Thoughts on Thando Thabethe's Alleged Nice Life Conundrum | TLC v SABC

This week we got the news that entertainer, Thando Thabethe, has been roped in to be a judge on TLC's Presenter search competition. Today, however, I was shocked to read that Thabethe might be faced with a bit of conundrum on her hands as her stint at Generations might prevent her from accepting the TLC offer. To that I say; how nice?!

Let me prefix my little commentary by congratulating Thando on an amazing year. It is always sweet to see good people in this industry get their just dues. Ya'll know I don't suck up to anyone so believe me when I say Thando is one of the nicest people I have ever met in this business. 

With all this confetti around her, this lady has managed to stay grounded and not become two-faced like a lot of people in this business. So far, what I see with her is always what I get when I'm in her presence. I am so proud of her new found success. May she continue to flourish!

Anyway, to have to comment on the fact that she now has two major gigs on her plate and has to choose one, is so freaken nice. This is a nice life problem. So many job, so little time in a day to squeeze them all in... how dandy!

Seriously though, if this is a genuine issue in Thando's camp, my opinion would be; drop TLC. Whoa, before you start thinking; "INTERNATIONAL" blah blah blah... remember, our local media has a tendency to blow things way out of proportion and blur reality. 

While the brand TLC has an international recognition, not much of the content produced for the African audience ever makes it beyond the screens on the continent. Even with that very few African countries actually have TLC. The TLC we watch here is not the same as the TLC seen in America, though they are the same company. Much of what we see on TLC Dstv is packaged in the UK specifically for our market hence Nigeria was able to stop all of Africa from seeing a show about transgender girl.

As for the TLC Presenter Search; Don't cheat an google but do you know who won last year? Have you seen the winner mentioned anywhere, even on Dstv platforms? Instead Dstv is using the likes of Somizi and American stars on their promo material. Further evidence that the gig would not be as beneficial to Thabethe as some would like you to believe. 

With that, I think if Thabethe is faced with a choice between SABC and TLC, she should stick with SABC for her longevity. The highest rated show on TLC pulls 120000. Even Oprah's Where Are They Now is not raking in the big numbers — that should tell you what TLC's footprint in Africa is. Of course having Thabethe is good news for TLC because that will attract more media attention which will hopelly garner more viewers. 

Thabethe is slowly etching herself a spot in the A-list table and I dare say it is only because she is on SABC. Without SABC, she would never have hosted the SAMAs. She's been in the game for a while now and the suits barely paid attention to her until she joined Generations. 

International gig... well that is a bit of stretch from the media. International by association but not by reach. Of course getting on the books of companies such as Discovery is always good for one's future career prospects BUT I think it is a major risk to do so at the expense of ruining relationships with your home base. 

In my opinion, Thabethe should thank TLC for the offer and open the conversation to working with them on future projects. It would be a career suicide for her to choose them over SABC though. 

That said; congratulations again to Thando for an amazing year... and it is not even over yet!Good luck.