MultiChoice adds 4 kids channels to DStv Family

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice is making the three kids channels, Paramount Global's Nickelodeon and Nick Jr, as well as DreamWorks available to the DStv Family bouquet from 25 August.

MultiChoice says it is repositioning DStv Family as "South Africa's home of kids entertainment" in a pivot to add more value for DStv Family subscribers. The DStv Family bouquet will now include all 14 DStv kids' channels.

"While our broader packaging review remains ongoing, our research shows that DStv Family customers value kids' content as much as they do local shows and movies," says Byron du Plessis, MultiChoice South Africa CEO.

"By adding Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, and DreamWorks to the DStv Family package alongside favourites like Cartoonito and Disney Channel, we are making DStv Family the undisputed home of kids' entertainment."

SABC now trying to rent lifts, needs R3 billion for rundown studios as 'critical infrastructure is at risk of collapse'

Thinus Ferreira

The SABC which can no longer maintain or repair its decades-old lifts at its Auckland Park headquarters, is now trying to rent lifts.

It's also busy with a physical workplace move "consolidation" plan to shift as many workers as possible from its radio building into its TV complex.

The struggling South African public broadcaster says it requires R1.4 billion to produce much-needed content over the next 3 years, with another R3.15 billion urgently needed to repair and replace its rundown, broken and outdated infrastructure.

The SABC is now trying to rent lifts since parts to service and replace its old elevators are apparently no longer being made and unavailable.

On a good month the SABC gets R350 million in income, of which R200 million goes towards the wage bill and paying salaries.

That leaves R150 million to pay other bills, accumulated debt, electricity, the parastatal signal distributor Sentech, and other service providers like production companies who produce content for the broadcaster.

Almost no money is left for basic maintenance of the SABC's infrastructure, repair and upgrades.

Nomsa Chabeli, SABC CEO, in a presentation to parliament's portfolio committee on communications, said "the lifts at SABC are more than 50 years old".

"Schindler has come back to us to say they no longer have the spare parts to service the lifts. It's quite a risk for the SABC."

"We're looking for a turnkey solution for that. But the market might not yield what we want because we're looking for a long-term rental, because we don't have the capital to front the investment of those lifts."

According to Nomsa Chabeli, the SABC's "critical infrastructure is at a risk of collapse".

"The majority of our infrastructure is more than 30 years old. We've got failing buildings, our studios are very much outdated and we're dealing with analogue-era equipment. Our current systems cannot support the latest 4K-broadcasts."

Nomsa Chabeli says the SABC started a "consolidation plan" for its Auckland Park buildings, which comprise its rundown radio building and its TV building.

According to this new "workspace strategy", Nomsa Chabeli says "we're consolidating the Auckland Park campus". 

In this plan, staff are being moved to the TV centre with the SABC which plans to maintain only its radio studios in its Radiopark building.

Nomsa Chabeli mentioned that when she sits at interactions next to executives from broadcasters like the BBC, "if you look at the language they are talking, and the language they we as the SABC are using, we are 15 years behind."

"The danger we have is that the likes of the BBC, because of their ambitions globally - at some point South Africans will have a bigger dependency on foreign broadcasters informing and educating our own population because we're not able to do it because we are at a risk of collapse."

To upgrade, repair and replace its ageing and dilapidated infrastructure, the SABC says its urgently needs to spend R3.15 billion. The public broadcaster wants to spend R900 million to upgrade its Auckland Park headquarters and provincial buildings.

Another R750 million is required for studio equipment and technology like replacing cameras, modernising studio facilities, repairing and upgrading regional production facilities, control rooms and editing suites.

Then the SABC needs to spend R500 million on the replacement of its electronic news gathering (ENG/DNG) and field production units to replace dated equipment. 

Another R200 million is required to automate news curation, its ad planning system, and subtitle services. 

R400 million is needed to replace the SABC's ERP system, and another R400 million must be spent on its digital and automation stack.

The SABC was asked in a media query what the public broadcaster will do if it doesn't get the R1.4 billion to create public service content and where it envisions getting the R3.15 billion to spend on critical infrastructure upgrades, the move of staff from the radio building, and how far the process of lift replacement is.

Mmoni Ngubane, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to the media query.

