Double wedding day drama in Uzalo on SABC1 as a battle of the brides is raging between MaMlambo and MaNgcobo.

Double wedding day drama is coming to Uzalo on SABC1 starting tonight at 20:30 and on Tuesday in a two day battle of the brides raging between MaMlambo and MaNgcobo.

The war of the brides with Nkunzi as the prize will have viewers enthralled as the 2-episode wedding spectacular will push the scandalous love triangle story to a dramatic conclusion.

SABC1 and South Africa's most watched prime time show, Uzalo, produced by Stained Glass Pictures, is turning up the antics for Heritage Day and tomorrow when Nkunzi (Masoja Msiza) will find himself before the altar with not just one but two brides locked in a vicious fight over the man - and one of them with gun in hand.

The wedding day drama will play out over two consecutive nights as Nkunzi gets ready to marry MaMlambo (Gugu Gumede) on Monday 24 September but MaNgcobo (Dawn Thandeka King) is adamant to get her man even if she - dressed in her white gown - has to bring a gun to the wedding that Pastor Mdletshe will officiate.

With more viewers home due due to the national holiday, Uzalo that pulled 9.32 million viewers last month on 15 August on SABC1 for its most watched episode during the month is likely to increase its viewership tonight for the dueling brides spectacle that will include a white wedding as well as a traditional Zulu wedding ceremony in the KwaMashu-set show that is filmed in KwaZulu-Natal.

Over the past season producers have been building up the love triangle between Nkunzi, MaNgcobo and MaMlambo, the onetime friends who are now rivals for Nkunzi's affections.

Nkunzi's tuxedo is by die Durban-based designer Nhlanhla Mvubu of NP Creations with each of the groomsmen's suits for the characters of Sbu, Mxolisi and Qhabanga that were also hand-tailored.

The dresses of the bridesmaids for GC, Thobile, Fikile and Zekhethelo are from House of St. Luke in KwaZulu-Natal.

MaMlambo and Nkunzi will also appear in a traditional Zulu wedding ceremony with their wedding attire that were made from artificial animal hides.

Splendid ITV Brit dramas picked up for South African viewers with Bodyguard going to Netflix South Africa and Vanity Fair going to M-Net on DStv.

The best of British drama keeps rolling to South African audiences with the terrific new spy drama Bodyguard that got picked up by Netflix while M-Net grabbed the sumptuous Vanity Fair period drama.

The rights to Britain's biggest new TV hit of the year, the spy drama Bodyguard has been snapped up by Netflix that will make Bodyguard available globally on Netflix including on Netflix SA in South Africa from 24 October, except for the United Kingdom, Ireland and China.

The 6-episode Bodyguard shown on the BBC in the United Kingdom is produced by the independent production company World Productions, owned by ITV, and was written by Jed Mercurio, the creator of Line of Duty, who was also the executive producer.

The riveting Bodyguard has kept British viewers on the edge of their seats in the story following the private protection officer David Budd (Richard Madden) from the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Service who is tasked with protecting the fictional British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).

He is opposed to her politics but falls in love with her after, which a racy, sexual relationship ensues while conspiracies swirl around them.

Meanwhile South African viewers will also soon get to see Vanity Fair, a co-production with Amazon, with the miniseries that has been show in the same timeslot in the UK on ITV, as Bodyguard on the BBC.

Vanity Fair however won't be on Amazon Prime Video in South Africa and Africa but on M-Net (DStv 101) that continues to rake in high-quality international drama series made outside of the United States to strengthen the content offering on MultiChoice's most premium channel on DStv.

Like Downton Abbey, Vanity Fair that is scheduled for a November starting date on M-Net, is a beautiful TV set piece based on William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel about the poor but constantly scheming Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) looking for love and a life of luxury, astutely climbing the British social ladder.

The colourful 19th century era story is produced by Mammoth Screen, also an independent production company owned by ITV.

The international distribution of both Bodyguard and Vanity Fair is handled by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

Comcast pulls the rug out from under 21st Century Fox for Sky with the higher bid for the British pay-TV operator.

