing training, skills transfer and other opportunities to so many,  particularly aspiring filmmakers from historically disadvantaged communities," says Reggie Kanzi, Encounters festival organiser.

Matt LeBlanc quits BBC Studios' Top Gear, will still be seen in the upcoming 4th season, with the BBC looking for a replacement from 2019.

Matt LeBlanc has suddenly decided to quit as co-presenter of Top Gear on BBC Brit (DStv 120) with the upcoming 4th season that will be his last and the BBC that will replace him with a new presenter from 2019.

Matt LeBlanc will still appear in the upcoming 4th season as part of his $1.75 million deal with the BBC, as viewership of the show continues to fall.

Matt Le Blanc joined the rebooted Top Gear in 2016 after Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond left, and with Chris Evans who left after the first season. Matt LeBlanc's other two current co-presenters are Chris Harris and Rory Reid.

"My experience on Top Gear has been great fun," says Matt LeBlanc in a statement about the show distributed worldwide by BBC Studios.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the whole team. However, the time commitment and extensive travel required takes me away from my family and friends more than I'm comfortable with. It's unfortunate, but for these reasons I will not be continuing my involvement with the show."

Patrick Holland, controller of the BBC's BBC Two TV channel broadcasting the show in the United Kingdom says "I want to thank Matt, who has thrown himself into the show with real passion, revealing his extraordinary car knowledge and a willingness to get down and dirty. We were always going to be borrowing him from his day job as one of the top comic actors in Hollywood, so I wish him all the very best."

Alleged Hlaudi enforcer, the SABC's now-suspended sports boss Sully Motsweni, in the dock on charges of corruption and allegedly looting the SABC by taking mama, kids and friends on jetset lux trips.

The SABC's suspended sports boss, Sully Motsweni stood in the dock on Wednesday, with the alleged Hlaudi Motsoeneng enforcer and acolyte accused of looting the embattled South African public broadcaster by taking luxury plane and hotel trips for which she shamelessly added family members, and abused her position to get it approved.

Sully Motsweni was granted bail of R5000 on Wednesday after she appeared in the Johannesburg Specialised Crime Court after she was arrested on Wednesday morning at her home in Boksburg.

The SABC executive has been investigated by the police on 11 counts of fraud she allegedly committed at the SABC.

Under Hlaudi Motsoeneng's so-called "reign of terror", Sully Motsweni as one of his alleged enforcers, got massive salary increases similar to him, and would jetset across South Africa with her family members in tow.

Just like Hlaudi Motsoeneng, Sully Motsweni suddenly saw massive salary increases at the SABC - first when she got appointed as general manager of compliance, operation and stakeholder relations in 2011.

Her salary was bumped up again in 2012 from R960 500 to a whopping R1.5million.

Sully Motsweni's shocking alleged spending spree with SABC money started in April 2014 when the SABC Sports boss allegedly lived the high life until April 2017, allegedly looting the SABC of R45 182.

Sully Motsweni, according to court documents, allegedly duped the SABC by getting approval for jet-set travel across South Africa with "officials" who turned out to be family members like her own sons and mother.

Sully Motsweni's mom who doesn't work at the SABC, for instance attended the Crown Gospel Awards in 2014 and 2015 - something the SABC was forced to pay for. Two additional friends who lived the lux life, were also paid for by the SABC.

The SABC was again forced to pay when Sully Motsweni jetted to the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town in 2014 with three kids and a friend, and again in 2017.

Sully Motsweni said her adult sons were athletes in the marathon. Neither were however taking part in the marathon and the SABC said they didn't "add value to the SABC brand".

eNCA celebrates 10 years on air today; will mark its decade old celebration with the debut of a new high-tech studio and a new on-air look within weeks.

The South African TV news channel eNCA (DStv 403) that launched on 1 June 2008 is turning 10 years old today and will within weeks be celebrating this milestone by introducing a new high-tech Johannesburg studio in Hyde Park as well as another on-screen image makeover.

