There's bad (but
not surprising) news on the horizon for
Survivor junkies. Season 23, which was supposed to premiere on SABC3 after The Amazing Race 17, won't be premiering anymore.
Season 18 of Amazing Race will be starting next Monday, 9 December instead.
Yet again it's the boring and endless case of the Survivor tapes which won't be here on time. Why?! Why do SABC shows have this
constant tape issue whereas shows on DStv don't suffer the same distribution problem?
Word from a well-placed source is that the "tapes not arriving" is a euphemistic way of saying that the SABC hasn't paid for the show on time. The term suggests that CBS, who distributes the show, isn't delivering the show on time but according to my source it's because the SABC aren't paying on time.
Apparently distributors don't want to send shows to the SABC before payment has been made upfront. Distributors got burned when the SABC when through the fiscal crisis a couple of years ago and don't want to send shows before full payment has been made. If the payment isn't made timeously, the distributors aren't sending the shows and therefore the "tapes aren't arriving on time."
Whether or not Survivor ever arrives remains to be seen because
The Jeff Probst Show never has. It was supposed to start on 20 November but it didn't - for the same reason - and it's still nowhere to be seen.