Ghana slams MultiChoice over price-drop refusal: Alleges pay-TV operator told its South African government to pressure Ghana's government, says incoming owner Canal+ is 'more positive' than MultiChoice

by Thinus Ferreira

It's an all out nasty war between Ghana's government and MultiChoice that has refused a price-drop demand by the government, with the country's communication minister now alleging MultiChoice asked the South African government to pressure Ghana's government to back off, and saying new owner Canal+ has a better attitude than MultiChoice executives.

MultiChoice Ghana is at risk of having its DStv broadcasting licence revoked in the political war that Ghana's communications minister has started with the pay-TV operator - demanding a massive price drop for DStv in the West African country struggling with a failing economy, rampant inflation and a very weak local currency.

Ghana's belligerent communication minister Sam George, who demanded that MultiChoice Ghana immediately drops its DStv subscription fees by 30% or face suspension of its broadcasting licence, is keeping up his nasty political attack on the pan-African pay-TV operator.

Sam George, in a radio interview with Joy FM, slammed MultiChoice for allegedly getting South Africa's government to try and put pressure on Ghana's government to back off.

"Look at the places they are walking around, getting the foreign minister of South Africa to call the Ghanaian foreign minister to call me - it's not going to work. Making it a foreign issue," Sam George said.

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice earlier this week for comment and if it asked the South African government and minister of foreign affairs to intervene and contact Ghana's government. MultiChoice didn't respond to the media query.

Sam George also claims that France's Canal+ that is in the end-phase of its buyout and takeover of MultiChoice, is much better to deal with than MultiChoice and allegedly has a better attitude.

"Canal+ has reached out and I've made it clear to them that if they want to come into Ghana and operate, that is our request. Canal+'s attitude is light years more positive than that of MultiChoice," Sam George said.

MultiChoice was also asked for comment about Sam George alleging that Canal+ is "more positive" than MultiChoice. 

MultiChoice didn't respond to this question seeking comment either.

In a statement, Maxime Saada, Canal+ CEO, said "We are closely monitoring the situation in Ghana. Canal+ has a long Canal+ has a long and successful history of working collaboratively with regulatory bodies across Africa",

"Upon the successful completion of our acquisition of MultiChoice, we look forward to engaging directly with the ministry and all stakeholders to build a future that serves the interests of Ghanaian audiences and the creative industry."

MultiChoice Ghana has until 6 September to respond to the ultimatum of the Ghanaian government, after its Ghana's National Communications Authority (NCA) gave MultiChoice Ghana a 30-day notice that its broadcasting licence is going to be revoked.

ALSO READ: Ghana communication regulator gives MultiChoice Ghana 30 day-notice of revoking licence after it fails to give in to government demand to drop DStv prices by 30%, warns of 'dire implcations' to business

SABC's Muvhango replacement Pimville Queens nowhere in sight on SABC2 as Venda soap ends belatedly

Thinus Ferreira

There's not a word about the delayed Pimville Queens from the SABC, with this new replacement series that was supposed to start in the timeslot of the cancelled Muvhango on SABC2 - a soap which itself ended later than announced due to SABC non-payment issues.

The SABC originally announced that the long-running and cancelled ratings loser Muvhango from Word of Mouth Pictures was to end on 8 August in a press release.

After non-payment and a production shutdown it forced a delay to the SABC2 schedule since Muvhango just disappeared without any episodes in June, with no warning or explanation from the SABC. 

Muvhango therefore only really ended and broadcast its fnal episode this past Tuesday 12 August, after 26 seasons. 

The SABC made no announcement about this final, real date, and there was no SABC press conference or media interaction to do a last publicity blitz and try to get good ratings for an on-screen property that delivered 4 893 episodes across its run to the South African public broadcaster.

After the SABC said that Pimville Queens from the notorious Bakwena Productions would replace Muvhango, the SABC suddenly slotted yet another repeat of Giyani in Muvhango's 21:00 timeslot on SABC2 since Wednesday night.

And again there's also been no announcement or prorgramming press release to the media about this from the SABC either.

In June, SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli said that "Come August, we are launching a new telenovela called Pimville on SABC2, and based on that we will be really driving that audience share back to SABC2".

At this moment it's however unclear when exactly Pimville Queens will really start on SABC2, given firstly the delayed ending of Muvhango.

Secondly, there is the padding of the schedule with repeats of old Giyani episodes in prime time since Pimville Queens is apparently not yet ready for broadcast, even after Muvhango ended late.

