Thangevelo

From humble beginnings 30 years ago, M-Net has grown into a hugely successful network. looks back at the journey and the people and shows that have been part of the channel’s milestones...

ITHE BIRTH OF M-NET T WAS in April, 1985 that a newspaper consortium, spearheaded by Koos Bekker, beat 39 competitors to secure South Africa’s first pay-television licence.

The predicted target was 300 000 subscribers in the first three years. However, M-Net’s detractors had little faith in them achieving this figure. So in November, M-Net’s HQ was secured in Randburg.

By October 26, 1986, M-Net went live for 12 hours a day. And non-subscribers were part of the experience with M-Net’s Open Time from 5pm to 7pm each day.

Back then, the decoders were priced at R595 and the monthly subscription at R29. Of course, over the years, M-Net acquired more themed channels to cater for its growing viewership.

Within two years, M-Net broke even, financially.

Those fledgling years saw viewers go insane for the US soap, Loving, which aired in Open Time. There was the addition of Carte Blanche in August, 1988 and the inclusion of East Net for the local Indian diaspora and, by January 1990, M-Net had 400 000 subscribers.

In April that year, M-Net introduced K-TV for younger audiences. And by August, it was listed as a public company on the JSE. SOME OF THE SHOWS THAT HAVE BEEN A PART OF THE M-NET LEGACY In the late 1980s, renowned South African satirist and social activist, Evita Bezuidenhout, bagged her own comedy show,

Evita’s Funigalore. Carte Blanche,

South Africa’s longestrunning investigative TV series, debuted on August 21, 1988, with Derek Watts and Ruda Landman as its faces. Devi Sankaree Govender joined the team in 2002, followed by John Webb in 2004 and Claire Mawisa last year. After Landman left in 2007, Bongani Bingwa joined as a presenter. The Saftawinning show had two spin-offs in 2010: Carte Blanche Medical and Carte Blanche Consumer. Four seasons later, both were cancelled. On March 2, 2014, a Carte Blanche special covering the Trial of Oscar Pistorius was launched to avid interest from viewers.

was initially presented by Paul Ditchfield and Janie du Plessis, after

Revue Plus

which renowned film critic, Barry Ronge, and Doreen Morris took over. In 1992, M-Net’s longest-running soap,

started. It was in Afrikaans and English and ran for 18 years. The final episode aired on March 31, 2010. Dali Tambo bagged his first talk show,

following his return to South Africa after 30 years in exile in the UK. Sunday nights became family time after

the country’s first big-format game show, hit the small screen with Jeremy Maggs as the host.

Besides hosting the first series in 2002, Ugandan-born South African TV presenter and actor, Sami Sabiti, also hosted the music show Massive. Interestingly, Heinz Winckler won that year and remains one of the country’s best-selling artists today. With reality TV gaining momentum,

launched, propelling 2002’s winner, Ferdinand Rabie, into the limelight.

M-Net announced that trashy talk show host, Jerry Springer, would host

in South Africa. There was a lot of interest in the show and he assured viewers that it would be more traditional than his other show.

A Pan-African version of the international reality talent scouting series, aired. But it didn’t have much appeal. Next up on the reality bandwagon was

which ran for five seasons. The first two were hosted by a wooden Mark Bayly and 7de Laan actor, Nico Panagio, took over from season three.

was the first drama series that M-Net shot in the Western Cape and it featured some of South Africa’s best actors.

Former 5FM DJs, Mark Pilgrim and Gareth Cliff, bagged their own shows,

and respectively.

With South Africa warming up to comedic sensation Trevor Noah, he bagged his own TV show, Today, he is one of our proudest exports, hosting The Daily Show.

And more reality show formats flooded the small screen with

Egoli: Place of Gold, Night Moves, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Brother Springer Saturday Night Survivor SA, Known Gods Sex Etc. Idols SA Jerry Project Fame, The Gareth Cliff Show, Tonight with Trevor Noah.

MasterChef SA, Million Rand Money Drop, Power Couple SA, The Voice SA, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, Shark Tank SA. Deal or No Deal

and, more recently, I almost forgot about earlier hits, and which was hosted by the late Fiona Coyne.

The Weakest Link, Big