On 9 May 1896, famous magician Carl Hertz held a press preview of his new "magic" act: moving pictures or "animated photographs". Hertz had brought a moving picture machine from London, and with it the first projected motion pictures ever to be shown in South Africa.
On 6 May 1977, the first Artes award ceremony was held in the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. The awards rewarded excellence in the South African television and radio industries and the prize consisted of a gold trophy and a R500 cash prize. Among the first year's 64 nominations, there were 15 winners.
Submitted by vintagemedia on 27 April 2012 - 9:27am
On 27 April 1989, the first episode of the highly acclaimed drama series Arende was shown on TV1. Arende is set during the Anglo-Boer War and follows the lives of a group of prisoners-of-war. The main character is Sloet Steenkamp, a Cape rebel who, on the point of being executed, has his sentence commuted to life in Deadwood Camp on St. Helena. But for Sloet (played by Ian Roberts), life behind a barbed-wire fence is a fate worse than death, and from the outset he plans his escape. As he explains to his fellow prisoners:
Submitted by vintagemedia on 1 December 2011 - 11:00am
On 15 December 1969, the South African government appointed the Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to Television, also known as the Meyer Commission. The commission would be chaired by SABC chairman P.J. Meyer - once an outspoken enemy of TV.
Submitted by vintagemedia on 7 November 2011 - 3:19pm
Scott Tracy in action.
On 20 November 1976, South African TV audiences were introduced to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Thunderbirds when the series premiered on SABC TV. This British sci-fi supermarionation series was dubbed into Afrikaans and broadcast as Redding Internasionaal.
Submitted by vintagemedia on 7 November 2011 - 11:13am
On 1 November 1985, the SABC launched Teledata, a series of "electronic magazine pages" transmitted over television. The service was first launched in the PWV area (now Gauteng) and contained news, business news, sport, weather forecasts, TV and radio schedules, advertisements, flight schedules, brainteasers - even the daily market prices of meat, vegetables and fruit. Later, in 1988, Teledossier was added in which information about wanted criminals and stolen vehicles were broadcast.
Viewers needed decoders to view the service, but during certain times it was transmitted uncoded over SABC TV.