Paramount says looming retrenchments will be 'painful'; will no longer sell BET but pivot pay-TV channels to streaming

Thinus Ferreira

After Skydance's buyout, Paramount Global bosses say the coming retenchments - something that will very likely affect South Africa's Paramount Africa as well - will be "painful", although the company is no longer looking at selling off BET and will transition its pay-TV channels to video streaming.

On Wednesday evening, new Paramount CEO David Ellison and a few top executives, at a press event for some media in Los Angeles, took questions about the plans for Paramount Global under Skydance ownership.

David Ellison's LA press conference about the looming downsizing of Paramount came at the same time as Paramount Africa's event for some media and influencers in Bryanston, Johannesburg, for its upcoming new South African telenovela Black Gold from Black Brain Pictures.

Jeff Shell, Paramount president, told media that the coming Paramount Global retrenchments is "going to be painful".

"It's always hard, but we don't want to be a company that every quarter is laying people off. So, it is important for us to get done what we're doing in one big thing and then be done with it," he said.

Paramount Global has around 18 000 staffers remaining following brutal, almost constant cuts over the past few years. 

David Ellison said the upcoming retrenchments and restructuring of the company could amount to saving of more than $2 billion. Under new ownership, it is however no longer looking for a buyer and to spin off TV channels like BET.

"In terms of specifics and timelines, we're in day 7, and I hope you can respect when we get there, we're going to talk to team members first before talking to anybody else," he said about the upcoming retrenchments.

About no longer looking to sell off BET and other channels, David Ellison said "It is our intention to keep the company together and invest in that lens."

Last month, Paramount shocked when Paramount Africa told staffers of the shocking decision that it's considering shuttering its entire localised operations and offices based in South Africa and Nigeria.

This also has implications for its traditional linear pay-TV channels like BET Africa, MTV Base and others, which are carried on MultiChoice's DStv platform.

After 20 years Paramount Africa might close down the local content operations it had established, together with its Bryanston building as part of Paramount Global's cost-cutting and downsizing.

Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, as well as Monde Twala, senior vice-president and general manager of Paramount Africa and lead of BET International, told Paramount Africa staffers last month that Paramount is considering shutting down local operations in Africa as the company "evaluates its pay-TV strategy and local channel footprint here in Africa".

"We are at a point in our journey where we are facing immense industry disruption. Our team is not immune to potential changes," they said.

"We understand the coming weeks may be tough and feel unsettling. Through it all, please know your efforts are valued beyond measure."

In response to a media query last month about the decision, Natalie Mdladla, Paramount Africa senior director of communications, said Paramount Africa declines to comment.

About the future of Paramount Global's struggling linear pay-TV channels, George Cheeks, Paramount's chairman of TV media divison, said at the press conference on Wednesday evening that it's "a super challenging business" and "we’re all seeing the pay-TV business shifting over to streaming".

"So there’ll be a lot of conversations about what iconic franchises we want to continue, shift maybe to streaming, etc. We're 7 days in, but I do feel like there's a lot to preserve there. There's a lot of great, iconic franchises."

Jeff Shell added that "You look at a brand like BET, which is a pretty strong brand that's going to be a pretty important building block of our of our streaming strategy" and that "We're thinking of them as brands that we have to redefine".

David Ellison said "Nickelodeon is also one of those. Kids and family is so important to the world, and making sure that we're doing the right thing for Nick and that whole cadre of content is critically important to us as well."

While Paramount never got around to launching Paramount+ in South Africa, Paramount's new owners will now look to integrate the different streaming options like BET+ and Pluto TV in the United States all into Paramount+, similar to what Disney has done with Disney+.

In South Africa, Paramount+ is a content tile on MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service that MultiChoice runs in partnership with NBCUniversal.

SABC starts retrenchment process to possibly get rid of up to 180 sales staffers

by Thinus Ferreira

The embattled South African public broadcaster is looking to possibly get rid of up to 180 staffers across its various sales divisions and served them with Section 189 notices on Tuesday, telling them they might be out of work by 15 October 2025.

If the SABC's latest retrenchment process continues, up to 180 sales staffers will have 28 November 2025 as their last working day.

Workers compensation has become the SABC's largest single expense on the balance sheet.

The SABC is looking at retrenching across multiple sections of its sprawling sales division - 180 employees in total.

