Tarnished NFVF set for Golden Horn handouts at ‘Back to Basics’ 18th SAFTAs

by Thinus Ferreira

The buckling National Film and Video Foundation will mount the 18th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) this Saturday evening at Gallagher Estate with Lerato Kganyago and Skhumba Hlophe as co-hosts.

Black Swan is the first-time production company mounting the TV awards broadcast this year for the embattled NFVF. 

The organisation is mired in behind-the-scenes drama - something which will undoubtedly make for some awkward moments and a lot of gossip over champagne glasses at Saturday's arrival pre-drinks in Midrand, the main ceremony, as well as the official after-party.

The rudderless NFVF is still without a CEO and also without a NFVF council that had been disbanded on 30 July, with Gayton McKenzie, South Africa's new sports, arts and culture minister who slammed the organisation a few months ago, nothing that "there is a big problem at the National Film and Video Foundation".

He said "It can't be that all the people in the arts are complaining. There must be a problem there. We must address that problem. We are here to fix things."

The NFVF will now put up a "Back to Basics"-themed TV awards this weekend with Lebogang Mogoera, a chief director in the department of sport, arts and culture currently standing in as latest acting NFVF CEO.

The 18th SAFTAs was originally set to take place a month ago but was pushed out by a month to not clash with MultiChoice's DStv Delicious Festival on 22 September since MultiChoice is a SAFTAs partner. 

The 18th SAFTAs will first hand out Golden Horn trophies at its craft awards, streamed on YouTube on Friday evening at 19:30 with SABC3's Expresso presenters Christopher Jaftha and Kuhle Adams as the hosts.

On Saturday the main awards broadcast will be a simulcast on SABC2 and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel from 19:30. It will start with a half-hour red carpet show from Gallagher Estate with presenters Katleho Sinivasan and Nomalanga Shozi.

The main awards show will start at 20:00 with co-hosts Lerato Kganyago and Skhumba Hlophe. Various "talent search winners" are also expected on stage to present category winners throughout the live show.

The two-and-a-half-hour live broadcast is supposed to end at 22:30, but in previous years, it has run over. 

Besides its "Back to Basics"-theme the TV awards show also plans to reflect on 30 years of South African democracy and how the local TV and film industry reflected and promoted a more diverse and equitable society while it changed as well.

According to the NFVF, the awards shows will "reflect the SAFTAs commitment to the fundamental principles of storytelling and filmmaking while embracing innovation and creativity in the digital age. As we reflect on our rich heritage and cultural identity, we also look ahead to the future of South African entertainment".

Black Swan Media headed up by Relebogile Mabotja and Bruce Townsend has been appointed as the production company for the 18th SAFTAs, producing the awards show for the first time.

"To produce for the first time this year as we celebrate 30 years of freedom and democracy and 18 years of SAFTAs is particularly special to us, on the back of winning our first SAFTA as a business last year," says Relebogile Mabotja.

"We look forward to producing a great project while bringing Mzansi along for the ride."

Several local production companies and producers continue to boycott the SAFTAs and have again not entered this year, while Word of Mouth Pictures' Muvhango and Danie Odendaal Productions' cancelled 7de Laan both snubbed the awards as well and once again making the soap categories incomplete.  

The 18th SAFTAs nominees tally has Netflix South Africa with the most at 59, followed by M-Net's Afrikaans kykNET division just one less, with 58 nominations. 

The SABC has 39 nominations, MultiChoice's Showmax streamer has 38, with eMedia's e.tv that snagged 17 nominations this year.

The divorce announcement of Siya Kolisi and Rachel decoded

by Thinus Ferreira

On a surface-level, the shocking divorce announcement of South African rugby star Siya Kolisi and his wife Rachel appears to be just like all the other celebrity types going through a break-up or announcements of death, but this one is quite different - in a better way. 

Here is what you don't realise you're reading in that sad white-lettered Insta black block.

When Springbok rugby star Siya Kolisi and his wife Rachel on Tuesday in a monochrome sans serif type Insta post blasted out that they're getting divorced, the 6-sentence public notification seemed, on the surface, like all the other obligatory "bad news" announcements that famous people "growing in different directions" make.

Add to this same Whatsapp group the patronising death confirmations of celebrities which their PR reps and the family members of the famously-deceased so often make, suddenly pleading for privacy after extravagant fairytale lives lived in the public eye.

