When the News Anchor is a Contestant on a Reality Show

By now it iss known that DStv will be launching a second BET channel in April (though by naming convention it is technically the first) with its own locally-produced reality show, Top Actor, premiering on April 2nd.

But what is less known is that one of the contestants on the show, Lauren Jenae, wont be seen for the first time on South African television when the show premieres. She is, of course, known to ANN7 viewers as the anchor of the 11pm Night Cap as well as The Week in Review on Sunday evenings.

Lauren Jenae on ANN7

I must admit, I do not know the finer details of what the winner of Top Actor gets, but judging by the fact that Lauren is still anchoring the late night news, I doubt she won (Does that count as a spoiler?).  She is quite a decent anchor though.

So now ANN7 can add reality show star to their anchors' list of accolades, along with another movie star as correspondent, tv drama star as weekend anchor and an anchor search competition to find yet another anchor. Add this to the fact that so many of the other anchors are trying to get mainstream fame if one looks at their Twitter accounts and are only using the channel as a stepping stone on their journeys to stardom. It is as if the channel is going out of their way to not be taken seriously.

BET Cancels 106 & Park

 

BET, DStv 135, has just announced the cancellation of its long running daily Hip Hop entertainment show, 106 & Park.

 The show, which has been on air for 14 years now in various timeslots and formats on BET in the US, will air its final edition this December 19th.

The network does, however, intend to make the brand live as an online only platform at the bet.com website where fans can go and interact, making it seem as if it is a 'logical'  next step for the show, and not just outright cancelling it.

The show will continue to produce coverage of various events for BET for the forseeable future, including their annual New years Eve special and also serve as a pre show for BET events like the BET Awards.

With co host Bow Wow stepping into the acting ring full time as a cast member of the new CSI: Cyber, it is speculated that he would have stepped down as host and that instead of adding yet another host to a show that has seen various host changes over the years, the network just decided to can what seems like a tired brand.

It is unclear whether the network plans on doing another live daily entertainment news show in its place, which airs daily at 8pm in SA.