When eNCA made its debut in June 2008 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as only the second South African TV news channel ever following the SABC's first attempt called SABC News International that was shuttered after three years, Sabido and e.tv executives were initially somewhat doubtful as to whether the successful eNews brand could translate to a viable local 24-hour TV news channel.

The eNews Channel that underwent a name change to eNCA to more clearly differentiate it from E! Entertainment's E! News and that has undergone two on-air imaging changes since, has however put to rest fears about whether a South African TV news channel could exist on a sustainable basis and lure enough viewers.

Since then the SABC tried again with SABC News, and the now controversial Gupta family launched the disastrous ANN7 that was recently renamed Afro Worldview and that will go off the air in August when it disappears from DStv.

eMedia Investments' news channel consistently lures more than 50% of the total audience tuning to news channels on DStv - grabbing more viewers monthly than the other local news channels like SABC News and Afro Worldview - as well as the international news set of CNN International, Sky News, Al Jazeera, BBC World News, CNBC Africa, Business Day TV and the rest - all combined.

eMedia Investments will now start a second TV news channel, OpenNews, in the last quarter of 2018 as a free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) news channel on its Openview direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service.

Ten years since e.tv launched eNCA at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg at 19:00 with anchors Jeremy Maggs and Redi Direko, the channel has weathered new news channel competition, multiple on-air and behind-the-scenes staff turnover, scandals, must-see exclusive interviews, funny "don't touch me on my studio" viral TV moments and brutal programming downsizing and staff lay-offs.

There were also an American meteorologist adored by the public, the unduplicatable on-air chemistry between Iman Rappetti and Jeremy Maggs as prime time co-anchors, as eNCA quickly became a hatchmill for talent, with various bold names snatched up by other international and local broadcasters over the past few years. 

Within weeks eNCA will once again change, introducing a new studio at its Hyde Park headquarters in Johannesburg, together with another big on-screen refresh of its look  -the channel's 4th in its history.

"While it will look spectacular, we will still hold true to our tried and tested journalism formula of being fair, impartial, curious and asking the toughest questions to everybody," says Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA managing director and editor-in-chief.

"We believe that eNCA then and now continues to make a significant impact on the South African news landscape. We've brought telling pictures into people's lives of the most important news events in the country, including the death of Nelson Mandela and the Marikana tragedy. We've held and still hold politicians and business leaders to account and have also reported on the simple triumphs and agonising despair of millions of ordinary South Africans."

Mapi Mhlangu says "we haven't always got it right. We've made mistakes; sometimes misunderstood tone and mood; and spelled names incorrectly. Twenty-four hour news moves with the speed of light. It's no excuse of course to err and we always move quickly to rectify matters".

"In 10 years we remain entrenched as the country's television news leader across all news channels and we plan to remain firmly in that position in our next decade".

"We know the news environment is changing and we're changing with it. We're also aware we occupy this responsible position of leadership through the loyalty of our viewers. For that, we are immensely grateful and we promise to keep trying as hard as we can to bring you the complicated South African story without fear or favour".

As the SABC joins the global #MeToo movement with an official inquiry into sexual harassment and sex-for-jobs, the public broadcaster's boss says 'it has to do with courage and saying we're fixing'.

The SABC announced that the South African public broadcaster is officially joining the global #MeToo movement again sexual harassment in the workplace and launching a wide-ranging commission of inquiry over sex-for-jobs at the SABC, with acting CEO, Nomsa Philiso saying "it has to do with courage".

With the SABC officially taking the lead in South Africa's film and TV industry about a topic that broadcasting and executives shy away from and don't want to talk about or properly and officially want to investigate, the SABC is throwing down the gauntlet.

The SABC's official investigation is placing pressure on other other big broadcasters and operators - ranging from e.tv and M-Net to MultiChoice and big TV and film production companies - to announce similar official sexual harassment inquiries.

