MultiChoice and NBC Universal International Networks have been forced to pull the second season of I Am Cait from its E! Entertainment channel on DStv after the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered it off the air, effectively censoring it for all African viewers since there’s only one E! feed on DStv for the continent.
The remaining episodes of the second season of the transgender reality show, I Am Cait have been wiped from E! on DStv in Nigeria but since there’s only one E! channel feed, the show is gone for viewers in South Africa as well as every other sub-Saharan African country where the E! channel is carried.
The shocking censorship move, on Africa Day, is the second time within months that Nigeria’s broadcasting regulator attacked MultiChoice over what it deems to be proper and not for the satellite pay-TV platform’s African subscribers to see.
Nigeria’s broadcasting censorship board has now effectively started a precedent where the one country’s programming banning decisions directly impacts what viewers in other countries, including South Africa, can and can’t see.
While I Am Cait contains no violence, nudity or sex on a pay-TV channel that viewers can block with a parental control function, the show about the transgender journey of Caitlyn Jenner contains ideas that Nigerian authorities don’t want people to be exposed to.
In October 2015 the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered MultiChoice and Discovery Networks International to remove the transgender reality show I Am Jazz from the TLC Entertainment (DStv 135) channel.
Since Discovery Networks International runs only one TLC Entertainment channel feed for the entire Africa, removing I Am Jazz from the channel’s schedule in October meant that the poignant programme about the life struggles of a transgendered was censored for DStv subscribers across the entire Africa, including South Africa.
Now the reality show on E! Entertainment following the transgender journey of Caitlyn Jenner –  has also been deemed something Nigerians shouldn’t be allowed to watch, raising fears of renewed censorship creep in the West African nation.
NBC Universal International Networks this week removed the remaining episodes from I Am Cait from the May and June schedule on DStv but says it stands by its programming – although nobody in Africa will be able to see the show anymore.
“E! stands by the diverse range of content it produces and broadcasts around the world,” NBC Universal International Networks tells Channel24 in a basic statement in response to a media enquiry.
“As an international channel, we recognize that regulatory environments vary across the world and we always seek to comply with regulations in the countries where we broadcast. As this matter relates directly to DStv and the Nigerian regulatory authorities, this issue is for their comment”.
NBCU International Networks didn’t say whether its scared that the censorship is setting a dangerous precedent for its future programming or whether or how the order to remove I Am Cait will influence what future programming it might want to schedule for the E! channel.
Two weeks ago Justin Stephenson, the vice president for advertising sales for the UK and emerging markets at NBC Universal International Networks incidentally visited Lagos to speak at DStv Nigeria’s Media Sales Showcase about its channels on DStv; the company however declined a media request for a copy of the speech he made.
In a statement, MultiChoice said:
“MultiChoice recognises the importance of respecting the views of a number of its customers and all regulatory environments within which its service operates.
After careful consideration, MultiChoice would like to inform its valued subscribers that the show will no longer air on the channel across our platforms.”
(channel24.co.za)
Way to go…. we dnt need to be seeing Bruce’s balls everywhere.
Well done Nigerian Broadcasting Commission! Thank you for saving us from that rubbish which should not have been allowed to see the light of day.
Its another case of africa remaining in the cave where it belongs. God himself has allowed us the power of choice why should a fellow human deny us that. I don’t watch the show because I chose not to, not because someone else has told me so. By the way voyeurs don’t go to the beach to watch other people’s nudity, they peek through windows in the dark (if you understand what I mean).
Well done… it should not have been introduced in the first place.
It is a free market. If you didn’t like it, no one was forcing you to watch it. The Kardashian show features a pron star. No one complains until a guy decided he was going to switch genitalia. Are the other values you fcukers are proud to be exposed to? And if you really feel strongly about it, don’t subscribe!
Suppose next time Nigeria decides that it does not like the ideas espoused by the premier league, are we going to applaud the decision if Multichoice decides to remove the premier league?
