Isiphetho: How e.tv communicated poorly for another new local show's launch.

by Thinus Ferreira

Similar to its inadequate PR communication a year ago for two new shows (one of which already tanked and got cancelled) e.tv once again seemed to have failed with a haphazard PR communication strategy for its new show Isiphetho that started on Monday night.

With e.tv once again not properly communicating with media before, and in the lead-up to, a local production, it again raises questions as to whether this is a bug or a recurring feature.

It doesn't appear that e.tv knows how to rope in and have a dynamic communication process or strategy around PR for new big-budget productions, wants to learn how other broadcasters and streamers do it, or has a desire to figure out the standard practice of doing media for a show launch where it benefits both the broadcaster and media in a way that unlocks value for the TV channel, press and the specific show.

Several South African media and journalists covering television and shows like e.tv and Isiphetho were once again left completely gobsmacked about what they consider to be very badly done and borderline non-existent communication in the lead-up to this show. 

On 4 March, Thapelo Ramatsui, then e.tv marketing and communications specialist according to an email signature and now e.tv brand specialist according to the latest email signature, did an email blast at 2:42pm to tell media to watch e.tv that night at 9:28pm for a "special announcement" that would be made on-air.

Keep in mind that most journalists and media no longer work at 9:28pm, that some travel, have families, and that some are not at TV sets, or have access to a TV set at that time due to travel or other arrangements and engagements - and were not able to watch at 9:28pm.

The special announcement turned out to be a short e.tv video promo to announce that e.tv has commissioned a new telenovela called Isiphetho from Black Brain Pictures, produced by Mandla Ngcongwane ("Mandla N") which would start soon on the channel. 

On both that day, as well as again on 6 March, TVwithThinus asked e.tv to please send information about the telenovela announcement and Isiphetho - since e.tv didn't bother to do another email blast after the first one on 4 March asking the media to watch, to actually tell the media what the announcement was.

e.tv ignored both requests.

It took the clock to tick until 11 March for e.tv to do another email blast - in all caps and with a typo - to send out a press release "INTORDUCING ISIPHETHO". This press release noted that Isiphetho would start on e.tv on 15 April at 18:30.

After this, there were no further press releases received around Isiphetho until the series suddenly started on 8 April on e.tv - a week earlier. 

Several media TVwithThinus asked, knew nothing about the date change. 

They were also not made aware if or whether any media launch event for Isiphetho would take place, whether there would be any press day with either in-person or virtual one-on-one interviews with the cast and crew, or any virtual one-on-ones or roundtable sessions done on Zoom before the show would start airing.

No digital screeners were sent to media for possible review or background purposes - something that has become common the last few yeas for both new local and international series. 

On Sunday - a weekend and just a day before the moved-up TX launch of Isiphetho - e.tv and Isiphetho held what could be termed a media launch event at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in Muldersdrift, Gauteng. 

Out of the various so-called influencers and media that e.tv and Isiphetho did tell and invite and who managed to attended, the return on the investment was one online print article that was published by City Press newspaper on Monday 8 April and that comes up in a google search. 

An online search doesn't yield any other article results of the day.

Several media asked, had no idea that e.tv would do this Isiphetho media launch, were not invited, not told and not communicated with and not told whether there would be any virtual media day before the show's start on e.tv. 

Besides the physical event, e.tv PR and Isiphetho apparently did nothing virtual, with none of the information or speeches at the event which were shared if there were any, with no transcripts of what was said, and no press release afterwards on either the Sunday or Monday for the show.

On Tuesday TVwithThinus became aware that Isiphetho actually started on e.tv the night before. 

Asking other media on Tuesday, out of the group polled, only one knew of the show's date change from 15 April to 8 April. The rest didn't know and had no communication or PR interaction from e.tv around Isiphetho at all.

UPDATE Wednesday 10 April 16:24 - On Wednesday afternoon, e.tv issued a press release about Isiphetho, noting that "ISIPHTHO - DESTINY KICKS OF WITH 3.3 MILLION VIEWERS!" with the mistake in the all-caps subject-line repeated in the body copy of the press release.

ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. e.tv's latest publicity failure for new local shows underscores South African television's growing PR disaster as global players (rightly) do the proper work and get the attention.

