SATY2015: The Official Programme

Below, find the official programme for the 2015 South African of the Year Awards:

Eleni Giokos Joins CNN

Back in July I said that Eleni Giokos was the biggest free agent in South African journalism following her departure from Bloomberg when it shut its Bloomberg Africa division.

Now, just a few hours ago, it was announced that Eleni Giokos will be joining CNN as a South African-based business correspondent, focussing on African financial issues. She will be working out of the Johannesburg Bureau. She will also obviously be contributing to shows like African Voices and Marketplace Africa.

Early in her career, Giokos was a reporter-anchor at CNBC Africa before joining the then eNews Channel in a role that was yet to be decided. Initially she did fill in anchoring, mainly as the prime time business anchor and reporting on financial issues before settling on the mid morning slot. Whilst at the then eNews Channel, Giokos covered stories like the World Economic Forum from Davos.

She left the renamed eNCA in October 2013 after being offered a senior position at the newly launched Bloomberg TV Africa, but was left out in the cold when earlier this year Bloomberg shut its African division as part of budget cuts. Since then she has done freelance work for South African news outlets like eNCA and 5FM before finally signing with CNN today.

Eleni is the third major eNCA almni to join CNN in the past year or so, joining the likes of Derek van Dam and Robyn Kriel who joined CNN from the South African news channel.

She joins CNN's ever expanding financial news division, which includes the highly successful cnnmoney.com brand. In addition, she joins an ever expanding African presence by CNN which includes Robyn Kriel in East Africa, David McKenzie in South Africa and Soni Methu throughout the rest of the pan African region.

To announce her signing with CNN, Giokos tweeted, "Beyond excited to announce that I've just joined @cnni," followed by retweets of congratulations throughout the day.

Mike McCarthy, Senior Vice President, Programming, at CNN International, said: “Eleni is an enormously talented and versatile broadcaster.  She has interviewed world leaders, covered major breaking news stories, and presented network feature programmes.  Her appointment underlines our commitment to African stories and African audiences.  We’re delighted to have her here at CNN.”

Her first day on air was actually today at 17:15 with an interview with Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub on Marketplace Africa.

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On May 13th, 2013 Giokos hosted Richard Quest from CNN on her then usual slot on eNCA when Quest was in South Africa. Check out the videos below:







That evening, Giokos also appeared live on Quest Means Business, which was anchored live from CNN's Johannesburg bureau, which will be Giokos' new workplace.

Mahreen Chenia, Sport@10 win big at Gauteng Sports Awards

The Gauteng Sports Awards took place this past Sunday, October 11th, with some sports broadcasters winning big.

Like I predicted, Thomas Mlambo's Sports@10 won the Sports Programme of the Year category, beating out Thursday Night Live with Marawa (Supersport), The Sports Network with Andrew Hope (University of Johannesburg) and GameOn! (ANN7). Sport@10 was created a few years ago as Mlambo's own project, airing initially on a Thursday night before seeing the format refined to its now award winnng state and moved to Wednesday.

Mahreen Chenia of ANN7 took home the award of Sports Journalist of the Year, beating Mlambo and Thabiso Mosia (Power FM). Over the last day she has taken to to Twitter to thank all those that supported her. Despite hosting the least watched/listened to sprts show in the category, 'GameOn!' and Chenia have consistently been called one of the best sports shows around, which has now been confirmed by the award.

With so many ANN7 talents leaving the channel as soon as something better comes along, how long do you think it will be before Mahreen Chenia is snapped up by one of the bigger broadcasters?

Gladys Sithole Leaves ANN7, Becomes Hot 91.9fm's Head of News

Gladys Sithole has this past week announced that she was leaving ANN7.

Announcing her departure, Sithole tweeted, "What is the meaning of life if one doesn't explore the part of it that brings about challenges, experience and great responsibility? With that said, it is with great sadness that I inform all my friends and fans that this is my last week at @ANN7tv #ANN7 💞 Life has presented me with an opportunity which I at 1st didn't think I was worthy of, but have since gotten used to the idea #God"

Sithole had been with ANN7 since inception, when she was one of the many now infamous models who were given the opportunity to tryout for a permanent position at the channel. Prior to joining ANN7, Gladys was seen on television as one of the 'vixens' Vuzu's now long cancelled show titled Vixens.

She was one of very few of the models that tried out with ANN7 that actually got appointed. Others include now former ANN7 Prime anchor, Nzinga Qunta, and current Vuka Africa anchor, Abigail Visagie.

Gladys has anchored different slots for the channel, including stints as Weekend Prime anchor (a position everyone seems to hold prior to going on to greater things), before moving to weekday afternoons and then to anchoring the continental bulletin, Africa Tonight, where she truly shone (shined? Shown?). As anchor of Africa Tonight, Sithole also acted as the channel's main reporter for the AU Summit held in Johannesburg earlier this year, excellently covering the drama surrounding Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir.