The retrenchments will potentially be across the SABC's sales divisions of enterprise sales, corporate sales, government sales, SMME (Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises), digital sales, sports sales, category management including RAP radio and product management), sales operations, Ad-venture sales, the sales intelligence division, as well as sales governance and the deals team.

The SABC's sales division has been underperforming for years.

The SABC told the BEMAWU trade union that the 180 sales division jobs it wants to get rid of is "part of a contemplated restructuring exercise aimed at addressing financial challenges and ensuring long-term sustainability".

According to the SABC's notice to BEMAWU, the sales division's underperformance has had a negative knock-on effect on the public broadcaster that is threatening its sustainability. 

The broadcaster says it already considered alternative options like cost-cutting through various austerity measures, but now sees restructuring and possible retrenchments as necessary.

The last time the SABC went on a major jobs cut was in 2020 and 2021.

It saw hundreds of staffers leave the SABC and included the gutting of its publicity division for its television content that never recovered, although rivals from Netflix and MultiChoice to various pay-TV channels keep spending on using PR people.

According to the SABC, it wants to restructure its sales division "to optimise revenue generation and strengthen commercial capabilities" to position its SABC News and SABC Sports divisions as top content choices for advertisers, and to build better digital sales expertise, as well as growing regional commercial structures.

Notably, the SABC isn't planning on getting rid of people working in SABC TV Licence roles who are expected to remain unaffected by the retrenchment process.

The SABC's consultation process is set to start on 15 August and will be facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) at the SABC Radio Park building in Auckland Park in Johannesburg, with the trade union that gets to nominate 4 representatives by 14 August.

UPDATE Thursday 14 August 2025 17:03:

The SABC issued a statement saying it has "noted several media reports regarding the development of its new sales operating model and would like to provide clarity".

"The SABC is not engaged in a process aimed at reducing headcount in the sales division. Instead, the SABC has initiated an organisational design review to ensure that the sales function is fit for purpose, both for the current market realities and for the future."

"The intent of this process is not to cut costs, but to realign roles, reorganise functions, and create efficiencies that better serve our mandate and commercial objectives."

"The final structure may result in the same number of roles or even an increase, depending on the outcome of the consultation process. All affected employees will have the opportunity to be considered for roles in the new structure."

"It is therefore misleading and irresponsible to report that the SABC's objective is to "get rid" of staff. Our focus remains on strengthening our sales function to better compete in the market and to safeguard the SABC's sustainability."

"We acknowledge and sincerely thank our sales teams for their continued commitment, resilience, and dedication in driving the SABC's commercial efforts. We appreciate their understanding and patience as we work through this process together."

UPDATE Friday 15 August 2025

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) in a statement says "The CWU is deeply outraged by the SABC's latest attempt to implement a Section 189 retrenchment process without complying with the basic legal requirements set out in the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

"We have become aware that the SABC on 12 August 2025 issued a Section 189A notice and directly invited only one union – BEMAWU – to the consultation process through written correspondence."

"CWU, a recognised and representative union at the SABC, was neither notified in writing nor invited to participate in the consultations as required by law."

"This is not only a blatant violation of Section 189 of the LRA, which compels the employer to consult with all recognised trade unions whose members may be affected, but also a deliberate act of exclusion aimed at undermining the voice of hundreds of workers represented by the CWU."

"The SABC's conduct demonstrates bad faith, disregard for fair labour practice, and a complete erosion of trust in the consultation process."

"This reckless behaviour jeopardises the livelihoods of workers and erodes the democratic values that the public broadcaster is meant to uphold."

The CWU says it calls on "The SABC board to immediately halt the current retrenchment process and remedy this legal and procedural breach" and for South Africa's minister of communications and digital technology to "urgently intervene to ensure that SABC complies with the law and respects the rights of all recognised unions".

"The workers of SABC deserve transparency, fairness, and respect – not backdoor deals and procedural ambushes."

Ghana communication regulator gives MultiChoice Ghana 30 day-notice of revoking licence after it fails to give in to government demand to drop DStv prices by 30%, warns of 'dire implcations' to business

by Thinus Ferreira

Ghana's communications regulator is doing the bidding of the West African country's posturing communications minister and has now given MultiChoice Ghana 30 days notice that it will be revoking its broadcasting licence.