MultiChoice wishes WildEarth well away from DStv as channel will get yanked from its pay-TV service at the end of April.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice wishes the WildEarth channel well in its future endeavours away from DStv but says it's disappointed that WildEarth tried to publicly force it to pay for the channel, while WildEarth has decided to yank the channel from MultiChoice's pay-TV service at the end of this month.

WildEarth which was added to DStv with the understanding that the channel won't be paid for channel carriage, recently demanded that MultiChoice start paying for WildEarth to be carried on DStv. 

WildEarth (DStv 183) continued to slam MultiChoice in interviews over the past two weeks, claiming that MultiChoice doesn't support the creation of local content because it doesn't want to pay WildEarth and has its "head in the sand", yet also said the channel does want to be on MultiChoice's DStv. 

WildEarth chairman André Crawford-Brunt also cast aspersions on South Africa's TV ratings system, claiming that the measurement of viewership in South Africa is "archaic". 

At the end of this month, WildEarth will be the 10th linear TV channel going dark on DStv coming as MultiChoice's board considers a takeover bid from Vivendi's Canal+ in France.

WildEarth was originally added in August 2020 as a temporary pop-up channel but was then kept on DStv over the past three years.

WildEarth currently employs 72 people and originally entered into a contract with MultiChoice whereby WildEarth would not be getting paid by MultiChoice for carriage on the DStv platform. It did get the space on the DStv channel line-up to raise viewership with DStv subscribers and through that get possible advertising revenue and sponsorships.

Crawford-Brunt told Biznews "I made the call that if they weren't prepared to pay us, we needed to come off DStv. It was just too easy to keep providing something to them for free".

He claimed that WildEarth is getting "binned by a big corporate because someone sitting in an ivory tower or sitting in an office in London can make a decision that this doesn't fit the short-term goals and needs of a big corporate". MultiChoice's third-party content decisions and acquisition is made in Randburg.

According to Crawford-Brunt, MultiChoice "got away with paying us nothing for three odd years. After applying a huge amount of pressure they then agreed to come through with a notional amount of R6 million a year".

"They hope we're just going to go away. I've told them we're going to take it off DStv because we can't afford to be on DStv and not get rewarded in some way." 

Crawford-Brunt told 702 that MultiChoice "has put their head in the sand". He said MultiChoice "having just increased prices - when you read the comments across the numerous petitions, people are particularly unhappy with them, and they need to pay attention to them in our view". 

MultiChoice told News24 in response to a media query it's disappointed that WildEarth management decided to publicly force MultiChoice to financially support the channel. 

"WildEarth, a private enterprise, initially approached MultiChoice in 2020 regarding channel distribution. After thorough discussions, MultiChoice entered into a channel distribution agreement, providing both support and guidance to WildEarth."

"This non-exclusive agreement allowed WildEarth to showcase its content across various platforms beyond DStv, including YouTube and its own website."

"However, WildEarth has expressed dissatisfaction with the existing arrangements and has informed MultiChoice of its decision to remove the channel from DStv services as of 30 April 2024. While we respect WildEarth's decision regarding platform availability, it is disappointing that WildEarth is seeking to publicly pressurise MultiChoice into providing additional commercial support."

MultiChoice says that it "will not comment further on this matter and wishes WildEarth success in its future endeavours. We remain dedicated to offering our subscribers a diverse range of entertainment content, including significant investments in local African content."

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: GinX gone from DStv with WildEarth set to follow.

Canal+ to circumvent South Africa's strict foreign media ownership rules in its MultiChoice takeover bid through stock exchange double-listing.

by Bloomberg

Canal+ will try to circumvent South Africa's foreign media ownership regulations in its takeover attempt of MultiChoice through a stock exchange double-listing of the new entity in both South Africa as well as in Europe.

Canal+ formally made an upped offer of R35 billion for MultiChoice as it tries a buyout of the powerful pan-African pay-TV operator. Canal+ values MultiChoice at $2.9 billion (R54.02 billion).

Vivendi SE's Canal+ plans to use its all-cash offer for the MultiChoice Group to create a global media company listed in Europe and South Africa that will compete with American entertainment giants.

"A combined entity will be double listed in Europe and Johannesburg," Canal+ chief executive officer Maxime Saada said in an interview on Monday.

The plan to keep a local listing comes as the French company must navigate South Africa's strict limits on foreign media ownership in order to close the deal.