The American pay-TV operator Comcast has pulled the rug out from under Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox to take over Sky by putting in the higher bid in a so-called blind auction on Saturday in the heated competition between the two for the British pay-TV operator Sky, the United Kingdom's Takeover Panel said on Saturday.

Comcast is now offering £17.28 per share for Sky ($40 billion), compared to Fox’s bid of £15.67 per share - 10% more - meaning that Comcast's bid values Sky at £29.7-billion.

Comcast's higher bid for Sky in the take-over race that it entered in February, makes it very likely that Comcast will become the new owner of Sky in the American pay-TV operator's global expansion, pending shareholder approval.

It's also a massive blow and setback for the Murdock family with Rupert Murdock who has tried to get control of all of Sky for close to the past decade.

Sky that has 31 000 employees and around 23 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Sky has a very strong pay-TV offering tied into distribution and content deals with American TV brands like HBO and Showtime, a ramped up production slate of premium local series it sells internationally, licensing agreements for a collection of the best premium sports rights like the English Premier League (EPL) for another 3 years, and a tie-in agreement with the global streaming giant Netflix.

Interestingly South Africa's MultiChoice - that will be spun-off in the first half of 2019 from parent Naspers - has been closely emulating Sky's operations and services offering the past decade across Africa through its DStv, M-Net and SuperSport brands.

While Comcast that owns NBCUniversal has a large NBCUniversal International Networks office in Central London, Comcast has promised to keep Sky's corporate headquarters at its Osterley campus in West-London.

"This is a great day for Comcast," says Brian Roberts, Comcast CEO in a statement.

"Sky is a wonderful company with a great platform, tremendous brand, and accomplished management team. This acquisition will allow us to quickly, efficiently and meaningfully increase our customer base and expand internationally. We couldn't be more excited by the opportunities in front of us."

Jeremy Darroch, Sky group executive in a statement says "This is the beginning of the next exciting chapter for Sky".

"Brian and his team have built a great business and we are looking forward to bringing our two companies together for the benefit of our customers and colleagues. As part of a broader Comcast we believe we will be able to continue to grow and strengthen our position as Europe’s leading direct to consumer media company."

"Today’s outcome is down to the hard work of tens of thousands of people who have built and developed this business together over the last 30 years. Sky has never stood still, and with Comcast our momentum will only increase."

Martin Gilbert, chairperson of the independent committee of Sky, says "We consider the Comcast offer to be an excellent outcome for Sky shareholders, and we are recommending it as it represents materially superior value."

"We are focused on drawing this process to a successful and swift close and therefore urge shareholders to accept the recommended Comcast offer."

"On behalf of the independent committee of Sky, I wish to congratulate everyone at Sky on creating such a successful company that has attracted strategic interest from one of the world’s greatest media companies."

21st Century Fox in a statement only says "Sky is a remarkable story and we are proud to have played such a significant role in building the incredible value reflected today in Comcast’s offer".

REVIEW. The first Comic Con Africa 2018 at Kyalami was super enough - but there's a lot of room for improvement.

While Aquaman waited to gain entry, the cosplay visitor before him held out his VIP ticket and a plastic grey gun as the security guard told him that "You're not allowed to bring a gun in".

The muscular superhero who held a (plastic) sword in his other hand, didn't know whether to laugh or what to say. Meanwhile off to the side, the Angel of Death - in sprawling black feather wings adorned with multiple amber eyes - was temporarily denied entry at the gate. If she wasn't going to be let in, there was sure going to be hell to pay.

The inaugural Comic Con Africa 2018 - South Africa and Africa's first - that took place this past Friday to Sunday at the Kyalami race track in Johannesburg was super enough and buzzed with colour, krypton and excitement but there's a lot of room for improvement that Reed Exhibitions need to look at. 

Firstly, the Kyalami Convention Centre is not the best venue for something like this because of the crowds and (hopefully in future more panel discussions) but also due to layout, which ties in with the second problem - the parking, parking logistics and the walking distances.

Comic Con Africa will work better in a bigger, more "blocky", more self-contained venue where people are able to get much closer to the actual gates and doors without having to walk kilometres in costumes and carrying heavy hard drives, computer processors and kids. Even the Harry Potters from House Hufflepuff arrived by leg with broomstick in hand.