This government-ordered ultimatum comes after the pay-TV operator failed to adhere to the government's unreasonable demand to lower DStv subscription fees by 30% by Thursday 7 August, with MultiChoice Ghana warning of "dire implications" and major job losses if its business shuts down on 7 September.

Ghana's rundown economy - inflicted by Ghana's government failed economic policies and marked by sluggish growth, rampant inflation and a local currency depreciation of over 200% the past 8 years - is making it extremely hard for private businesses like MultiChoice to operate commercially there.

Like in Nigeria, Zambia and other countries, with inflation and ongoing currency depreciation, private companies are forced to raise prices of services and products in order to continue to operate. This is a principle Ghana's government and its ministers don't seem to grasp.

MultiChoice Ghana hiked DStv subscription fees by 15% in April 2025, after an increase in 2024.

Now Ghana's National Communications Authority (NCA) has issued a formal notice to MultiChoice Ghana Ltd. that it will revoke its pay-TV licence in 30 days.

"By this notice, MultiChoice Ghana has 30 days within which the company may present its views, or provide remedial action, and submit a written statement of its objections to the suspension of the authorisation," the NCA told MultiChoice.

Ghana's NCA is acting after Ghana's minister of communications and digital technology, Sam Narty George, went on a public offensive against MultiChoice and in July declared - following two meetings with MultiChoice where no agreements were given - that MultiChoice was going to be lowering DStv prices soon.

But MultiChoice in meetings expressly told Sam George that it isn't possible for MultiChoice Ghana to lower DStv prices, that MultiChoice wasn't going to lower prices, and that MultiChoice as a private company must raise subscription fees due to Ghana's inflation rate weakening currency.

Instead of Ghana's politicians and government fixing the country's economy, Ghana's politicians want companies like MultiChoice to run at a loss and go out of business.

What MultiChoice offered to do was to freeze the existing DStv Ghana subscription fees at existing prices and to stop taking money from Ghana through MultiChoice Ghana and MultiChoice Africa back to MultiChoice in South Africa.

Sam George rejected MultiChoice's offer.

In response to a media query, MultiChoice told TVwithThinus MultiChoice "noted with concern statements made by Samuel George regarding DStv pricing in Ghana".

Alex Okyere, MultiChoice Ghana managing director, says "It is regrettable that Sam George has taken this stance, notwithstanding our ongoing endeavours to engage with him candidly and in good faith on this important matter".

"Having operated in Ghana for 30-plus years, we value our employees, contract staff, dealers, installers, agents, and retailers in Ghana."

"We are mindful of the dire implications that an impasse may have on you and your livelihoods," Alex Okyere said.

"MultiChoice values its subscribers and endeavours at all times to keep DStv subscription fees as low as possible, despite the extremely challenging competitive and macro-economic environment in which we operate.

Alex Okyere said "It is not tenable to reduce the DStv subscription fees in the manner proposed by Sam George, noting that MultiChoice "remains committed to constructive engagement with Sam George and to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in Ghana and trusts that the authorities will do likewise".

ALSO READ: Ghana's government demands MultiChoice drops DStv subscription fees by 30%

ALSO READ: Upset Ghana government summons MultiChoice for explanation over high DStv subscription fees

MultiChoice and M-Net silent over reevaluation of podcasts on Mzansi Magic after more DStv brand damage following another derogatory podcast blow up

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice and M-Net are not willing to say whether the traditional pay-TV company, soon to be taken over by France's Canal+, is reevaluating its strategy of broadcasting derogatory podcasts on its linear Mzansi Magic TV channel after another one is inflicting massive brand damage.

The shocking and degrading podcast, Open Chats Podcasts- hosted by Mthokozisi, Sonwabile, Lefa Hlalele and Busisiwe Radebe and run on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) as one of several podcasts placed on the linear channel - sparked massive public condemnation over racist and revolting utterances, causing more brand damage for MultiChoice, DStv and Mzansi Magic.

Although the specific podcast episode in question wasn't aired by M-Net on Mzansi Magic, MultiChoice is paying Open Chats Podcasts for its content and supporting them financially, and even led to South Africa's minister of communications, Gayton McKenzie, calling MultiChoice about the obscene content.

The nasty trashcast continues to be condemned by the public, community groups, politicians and viewers after the presenters made appalling and crude comments about coloured people, falsely claiming that coloured people have incestuous sexual relationships and that it is due to mental illness.