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe could join Canal+ to get a deal done, although discussions are at an early stage, Bloomberg previously reported citing people familiar with the matter.

"We are confident that we can address the foreign ownership topic, as we are present in 50 countries and there are a number of countries where this type of rule is in place, including in France," said Saada.

Vivendi is preparing a plan to split into four publicly traded units, including Canal+, as it seeks better value from its assets after it listed its most valuable business, Universal Music Group NV.

Saada said the deal was intended to boost scale and purchasing power when going up against competitors to buy US content.

"To extract value from that, and invest in African content and help it reach global audiences, it only makes sense to be part of a global company," Saada said.

MultiChoice balked at the initial offer of R105 per share and Canal+ since raised its bid to R125.

Canal+ began buying shares in MultiChoice in 2020 and surpassed a 35% holding in the company this year, triggering a mandatory takeover offer.

Vivendi has developed a strong presence in high-growth regions in Africa and Asia. Vivendi said previously that it plans to keep MultiChoice listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The latest deal could see a combination of Canal+ operations with MultiChoice creating a group with almost 50 million subscribers.

ALSO READ: Canal+ makes MultiChoice an official R35 billion takeover offer.

Canal+ makes MultiChoice an official R35 billion takeover offer.

by Bloomberg

Vivendi SE's Canal+ made an all-cash formal offer for the MultiChoice Group, valuing the South African pay-TV operator's shares at $2.9 billion (R35 billion) as the French firm moves ahead with its plans to boost its presence on the continent.

Canal+ will offer to buy shares at 125 rand apiece, MultiChoice and Canal+ announced in a filing on Monday. 

The bid will now be considered by a newly formed independent board of MultiChoice.

MultiChoice shares have climbed 25% since Canal+ first announced its plan to purchase the broadcaster in February. The South African company declined the initial offer of R105 per share.

If the French broadcaster is able to navigate South Africa's limits on foreign media ownership it will gain greater access to the market in Africa, home to the world’s fastest-growing and youngest population. 

The South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe could join Canal+ to get a deal done, although discussions are early stage.

Canal+ reserves the right to buy more MultiChoice shares in the market, it said in the statement. Should these be bought at more than R125 each, the French company would be obliged to raise the offer price to "not less than the highest consideration paid" per share bought.

Canal+ began buying shares in MultiChoice as far back as 2020 and surpassed a 35% holding in the company this year, triggering a mandatory takeover offer. 

Vivendi has developed a strong presence in high-growth regions in Africa and Asia, and plans to list Canal+ - its largest unit - separately. The French company said previously that it plans to keep MultiChoice listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). 

According to MultiChoice, its board has appointed Standard Bank as its advisor on the deal.

According to a joint statement by MultiChoice and Canal+ "A combined group would be better positioned to address key structural challenges and opportunities resulting from the progressive digitalisation and globalisation of the media and entertainment sector".

'Buy a vowel': Rorisang Thandekiso to host Wheel of Fortune SA on SABC3.

by Thinus Ferreira

From Monday, Rorisang Thandekiso will be the host of Wheel of Fortune SA and will help contestants spin the wheel and choose letters in the hope of guessing right to get a phrase and various prizes.

The South African version of Wheel of Fortune is filmed at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town and is produced by Homebrew Films and Primedia Studios for SABC3 according to the format licensed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

While the American version produced by Sony Pictures Television, in addition to a host, has Vanna White who turns the correct letters on the "hangman"-like screen when contestants guess a letter corrently, the South African version won't have an assistant, similar to the British version.

Across 260 half-hour episodes which will air on weekdays on SABC3 at 19:30, three contestants daily will spin the "wheel of fortune" as they get chance after chance to guess letters making up a phrase on a screen.

As with the American version a car is one of the possible prizes and in the South African version it's a Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid.

"I am incredibly honoured to follow in these giant footsteps and be the first Wheel of Fortune South Africa host and the lucky person introducing the show to Africa,” says Rorisang. 

"It’s like Hangman meets Roulette but on an ample dose of healthy television steroids. Like the rest of the world, South Africans will love it. This is the kind of game show that will keep the entire family glued to their screens – whether they’re trying to solve the word puzzles themselves or are routing for the contestants to rake in more money or fabulous prizes."

