SABC: Boardless for 3 months and counting as loss-making public broadcaster's revenue generating plans slip away.

by Thinus Ferreira

This week marks an unprecedented three months - and counting - that the unstable and cash-strapped SABC has been without any board, as the doors are closing on some new revenue-generating plans that the South African public broadcaster's executives came up with to try and stem losses but which all require board approval before they can be implemented. 

The SABC has been lurching along boardless since mid-October 2022 - the fault of politicians and the tardiness of parliament's portfolio committee on communications.

The ANC-controlled parliamentary committee, despite multiple prior warnings in 2022 that the term of the then SABC board was coming to an end, started the process too late to advertise, do interviews and compile a shortlist of candidates to be rubberstamped by president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Meanwhile the time in Cyril Ramaphosa's diary in late-2022 and early-2023 got consumed by the ANC's 55th national conference in December 2022 and to secure his second term as president of the ANC, as well as South Africa's dramatically worsening electricity supply crisis due to a crippled Eskom.

Last week Vincent Magwenya, presidency spokesperson, said that from the president's side there "is an appreciation of the urgency of finalising the process. There was a slight administration and logistical delay towards the end of last year" and that "an announcement is imminent and the process is being finalised".

As a result, a rudderless SABC which is once again heading for yet another loss-making year and is projecting to announce a R608 million loss for its 2022/2023 financial year, has been unable to get board sign-off on some new revenue-generating plans.

These plans - although not able to put the SABC back in the green - would have shaved some millions off of the latest projected loss. Now the SABC has already lost at least one quarter of its latest financial year unable to make more money. 

Ian Plaatjes, SABC COO, made it clear to parliament's portfolio committee that some of these plans are stalling because they specifically require SABC board approval.

Plans like new external sales deals whereby some airtime sales for timeslots on SABC radio and TV are outsourced to third-party companies, could for instance net the SABC R30 million in additional income but can't yet be put into operation since there isn't a board to sign off on these plans.

'The SABC needs a board now'

"The SABC needs a board now," says the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition pressure group.

"It's now three months since the term of office of the previous SABC board expired on 15 October 2022. The litany of undue delays in appointing the board continues to hamper the institution's efficiency and strategic direction," says Uyanda Siyotula, SOS national coordinator.

"The SOS Coalition is concerned that a significant public institution has been without a board for three months – this has not happened before."

"There are critical issues that need board intervention and approval that are currently on hold."

The SOS Coalition says it is "disappointed by the lackadaisical attitude of the National Assembly in sending the recommended names to the president some 14 days after they were finalised with no explanation as to the reason for the delay".

"The decision taken at the ANC conference in December to replace TV licenses with a household broadcasting levy needs the SABC to strategise on the most adequate implementation process and resource allocation to ensure a swift transition and is likely to need board intervention."

"Further, the looming Analogue Switch Off (ASO) date of 31 March 2023, recently announced by the minister of communications and digital technologies, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, will require a new strategic direction for the institution as it stands to lose part of the 68% audience from the remaining four provinces that still distribute analogue SABC television signals."

The SOS Coalition says that "the minister has set 27 January as the date for interested parties to make submissions on this issue. How is the board supposed to be appointed, inducted and be able to make a comprehensive submission on the biggest threat to its financial viability that it has ever faced?"

About the shortlisted candidates whose names were put forward to comprise the new SABC board, the SOS Coalition says that Dinkwanyane Mohuba should not be appointed until such time as the Supreme Court of Appeal has cleared his name of allegations relating to a fraudulent qualification.

"Nomvuyiso Batyi should be appointed to the SABC board only on condition that she immediately resigns as the CEO of the Association of Communications and Technology. Mpho Tsedu should be appointed to the SABC board only on condition that he immediately resigns as a special advisor to the DCDT and its ministry".

SA's 2022 Oscars snub: NFVF's secret selection group decides no South African film is good enough to enter for 95th Academy Awards, claims films don't depict 'marginalised communities' well enough.

by Thinus Ferreira 

Filmmakers are disappointed and furious following South Africa's failure to select and enter a film for 2023's Oscars International Feature Film category, with an anonymous selection group of the NFVF responsible for picking South Africa's entry claiming that none of the country's films are good enough for the Academy Awards and are not depicting minorities well enough.