But wait. Something is missing from Siya and Rachel's divorce announcement - a word that often makes the media roll their eyes in newsrooms and which is anyway forever ignored by journalists, the news media and the adoring public alike: The word "privacy".

Instead, in Siya and Rachel's divorce trenody, another word in the place of privacy pops up. In fact, if you read carefully, you'll spot it twice: Respect.

First things first: Instead of tabloid press or entertainment news sniffing out the celeb couple's divorce news or unhappy marriage, the Kolisi pair got ahead of the news and announced their separation on their terms and first. 

There will now never be a google-indexed story or a wayback machine article noting "This or that publication heard that Siya and Rachel are getting divorced but when asked they haven't responded at the time of publication to media queries".

They told us. And First. They announced their news, to us, the adoring public, in the way that Catherine, Princess of Wales, earlier this year announced that she was diagnosed with cancer, or Celine Dion announced her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis: On their terms, and their news to tell, framed with thought and precision.

Strikingly, positively, it's very noteworthy what Siya and Rachel are Not asking for: Privacy.

Read carefully: They're kindly asking for ... respect. 

Their first paragraph starts with "We", and their last paragraph also starts with "We", while the middle paragraph contains the word "us". Both the first and second paragraphs end with the word "us". 

They're getting divorced but they're presenting unity - at least outwardly.

Their divorce message is also not one of pleading to be left alone - that they became rich and famous and showed us their Top Billing wedding but now want to hide and be left alone. 

They're in fact saying thank you: Thanking us for the attention, the love, the support and understanding. They're going through a divorce but they get that we as the public and we as the media can't and won't just suddenly switch off the attention they've courted for years. 

They're signalling that they're fine with continued attention - they're just asking for "respect" (not privacy!) in this next transition of their lives.

Many of the death, disease, unexpectedly bad news and shocking announcements from within the industrial celebrity complex these days are seemingly haphazardly done, rush-job sentences penned by A-listers or the people around them who pay scant attention to how properly formulate it for those who will have to absorb it and then quickly plastered across social media.

Siya and Rachel's divorce announcement in an Insta age, despite its shock value, however feels adult and like real words uttered by proper grown-ups who thought about what to say, and more importantly, how they want to say it.

It comes across as thoughtful and with every word carefully crafted. It's clearly designed to try and shape a quite different perception than the usual "We're confirming bad news because we must, we are famous, but now we want to be left alone and are running away from all of you".

Like a teacher giving a comprehension test lesson, count the use of plural within their painful message announcing that two people are breaking up and becoming single: "We, couple, friends, children". 

They're signalling that they will remain in a sense together (they actually say so in words - "We will continue to work together on the Foundation" - and that their relationship as a couple is changing, not ending). 

Importantly, they're not pushing us as public, media and fans away and shutting us out. They clearly get that we are interested and remain interested in their lives.

Siya and Rachel are saying they're grateful for our understanding, but also understand the position they're in with US: That it's been them together and now apart, but that the relationship between "them" and "us" as the public remains and will continue.

It's refreshing - if you can use a word like this when people are getting divorced - that famous South Africans are not jumping to the word "privacy" and that Siya and Rachel are deliberately steering clear of this hackneyed word (which is meaningless and won't be adhered to anyway) in a bad news announcement.

Quick quiz: What word appears the most in Siya and Rachel's divorce announcement? It's the word "love". 

"Love" appears in each of the first, second and third paragraphs, as well as the valediction right at the end: "With gratitude and love,". 

While the public and media will remain intensely interested in Siya and Rachel's unfolding divorce story - and while there will be no privacy and continued attention as they go through something awful that millions of people and families deal with - how can we not also give Rachel and Siya the only thing they're asking from us?

Just love. And respect.

South African government slammed over 2 490 unpaid SABC TV Licences as household evasion rate reaches new record-high of 86%

by Thinus Ferreira

Over 2 490 SABC TV Licences for TV sets that belong to the South African government are in arrears which the government isn't paying for, totalling over R35 million, while the rate of South African households who no longer pay has ticked up and increased to 86%.

While neither the South African government nor ordinary citizens still bother to pay an annual SABC TV Licence, the government continues to drag its feet to replace the R265 annual licence fee with some other type of funding to support the public broadcaster.