Lala Tuku, the SABC's acting head of video entertainment, says "Rorisang radiates all the attributes required to hold the reins of this world-famous word-quiz game show".

"She comes with gravitas and years of experience in front of the camera but also embodies a unique mix of sparkle, confidence, and calmness. Furthermore, we're thrilled to break the mould with a powerful female host. It fits in with SABC's mission to celebrate diversity and put the spotlight on women." 

Jan du Plessis, Primedia Studios president, says "We are extremely excited and honoured to finally add the African continent to Wheel of Fortune's phenomenal legacy".

"Wheel of Fortune is arguably the most successful game-show format of all time in terms of its universal appeal and longevity."

"But best of all, South Africans will now have the opportunity to spin their lives around by playing this spectacular yet simple game on a state-of-the-art set. Add mind-blowing amounts of cash and unimaginable prizes – even cars – up for grabs, and Wheel of Fortune South Africa is in a league unseen on local television before."

Emma Stow, Paramount Global Content Distribution's director of format sales, says "Wheel of Fortune is one of our longest-running game shows and we look forward to working with Primedia Studios to bring this successful format to the audience in South Africa". 

Wheel of Fortune has three contestants per episode and starts with a "Toss-up" round in which the trio tries to unravel a word phrase by themselves to earn money and determine which one will spin the iconic wheel first.

There are different wedges on the wheel – anything between R100 and R800, as well as some dreaded ones like "Lose a turn" or "Bankrupt", which might ruin their game. In addition to the cash amounts the wheel includes other prizes which the contestant will pocket if they figure out the word phrase.

In solving the puzzle the amount of money indicated on the wheel multiplies with the number of letters they choose to put on the game's giant puzzle board - but only if the letters are indeed part of the phrase.

If they don't use a consonant, they can also buy a vowel but once they opt to put a wrong letter on the board, it's the next contestant's turn to spin the wheel.

Ultimately, the contestant who calls out the correct phrase bags the money they have accumulated in their own wallet. Thereafter, the contestant with the biggest winnings moves on to play the bonus round, where even more impressive prizes await.

MultiChoice ups Kemi Omotosho as Southern Africa regional director.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has promoted and appointed Kemi Omotosho as its latest MultiChoice regional director for Southern Africa.

The Southern Africa regional director role has been a revolving door of appointments and fast exits over the past half a decade with numerous MultiChoice executives slotted into the role and then existing in rapid succession over the past few years.

Kemi Omotosho started at MultiChoice Nigeria in 2014 as head of retention and was promoted in 2018 to head of customer value management and in 2019 she was promoted again to group head of customer value management overseeing all CVM initiatives across Africa.

She will now be responsible for looking after MultiChoice's Southern Africa business, excluding South Africa.

"MultiChoice  operates an inclusive workplace that provides equal opportunities to staff irrespective of their gender and nationality, as evidenced by the recent appointments within the group," says John Ugbe, MultiChoice West Africa CEO in a statement.

This is the first time that John Ugbe, overseeing West Africa, has any prepared quote attributed about the appointment of the regional director of another of MultiChoice's regions.

MultiChoice's statement contains no prepared quote attributed to Kemi Omotsho.

Disney+ updates streamer's logo to a teal-colour with an animation change.

by Thinus Ferreira

The logo of the Disney+ video streaming service has been updated and changed, with the change also affecting and visible in South Africa, following Disney's buyout of the remainder of the shares in Hulu in the integration of Hulu into Disney+.

The new teal-coloured Disney+ logo has now dropped the classic Disney royal blue, while the circular streak arc is now just white and a solid line, instead of the radial multicoloured blur.

Where "Disney+" was a solid white before, it is now an off-white with a slight teal-diffused look.

"We think we've found a balance of new and nostalgic that helps strike a chord that Disney+ has all the things you love about Disney but is also evolving and adding new things to love," says Andy Barker, Disney+ vice president of creative, in a statement about the logo update.

Opening Disney+ after the logo update the animation has also changed.

Originally "Disney" appeared first, followed by the star arching over from left to right to the "+".

Now the shooting star appears first, the word "Disney" appears second, and the "+"-sign is also slightly thicker than before.

The corporate Disney+ logo change is superfluous and unneccesary for South African Disney+ subscribers who don't even have access to Hulu and in the vast majority of cases don't even know what Hulu is.