For the first time in 15 years South Africa won't have an entry at the 95th Academy Awards taking place on 12 March 2023 in Los Angeles, with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) - funded by the department of sports, arts and culture and tasked with picking a South Africa film to enter for the Oscars - saying all South African films entered this year allegedly failed when it comes to properly depict "marginalised communities".

After South African films were submitted this year to the NFVF as the country's possible Oscars entry, the NFVF chose none in November. 

Filmmakers have not been told what the reasons are for the failure to select and enter a film for the Oscars this year. 

None highly regarded films - good enough to be shown at South African and international film festivals and reaping film festival awards and prizes - were entered through the NFVF as South Africa's Oscars submissions.

These range from 1960, Jewel, Meet Melusi, Thando, The Fragile King, Time Spent with Cats is Never Wasted, Umbrella Men and Wild is the Wind, to the Afrikaans drag-artist thriller Stiekyt from Homebrew Films which won three awards including for best cinematography at kykNET's 10th Silwerskermfees in March and proudly depicts an LGBTQI minority group in South Africa.   

Lerato Mokopanele, NFVF communications manager, told TVwithThinus in response to a media query that "The majority of the South African films that were submitted for this entry did not meet the stringent Oscars selection criteria for the respective category".

"For those that did meet the set criteria, the independent selection committee decided that these projects did not appropriately represent marginalised communities."

Asked for the names of the 11 people from South Africa's TV and film industry and a brief description of their expertise who comprise the anonymous selection group deciding what film the country enters, the NFVF refused to make the names public.

The NFVF was only willing to say that said the group are "key industry specialists in the film sector" who represent the official South African Academy Selection Committee for the 95th Annual Academy Awards' Best International Film Feature category" and that they have a "minimum of 10 years' experience and specialised skills set competency in behind and front-of-camera work in the film industry".

The NFVF said it doesn't want South Africa to know who picks South Africa's Oscars contender film "and reserves the right not to disclose the names of these individuals". 

Asked why films are good enough to be shown at film festivals and win awards there but not good enough for the NFVF to enter as an Oscar contender and if the NFVF thinks film festivals are flawed, Lerato Mokopanele says "The film festivals and Oscars criteria are not the same, therefore one cannot compare the two".

The NFVF says the decision not to enter any South African film for the 95th Oscars "was not made because there is no film good enough in South Africa". 

For films which did meet the entry criteria "the independent selection committee decided that these projects did not appropriately represent marginalised communities".

"The NFVF, as an agency mandated to provide the equitable growth of the industry, has historically released various calls that allow for an eclectic array of stories to be told - this is evident through all the projects we have approved for funding as showcased on our website".

NFVF decision 'incredibly problematic'

South African filmmakers are accusing the NFVF of censorship and are angry over the lack of transparency and communication about the organisation's decision not to have South Africa represented at 2023's Oscars.

An award-winning South African filmmaker and director told TVwithThinus that the NFVF's response over the failure to enter a local film for the Oscars is "incredibly problematic" and that filmmakers are yet to be told how this year's submissions failed to appropriately represent marginalised people.

"There are some incredible films on this list," the person said. 

"I would have celebrated any of those that qualified if they were chosen. It means a lot to any filmmaker and becomes a tool for which we get our career to grow, so to have that opportunity taken away from those who entered and qualified is a major disappointment when I consider the work that goes into what we do."

Waldimar Pelser M-Net director for kykNET-channels, told TVwithThinus "The NFVF's decision not to enter any of this year's excellent South African films for a foreign language Oscar represents a missed opportunity to showcase local talent globally".

"We are especially proud of Etienne Fourie's Stiekyt, a dark comedy set in a drag club, and very disappointed the film will not compete in LA next year."

"The fact that this critically acclaimed Afrikaans film has been selected to show at international film festivals is a reflection on the appetite for our local stories in other markets. This regrettable decision will not impact the commitment and investment from MultiChoice and kykNET in developing and telling our stories."