Mthokozisi said "The coloureds apparently chow each other" after which Lefa said "siblings" and another chimed in with "I believe that's because the coloureds are crazy" and saying "I have dated a coloured guy. If you're mentally crazy of course you will sleep with your cousins".

Following the uproar Open Chats Podcasts in a statement says "The intention was never to cause harm or disrespect the coloured community. Open Chats is a platform centred on open conversations, which at times touch on sensitive topics".

"We do understand that as a platform, we should conduct conversations respectfully."

Politicians in South Africa are now calling for regulation of podcasts. The Open Chats Podcast is now also being investigated by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). The Patriotic Alliance political party has opened a criminal case with the South African police.

MultiChoice has now canned the Open Chats Podcast on Mzansi Magic.

It is just the latest podcast that was taken from the internet to be repositioned on one of M-Net's linear pay-TV channels and where it went up in flames, causing brand damage.

Earlier this year MultiChoice and M-Net suffered reputational damage when the Podcast and Chill presenter MacGyver "MacG" Mukwevho got dumped from Mzansi Magic in May after extremely vulgar and degrading gender-attacking comments he made about another the private parts of local personality, Minnie Dlamini.

The next to go in June was podcaster Lasizwe Dambuza after the Awkward Dates podcast also ended on Mzansi Magic when that deal got terminated.

These podcasts - a group of eight - have been supplied to M-Net for its Mzansi Magic channel by Leading Edge Growth since the place-podcasts-on-TV deal was announced in March, but so far the results have been completely disastrous.

While M-Net tried to save money by spending less on producing and programming its own local content for Mzansi Magic and paying for much cheaper content ripped from the internet that comes with lower production values, standards and no oversight, the results have been extremely destructive for DStv, M-Net and Mzansi Magic.

Mzansi Magic's decision led to the South African public broadcaster also starting to experiment with replacing some linear programming with cheaper and low-value podcasts. 

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice, M-Net and Mzansi Magic whether they have been, or are busy reevaluating the cheap replay of online podcasts for linear primetime on DStv - a programming decision that was signed off by Shirley Adonisi, the M-Net director for local entertainment channels.

MultiChoice, M-Net and Mzansi Magic declined to answer the specific questions asked but in a response said "MultiChoice is aware of recent comments made on the Open Chats Podcast".

"Open Chats' contract with DStv ended on 25 July 2025, as the show was removed to make way for our August content slate. The episode in question was not aired on our platform. MultiChoice adheres to stringent quality control processes and does not promote any discriminatory content."

Meanwhile, South Africa's TV and film industry is openly wondering why traditional broadcasters are giving up valuable airtime to low-quality content and vapid microphone-filmed talk that drags down ratings, leads to brand damage, isn't supportive of local production companies and ends up as a disservice to DStv subscribers and other viewers who pay with the expectation of getting original content that has higher production values.

MultiChoice, M-Net and Mzansi Magic were also asked why they feel that it's good business to continue to air podcasts on linear television and to be associated with this type of content and these content creators, and what they make of the Open Chat Podcast and the utterances of these talkers, but they declined to answer these questions.

BBC Studios evolves Walking with Dinosaurs into a new series on BBC Earth: 'Truly the most accurate you'll have seen dinosaurs on TV so far'

by Thinus Ferreira

Celebrating 25 years since the jaw-dropping original Walking with Dinosaurs, the BBC is back with a new, updated Walking with Dinosaurs on BBC Earth (DStv 184), which takes viewers back into prehistoric times with six new-old dinos and their stories of parenting, migrating, hunting and trying to survive. 

Bertie Carvel is the narrator of the new 6-episode Walking with Dinosaurs that is both a reimagining and an updated new version of the series - advancing what scientists know about that time and the creatures from so long ago, but also showing the updated technology being employed by modern-day archaeologists.

I recently spoke with Jay Balamurugan, series assistant producer and paleoartist for Walking with Dinosaurs.

Did you use AI or just the knowledge that palaeontologists have gathered to make estimated guesses?

We work very closely with them to know what sort of material we have in the ground.

So things like bones, and sometimes if dinosaurs are really well-preserved, we have things like muscle, skin - that sort of thing. If we have that, since some dinosaurs are preserved so well, we can even tell their colours because their pigment have been cell-fossilised. That is the best. 