MultiChoice: GinX gone from DStv with WildEarth set to follow.

by Thinus Ferreira

GinX eSports TV is gone on MultiChoice's DStv as the 9th TV channel that has disappeared from the traditional pay-TV operator's channel line-up since the start of this year, with the struggling WildEarth set to likely shutter at the end of this month as the 10th channel leaving the platform.

Since 1 April with MultiChoice's latest price increase that came into effect from this month, DStv subscribers are paying more than ever for the service as global rivals like streaming services in the form of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video proliferate.

GinxX eSports TV which resided on channel 127 is gone from DStv since midnight of 31 March, seven years after it was added in May 2017 as a stand-alone linear TV channel when MultiChoice said that "The deal with GinX is a massive leap forward ".

GinX eSports TV, a channel produced in the United Kingdom, ended as a linear TV channel in July last year and left Sky's traditional pay-TV service to continue as a streaming channel only. 

The move is similar to many overseas studios and channel distributors now no longer investing in their traditional, linear pay-TV channels that are struggling with a lack of new content, as budgets are funnelled towards the production of making content for their streaming services. 

MultiChoice didn't respond to a media query from TVwithThinus about GinX's impending demise made mid-March. 

So far this year DStv subscribers have lost access to Deutsche Welle, Emmanuel TV, B4U Movies, 1Free State TV, NWTV, People's Weather, as well as the 1Magic and ME channels.

The 1Magic and Me channels will soon be replaced with the 1Max TV channel that will carry and showcase a collection of Showmax content as a linear windowing channel for MultiChoice's relaunched Showmax video streaming service that is now run in partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal's Sky on the Peacock platform.

Next to disappear from DStv will be WildEarth (DStv 183), with the channel's operators that warned MultiChoice it will be pulling WildEarth from DStv at the end of April in a nasty channel carriage fight.

WildEarth was originally added in August 2020 as a temporary pop-up channel but was then kept on DStv over the past three years.

Although WildEarth, that currently employs 72 people to run the channel, originally entered into a contract with MultiChoice whereby WildEarth would not be getting paid by MultiChoice for carriage on the DStv platform, it got the space to raise viewership with DStv subscribers and through that get possible advertising revenue and sponsorships.

WildEarth chairman André Crawford-Brunt, slammed MultiChoice in an interview with BizNews last week, claiming that MultiChoice doesn't support local content financially.

Crawford-Brunt said "I made the call that if they weren't prepared to pay us, we needed to come off DStv. It was just too easy to keep providing something to them for free".

He said WildEarth is getting "binned by a big corporate because someone sitting in an ivory tower or sitting in an office in London can make a decision that this doesn't fit the short-term goals and needs of a big corporate".

MultiChoice's local content decisions and third-party acquisition strategy are made and managed from its MultiChoice City headquarters in Randburg, Johannesburg.

Although slamming MultiChoice and South Africa's TV ratings system TAMS which measures the number of TV viewership watching television, Crawford-Brunt noted that "it would have been our preference to stay on MultiChoice".

He said South Africa's TV ratings system "is as archaic as the dinosaur age where there are a number of set-top boxes that exist in a certain number of homes and obviously being a niche channel they try to extrapolate that data from I think 1 400 homes - they extrapolate what the audience is for advertising purposes".

"This is so backward when you consider that 25% of the day is load-shedding, the sample size is so small for a niche channel and they've never done any granular work around the type of dedicated audience that you get on an outdoor or wildlife channel."

According to Crawford-Brunt, MultiChoice "got away with paying us nothing for three odd years. After applying a huge amount of pressure they then agreed to come through with a notional amount of R6 million a year".

"They hope we're just going to go away. I've told them we're going to take it off DStv because we can't afford to be on DStv and not get rewarded in some way." 

He said DStv subscribers "who are paying subscribers to MultiChoice are feeling particularly aggrieved that there's potential that they lose out and that will obviously lead to attrition of more viewers - whether they care or not. You would hope they would care but they're in the middle of a merger."

MultiChoice hasn't responded to a media query about WildEarth made last week by TVwithThinus.