Public broadcaster to launch a SABC TV Licence loyalty programme with tiered-rewards to try decrease licence fee evasion rate.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's public broadcaster will launch a SABC TV Licence loyalty programme, with tiered-rewards, in an attempt to get more TV households to pay their annual TV Licence fee.

According to the SABC's latest financial report of 2021/2022, only 18% of TV households which are on the SABC's books and which the broadcaster is aware of, still bother to pay a SABC TV Licence fee.

Millions more households owning TV sets without any licence and which the SABC is not aware of, are watching MultiChoice's DStv, StarSat, video streamers and other video content without any licence. 

After billing R4.446 billion in total SABC TV Licence fees during its 2021/2022 financial year, the SABC made only R815 million - meaning that a whopping 81.7% of people who have or once had a SABC TV Licence are simply not paying it, known as the fee evasion rate.

Meanwhile, the SABC spent R73 million rand on SABC TV Licence fee collection, which increased R9 million from R64 million in the previous financial year - meaning that the SABC's collection cost rate climbed further from 8.1% to 8.9%.

Now the broadcaster wants to start a SABC TV Loyalty programme.

"Why we had a slump in SABC TV Licence collections is that two of the agencies that were collecting on our behalf were underperforming and we had to terminate those agreements and go back to market and bring new ones onboard," Ian Plaatjes, SABC COO, told parliament.

"We'll be implementing a SABC TV Loyalty programme. The timing of this is really divine if you really think in terms of our streaming service SABC+ which wasn't on the cards before. Now we'll have a TV Licence Loyalty programme that we can link into that and so our marketing department is working out campaigns around that."

The SABC wants a TV Licence Loyalty programme that integrates with its existing TV Licence database, offers tier-specific rewards to customers, allows them to earn rewards, and enables the easy spending, transfer and donation of earned rewards.

The loyalty programme must also offer promotions, competitions and surveys.

HBO's House of the Dragon and Amazon Prime Video's The Rings of Power top 2022's most pirated series list.

by Thinus Ferreira 

Fantasy TV series ruled the robbers' roost last year with HBO's House of the Dragon which rose to become 2022's most-pirated TV show, followed by Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in second place.

TorrentFreak has tabulated and released its annual list of most-pirated TV shows globally in 2022 with the first season of House of the Dragon, seen on M-Net (DStv 101) and MultiChoice's streamer Showmax in first place.

In 2020 The Mandalorian from Disney+ held the top spot and in 2021 it went to Wandavision, also on Disney+ but both disappeared from the list in 2022 since neither series released new episodes in 2022.

"What stands out most about the Top 10 is that it's entirely made up of newcomers," says TorrentFreak.

"With the current streaming landscape being so fragmented, it is no surprise that streaming exclusives dominate the list today. Apparently, many people see piracy as an alternative to taking out yet another subscription."

HBO's House of the Dragon is the only show on the list which is a traditional, linear TV series. 

The first season of the science fiction series Halo on Paramount+ is the only series on the list on a video streaming service not available in South Africa, although Showmax managed to secure it for South Africa before Paramount+'s planned launch likely happening later this year.

Netflix has only one show on the list with Stranger Things, while Disney+ which finally launched in South Africa in 2022, dominates the list with five series in the top 10. 

Despite the absence of The Mandalorian, LucasFilm's Star Wars remains a dominant force in the TV pirate world, with three Star Wars TV series on the list: Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, as well as Andor.

Here's TorrentFreak's compiled list of 2022's Top 10 most-pirated shows:

1. House of the Dragon, HBO

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon Prime Video

3. The Boys, Amazon Prime Video

4. Moon Knight, Disney+

5. Halo, Paramount+

6. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney+

7. The Book of Boba Fett, Disney+

8. Stranger Things, Netflix

9. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Disney+

10. Andor, Disney+

SABC revives Metro FM Awards in 2023 set for live awards show on SABC1 on 29 April in Mbombela.

by Thinus Ferreira

After an absence of half a decade the SABC is bringing back the Metro FM Music Awards, with the music awards ceremony known as the MMAs which will take place on 29 April in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

The 17th Metro FM Awards will be done as a live awards show broadcast on SABC1 and will also be streamed on SABC+ as well as Metro FM's YouTube channel.

