RE-ALLOCATION OF THE WILD’S FUNDING

M-Net has decided not to commission a third season of The Wild, which means the soap will come to an end on the M-Net channel in March 2013.

"This difficult decision was made based on two interrelated factors," says Theo Erasmus, M-Net Director: General Entertainment Channels. "Firstly, M-Net ascertained that the monies allocated toThe Wild, which is a high-cost production due to the fact that it's a location-based soap, could be spent on other productions that could possibly produce better ratings in a shorter period of time. Soaps take many months to build an audience, whilst other genres may produce higher ratings quicker. The ratings of The Wild have been growing steadily month on month, but not in line with the vast investment. Secondly, the original land bought for the production of The Wild faced ongoing rezoning challenges which could still take many years to resolve. This left the production with no real 'home'."

Since its launch, The Wild has been showered with industry accolades, including four SAFTA awards. Recently, it also received the You Spectacular Award for Most Popular Soap, with actors Ty Keogh and Shona Ferguson also nabbing the awards for Sexiest Male and Best Actor respectively. It even received international recognition with a Rockie Award nomination in a category previously won by soaps such as Days of our Lives.

Erasmus says that M-Net is very proud of The Wild’s achievements: "The Wild has set new standards for soap production in the country. Therefore, the M-Net channels are working on plans to create spin-offs from The Wild in a more settled, urban environment. You will find out more about this and other exciting M-Net plans in due course."