SABC signs partnership with BBC Studios for 2-hour primetime content block on SABC3 from May.

by Thinus Ferreira

In a groundbreaking deal, South Africa's public broadcaster has acquired a raft of premium BBC content from BBC Studios that will play out as a 2-hour primetime block on weeknights on SABC3 from May in the SABC's attempt to try and revive the ratings and fortunes of the ailing TV channel.

From May the South African public broadcaster is joining with Britain's public broadcaster in unlocking an archive avalanche of high-quality content that until now was only accessible to MultiChoice's DStv subscribers who had access to the collection of traditional pay-TV channels run globally by BBC Studios.

The curated BBC Studios content as part of a multi-million rand licensing and partnership deal with the SABC will run on weeknights between 21:00 and 23:00 on SABC3 and will also be made available on the SABC+ video streaming service.

Dubbed "BBC Primetime" it will include award-winning British drama series, documentaries, lifestyle programming and factual entertainment ranging from Top Gear (seasons 14 to 17) and Luther to Death in Paradise.

Initial titles in the 2-hour block will include Cheaters, We Hunt Together, Top Gear, Billion Dollar Downfall, Sex Actually with Alice Levine, Louis Theroux Forbidden America, Undercover, Secrets of Sugar Baby Dating, Death in Paradise, Our Girl, Luther, MotherFatherSon, Critical, Louis Theroux Dark States, Trafficking Sex, Press, as well as Nigeria's Female Suicide Bombers.

The SABC hopes to lift viewership and lure advertisers to SABC3 as the public broadcaster's only commercial TV channel but also its most troubled and the most ratings-challenged of its three legacy TV channels.

"I am so excited to launch our first BBC branded block in Africa with SABC," says Pierre Cloete, BBC Studios Africa commercial director.

"BBC Primetime will be hand-picked for S3 audiences, packed with a selection of incredible programming from our award-winning catalogue. From intense thrillers, crime dramas and inspiring documentaries, this marks our first block for free-to-air audiences in South Africa, giving 13 million homes access to BBC Studios shows. I can't wait for the 2024 launch."

Asked how the deal came about, Cloete said "the DNA between the BBC and the SABC is almost the same - the BBC's got the same mandate as the SABC. That connection is very important".

"We understand public broadcasting, we understand audiences. When we spoke with the SABC it was a no-brainer to work together and to bring something special and unique to audiences."

Binge-watch BBC dramas

Pierre Cloete said "drama we know is super important - but not in the old, traditional way of scheduling drama one episode, once a week.

"BBC dramas will be scheduled Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a strip on SABC3, so you can basically binge-watch these, plus get it on SABC+ as a 14-day catch-up so you can watch a whole series in one go, which I think is amazing".

"We're also pushing documentaries - I think there's a huge demand for that on SABC3. Thirdly, we're also putting entertainment into the mix. We're taking proven content, we're taking premium strategies and implementing it into this block."

David Makubyane, the SABC's head of TV channels, says "One of the important things that we had to look at is the commercial sustainability of the SABC".

"You can go with the old way of doing business. That's why we started looking at different models. There are a variety of models that we look at. This one in particular looks at a BBC block of content on SABC3 from 21:00 until 23:00. This will now be a BBC-branded block. This is a new model for the SABC. We're not talking about library content. We're talking crème de la crème BBC."

"It's the latest BBC crème de la crème content that's going to sit there, with us partnering and making sure that the brand of SABC3 brings in audiences. At the same time the partnership ensures that we remain commercially viable."

"The content works because we are both public broadcasters. We know this is content that will resonate with the South African audience."

Asked about whether there could be any original BBC-SABC co-production for SABC3, Makubyane said "this is only the beginning".

"At the moment, it's obviously finished product but the relationship with the BBC is one where we are seeing how do we collaborate - how do we do co-productions? So yes, hopefully in the future we will start seeing that the SABC and the BBC co-produce content together."

Sane Zondi, SABC programming manager, says "This partnership with BBC Studios is born out of the need for us to fulfil our commitment in delivering high-quality international content to our viewers".

"We are excited to have access to a vast catalogue from the BBC and the unlimited world-class entertainment our viewers will be able to enjoy through BBC Primetime on SABC3. The deal allows us to bring back some of the iconic BBC titles to our viewers which formed weekly habitual viewing, with Top Gear being the most notable one."

"We look forward to seeing some of the sentiments and reactions across our social media platforms on this great new era on our channel."