TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Amazon Prime Video - that depends on the internet - has its PR agency send out old press releases because it seems to thinks that South Africans don't have access to the interwebs and that SA's media are too stupid to know it.

It laughable but true: Amazon Prime Video - that depends on the internet to work - has its PR agency in South Africa that is repping the subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD), sending out old press releases about Amazon Studios, seemingly under the wrong impression that South Africans don't have access to the same internet for news and that the South African press covering television and TV critics are stupid.

On Wednesday 1 August, Gillian Gamsey International Communications (GGI South Africa) thought it good to issue a press release to the South African media covering news about TV, about what Amazon Prime Video announced programming-wise at the latest Television Critics Association (TCA) 2018 Press Tour in America.

Nothing wrong with that, except that it was all old - like last week's stale and mouldy bread taken out of the bread bin.

The old news Gillian Gamsey International Communications sent to South Africa's TV critics were literally several days old - already read by South African journalists and the public on American sites easily accessible worldwide at the same time as reports are published on the internet, and even already written about and published locally.

Here came out-of-touch GGISA, going "find all the exciting announcement you might have missed".

Mmm. The big irony is that maybe journalists that missed it, or some of it, missed it because Gillian Gamsey International Communications isn't able to actually issue the same Amazon Prime Video press material to the South African at the same time as when Amazon Prime Video hands it out to the American press.

Not all South African TV critics and journalists are stupid and any journalist worth his or her salt or proper publication isn't going to rehash old news days later that were already made public on 28 July.

In my humble opinion Amazon Prime Video and Gillian Gamsey International Communications SA really need to catch a serious wake-up and stop with old and irrelevant press releases that someone presumably took time to reheat but isn't going to get any traction or press coverage.

To make things even worse is that Gillian Gamsey International Communications SA wouldn't even change (doesn't even care?) to at least change and update press releases.

How on earth do you issue a days old press release sent to media on 28 July and still in it go "Amazon Studios today announced it has greenlit the", and "Amazon Studios today announced" and "Today at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer 2018 Press Tour"?

Some people do read. And some journalists who take their work seriously, kinda do actually read news and keep on top of it immediately when it happens.

Amazon Prime Video that competes with the likes of other SVOD services like Netflix's Netflix South Africa, Showmax and pay-TV services like MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net will really need to do better when it comes to PR around content announcements and programming information.

Sending out old, irrelevant press releases days later, when everyone have access to and use the same internet worldwide, simply doesn't cut it - not in America and not in South Africa.

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Viacom Africa couldn't be bothered to communicate about its BET Global Good Dinner. Whatever.

On Wednesday evening Viacom Africa's BET (DStv 129) held some type of a "BET Global Good Dinner" in Johannesburg.

Sadly the BET get-together as part of a "BET Legend's night" was something that neither Alex Okosi's Viacom International Media Networks Africa nor its PR company could be bothered to tell the media about beforehand, or afterwards issue any information on.

How the press covering television and South Africa's TV biz is supposed to cover this is anyone's guess. 

Viacom Africa and BET apparently doesn't care, so neither will the media.

You'd think a pay-TV channel carried on something like MultiChoice's DStv satellite platform would be better at communicating with, involving, reaching out to, and helping media partners. Unfortunately not.

Nomzamo Mbatha was the MC for the BET Global Good Dinner where Bismack Biyombo, the Congolese basketball player for the NBA currently in South Africa, spoke.

Nothing is available and BET shared nothing, with no rush transcript or speech issued to the press, nor statements from whatever Viacom Africa or BET Africa execs or reps who addressed guests, actually said, or any publicity photos.

Here's the question: Where was - or is - the actual public relations with BET's BET Global Good Dinner?

What the invited so-called "press" who did attend, do - other than feed, drink or take selfies - is also unclear. 

By Thursday noon there's wasn't a single article or report about the BET Global Good Dinner to be found. Bye, Felicia.

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Mortimer Harvey dropped as Discovery Networks International moves the repping of its Scripps-acquired Food Network and Travel Channel to FleishmanHillard.

FleishmanHillard in South Africa has taken over the PR and repping for the Scripps' Food Network (DStv 175), Travel Channel (DStv 179 / Cell C black 255) and Fine Living HD (StarSat 281 / Cell C black 251) with the channels that were abruptly left rudderless since the end of May.