At its latest appearance before parliament's portfolio committee on communications, the SABC confirmed that for its financial year of 2023/2024, the South African government failed to pay 2 490 SABC TV Licence fees to a value of R35 million.

While the struggling and technically insolvent broadcaster invoiced over R5 billion in SABC TV Licence fees for the financial year, it received a measly R726 million, with fewer South African TV households than ever before who still bother to pay.

According to Yolande van Biljon, SABC chief financial officer, the SABC TV Licence income "remains on a downward trajectory" with the evasion rate which increased from 84% to 86%.

The department of communications and digital technologies is years behind with reform of the system to ensure that the public broadcaster's public broadcasting mandate is fully and functionally funded. 

While countries like France have abolished its TV Licence fee system and the United Kingdom is on track to do away with the BBC licence fee by the end of 2027, South Africa's public broadcaster keeps doing the same thing expecting different results.

The SABC keeps issuing licences for new TV sets bought and keeps spending millions annually on debt agencies to try and get people to pay up. Yet, fewer and fewer people do.

Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson, told TVwithThinus in response to a media query "The SABC can confirm that it is working with the shareholder to address the outstanding licence fees owed by government entities". 

The shareholder referred to is the department of communications and digital technologies. 

Solly Malatsi, minister of communications and digital technologies, has now slammed government departments for not paying their SABC TV Licence fees, noting in a statement that "the culture of non-payment of public services such as TV Licences is unacceptable".

Malatsi says that he has written to deputy president Paul Mashatile "to request urgent intervention in addressing the issue of unpaid TV licence fees by several government departments".

"Government, as a leader in our society, must set the high standard for compliance with legal and financial responsibilities. By ensuring that all government departments pay the TV licenses in full and on time will help support the public broadcaster's financial health."

Malatsi says "It is crucial that we take steps to lessen the burden on the national fiscus by ensuring that the SABC has the resources it needs to fulfil its mandate."

"While the need for a new, credible and effective funding model for the SABC is being prioritised, it remains imperative that all stakeholders, including government departments must pay for services they use."

"This will assist in the transition towards a more sustainable financial model for the SABC, which is critical for the broadcaster to deliver on its core mandate of providing independent and quality broadcasting services to all South Africans."

Armed robbers attack kykNET's Prontuit current affairs team and presenter Kabous Meiring

by Thinus Ferreira

Armed robbers attacked and robbed the camera crew of kykNET's Prontuit current affairs show, including its presenter Kabous Meiring, Rapport newspaper reports.

The crew and presenter were robbed of their filming equipment as well as personal belongings while recording an insert on the sportsfield of the Grabouw High School while they were filming an episode about club rugby.

Cameraman Theo Crouse was attacked first while in the vehicle they were driving.

Waldimar Pelser, M-Net director for premium channels, says in a statement "A group of armed men overwhelmed cameraman Theo Crouse first after which Kabous Meiring and director Mia Louw were threatened with an armed gun".

Netflix must stop clinging when you cancel

by Thinus Ferreira

To cancel video streaming subscriptions like Netflix will now become easier for Americans and through that likely for consumers in the rest of the world as well.

According to American news reports, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received over 16 000 complaints from consumers who've said they struggle and feel trapped when trying to cancel online subscriptions like those for video-on-demand (VOD) services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the like.

After the avalanche of complaints, the FTC has now introduced a "click-to-cancel" regulation which will come into effect in six months. 

The Washington Post reports that according to "click-to-cancel" consumers must be able to cancel digital subscriptions in it takes to sign up for them.

Lina M. Khan, FTC commission chairperson, in a statement said "Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. The FTC's rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want".

"The FTC's updated rule will apply to almost all negative option programmes in any media."

According to NPR, the click-to-cancel will be enforced for anything from gym memberships to satellite pay-TV.

SABC2's Muvhango forced to stop production again after writers, cast and crew again go unpaid by Word of Mouth Pictures

by Thinus Ferreira

Production has once again shut down on the SABC's Muvhango after the writers, crew and cast of the Word of Mouth Pictures produced Venda weekday soap on SABC2 say that have not been paid.

Insiders first told TVwithThinus on 6 October that writers, cast and crew on Muvhango have again not been paid for September.

This has happened multiple times in the past with the embattled Word of Mouth Pictures show, and is the first time production was forced to cease for the just-started 26th season.

