SABC blackout an‘ act of God’ by THINUS FERREIRA source CHANNEL24
SA television joining the‘ Golden Age’ by STAFF WRITER source SCREENAFRICA
Federation recently threatened the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa with legal action to force it to explain why it had not been monitoring the SABC’ s local programming content.
The federation said a lack of monitoring had“ resulted in an increasing reliance on the same recycled, mostly American series”, and“ a dramatic increase in repeats of local series and films dating back 10 years”.— Sapa
WGSA is aware of a number of industry insiders who have tried to rework the alleged amounts spent into actual hours of television product produced by and for SABC in 2012, and the numbers just don’ t add up.- Ed
SABC blackout an‘ act of God’ by THINUS FERREIRA source CHANNEL24
CAPE TOWN – The SABC explains the blackout which hit the South African public broadcaster during the soccer match on Saturday between Bafana Bafana and the Central African Republic( CAR) as“ an act of God”.
On Saturday excited viewers saw video of the match until after the national anthems were played. A blackout caused by a thunderstorm then interrupted the broadcast which led to viewers missing the larger part of the first half of the match during which Bafana Bafana won 3-0 in Yaoundé.
Speculation immediately started that the SABC is again involved in a contractual tug of war between the broadcaster and the broadcast rights holder, the French company SportFive, which in the past scuppered several soccer broadcasts due to last minute fights over money.
According to the SABC a thunderstorm disrupted the satellite link between Cameroon and Paris from where the signal is being sent first before being uplinked and sent to South Africa.
“ The thunderstorm disrupted the link and we couldn’ t get the feed,” says the SABC, calling it“ an act of God”.“ This is an act of God which we could not have done anything about,” says the SABC.“ We use satellite to get audio and video so we’ re happy it came back and we could finish the game.”
SA television joining the‘ Golden Age’ by STAFF WRITER source SCREENAFRICA
INDEPENDENT film producer and director David Golden and production company Reel Edge Studios endeavour to raise the bar of South African television production with new series The Message. Principal photography was set to start on Thursday 6 June 2013.
Set in Johannesburg, The Message centres on an ultra-elite team of Special Forces Operators who return from a high-risk mission in the Congo, only to find an even greater threat waiting for them back at home.
A video, recovered by the National Intelligence Agency, depicts a masked man threatening domestic terrorism on a nuclear scale. All evidence confirms that the threat is real. The team follows a trail of blood and bodies, a kidnapped scientist and a captured terrorist.
Coming face to face with their enemies and learning that their adversaries are just as skilled as they are; the action ensues into a chaotic running gun battle through the streets of Hillbrow.
Award-winning director and producer Golden is writing, producing and directing the pilot episode of The Message and will shoot the pilot over three weeks in and around Johannesburg with producing partner Elena Ioulianou.
With major international interest in the project, Golden says:“ American television is in a Golden Age and I feel that in South Africa, a place of enormous talent with regards to cast, crew and suppliers, it is time to join that golden age. The Message will thrill and entertain on an unparalleled level in South Africa.”
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