SONY hosted the network's upfronts in Jozi on Thursday night and I managed to scoop cool news for us. The channel
definitely wants to go local.
The evening introduced various international properties coming up on the channel over the next few months. Titles in the line-up include:
- A run of NCIS from the start (on SONY),
- Season 4 of The Boondocks (starts on SONY Max in June)
- Girlfriends (SONY in May)
- A new reality show called Freakshow (SONY Max, May)
- Killer Karaoke (SONY Max, July)
- Real Husbands of Hollywood (SONY Max, July)
- and the game show Hole in the Wall (SONY Max, October)
Spotted!
In between the announcement of these titles I spotted Kee-Leen and Duncan Irvine among guests at the event. The couple are the owners of production company Rapid Blue (Strictly Come Dancing, South Africa's Got Talent, Come Dine With Me).
"Are you working on a local show for SONY?" I asked as I dashed over for dirt.
Kee-Leen told me that they aren't working on anything specific for the channel but they've been in discussions with SONY for over a year, exploring options for a local series.
Kee-Leen's gossip was confirmed the following morning when I chatted to one of SONY's head honchos Lyle Stewart. Lyle's the senior vice president for Sony Networks in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.
"Yes, over the last 18 months we've taken a really hard look at it," Lyle told me when I asked. "Absolutely, we want to do a local programme or local programmes but we don't want to do one just to say 'Oh we're doing one.'"
He told me that the channel's been exploring ideas with both Rapid Blue and Urban Brew (Friends Like These, LIVE, Khumbul'ekhaya)
He went on to explain:
I think when it comes to local programming, what we always try and balance is ... you know DStv has launched the Mzansi set of channels which are doing really, really well and we do Western content really, really well so what I always say to the guys and everybody on the team and to DStv, I don't want to do a local programme just to say 'I'm doing local programming'.
It has to be the right fit. We have to put it in the right environment on the schedule and make that show make sense on SET or SONY Max.
We want to make sure we find the right one that fits with the other programming round the channel because the concern is, if you do one half-hour a week of local programming and surround it with Western programming it's going to stick out like a sore thumb and it's not going to make sense and the audience will feel, "What is it? How does it fit in?"
We're continually looking for the right show to be able to do that. Is it a priority? Yes.
Bring on The Amazing Race Africa! Shark Tank!
So what show should they do?
At first I thought The Amazing Race Africa. You know how everyone's always wanted a local version.
It would be wonderful to have one and would be a hit for sure. But logistically, the show's massive and also very expensive. Ultimately I don't think it's the perfect show for SONY's first sojourn into local programming though. Especially because there's a show that's even more perfect.
Shark Tank! The American version of Dragon's Den. You may remember I mentioned it in a Show Spy column a couple of years ago? If you missed it, here's a quick wrap of the format:
A new type of reality quest by Survivor/Apprentice creator Mark Burnett. It centres round five mega-wealthy entrepreneurs aka the Sharks, who are ready and willing to invest their cash in new businesses.
Each week hopeful entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to them to see if they'll buy into the idea, give them millions and go into business with them.
For more, please see: Show Spy - Shark Tank
The pitch for Shark Tank
The sharks circling their entrepreneurial prey.
I've seen numerous episodes of it and it's more perfect than a perfect thing for us.
It's so unbelievably positive in every sense of the word. Besides uplifting the entrepreneurs who go on the show seeking partners for their businesses, it's also highly informative and inspiring to anyone watching. It has lots of humour and the format's highly dramatic too.
A porky pie-making entrepreneur.
The majority of the entrepreneurs who go on the show already have existing businesses but they've hit a snag with them so one also really gets intriguing perspectives on how they've managed to get their businesses to the point they have so far.
Hey, that was on Shark Tank
Another kickbutt aspect to it is that if a shark goes into business with someone and they have a product they're selling, we'll literally get to see it the product on the shelves in our stores. Imagine how super that would be.
Everyone involved (the channel, the sharks, the entrepreneurs) would be seen as heroes to spark such very real and positive results.
The other brilliant thing is that the show's a win-win for everyone because the show itself is a business too. In the US the show takes a 2% royalty on the businesses for life, whether a shark signs up or not. This is for the advertising the show gives the businesses that are featured. SONY might not want to do this but it's a revenue possibility to go towards making the show.
The series has literally reinvented Friday nights for ABC in the US. It's regularly the top watched show of the night across networks.
Bring on the sharks!
There are loads of South Africans and Africans who could serve as sharks in the tank. They couldn't be celebrities though, they'd have to be real life business people with stacks of cash.
Some South African options I've thought of include Patrice Motsepe, Kenny Kunene, Pam Golding, Sol Kerzner, Mark Shuttleworth and Cyril Ramaphosa.
NOT Tokyo Sexwale after The Apprentice fiasco.
That's my first choice for sure
I'm convinced that the series would fit in with the rest of SONY perfectly. It wouldn't look out of place on the schedule, particularly with the status that The Amazing Race has on the channel.
It's a western show but could be so authentically South African. It would be the bomb!
That's my choice? What's yours?