The lack of adequate signage, both outside (especially outside) and inside Comic Con Africa 2018 needs to be improved.

For an hour and 15 minutes I stood at the exhibitor/VIP entrance at Comic Con Africa 2018, just observing, as hundreds of people arrived after already having walked very far, only to be told (and not told!) that they need to walk down, and then up to the general entrance gate - with no signs, no directions and no help.

I lost count of the number of "F"-words uttered, visitors remarking on the confusion, and fatigued people who just arrived, egamers carrying heavy computer boxes and families with little kids who were already in a bad mood after they popped out after walking over the bridge and disappointed at the long further walk to get in.

How about loop-run golf carts to help people (and their costumes) to get between the entrance/exit gates and their cars? Luckily it didn't rain, but how are people in costumes and with electronics like computers they must carry, supposed to get inside the building without getting wet?

R50 for a slice of pizza? The exploitation from the very first Comic Con Africa in terms of food price gouging need to stop. If this is sold as a family event, make prices for food affordable for families who visit and who are forced to buy it there.

Guides and helpers inside Comic Con Africa 2018 very not just good but actually very good. Everyone interacted with, and everyone of them observed as they helped people asking things (directions and times for events/panels/activations topped the list) were really helpful, informed, knew what to say - and were extremely, and surprisingly, friendly.

With the horde of people besieging them, you'd think they'd appear overwhelmed or stressed, but all of them were helpful and professional - as were the first aid medical team who were quick to help people with things like when a child swallowed a bee inside a Coca-Cola can.

The cancellation from the few overseas stars promised to attend, right up until the day before was a disappointment and a no-no.

Also most of them were "past prime"instead of Optimus Prime. Having someone like Travis Fimmel from Vikings at Comic Con Africa 2018 doesn't really serve a purpose if the character Ragnar already died almost two years ago. The actor has little to contribute to or tease about the future or progression of the character - which is what visitors, the media and pop culture aficionado's are interested in.

Which bring up the next point. Hopefully Comic Con Africa 2019 will attract better and more high-profile overseas TV stars in science fiction and fantasy who have current zeitgeist currency, as well as high-profile local stars.

More should also be done to add actual real panel discussions. Viacom Africa did a Moosebox and women in animation panels, while Showmax, M-Net Movies, M-Net City, Netflix and SundanceTV with a fear tunnel with (why are they smiling instead of looking scary?) zombies, all did interactive "activations".

What Comic Con Africa visitors are looking for who ended up taking photos posing next to life-size statues of Batman and jumping on a Netflix SA Disenchantment inflatable castle, are real-life stars they know and love and people appearing and talking about their shows and projects.

There should be bigger interaction between Reed Exhibitions on the one hand, and MultiChoice, M-Net, Showmax, Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video and film distributors on the other to actually get stars, and have interesting panels and Q&A sessions about the shows and their projects. This will still hopefully happen as Comic Con Africa develops.

Lastly the PR aspect needs a lot of improvement. Where were the flurry of invitations to the press beforehand to cover specific aspects of Comic Con Africa 2018, the interactive media liaising during, and the reams of press releases about aspects of the event and what came out of the few panels that did take place?

How many media knew that Viacom Africa is launching its Moosebox animated series at Comic Con Africa, or that M-Net Movies is doing a DC Heroes pop-up channel on MultiChoice's DStv in November and "activating" it with an escape room at the event?

Future Comic Con Africas need to be made more accessible, with more communication, and filled with more relevant topline talent.

Reed Exhibitions and the organisers really have to "pre-walk" the planned event around the block - literally - from the neverending entrance traffic jam to the toilets, the food stands, seating and crowd flow, to see how ordinary visitors - not exhibitors, media or VIP guests - are really having to navigate the event, to improve aspects of it.

'Holy Mother of Jesus!' As Turner dumps TCM and replaces it with TNT on DStv and Cell C black, it's 1-minute promo for the 'family' channel chooses to go profane.

While Turner Broadcasting does lip-service that it's new TNT channel for South Africa and Africa is for the family, the new movie channel immediately turned profane, with Turner bosses signing off of a deliberate decision to include a "Holy Mother of Jesus!" in the 1-minute promo video for TNT.