She was also always the the channel's main fill in anchor for ANN7 Prime, though for some reason whenever the main anchor of the bulletin left, Sithole was never promoted to that position.

Sithole joined Hot 91.9fm since the Johannesburg-based community radio station started in November last year. There, under the leadership of the excellent Marc Chase, she read the midday news report and earlier this year won big at the 2015 MTN Radio Awards.

Now she is being promoted to the radio station's head of news. Yip. From model to head of news. Hard work certainly pays off. This is why I no longer just dismiss it when ANN7 decides to bring in another model. They might be another Gladys Sithole.

Gladys held a farewell dinner for herself on Friday night (as everyone does when they leave ANN7), which was attended by the likes of senior reporter, Kalden Ongmu, 'GameOn!' presenter, Mahreen Chenia, and current ANN7 Prime anchor, Sebenzile Nkambule.


Gladys Sithole's last day with ANN7 was Thursday October 8th.

CCMA Orders ANN7 Reinstate Asanda Magaqa, Awards Damages

The CCMA has ruled that ANN7's dismissal of Asanda Magaqa late last year was unfair andhas awared damages.

Asanda left ANN7 late last year when she was unfairly dismissed for allegedly assaulting a colleague, making death threats and insubordination. Hajra Omarjee represented Asanda during the internal disciplinary process and after the outcome of this process was revealed, Omarjee too decided to resign in what eventually became an exodus of experienced journalists including prime time anchor Chantal Rutter Dros.

When Asanda left the channel, her excellent Sunday morning media show, Between the Lines was also 'suspended,' with the channel saying the format was not working and that it would return as soon as its format had been tweaked. We are still waiting for it to return.

The CCMA has ordered ANN7 to pay Asanda the sum of R500 000, the equivalent of ten months' salary. [It must be really awkward having your salary revealed in that way especially in journalism where salaries vary greatly].

Though the CCMA also ordered ANN7 to reinstate Asanda, whether she would go back is another thing. For monthd after her dismissal she continuously tweeted that she was done doing television altogether and when one Tweeter (I think that is what they are called) asked her when she would return, she replied by saying that she served her sentence on television already. [Either way, I would still absolutely LOVE to have an established and talented journalist like Asanda back on ANN7, a channel that now has very few experienced reporters].

On the victory, Asanda tweeted, "Thank you my friends... Your messages in my DM's & WhatsApp gave me strength... Your prayers kept me going :-)"

[Asanda please come back].

The SABC News Channel [Finally] Rolls Out Its New Schedule

The SABC News Channel has finally last week rolled out its new schedule structure, hinted at round about Easter this year then being postponed regularly.

With it comes, firstly and most controversially, the dropping of all the repeats of the local language bulletins that was seen on the channel late at night. This means that the SABC now too becomes another 24 hour news channel that broadcasts fully in Enlgish in a country with 11 official languages.

Also done away with are the one hour news bulletins like Newsroom with Eben Jansen. In its place are now bulletins that run for 3 hours on end:
Morning Live remains unchanged from 6am to 9am.

Newsroom is now a 3 hour brodcast from 9am, with Eben Jansen now no longer at the helm.

The 1pm business centric bulletin now gets absorbed into a 3 hour block called Midday Report, starting at 12pm.

At 3pm, News Today replaces what was previously PM News, though is basically the same format.

Question time remains unchanged at 5:30pm.

Though the tv guide says that Prime Time News is now 3 hours long from 6pm, Business Review with Francis Herd remains in the 6pm slot with Sports Live at 8:30pm.

Mahendra Raghunath returns to Your World, now live from 9pm to midnight, meaning that the SABC news channel has now gone from being the local news channel that went off air first at night to be being the channel that is still live the latest. More live news is never a bad thing.

This also means that the SABC News channel now trumps both ANN7 and eNCA in the shear amount of live news seen on the channel.

The channel has also reworked basically all of their weeked magazine shows, adding new ones, cutting others and now also showing repeats of Special Assignment nearly a week after it airs on SABC3.

Gauteng Sports Awards Nominees in Sports Programme of the Year Category

Earlier this week the Gauteng Sports Awards announced the nominees for their 2015 edition. The nominees for the Sports Programme of the Year Award are:

Sport@10
The weekly laid back sports programme is hosted by Thomas Mlambo and airs on SABC 1, which means it is most likely to win this category due to the sheer number of viewers it has relative to the other nominees. The show itself is not bad, featuring news, long form interviews and discussions.

GameOn!
The daily 30 minute sports programme is hosted by Mahreen Chenia and airs on ANN7. Reviews for the show are largely positive and regularly features interviews with big name sportsmen and women. In addition to general sports news, it has a strong focus on the overall state of South African sport than the other nominees. To watch the first episode of GameOn! click here. Trust me, its worth it

The Sports Network with Andrew Hope
University of Johannesburg. To everyone that gets paid a large sum of money to put together a sports programme, you got beat by a college kid. Let that sink in.

