Style renews Giuliana & Bill for a 4th season promising big changes; ''this season is the year of fun,'' says Giuliana Rancic.

The reality show Giuliana & Bill with Bill Rancic and Giuliana Rancic who anchors the daily E! News on E! Entertainment (DStv 124) has been renewed for a 4th season on Style (DStv 183) the channel has announced.

''The new season of this compelling look inside a modern marriage promises to be a year of fun along with the same inspiring and often stark reality for which the show has become known and loved by millions,'' Style says in a press release. ''Giuliana and Bill will step back from the stress of expanding their family and focus on returning their marriage to how it was when they were newlyweds. The challenges, the joys, the disappointments and the triumphs are all on the screen for viewers to share as Giuliana and Bill face their lives in front of and behind the cameras, together.''

Giuliana & Bill has followed the celebrity power couple as they fell in love, got married, and set up housekeeping - twice in fact. Bill Rancic is from Chicago and Giuliana Rancic lives in Los Angeles doing E! News. The couple blended their respective friends and families in two separate locations, and each logged thousands of air miles to be together whenever possible.

They tried to start a family as well, with a demanding fertility process that wreaked havoc on Giuliana Rancic. Determined to conceive, they embarked on in-vitro fertilization in season three of Giuliana & Bill. Although Giuliana Rancic fell pregnant, a miscarriage left the couple emotionally devastated. ''While the healing process is lengthy and painful, together Giuliana and Bill forge ahead to the next chapter in their lives as a family, with or without the children for which they so fervently hope,'' says Style.

''Last season was super emotional for us - our quest to have a baby - and it didn't work out for us yet,'' Giuliana Rancic told TVGuide in a video interview. ''But this season is the year of fun as my husband calls it,'' she says.

The 4th season of Giuliana & Bill finds them questioning the ongoing viability of maintaining homes in two American cities and things will come to a head when the couple determines they can no longer go on the way that they have been.

Programming note: Carte Blanche on M-Net kicking off the official Royal Wedding week coverage this Sunday evening with a TV special.

Exactly as I told you RIGHT HERE in March the great weekly investigative magazine show Carte Blanche will have a wonderful Royal Wedding special this Sunday, 24 April at 19:00 on M-Net (DStv 101).

Carte Blanche is bringing viewers a special Twofour production this Sunday evening at 19:00 about next Friday's Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Carte Blanche will join in the speculation about the dress, the flowers, the food and the whole royal spectacle of it all that's set to lure a worldwide audience of 2 billion viewers.

The Twofour production on Carte Blanche is entitled William & Kate: The Wedding of the Century and will feature new and exclusive interviews with royal insiders and key experts, from designers to cake makers, wedding planners, florists and caterers to hear their creative vision for the day. The TV special will seek to answer the questions: which designer will Kate wear? Who will the couple choose to be in their wedding party? What dishes will be served at the wedding breakfast? Who will be on the guest list? And, what do you buy for the most famous couple in the world? The special will also utilize special effects graphics to imagine what the royal wedding will look like.

South African public broadcaster plans to get rid of 700 workers as SABC wants to rid the corporation of 1 in every 5 workers.

The South African public broadcaster is planning to get rid of 699 workers - 1 in 5 - as the SABC plans to shed jobs as part of its turnaround strategy over the next two to three years.

Justice Ndaba, the SABC's acting head of human capital services told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that the SABC is getting ready to get rid of 699 of the public broadcaster's current 3 699 workers within the next two to three years. That means that 1 out of every 5 current SABC workers will no longer be employed by the public broadcaster by 2014 as part of the corporation's turnaround strategy that includes drastically shrinking the workforce.

ALSO READ: SABC sees its planned new 24 hour news channel as a key driver of the broadcaster's turnaround strategy.
ALSO READ: SABC start begging government for money (again) - this time to pay possible retrenchment packages for workers who want out.
ALSO READ: SABC tells government it stands to lose at least R400 million per year in advertising revenue if a proposed ban on alcohol advertising comes into effect.