It's not clear why Turner decided to include the blasphemous epithet in its 70 seconds TNT promo that families watching TNT on MultiChoice's DStv or Cell C black, and who might consider tuning to the channel, might find offensive or off-putting.

Turner dumped and replaced TCM, switching it to the TNT channel from today, 21 September.

TCM has been available on MultiChoice for 23 years on DStv, as well as on Cell C's subscription video-on-demand streaming service, Cell C black, since late last year, with TCM that reached 6.7 million viewers across 49 English-speaking African countries.

In a statement Turner International issued on Thursday about TCM switched out for TNT, the company said that TNT is "a young, fresh and entertainment-filled offering for the entire family".

Turner was asked through its South African PR agency, Burson Cohn & Wolfe on Thursday afternoon why, if TNT is for the "entire family" it deliberately decided to include in the short promo the American actor Chris Tucker shouting "Holy Mother of Jesus!" from the film Rush Hour 3.

On Friday afternoon Turner in response to the media enquiry said: "Turner is aware of the concerns raised regarding the new slate for TNT. The channel takes great pride and care in ensuring that all of its programming is reflective and respectful of local cultures, and regulations."

"Therefore, the TNT programming team is carefully listening to its African fans and aims to ensure the channel keeps offering a diverse, fresh selection of movies combined with beloved American blockbuster references such as Rush Hour 3, which is one of the channel's best performing movies for the past 2 years."

"Most importantly, all our programming comes with appropriate age restrictions, prompts for viewer discretion and other appropriate precautionary measures."

The inclusion of specifically "Holy Mother of Jesus!" in the promo video is odd since Turner has only 70 seconds to bring across the look and feel of its TNT brand on DStv and Cell C black.

Turner decided to indicate through the promo that TNT is actually apparently not that family-friendly. The TNT promo has the potential to offend some of the possible audience Turner and TNT is trying to reach before they have even made a decision to possibly watch TNT or not.

It also raises questions as to how well or not Turner International is actually attuned or care about South African or African audiences, since including a blatantly blasphemous line in a generic channel promo is surely something that a company that knows South Africa and Africa's TV market should know is a no-no.

As an international company that wants to do business in Africa and South Africa and wants to gain traction with customers and viewers, Turner International with the TNT shows a shocking lack of sensitivity to who the audience actually is.

Fired, controversial former SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng loses his CCMA case for reinstatement.

The fired, controversial former SABC chief operating officer (COO) and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng won't get his job back at the South African public broadcaster after he lost his case for reinstatement at the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Hlaudi Motsoeneng took the SABC to the CCMA after he was fired in April 2017 for bringing the South African public broadcaster into disrepute, but his case was dismissed on Thursday.

The SABC in a statement says it welcomes the CCMA's dismissal of Hlaudi Motsoeneng's case.

"This is testimony of the effectiveness of the strategies that the SABC is embarking on to restore the credibility and integrity of the corporation," says Neo Momodu, SABC spokesperson in a statement.

"The SABC remains committed to enforcing sound governance procedures aimed at re-establishing a culture of accountability in the public broadcaster."

South Africa's broadcasting regulator, Icasa, moving its head office from 29 October from Sandton to Pretoria after 20 years.

South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is moving its head office from Sandton to Pretoria from 29 October.

Icasa has been headquartered in Pin Mill Farm in 164 Katherine Street, Sandton for close to 20 years, but will now switch to 350 Witch-Hazel Avenue, Eco Point Office Park, Eco Park in Centurion from29 October, the regulator announced on Thursday.

"We have been operating from 164 Katherine Street in Sandton for almost two decades. It is time that we move to another location to improve ICASA accessibility to stakeholders. Our new premises will provide a conducive working environment for our people and enable us to serve," said Rubben Mohlaloga, the convicted fraudster and Icasa chairperson.

"The relocation will, in no foreseen way, affect the services to licensees and general stakeholders as well as consumers of electronic communications, broadcasting and postal services. We are working hard and tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition and look forward to continued engagement during our upcoming and currently underway regulatory processes," said Rubben Mohlaloga who was convicted of fraud in January 2018 and after 9 months is still the Icasa chairperson.