SABC staffers, on-air talent and crew of any SABC show, as well as people who've had interactions with the SABC in whatever level where they've faced sexual harassment, sexual abuse and pressure over sexual favours and sex-for-jobs, are implored to contact the SABC and the commission to share their information and stories.

Submissions about sexual harassment can be emailed to SexualandPersonalfav@sabc.co.za. From 1 June the SABC is also placing submission boxes at the broadcaster's regional offices for people who want to drop off paper documents.

Nomsa Philiso says "the issue of personal favours is quite serious" and will be broad in scope, including unwelcome touching and "just how it makes you feel" to serious allegations about sex-for-jobs inside SABC corridors. "We are going to make sure that we follow this through to the full extent of the law in the event that the veracity of allegations are proven".

For the next two weeks people will also be able to tell the SABC about sexual harassment and abuse they've experienced - with the SABC that wants to hear from both SABC staffers, as well as freelancers who've worked or are working for the SABC, as well as people who've never worked for the SABC but have had interaction with the public broadcaster and encountered sexual harassment or abuse.

"What is important for us is to ensure absolute confidentiality because we recognise that part of why people don't take these issues is it's either [because of] the stigma or just lack of trust in the system of whether or not something will come out of it. We would like to assure our staff and everybody else that we're taking this process seriously because we do think that we need to cleanse ourselves as a starting point."

"This inquiry is not going to be restricted to just permanent SABC staff members," said Nomsa Philiso.


It has to do with courage
"We've heard that some of our freelancers have experienced some of these atrocities so we'd like to extend the commission of inquiry to anyone that has felt aggrieved or harassed by any of the SABC staff members. We have also been informed that there have been some suppliers of services to the SABC who have been asked for personal favours. We're also appealing to them to come and join in the inquiry," said Nomsa Philiso.

"We hear about the youngsters who have aspirations to be in this business. We hear about students who have been lured with promises that have not materialised."

"Those are some of the people - they may not be working for us as freelancers, but I think we all know what happens with the auditions and all of that stuff, and if people have got information that can lead us to cleansing ourselves, we welcome that information".

Nomsa Philiso said the SABC inquiry is "about resetting the tone of our values".

"It's about the rumours that are festering and we don't want to leave them unattended. I believe that one of the responsibilities of leadership is that once you know about something, you have a responsibility to act on it. There was actually a firm allegation by one of the staff members who said we need to investigate the sex-for-jobs issue at the SABC and we believe it's not something we can take lightly."

"This is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Because it has to do with courage. It has to do with people being able to stand up and say 'we're fixing'."

"Why now? Why not then? I just want to say this is as good time as any. Maybe, if anything, it is too late. It may be too late in other instances. But I do believe that at some point, we do need to start," said Nomsa Philiso.

"These things have been bubbling underneath but we have never dealt with it. So we want to open it up and deal with it."

"I do not have any illusion that when we finish this inquiry that those things will not happen again because our society is what it is. What I'm hoping for, is that it start to change the tone and does not enable. By keeping quiet I believe that to a large extent we're enabling".

The organisation Sisters Working in Film and Television (Swift) said it commends the SABC for taking this step, saying "it's something that as an organisation we've been working on for the last two years. For people in leadership to be actively taking action in this direction is very encouraging".

Women in South Africa have become vocal about sexual harassment and assault in the workplace and more are sharing their personal stories.

In December 2017 the #NotInMyName organisation held public protest action at the entrance of the MultiChoice City headquarters in Randburg, Johannesburg, over allegations that female MultiChoice staffers have been raped and victimised through sexual harassment.

Protesters were furious over the way MultiChoice has allegedly not been doing enough to help a rape victim working at MultiChoice and to address sexual harassment of workers.

In April 2018 a female extra made allegations about on-set sexual harassment in Durban on the set of e.tv's Imbewu - The Seed soap.

Swift, aimed at protecting and advancing the cause of women in the South African film and television industry, conducted research in 2017 with the study that uncovered widespread sexism, sexual harassment and unfair labour practices being experienced by women in the South African film and TV industry.