We should choose for ourselves I don’t need some big brother to telling me what I can or cannot watch. That’s why you have parental control and you can also choose not to subscribe. Marubbishi!!!!
Hypocrisy at its worst. Multichoice shows far worse sh*t than this show, and yet some holier than thou a**holes had the balls to complain about the show. Horse manure! If you don’t like the show, switch the bloody channel. You retarded fcuk faces!
Ba splaka, you been overseas for too long that you have lost your balls as well! I would recommend you grow some soon before it’s too late!
Well stated. Nigeria has done the whole of Africa God’s God’s justice. This mess should never be allowed period.
@ba Splaka, dont come ut as though mwa lisela sana!!! That is rubbish that these white guys are forcing on us. They want their degraded morals to tranverse the universe so that we continue worshipping their rotten moral!!! Wake up! Uku ba kubuluya does not mean ati ninshi muli ba mano iyo iwe chik..ala!!
God has worked a wonder through Nigeria. That nonsense had to go.
Its scary to see how the new christendom & sharia are finding common ground in their extremism. Soon we will have christian al qaeda, boko haram & el shabaab
Good!
Why should men be turning themselves to be what they biologically are not?
I am actually perplexed that women have let men mock them by pretending to be women. These people don’t have wombs, breasts, women’s “self-respects” and do not because they cannot menstruate.
Women should have risen up in “arms” against these twisted thinking males.
God bless Nigeria!
Please do the same with the Kadashian crap
china up to date is known to be a well mannerd and cultured economy because they have banned such nonsense from the western country,somehow after colonization we africans were left blank,we didnt know who we were,thats why our economy has that slave mentality of work hard and get a good job,we seem to have lost it so we groom ourselves to work for better masters,we talk like them,dress like them and if a white man passes your road he is automatically called BOSS,we as a continent still hold our mama africa manners,its this mentality of some of us that has kept us here,why expose our children to things they shouldnt even think of,we have to preserve our culture if we have to save our next generations,
I’m Breaker and I approve this message
we africans dont know how to grow but consume,how to impact in our children to be the heads,to assure them kid u are a boss,you wont be a doctor or a,nurse but u will own the building,awe kwena where ever u go its the same 3 steps
WORK HARD
GET GOOD GRADES
GET A JOB
get a job,they simply mean be in the slave system and stay their,shouldn’t we envy then nigerians not that they have switched of E but seem to b the only country that seems to preserve culture,their dressing nigerian,their english nigerian,we africans even laugh at them yet other continents are applausing them for thier originality,china speaks funny english,india too and we the ones who have perfected it have nothing to show for,we need to get back into the pk chishala swagg and ban kardashians for life
I am Breaker and I…
matter of fact I would care less if dstv concentrated more on african programs than these western entertainments,we would learn more of ourselves than watching dead pool shooting in slow motion,or how to change from a man to a woman,such behavior of saying let us choose what we want is the exact thing that will attract thè gays in our african culture,we start seeing fellow men to b attractive,if we dont groom our children now, im afraid they won’t even know how to say MWASHIBUKA SHANI MUKWAI,all they will know is daddy their is a move showing at fresh view its in 3D,can I go watch with my girlfriend tonight,and can I borrow your car,awe kuti walanda wanaka
nigerian movies,chinese movies,indian movies or series are saleble because they are original,if chinese kunfu muvies didnt have that tuma swagg like a chinese gown with a ka cloth for a belt,white socks with wooden slippers,and always bowing before u fight, or nigeria with thier oh my godo what have I dono,or indians with thier bling and funny dances, these guys would not b so popular,for that I have to show my appreciation to zambian artist. like Drimz,chef187,afunika,pilato,willz,slaps,mampi,ruffkid,p jay rip,mwine mushi,espe,dandy,kanene,malembe malembe,jk,kan2,bflow,petersen,angela,peace preachers and many more for holding up the beacon of originality in zambia though ba cleo ice queen bena tesana,icisungu dibili