Mortimer Harvey that did the PR for the Food Network since around July 2011, and added the Travel Channel in early-2013, got dropped after 7 years with no word as to who would be taking over.

TV critics and journalists covering television stopped getting programming information at the end of May without as much as a goodbye and with nothing issued in advance for June, July or August (the month we're in now), making it impossible to cover the Food Network or Travel Channel during this time period.

Back in March Discovery Communications completed its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive, with the press assuming even before the acquisition was completed, and also asking, whether Scripps PR would be folded into Discovery's public relations efforts.

After silence of over a month and a half and various journalists asking each other and not knowing what's going on and not being communicated with, TVwithThinus made the effort to reach out in mid-July - something you'd think a PR company would do - to try and find out what's going in with the PR of the Food Network and the Travel Channel.

I emailed and spoke on the phone to reps at Mortimer Harvey, MultiChoice and FleishmanHillard (doing the PR for Discovery Networks International's existing Discovery channels portfolio), to try and find out what's is happening and why there's no programming publicity information for these channels anymore.

I was told Mortimer Harvey isn't involved with it anymore and no longer has the contract.

On Thursday morning FleishmannHillard sent an advisory to South Africa's press, officially noting that the firm's team has now taken over from Mortimer Harvey in repping the Food Network and Travel Channel, with these channels now folded into the existing Discovery Networks portfolio's publicity work.

After 7 years a proper goodbye - any kind of goodbye - from Mortimer Harvey (that works in the public relations business) would have been nice.

Russian documentary crew shot and killed in Central African Republic.

Three Russians filming a documentary in the Central African Republic (CAR) - the Russian documentary filmmaker Alexander Rastorguyev (47), cameraman Kirill Radchenko (33) and Russian military correspondent Orkhan Dzhemal (51) - were killed late Monday.

Their driver who survived told Reuters that they were ambushed and killed by armed men outside 23 km outside the town of Sibut. The three men were found dead 300 km from the CAR's capital of Bangui and had their identity documents with them bearing their names.

The documentary crew was busy doing a documentary about the ties between the Kremlin and a private security company, in particular the Wagner group, an organisation of private military contractors.

According to The New York Times there's no indication that the killings are related to the making of the documentary.

MultiChoice sex scandal sees DStv Uganda general manager, Charles Hamya take leave as wife slams his torrid affair with DStv marketing manager Phoebe Nakabazzi, and details their secret hotel trysts that 'shouldn't be what MultiChoice Uganda stands for'.

Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi

A MultiChoice sex scandal that has engulfed MultiChoice Uganda has seen Charles Hamya, general manager of Naspers' pay-TV operation in the African country, go on leave for a month after his wife exposed his torrid extra-marital affair with MultiChoice Uganda marketing manager Phoebe Nakabazzi to DStv Uganda staffers in an email.

Willem Hattingh is now taking over as acting MultiChoice Uganda general manager while Charles Hamya is on leave for a month to try and sort out his personal life and relationships at home and at work after the nasty private details spilled into MultiChoice Uganda's corporate corridors.

Since Charles Hamya has been unable to properly manage his personal life, it's raising serious corporate management and reputation questions at MultiChoice Uganda and whether Charles Hamya can return as DStv Uganda boss.

If he returns - and if Phoebe Nakabazzi remains in her position as the marketing manager responsible for MultiChoice Uganda's public image - it will raise questions about what kind of message MultiChoice will be sending to not just DStv staffers and customers but the broader public if  people with this type of tarnished reputations remain in their leadership roles.

Charles Hamya's trashy affair, brought into the workplace by his estranged wife, has dragged the MultiChoice Africa operation in the country into scandal, damaging the company's image with the public and DStv subscribers who know MultiChoice as a pay-TV service and not as a place where the boss has a multichoice of romantic entanglement with different women.

On Thursday Charles Hamya's angry and clearly frustrated wife, Crusid Matovu, sent an email to MultiChoice Uganda workers, exposing the torrid, secret and ongoing affair between her husband, Charles Hamya, and Phoebe Nakabazzi, both working together but also having an illicit romantic affair at MultiChoice Uganda headquarters in Kampala.

Crusid Matovu said she wants DStv staffers, subscribers and the public to know that Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi - described by some of her former colleagues as a "corporate climber" - have been carrying on an extra-marital affair, including things like a secret tryst in a Dubai hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Dubai Creek.