The Metro FM Awards last took place in 2017 in Durban and was overshadowed by controversy and claims of corruption after the late artist Riky Rick slammed radio stations for their apparent lack of support of local musicians and claimed that South African record companies were "buying" awards.

During his acceptance speech for Best Hit Single, Riky Rick had his mic cut off when he said "90 percent of the shit I hear on radio is garbage. So if you're a kid and you're watching this right now, forget radio. If they don't let you play on radio, you better go to the internet and let your songs pop on the internet".

Metro FM says the aim of the awards is to reward "excellence in the music industry" and that the 2023 awards ceremony is "designed to stimulate interest by unearthing talent and promoting development".

The Metro FM Awards has opened an online call to entry which will run until 28 February, with 20 categories which will be awarded to singles and albums which were released between 28 February 2022 and 28 February 2023.

"We are excited to bring back one of the SABC’s biggest events that is loved by the millions of our audiences. This event has grown to be embraced by the industry and surely has made an indelible mark, hence the demand for it remained high even at the time of its short break," says Nada Wotshela, SABC radio boss.

"We have held this event in different provinces and we are delighted they have returned to Mpumalanga and are looking forward to an exhilarating event."

SABC set to launch a second SABC News TV channel in South Africa's indigenous languages.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster will soon launch a second SABC News TV channel, similar to the existing English-language one on DStv funded and paid for by MultiChoice, but only available on its own SABC+ streaming service and as a digital terrestrial TV service - with news and current affairs programming in vernacular languages other than English.

After the SABC relaunched its SABC News channel in August 2013 on DStv, it carried the Zulu, Afrikaans, Siswati, Tsonga, Xhosa, isiNdelebe, Sotho and Venda TV news bulletins done for SABC1 and SABC2 throughout the day on the SABC News channel.

Two years later MultiChoice two years later decided to expand the SABC News channel beyond South Africa into the rest of the African continent and the SABC altered the programming on the channel to an English-only format.

The result was that the SABC dropped TV news bulletins in all other languages besides English from SABC News from April 2015. The channel has been English-only for the past seven years with SABC TV news bulletins in South Africa's other official languages only available on SABC1 and SABC2 as once-off broadcasts and made available on YouTube.

Now the SABC is planning on bringing back and expanding these other TV news bulletins in languages other than English on a SABC News spinoff TV channel which will be made available on its SABC+ streaming service, as well as a digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel where it will sit alongside the existing SABC1, SABC2, SABC3 and SABC Sport channels.

The as-yet-unnamed SABC News channel which will run 24 hours per day, similar to the existing SABC News channel and which will be launched soon, will carry TV news bulletins and current affairs programming in indigenous languages, as well as do parliamentary coverage in non-English languages from Cape Town.

Besides complementing the existing SABC News channel, this second SABC News channel will compete with eMedia Investment's eNCA (DStv 403) and Thabile Ngwato and Thokozani Nkosi's Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405) TV news channels.

In November 2022 Newzroom Afrika started hiring field reporters, bulletin editors and executive producers to dramatically expand its vernacular news offering, with plans to start offering TV news bulletins on the channel in Nguni languages like isiZulu and isiXhosa in 2023 - something which eMedia tried before and later scaled back again.

The SABC didn't respond to specific questions in a media query about the SABC News offshoot channel but did confirm to me that the channel will be launching officially soon.

"The channel will be broadcast on DTT and SABC+," Gugu Ntuli, SABC spokesperson said.

"In response to the millions of audiences yearning for longer and more quality bulletins and current affairs in African languages, the SABC will soon be launching its 24-hour African news channel to cater to the needs of these loyal viewers."

She said that the channel "will also include more parliamentary content including content from its committees. More details regarding the name and exciting offerings will be revealed soon".

It's not yet clear what resources the SABC is allocating to this new channel, whether more staff are being hired and to what degree the new channel it will be run with the existing SABC News newsroom capacity, infrastructure and budget.