Over 70% of women surveyed and working in South Africa's film and TV industry said that they have felt violated in the workplace. Over 71% said that there was no platform or person available on-set that they could rely on for support or could report abuse.

SABC starts two commissions of enquiry to investigate editorial interference in the SABC newsroom, as well as sexual harassment at the public broadcaster.

The SABC's acting CEO, Nomsa Philiso, announced that the South African public broadcaster is starting two commissions of enquiry - one into possible editorial interference into SABC News, and one into sexual harassment and abuse.

Joe Thloloe, executive director of the Press Council will lead the commission of inquiry into possible SABC newsroom interference - both political and commercial interference as well as possible interference by NGO pressure groups - with SABC staffers as well as the public that can make submissions between 1 to 15 June, after which oral hearings will take place from 15 June.

This inquiry into editorial interference at the SABC will cover the time period of 2012 to 2018 with a legal firm assisting Joe Thloloe and Nomsa Philiso saying "I do not want anybody from the SABC at all to be part of the panel - whether junior or senior. I believe the panel should be as independent as possible".

The SABC hopes to finish by 15 July and to have a draft report ready by 8 August that will be shared with the media.

Submissions for editorial interference can be sent to NewsInquiry@sabc.co.za and for sexual harassment to SexualandPersonalfav@sabc.co.za. From 1 June the SABC is also placing submission boxes at the broadcaster's regional offices for people who want to drop off paper documents.

Nomsa Philiso said the SABC feels it hasn't "done justice" to allegations regarding editorial interference into the operations of the SABC newsroom and said the one inquiry is being done because if you "don't fix it festers and it becomes a bigger issue".

"From an SABC point of view, it's absolutely key that the integrity of news is beyond question. We want to start by saying that we are in the phase of renewal, we are in the phase of fixing, and this is one of the things we are starting to do as we go into the road of recovery."

"One of the things we find ourselves in, is more often than not, the SABC makes headlines for the wrong reasons. And the things that are within our control, and the things that we can clean up, we do feel that we need to prioritise those."

Nomsa Philiso said the inquiry into editorial interference is "not a witch hunt of any shape or form". "What is important for us, is for us to learn the lessons, and also to see how we can future-proof our newsroom to make sure that the mistakes of the past won't happen again and to actually understand the environment - to say why did they happen and what can we do to make sure that those things don't happen again".

"We hope that some of the things that come out of this inquiry will help us to enhance and improve the SABC's editorial policy. This is not about a witch hunt but about repositioning the SABC and making that going forward we're not going to repeat the mistakes of the past."

The SABC's second commission of inquiry is about sexual harassment in the workplace, with Nomsa Philiso saying "the issue of personal favours is quite serious" and will be broad in scope, including unwelcome touching and "just how it makes you feel" to serious allegations about sex-for-jobs inside SABC corridors. "We are going to make sure that we follow this through to the full extent of the law in the event that the veracity of allegations are proven".

For the next two weeks people will also be able to tell the SABC about sexual harassment and abuse they've experienced - with the SABC that wants to hear from both SABC staffers, as well as freelancers who've worked or are working for the SABC, as well as people who've never worked for the SABC but have had interaction with the public broadcaster and encountered sexual harassment or abuse.

"What is important for us is to ensure absolute confidentiality because we recognise that part of why people don't take these issues is it's either [because of] the stigma or just lack of trust in the system of whether or not something will come out of it. We would like to assure our staff and everybody else that we're taking this process seriously because we do think that we need to cleanse ourselves as a starting point."

"This inquiry is not going to be restricted to just permanent SABC staff members," said Nomsa Philiso.


It has to do with courage
"We've heard that some of our freelancers have experienced some of these atrocities so we'd like to extend the commission of inquiry to anyone that has felt aggrieved or harassed by any of the SABC staff members. We have also been informed that there have been some suppliers of services to the SABC who have been asked for personal favours. We're also appealing to them to come and join in the inquiry."