According to Crusid, Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi "started having an affair shortly after Nakabazzi joined the company" in 2015 - something that Crusid tried to fight when she discovered her philandering husband's ways. She however failed.

According to insiders Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi apparently attended all MultiChoice Africa "out-of-country trainings" together.

Crusid Matovu who met Charles Hamya in 2011 and got married in May 2016 after a 5-year relationship, said she wants to "bring to light the unethical actions of two of your employees who also happen to be in leadership positions within the company".

Crusid Matovu discovered that Charles Hamya is having an affair with MultiChoice Uganda's marketing manager Phoebe Nakabazzi behind her back, telling DStv Uganda staffers that "After multiple attempts to resolve this matter privately, this affair has continued against our marital vows."

Crusid also slammed Phoebe Nakabazzi, telling her DStv Uganda colleagues that her affair "continued to disrespect my marriage despite many attempts to cease her mistress-like behaviours with Charles. Her most recent act of devaluing my marriage was on a recent trip she took to Dubai with Charles two weeks ago".

Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi "stayed at Hyatt Regency in Dubai Creek and later checked into Towers Rotana apartments" for a multiple day Dubai stay, wrote Crusid, showing an email from Charles Hamya informing the hotel to check Phoebe Nakabazzi in and to charge the room to his personal credit card where he would also be checking in later.

Crusid Matovu says the MultiChoice Uganda top executives have "proven that they do not value marriage or work ethics. This level of unprofessionalism should not be what MultiChoice Uganda stands for and for that matter I no longer want to be associated with both parties".

Charles Hamya is now gone and taking leave for a month "to attend to a family issue that found its way to the work place".

With the MultiChoice Uganda extra-marital affair exposed in public, TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice Africa for comment.

"MultiChoice is not able to comment on the recent correspondence regarding the conduct of MultiChoice Ugandan employees.  These matters are outside of the business operations and pertain to the personal and private lives of employees," said MultiChoice Africa.

"MultiChoice’s culture and values establish the high levels of professionalism and integrity embodied in its code of conduct. Should evidence show that these are not being maintained, our internal processes and procedures will be applied."

Neither Charles Hamya nor Phoebe Nakabazzi could be reached for comment.

BBC Studios Africa renews Come Dine with Me SA for a 12-episode 5th season on BBC Brit, now looking for contestants.

BBC Studios has renewed Come Dine with Me South Africa for a 5th season on BBC Brit (DStv 120) that will start in 2019, with producers now looking for contestants for the 12 episodes of the new season.

South Africans interested in entering for the chance to host dinner parties and be judged by the other contestants have until Wednesday 29 August to enter at www.BBCSouthAfrica.com.

Production company Rapid Blue continues to produce the ITV Studios Global Entertainment format for BBC Studios, with the South African version that also features the voice-over narration of Dave Lamb.

The upcoming 5th season of Come Dine with Me SA will again film in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

"The popularity of the latest season of Come Dine With Me South Africa is testament to the fact that the local audience enjoy some home-grown entertainment and South African hosting antics," says Joel Churcher, general manager and vice president of BBC Studios in Africa.

"We had a break between seasons three and four and were overwhelmed not only by the return of the shows’ very loyal fans but also by how many new audiences the show attracted too."

"BBC Brit is excited to once again partner with Rapid Blue to offer a distinctly South African take on a hugely popular international format. We look forward to discovering some new vibrant, entertaining personalities to take part in the latest season and surprise and delight audiences across South Africa."

MultiChoice finally upgrading the last of SuperSport's standard definition channels to HD in August with Maximo and SuperSport 9 switching on 8 and 15 August.

MultiChoice is finally switching the remaining SuperSport channels from standard to high definition (HD) channels on its DStv satellite pay-TV platform, with SuperSport 9 and Maximo both changing to HD channels during August.

SuperSport currently packages and offers 14 sports channels across South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

Maximo, available in Portuguese and broadcasting mainly soccer, will change from a SD to HD feed on 8 August on DStv before the new Premier League season. SuperSport 9 (DStv 209) that will show Italian Serie A football, will change a week later from SD to HD on 15 August.

"Being able to offer all our customers the full complement of our channels in full HD is a momentous occasion for us," says Gideon Khobane, SuperSport CEO.

"This feat helps position SuperSport as a company at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and will greatly enhance the viewing experience of our customers."