Filming recently started on the 26th season of Muvhango after months. 

It follows after Muvhango stopped filming on 25 June on a shortened 25th season for only half a year's episode after the SABC effectively cancelled the show.

The SABC eventually signed a new 26th season contract for another full-year 260 episode order, after which filming resumed on a cheaper-done show, although first forcing SABC2 into airing Muvhango repeats in the timeslot that tanked ratings.

At a hastily-arranged and badly done media event in Fourways, Johannesburg on 25 July, the SABC promised that the 26th season of Muvhango would start on 5 August together with a new logo and opening sequence but none of that happened and the show also failed to start on 5 August.

Insiders this month said they've refused to work further on Muvhango due to not being paid by Duma Ndlovu and that they have gone unpaid yet again without any explanation, except that there isn't money.

Thanduxolo Jindela of Kwathole Conexion, Muvhango's PR firm didn't respond to a media query.

Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson, in response to a media query made last week about Muvhango, tells TVwithThinus "The SABC can confirm that the Muvhango production is currently on a reading break and will resume this week. The SABC and the production house are in constant engagement as per norm for a smooth running of the production".

Earlier this month Duma Ndlovu appeared in court after he was charged with tax evasion of over R25 million.

Dumakude "Duma" Ndlovu appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Palm Ridge on tax evasion charges spanning multiple years, together with his co-accused tax practitioners Rodney Mutsharini and Maxwell Mloyi.

Duma Duma Ndlovu is the producer through Word of Mouth Pictures of the Venda soap Muvhango on SABC2, as well as Queen Modjadji through Rhythm World Productions for MultiChoice and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel on DStv.

Rhythm World Productions also produced a litany of other shows for Mzansi Magic like Umkhokha, eHostela, Komkhulu, My Brother's Keeper as well as the current Sibongile and the Dlaminis, and co-produced Imbewu: The Seed for eMedia's e.tv.

ALSO READ: The SABC effectively cancelled SABC2's Muvhango that has run out of episodes with no further contract for Word of Mouth Pictures

ALSO READ: SABC revives Muvhango for 26th season as cheaper show with new faces

ALSO READ: SABC resets Muvhango amidst ratings and money woes, adds Leleti Khumalo

ALSO READ: Producer Duma Ndlovu in court for alleged tax evasion of over R25 million

Netflix adds 5 million subscribers, blames Hollywood strikes for patchier content offering

by Thinus Ferreira

On Thursday night Netflix revealed its third-quarter 2024 financial results and that it added another 5.1 million subscribers worldwide, blaming its "patchier" content offering on the wake of the Hollywood strikes.

On Thursday the global video streaming service announced that it has grown to 282.2 million subscribers worldwide. 

This is its penultimate release of quarterly subscriber numbers since Netflix announced earlier that it will stop releasing numbers from the first quarter of 2025.

In its latest quarterly investors' letter, Netflix indicated that paid users now watch Netflix for an average of two hours per day. 

"Engagement on Netflix is healthy: around two hours a day per paid membership on average, despite the impact of paid sharing,” the streamer said.

Netflix said it won't bundle its streaming service with others in the way that other American streamers are doing and contemplating.

"Programming for such a large, engaged audience, with so much variety and great quality, is hard. It's why streaming services which lack our breadth of content are increasingly looking to bundle their offerings (selling and discounting their services together, channel offerings, etc.)."

"Netflix is already an extraordinary package of series and films (licensed and original), and increasingly games and live events - all in one place and for one price, easy to use and great value for money."

"We believe there's a huge opportunity to grow that share by investing even more in our slate and continuing to improve the variety and quality of our offering. Part of that improvement is ensuring we have a steady drumbeat of great, new TV shows, movies and games throughout the year to satisfy our members."

Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO, on Netflix's third quarter investors' earnings call, noted that its content in 2024 was "patchier than normal" due to the fallout from the joint actors and writers strikes in America and that Netflix's production pipeline "hasn't fully recovered".

"Our aim here is to always have a very steady drumbeat of great new TV shows and films and games for our members to watch throughout the year - a drumbeat so steady that when you're watching the last episode of whatever you're watching, you start expecting the next thing to be great, too," he said.

"The first half of this year, our lineup was much lumpier than we liked, and it was primarily because of the work stoppage. It did hit the United States and Canada the hardest the hardest, but there were some effects of that felt in production around the world."