"We hear about the youngsters who have aspirations to be in this business. We hear about students who have been lured with promises that have not materialised."

"Those are some of the people - they may not be working for us as freelancers, but I think we all know what happens with the auditions and all of that stuff, and if people have got information that can lead us to cleansing ourselves, we welcome that information".

Nomsa Philiso said the SABC inquiries are "about resetting the tone of our values".

"It's about the rumours that are festering and we don't want to leave them unattended. I believe that one of the responsibilities of leadership is that once you know about something, you have a responsibility to act on it. There was actually a firm allegation by one of the staff members who said we need to investigate the sex-for-jobs issue at the SABC and we believe it's not something we can take lightly."

"This is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Because it has to do with courage. It has to do with people being able to stand up and say 'we're fixing'. Why now? Why not then? I just want to say this is as good time as any. Maybe, if anything, it is too late. it may be too late in other instances. But I do believe that at some point, we do need to start," said Nomsa Philiso.

"These things have been bubbling underneath but we have never dealt with it. So we want to open it up and deal with it."

"I do not have any illusion that when we finish this inquiry that those things will not happen again because our society is what it is. What I'm hoping for, is that it start to change the tone and does not enable. By keeping quiet I believe that to a large extent we're enabling".

The organisation Sisters Working in Film and Television (Swift) said it commends the SABC for taking this step, saying "it's something that as an organisation we've been working on for the last two years. For people in leadership to be actively taking action in this direction is very encouraging".

SABC3 executives blindsided as Anele Mdoda abruptly quits Real Talk mid-season after the weekday talk show sinks in the ratings.

SABC executives have been blindsided by Anele Mdoda who decided to abrupt quit SABC3's s Real Talk mid-season, leaving the producers of the weekday talk show that's sinking in the ratings scrambling to find a possible replacement by 11 June for the 5 months remaining on the contract.

Although Real Talk with Anele is supposed to remain on-air until October, Anele Mdoda's final live on-air appearance will be next Friday 8 June with producers Cheeky Media that has no replacement and left the broadcaster's programming executives reeling.

For now SABC3 says the channel continues to support Real Talk that will have to be renamed.

There's no explanation yet for why Anele Mdoda abruptly decided to jump ship after less than two years as SABC3 talk show host. Following a sudden break in April with Azania Mosaka who filled in, Anele Mdoda says Real Talk is no longer part of her "career ambitions".

The show's ratings however tanked following huge damage to both Real Talk and Anele Mdoda's credibility, trust and brands after January's scandal in which it was revealed that payment was made for people to appear on the show, essentially turning it into an infomercial - something that was never disclosed to viewers.

The secret pay-for-play happening on Real Talk breached the SABC's editorial policies and the South African public broadcaster apologised and said it will implement changes to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

The damage to the show's credibility under viewers was however done and also reflected negatively on Anele Mdoda, who said she wasn't aware of payments being made and was just an employee. Viewers immediately started to tune out.

Despite a later timeslot move since February to 18:00 on weekdays when a larger potential viewing audience is available, Real Talk's viewership tanked.

While Real Talk still pulled a low 441 795 viewers for its most watched episode in January to claim the 13th place on SABC3's Top 20 most watched list for that month, the sinking show completely dropped out of the Top 20 list in the months since.

In a statement Anele Mdoda says "I feel, for my own growth, it is time to leave the show and to focus on my career ambitions and prospects. I would like to thank SABC3, the viewers and everyone behind the show for the opportunity they afforded me through the show."

With barely a week to find a replacement and scrambling to find a new face, executive producers Janez Vermeiren and Yusuf Stevens say "we are excited to launch the new face of Real Talk which will officially be announced in the near future."

"Anele has been an integral part of the show and an ideal personality for brand SABC3," says SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed, who says the channel for now will continue to support the show.