The SABC was asked but it is also still unclear if the new channel will be carrying any advertising from its launch, what the number of live programming hours will be, and how the rebroadcast cycle is being structured with news channels using an overnight repeat approach and usually repeating news content during two 8-hour blocks over a 24-hour period.

M-Net schedules ITV's Prince Harry book tour interview for 9 January 2023 on DStv as he talks about his drug use and broken British royal relationships in 90-minute British TV special.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net has acquired the British one out of two pre-recorded upcoming TV interviews that Prince Harry gave to promote his upcoming book, Spare, with the ITV one which will be shown on M-Net (DStv 101) on Monday 9 January at 19:00 a day after it's shown in the United Kingdom.

The Duke of Sussex did three interviews - one with America's Carte Blanche version of 60 Minutes which will be shown in the United States on Sunday night, the other with ITN Productions for ITV which will also be shown in Britain on Sunday night, and one with America's Good Morning America which will be shown on the ABC network on Monday morning.

Prince Harry did the three new sit-down TV interviews to promote his book, Spare.

Prince Harry's vengeful and malicious book which was supposed to go on sale next week already landed on shelves in Spain on Thursday this week and got read, translated and reported by the media already.

Published by Penguin Random House and ghostwritten by JR Moehringer, Spare includes Prince Harry's salacious revelations about everything from his drug use, to how he injured his penis during a visit to the North Pole and if he's circumcised or not, why he dressed in a Nazi costume, how he got into a nasty physical fight with Prince William in which he ended up on the floor, how he lost his virginity to an older woman when he had sex with her in a field behind a pub, and even how many people he had killed in Afghanistan.

In the past M-Net used to acquire selected 60 Minutes interviews and air it in Carte Blanche on Sunday nights as segments. This time, M-Net is taking the interview with ITV News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby, entitled "Harry: The Interview".

Recorded in California just like Prince Harry's sit-down with Oprah Winfrey which was also on M-Net, the 90-minute TV interview will see Prince Harry dish more dirt and gossip about his broken relationships with various members of Britain's royal family, as well as his drug use including cocaine and marijuana.

"This is going to be a historic broadcast. Being in step with global trends and conversations is built into the fabric of MultiChoice, and we are proud to always offer our subscribers monumental broadcasts – such as this one – as they happen," says Nomsa Philiso, MultiChoice CEO of general entertainment, in a statement.

Jan du Plessis, M-Net channels channel director, says "This is a colossal media event that's bound to have many talking. We're pleased for our viewers to be among the first in the world to see it, and look forward to the conversations they will have around it."

Michael Jermey, ITV director of news and current affairs, says "It is extremely rare for a member of the royal family to speak so openly about their experience at the heart of the institution. Tom Bradby's interview with Prince Harry will be a programme that everyone with an informed opinion on the monarchy should want to watch".

Ian Rumsey, ITN Productions managing director and executive producer, says "Harry's version of events contains many elements we've never heard before, as viewers will see. It is a raw and intimate perspective on his relationships with the people closest to him and the moments that have shaped him".

In embarrassing switcheroo the channel launch of BBC UKTV switches from eMedia's Openview to MultiChoice's DStv.

by Thinus Ferreira

After eMedia and BBC Studios Africa announced in late September that it would be adding the BBC UKTV channel to the Openview satellite service - which then failed to happen - MultiChoice and BBC Studios Africa are now adding the BBC UKTV channel to the DStv satellite service from 15 December in a bizarre channel carriage switcheroo.

To prevent complaints about repeats from DStv subscribers on more expensive and higher-tiered packages like DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact, MultiChoice is only making BBC UKTV available to the lower-tiered packages.

Subscribers of DStv Family, DStv Access and DStv Easy View will now see UKTV from 15 December on DStv channel 134. UKTV will be carrying rerun content that already featured on existing DStv channels like BBC Brit and BBC Lifestyle in the past.

While the BBC content windowing on BBC UKTV will be new for the lower-tiered DStv viewers, it would be repeat viewing for other DStv subscribers who already saw it when it was first-run shows and who are not missing out on content.

BBC UKTV will be the 6th BBC channel carried on DStv after BBC Brit, BBC Earth, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC World News, and will offer lower-tiered DStv subscribers access to natural history series, British soaps and children's programming they haven't seen before. 