If we have that, that is gold. But if we don't, because a lot of dinosaurs are not super well-preserved, we can also look at modern relatives.

So birds today, modern dinosaurs today, were descended from the two-legged dinosaurs like Velociraptor and that sort of thing. 

And we can look at what birds have today that they have in common with their distant ancestors to get a type of an idea. 

It's never going to be perfect, but we do our best to work as closely with the scientists to get a really good, reasonable representation of what these animals look like. 

'They really lived rich and vibrant lives -

each one with triumphs and defeats'

How long did it take to film and make this series?

It was actually quite a long process. I think about three years total in production. It took us anywhere from like six months to over a year to build even just the one dinosaur in VFX. 

So we do a lot of things concurrently. We built multiple animals at once. The visual effects team would be building up these VFX models while we were out in the locations filming, so that everything could come together at the end.

It was really quite a long period of time and quite a challenge because, of course, we're not just doing the dinosaurs in the prehistoric world. 

We're also filming palaeontologists on location. So it's almost like running two productions side by side. It's about three years in total.

How difficult was it to get access to all of these archaeological digs and were you guys surprised?

I think at the start we must have spoken to about 200 palaeontologists.

 There are discoveries being made every day. I think there's something like 50 new dinosaur species being named every year. 

There are a lot of parts of the world that are - even if historically they haven't been explored that much - nowadays with new technology, new science, we're able to go into these places and find new animals and new materials. So it was really surprising. 

More institutions want to do work in there and more parts of the world become accessible. 

Obviously, the dinosaurs evolved until they all died off. But you mentioned we still have birds. 

Did it surprise you guys how palaeontology has evolved? It's quite astounding to see them using drones and they do 3D printing and scanning. It's no longer just sort of like on a rock.

That sort of field of study has also changed, it seems, radically. 

Definitely it's something that has really developed. Like you mentioned the 3D printing - we actually 3D print a T-Rex brain in one of the episodes.

Because of that, we can actually determine, okay, it's got a big section dedicated to smell and taste. So we know for a fact it can smell really well. And then we can use that to learn more about its behaviour.

It's all smaller pieces to a very big puzzle. And with more and more technology over time, we're just getting closer and closer to that better picture of what dinosaurs really looked like.

'One of the more terrifying places

to be in prehistory'

In the second episode, it's about the T-Rex of Africa. And there's a sentence in there that was also new to me, where it says the Sahara was actually home to more large predators than anywhere else in history.

So that's a really interesting dilemma that palaeontologists have had. 

When they dig up dinosaurs, there's maybe one or two, which is the ancient Sahara, about 100 million years ago, roughly, we find lots and lots of very big predators, really close together, which is really rare.

But what palaeontologists are slowly realising is that the reason they can all coexist is because they're all probably eating different things.

In that episode, we show Spinosaurus, which is one of the longest predatory dinosaurs, the big sailback. That's an animal that probably eats fish. And then you have this other animal, Carpodontosaurus, which looks a bit like T-Rex. 

And that's something that's probably eating other big dinosaurs. And then we have a few other species that are probably eating all sorts of different things. So they're not directly competing with each other. 

But it does make for probably one of the more terrifying places to be in prehistory.

Besides the special effects that have improved since the first series, what other things may be improved since the first Walking with Dinosaurs to help make this one look better or be more informed?

I think it really is that the show has traditional species-specific consultants and an up-to-date compendium of information on these animals.

This is truly the most accurate you'll have seen dinosaurs on TV so far, because this Walking with Dinosaurs incorporates the most amount of information. 

We used reputable publications and fossil material and it was a lot of work, working with a lot of people. But it comes together to create something that's really quite a drastic difference from the original series back in 1999.

What would you say astounds you or moves you when you look back at the time so long ago?

I find the most incredible thing about these is that they were animals. They were real animals. They lived here. They died here. 

And over such a huge period of time, they really lived rich and vibrant lives - each one with triumphs and defeats. It's just an untold number of stories that are buried in the rock, just waiting to be told.

And I think, to me, that's incredible. That's the greatest joy, is that we get to tell those stories. It's why I'm happy to be able to do this job. 

Walking with Dinosaurs is on BBC Earth (DStv 184) with episodes also available on DStv Catch Up