"We’re moving closer and closer to a more normalised output schedule now, series are a little more on track than film, but neither are fully recovered," he said.

Over the next quarter to the end of 2024 Netflix will release the second season of South Korea's Squid Game, No Good Deed with Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano, as well as the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight on 15 November.

Also on the Netflix schedule are Man on the Inside with Ted Danson, as well as Black Doves from the United Kingdom with Keira Knightley. 

Film-wise Netflix will release The Piano Lesson, Emilia Pérez, the action movie Carry-On with Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman, as well as Tyler Perry's war drama The Six Triple Eight with with Kerry Washington.

In 2025 Netflix will release a new Knives Out film, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and the Russo brothers' film The Electric State with Millie Bobby Brown, as well as a new season of Wednesday.

Science-fiction sandworm series Dune: Prophecy coming to M-Net from 18 November as an Express from the US title

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net (DStv 101) has snagged the HBO Original science-fiction prequel series Dune: Prophecy which will broadcast as an Express from the US title on Mondays, from Monday 18 November at 21:00, similar to Sky in the United Kingdom.

Dune: Prophecy is a prequel series from Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schaper also serving as showrunner, set 10 000 years before the events of the Dune film of 2021 and its sequel. 

Dune: Prophecy is produced by Legendary Television and has a 6-episode first season. It is inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

The series is an origin story of the start and growth of the secretive and powerful Bene Gesserit sect of women, with the official logline stating that the story "follows sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen as they combat forces that threaten the future of humanity, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit". 

Besides the galactic machinations behind closed doors of the secretive sect to control the politics of the galaxy, Dune: Prophecy will also explore the origins of the interstellar family feud between the evil Harkonnens and the noble Atreides, although the Harkonnens when the series starts are not the vicious and depraved clan they end up being thousands of years later. 

 The TV series, filmed in Hungary, is a direct spin-off from the 2021 film and will debut on HBO in the United States on 17 November. 

Sky in the United Kingdom and MultiChoice's DStv will both show Dune: Prophecy on 18 November as an Express from the US title, after it was rebranded in July as an HBO Original.

Another upcoming series, Lanterns, was also rebranded as an HBO Original and will tell a Green Lanterns story, making it very likely also an M-Net and Showmax acquisition.

After the release of two Dune: Prophecy teasers over the last few months, HBO released an official trailer on Thursday at New York Comic Con.

It stars Mark Strong as the emperor, together with Travis Fimmel, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Jessica Barden, Jodhi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis and Aoife Hinds.

Amazon Prime Video to cover US presidential election as first live news event

by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon Prime Video is expanding into news coverage for the first time with the video streaming service which will cover the upcoming 2024 American presidential election on 5 November with rolling coverage for viewers globally, including South Africa.

Amazon says its Amazon Prime Video streamer will be a "one-stop destination for election insights" when it streams Election Night Live with Brian Williams from 23:00 on 5 November.

The programme will be produced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirsher with Jonathan Wald as executive producer and showrunner and is Amazon Prime Video's first streaming of a major live news event.

Election Night Live with Brian Williams will be available in English to Amazon users in most countries where Amazon Prime Video is available, regardless of whether they have are subscribers of Amazon Prime Video.

Brian Williams, a former American TV news anchor who left NBCUniversal's American TV news channel MSNBC at the end of 2021, will be joined live by guests to share real-time poll results and commentary in the election race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

According to Amazon Prime Video, Election Night Live with Brian Williams "will meet global viewers where they are, providing a unique, first-stop opportunity to follow the evening's results in an informative, accessible and non-partisan presentation directly on Prime Video".

Brian Williams will be joined in conversation by a variety of experts across news and politics with insights and analysis.

"After 41 years in the business - from local news to network shows to cable news - this feels like the next big thing. And the global marketplace of Amazon is a natural home for this first-of-its-kind venture," says Brian Williams in a statement.

"Together we will follow the storyline on election night wherever it leads us."

Albert Cheng, vice president and head of Amazon Prime Video, says "Amazon Prime Video is excited to host Brian Williams for a one-night-only election night special event".

"This non-partisan live special will draw from major news sources and complement the various partner news channels available on Amazon Prime Video. Our comprehensive offering is designed to give today's viewer a direct and seamless way to keep up with election results."