"We have strengthened our partnerships, which has in turn strengthened our content offering, therefore, we are extremely excited to introduce BBC UKTV to our viewers," says Georginah Machiridza, MultiChoice's head of general entertainment channels.

"As Africa's most loved storyteller we are always looking to offer top entertainment to our DStv customers and the launch of this channel aims to do just that."

The addition of BBC UKTV to MultiChoice's DStv and its failure to materialise on eMedia's Openview is an embarrassing situation for eMedia, which didn't want to tell the media beforehand that the channel would no longer make its debut in October and was abruptly scuppered together with a media launch event that was planned for Johannesburg media.

BBC Studios Africa was asked in a media query why the BBC UKTV channel has now suddenly switched from the announced Openview platform of eMedia to MultiChoice's DStv platform but through its Atmosphere PR agency the broadcaster didn't want to answer the specific question.

BBC Studios Africa was also asked if the BBC's plan was to have BBC UKTV on both eMedia and DStv and if that is still the plan, or if UKTV will no longer be coming to Openview. Atmosphere also didn't give an answer to this question, with the BBC just saying that it can't provide any more information" about the issue.

In a general response Atmosphere says that "BBC UKTV has been specially created for a wide audience to enjoy the BBC's award-winning catalogue".

"DStv Easy View enables new audiences to watch the rich catalogue of inspiring content, across multiple genres on one destination. We are disappointed that BBC UKTV did not launch on Openview as planned. We are not in a position provide any more information at this time in relation to Openview specifically but are keen going forward that BBC UKTV reaches as many viewers as possible."

ALSO READ: eMedia's Openview adds BBC Studios' BBC UKTV as a British free-to-air TV channel in South Africa.

ALSO READ: On the BBC's 100th anniversary today BBC Studios and eMedia's promised UKTV channel fails to launch on Openview in South Africa without prior warning or communication to viewers.

SABC+ adds SABC Festive as December 2022 pop-up channel with music specials and comedy.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster's new video streaming service SABC+ has added SABC Festive as a temporary pop-up channel for the 2022 holiday season that will primarily focus on comedy and music content.

SABC Festive will run until 8 January 2023 and is just available as a digital streaming channel on SABC+, focusing on modern South African pop culture content, celebrating the festive lifestyle.

The SABC is taking a page from the playbook of eMedia and MultiChoice which have both done pop-up TV channels on their respective Openview and DStv satellite TV services.

When the broadcaster launched SABC+ in mid-November, Merlin Naicker, head of SABC video entertainment, said that the SABC has plans to quickly launch pop-up channels like a festive channel, as well as Senzo Meyiwa murder trial court channel as part of its strategy to grow its new streamer's user base.

With SABC+ which is a rebrand of Telkom's shuttered TelkomONE streaming service, the SABC inherited just over 150 000 subscribers, and has been averaging 15 000 new sign-ups per day over the past two weeks.

The SABC has a target of reaching between one and two million users for SABC+ a year from now by November 2023.  

SABC Festive has a mix of content from the SABC's library archive like episodes of SABC1's Live AMP, mixed with American shows like The Pop Profiles series looking at the careers of American entertainers like Lady Gaga, Pink, Snoop Dog, Eminem and Britney Spears.

Episodes of the SABC series Gospel Classics and Afro Cafe are also on the SABC Festive schedule, along with music specials, including Biggest Weekend with Sam Smith, the Katy Perry World Tour, Billie Eilish at the Glastonbury Festival, Jorja Smith with her live performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2019, 2014's Ed Sheeran: Live at iTunes Festival, and 2019's Janelle Monae's Glastonbury Festival performance.

Some of Paramount Africa's pay-TV content from Comedy Central will also be on SABC Festive like the Comedy Central Roast of Somizi, The Comedy Central Roast of AKA and the Roast Battle 2018.

"The strategy behind creating the SABC Festive pop-up channel is that it allows the SABC to offer 24-hour content focused on music and comedy. Audiences can tune in from any device at different destinations, allowing the SABC to be everywhere for everyone," says Merlin Naicker.