The SABC's turnaround strategy is in full swing, however the trade union MWASA is taking the SABC to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) seeking a reversal of all the decisions thus far carried out by the SABC and for ''the corporation's insistence on unilateral implementation of decisions on the restructuring process''. MWASA claims ''the SABC had misled parliament and the whole world that they had consulted organized labour when they actually had not done so''.

Another trade union, Bemawu tells TV with Thinus ''it's shocking that the SABC is talking about letting workers go while the SABC, on a daily basis advertise positions and appoint new people - especially on senior level - and that without following internal processes.'' Bemawu says the tradeu union is ''incredibly concerned'' about the SABC's turnaround strategy ''which seems like nothing more than to get rid of a previous regime and to bring in associates and friends''.

Bewau claims the SABC is once again busy with wasteful expenditure, saying ''18 iPads have been bought for top management while at least R22 million has been payed to Deloitte Consulting so far, amongst other things for the implementation of phase 2 of the turnaround strategy, while not a minute has been spent consulting with trade unions''. ''We're very scared that if retrenchment packages are given, that it will be the personnel working at the SABC the longest - who have the knowledge and expertise - who will leave first, having a massively debilitating impact on the public broadcaster.''

The Independent Producers' Organisation (IPO) and the South African Screen Federation (SASFED) are saying that they also, haven't been consulted by the SABC on the broadcaster's turnaround strategy. ''At a consultation meeting urged by SASFED on 17 January SABC management said its turnaround strategy, as had previously been presented to parliament, was a work in progress that remained open to accommodating the perspectives of the independent television production industry. The SABC committed itself at this meeting to substantive discussions in advance of further presentation to parliament,'' says the groups in a strongly-worded statement.

''To date this commitment has not been honoured and the independent production sector - a vital stakeholder in public broadcasting at the operational coalface with the SABC and directly subject to its deficiencies, is concerned its points of view may not be represented in the turnaround plans being developed,'' says the groups that collectively represent more than 300 000 workers in South Africa's TV production sector.
''The IPO, SASFED and the TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) have for the past year tabled a range of ideas about the turnaround of the SABC,'' they say.

BET renews The Wendy Williams Show and The Mo'Nique Show both for 3rd seasons; also bringing back The Game.

The Wendy Williams Show with Wendy Williams has been renewed for a 3rd season on BET (TopTV 190) while the late night talk show The Mo'Nique Show hosted by Mo'Nique and now also broadcast on SABC2 will also be back for a 3rd season on BET.

Other shows renewed by BET include The Game, a 2nd season for Let's Stay Together and a new season of the the gospel competition show Sunday's Best.

Britain's Cartoonito channel coming to South Africa as a daily pre-school block on Boomerang from September.

Turner Broadcasting is bringing the Cartoonito pre-school channel, similar to BBC's CBeebies, to South Africa as a daily pre-school block of programming to Boomerang (DStv 302) from September.

Cartoonito started in May 2007 in Britain and has popular preschool programming for kids between 3 and 6 including Fireman Sam, Baby Looney Tunes and Care Bears and will now get a daily block on either Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network or Boomerang across Europe, the Middle East and Africa known as the EMEA region.

Launch shows on Cartoonito as a daily block will include Bananas in Pajamas and Jelly Jamm. ''We're incredibly excited to be making such a splash in the preschool market with a full-scale roll-out of Cartoonito across EMEA,'' says Michael Carrington, Turner Broadcasting's chief content officer in a press release.

''Whilst controller of CBeebies, I'd always admired Cartoonito from afar, and having the opportunity to extend this wonderful preschool brand across EMEA was one I couldn't resist. Building on the success of the British channel and with two fantastic launch shows at the helm – Bananas in Pyjamas and Jelly Jamm – Cartoonito is set to delight audiences across EMEA as a hub of fun, funny and imaginative entertainment for preschoolers and their parents,'' says Michael Carrington.