Labour court finds Mzwanele Manyi breached labour laws when he abruptly fired Afro Worldview staffers; orders workers to be reinstated at the shuttered TV channel that DStv dumped last month.

The Johannesburg Labour Court on Thursday ruled that Mzwanele Manyi breached the Labour Relations Act when he fired the staffers at the now shuttered and controversial Afro Worldview TV channel and ordered workers to be reinstated.

MultiChoice finally dumped the controversial Afro Worldview at midnight on 20 August with Mzwanele Manyi who abruptly told workers on 19 August not to come to work anymore.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) took Mzwanele Manyi to labour court that on Thursday ruled that Afro Worldview must reinstate staffers since they were not properly dismissed.

The court ruled that Afro Worldview and Infinity Media Networks "failed to engage in a retrenchment consultation process" and that workers who were fired with immediate effect must be reinstated.

Mzwanele Manyi and Infinity Media Networks breached sections 189 of the Labour Relations Act by failing to conduct retrenchment consultation.

Tasso Anestidis, lawyer for the fired Afro Worldview staffers says "We are elated with the court order and the judgement. It is a great order and we are looking to enforce it. Depending on what he does, we will act accordingly because we have relief. We are happy that all our hard work paid off".

The order does not apply to the second respondent in the case, Afrotone Media Holdings.

After 23 years on MultiChoice's DStv Turner Broadcasting switches the old TCM for the action-film channel TNT in South Africa and Africa.

Turner is dumping and replacing one of the last remaining original channels that DStv started with, with the old American films channel TCM from Turner Broadcasting that is being switched to the TNT channel from tomorrow, 21 September.

TCM has been available on MultiChoice for 23 years on DStv channel 137, as well as on Cell C's subscription video-on-demand streaming service, Cell C black, since late last year.

Tomorrow TCM, on DStv and Cell C black, that reaches 6.7 million monthly viewers across 49 English-speaking African countries, will switch to the blue-circled TNT.

TNT's programming is built on an action-driven, pulse-raising slate, mixed with some romantic films and comedies.

Despite a TCM brand fresh earlier this year and the addition of more recent films the past two years on the channel, DStv subscribers still saw TCM as old and outdated, prompting the final switch-out of the channel.

TCM - short for Turner Classic Movies - was one of the few original channels in 1995 that MultiChoice launched DStv with 23 years ago.

TNT that in the United States also carries drama and reality series, will be a film channel for South Africa and Africa and be a more contemporary film channel from Turner to be competition for channels like Studio Universal, SundanceTV, and M-Net's set of self-packed M-Net Movies channels.

"The TCM brand has had a strong classic association which doesn’t reflect the actual brand proposition, or deliver the right message, to our African audiences," says Guillermo Farré, head of general entertainment for Turner in Southern Europe & Africa, about TCM's demise and replacement with TNT.

"Even though we have listened to our viewers and worked hard towards modernizing the image of the channel, there was still a strong association of the TMC brand to 'classic Hollywood silver screen productions'. We therefore decided to switch TCM to TNT to fully reflect the new brand identity and perspective in line with our American blockbuster programming strategy," says Guillermo Farré.

Turner says TNT will offer a "young, fresh and entertainment-filled offering for the entire family" with "creative and relevant programming specially tailored for African fans".

TCM up until now was slightly male skewed with a growing number of viewers in the 25 to 49 age demo, particularly amongst black African viewers.

TNT will show films ranging from The Illusionist, The Green Mile, Crank, Robin Hood and Hellboy 2 to Doom, Tango and Cash and Gladiator.

Turner issued no September schedule for the mid-month TNT replacement.


Below is Turner's first teaser trailer promo for TNT.

While Turner says that TNT will be an "entertainment-filled offering for the entire family" Turner chose to deliberately include profanity like "Holy mother of Jesus!" in its official promo, something that will definitely be off-putting and be seen as blasphemous by certain families who are DStv or Cell C black subscribers who might choose to rather steer clear of TNT.

While TNT Africa is or African audiences, it doesn't seem as if Turner's marketing team for TNT knows Africa or audience sensitivities.