BREAKING. SABC in cash-crunch crisis again fails to pay producers end of July, says 'sorry' and will communicate by 15 August 'to forge a way forward on all the deferred commitments'.

The struggling South African public broadcaster that again failed to pay local producers and production companies at the end of July for their shows and content due to the SABC's ongoing cash-crunch crisis, is now telling them the broadcaster will communicate by 15 August about when they might get their money.

At the end of July angry and anxious TV producers have again not been paid by the SABC with no indication of when they will get their money, while the broadcaster wants them to continue to supply it with content to ensure that "a seamless broadcast is achieved".

While the embattled public broadcaster is very likely set to announce another loss next month for its 2017/2018 financial year, it has now warned local production companies that it had no choice in not paying them at the end of July.

Meanwhile unions are demanding another pay hike with salary negotiations that are ongoing.

Nomsa Philiso, the SABC's TV boss, has now told producers and service providers that the SABC "is under pressure in the short to medium-term in respect of cash-flow due to the current liquidity challenge experienced".

The SABC told producers and other service providers it's "sorry" but had not other alternative than not to pay them on 31 July.

"The SABC management will be in communication with the service providers/producers before 15 August 2018 to forge a way forward on all the deferred commitments," Nomsa Philiso told producers in a letter sent Monday.

Producers and service providers with urgent questions must contact Renee Williams, the SABC's general manager for TV content at 011 714 6718 or williamsrv@sabc.co.za. "We once again apologise for the inconveniece," said Nomsa Philiso.

Last week David Makubyane, general manager for TV channels and now acting SABC3 channel head after Aisha Mohamed quit, asked South African production companies, scared away by the internal turmoil and mismanagement that plagued the SABC the past few years, to return to the channel.

"When we say 'the stage is yours' we're saying to production companies, we're saying to those who have licensed products - we're saying to everyone who's got content - we're saying this is also your stage. Over and above it being a public broadcaster, we really need to make it your stage," said David Makubyane.

e.tv on the remarkable similarities between Imbewu the TV show and Imbewu the Artscape stage play: Simply 'coincidendal'.

Following a case of alleged copyright infringement, e.tv is calling the multiple, remarkable similarities between the free-to-air broadcaster's Imbewu drama series, and the dramatic play Imbewu that preceded it, simply coincidence.

It comes after a dispute over copyright according to The Mail & Guardian that first reported it, after the young playwright Sinethemba Twani (29) from Gugulethu, Cape Town, who works as a petrol attendant, noticed the multiple similarities between his play entitled Imbewu that enjoyed a successful stage run at the Artscape theatre, and e.tv's similarly entitled Imbewu that started in April.

Imbewu, the TV show, is produced by Grapevine Productions, a joint venture between Videovision Entertainment, Word of Mouth Pictures and Luys Productions with Duma Ndlovu and Anant Singh.

When Imbewu started on e.tv, Sinethemba Twani suddenly got congratulatory messages from family, friends and others who were under the impression that his Artscape stage production has been adapted into e.tv's TV series.

Besides the same titles, Imbewu the TV show shares several similarities with Imbewu the play - the first draft of which Sinethemba Twani wrote in 2011.

In both Imbewu's a business man is sterile. In both Imbewu's his wife is impregnated by someone else with his son who isn't his biological child and the man unaware of it. Both Imbewu's explore the repercussions of the secret.

The way in which the man in both Imbewu's discover they're sterile are the same - both hear it from a sangoma. The way in which the men in both Imbewu's find their initial investments as start-up capital for their business empires are the same.

In Imbewu the play a man convinces his friend to sell his cattle inheritance after the death of his father to invest in a start-up business (taxis). In e.tv's Imbewu a man convinces his brother to sell his cattle after the death of his father to invest in a start-up business (oil).

Michael Pocock, e.tv publicist, told The Mail & Guardian that Imbewu the script of Imbewu the TV series was developed in 2015 and that "the similarities are coincidental, and the story of Imbewu also reflects all the demographics of the KwaZulu-Natal region where it is based".

Last month content creator Glodine "Vuvu" Makapela also made an accusation of alleged copyright infringement on Twitter against David Tlale of The Intern that was on SABC3 and Pearl Modiadie of the SABC's reality design competition series on SABC1, Raw Silk that has been renewed for a second season, saying they stole her concept entitled Top Designer she came up with in 2011.