Cartoonito will use six animated character shapes during the Cartoonito continuity breaks called Lolly, Bubble, Cuba, Spike, Ting and Ringo.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey, Blake Lively, Joe Scarborough, Amy Poehler and Ayman Mohyeldin are TV's most influential says TIME.

Televisionary and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who's made the list numerous time before, is one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 according to TIME magazine that just released its annual 2011 TIME 100 list for this year.

Besides Oprah Winfrey, other TV-centric people who topped TIME's list of 100 people include Ayman Mohyeldin, the relentless TV correspondent who covered the unrest in Egypt earlier this year with unsettling clarity for Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / TopTV 401).

Also included are Amy Poehler from the comedy show Parks & Recreation on M-Net (DStv 101), Matthew Weiner who's the creator of the TV show Mad Men, Joe Scarborough of the breakfast show Morning Joe on MSNBC (TopTV 410), Blake Lively of Gossip Girl on Vuzu (DStv 123), Chris Colfer of Glee on M-Net (soon Vuzu) (DStv 123), actor and TV producer Mark Wahlberg and TV producer Rebecca Eaton.

Programming note: A new, reset All Access - now hoping to find a black audience - starts its first season on Mzansi Magic.

Scrapped from M-Net after exactly 2 years on air, the weekly entertainment magazine show All Access returns tonight at 20:30 as a retooled, reworked and trunkated show and to the new channel, Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) targeting a black viewership.

All Access, still produced by Homebrew Films, resets as a new show now reduced to half an hour and without the white presenters except for Jason Greer who stays on with Bridget Masinga and Pabi Moloi. A new black male presenter will also be added, but not yet from tonight.

I can also show the new All Access logo first - now silver in colour from the previous golden hues it changed to after the original red and black. Despite the word ''Mzansi'' appearing in the logo I'm told the show's name will still just be All Access. No episode synopsis or line-up for the reset show's first episode, or media advisory that it's starting was issued by anyone involved with this show.

UPDATE Thursday 21 April 20:30 - It's hilarious! Now suddenly the show is called All Access Mzansi - after I explicitly and specifically asked Mzansi Magic whether this is the new title - and was told it remains just All Access.

BREAKING. SABC sees its planned new 24 hour news channel as a key driver of the public broadcaster's turnaround strategy.

You're reading it here first.

The SABC sees its proposed new 24 hour news channel on MultiChoice's DStv, covering just South African news as opposed to the world with SABC News International previously, as a key driver of the beleaguered public broadcaster's turnaround strategy.

The new 24 hour news channel that the SABC wanted to launch on 1 April 2011 (as I broke the news RIGHT HERE in early February) - had its starting date confirmed this afternoon by a promotional video clip about the news channel that was played in parliament today that showed 1 April 2011 as it's now come-and-gone starting date. The new 24 hour news channel that the SABC wants to start on MultiChoice as a satellite channel but as part of the public bouquet, will replace the SABC News International channel that's no longer broadcasting as a stand-alone TV channel.

The 24 hour news channel will eventually become one of the free additional digital channels that the SABC broadcast after the switch-over to digital terrestrial television (DTT). ''When we've been talking about a 24 news channel,'' the SABC's acting group CEO Robin Nicholson said in parliament, ''it really is the repositioning of SABC News into the digital age.''

BREAKING. SABC starts begging government for money (again) - this time to pay possible retrenchment packages for workers who want out.

You're reading it here first.

The SABC board and SABC board chairperson dr. Ben Ngubane was in parliament again today to report about the beleaguered public broadcaster's turnaround strategy - and to start begging for money (again). The SABC wants ''funds'' to be able to offer SABC workers who maybe wants out, severance packages.

''If we're going to be supported in our turnaround strategy we [need] appropriate funding so that we can have voluntary severance packages,'' dr. Ben Ngubane - slouching in his chair - told parliament's portfolio committee on communications this afternoon, ''so that we can actually buy pensions for people who have to retire as we restructure the organisation.''

''We should see a much better profit margin other than R12 million in the fiscal 2014,'' said dr. Ben Ngubane.