Thursday Night Live with Marawa
Robert Marawa hosts this weekly show on a Thursday Night (as the name says) on Supersport 4. Has a large focus on soccer and features a local singer each week as well. Airing on a Thursday means it has a stronger focus on building up to the weekend that lies ahead than reviewing past matches.

Notable exclusions include:
- Monday Night Football (Supersport 3)
- Soccerzone (SABC1)
- Backpages (Supersport 4)
- Sports Live (SABC News)
- eShibobo (eTV, eNCA)

For voting details and a list of the other nominees, click, here.

Mbali Nkosi Goes From ANN7 Anchor to All Access Mzansi Presenter

The now former ANN7 anchor, Mbali Nkosi, has this past week been announced as one of All Accesss Mzansi's new presenters.

Previously, Nkosi was seen 'anchoring' Weekend Prime on ANN7, along with additional slots here and there filling in for other anchors. She left her gig at ANN7 to pursue things more in line with the fame she was chasing when she entered Big Brother Mzansi, on Mzansi Magic, earlier this year where she made it all the way to the finsl, but finished third.

However, she must have made an impression with the team at Mzansi Magic as she will now be a co presenter of the third version of All Access Mzansi, along with Nomzamo Mbatha (of Isibaya fame) and Anga Makubalo.

All Access Mzansi started life as simply All Access, MNet's (DStv 101) attempt at prime time glamour news. At launch, it was seen exclusively seen on MNet and was based in what was an awesome studio at MNet in the same studio that now houses the massive Superspot set. However, the
2010 SAFTA Award winning show has seen many tweaks over the years, including dropping the studio and becoming more like Top Billing with presenting done from some fancy location, changing and dropping of presenters, and even changing channels from MNet to Mzansi Magic, adjusting to a format targeting what the channel called a "black urban audience" along with adding "Mzansi" to its name. The show has been cancelled before, twice, and is now back for a third time.

ANN7 Tweaks ANN7 Prime, Drops Candy Harris as Co Anchor

Just weeks after the relaunch of ANN7 Prime, the channel has removed Candy Harris as the show's co anchor, opting to go solely with Sebenzile Nkambule instead.

When it launched with two hosts, both female, I remarked that the show seemed very messy having two moderators of the show's many debtates and two anchors speaking to the phone-in guests, which obviously led to incindents when the two spoke over each other.

Now Candy Harris has been, ironically, shifted to Sebenzile's old slot of mid morning news where she anchors solo and occasionally with a trainee anchor.

Football Rights Breakdown

With the football season now underway, I thought I would break down where exactly you can find all the different leagues on television now that everything is no longer exclusive to Supersport:

• Belgian Pro League [Belgium]: Fox Sports Africa
• English Premier League [England]: Supersport
• UEFA Champion's League [Europe continental]: Supersport (pay tv rights), Supersport (free to air rights. Not sure how this works)
• Ligue 1 [France]: Fox Sports Africa
• Bundesliga [Germany]: StarTimes Sports
• Eredivisie [Netherlands]: Fox Sports Africa
• La Liga [Spain]: Supersport
• Premier Soccer League [South Africa]: Supersport, SABC
• Major League Soccer [United States]: Fox Sports Africa

Supersport is availabe on DStv

Fox Sports Africa and StarTimes Sports is available on Starsat

eNCA Relaunches Maggs on Media

Jeremy Maggs on the Maggs on Media set.

eNCA (DStv 403, livestation.com) has announced that their weekly advertising and media show, Maggs on Media, is getting relaunched.

The show gets a new graphics package, colour scheme and music sequence with slight format tweaks.

To celebrate the relaunch, this Sunday's episode will feature a panel discussion with industry experts on the future of advertising in South Africa. They will also have an in studio audience filled with industry iniders as well, who will comment throughout the debate.

Maggs on Media, hosted by Jeremy Maggs, is the longest running weekly show on eNCA, being on air since the channel started way back in 2008. (The only other show on air since the channel went live, Judge For Yourself with Judge Dennis Davis, aired on eTV before being moved to eNCA).

Maggs on Media premieres Sundays at 10:30am on eNCA, with repeats throughout the week.

E! Entertainment Launches First South African Original Show

E! Entertainment (DStv 124) has today announced the launch of their first ever South African-produced show.

The show, which is a local version of the franchise E! News Special, will feature 12 local celebrities each sitting down for an in depth interview about their careers.

The series is produced by Johannesburg-based production company Brainstorm and filmed in South Africa.

We are delighted to launch our first-ever local production on E! in Africa and add E! News Special to the channel’s exclusive line-up of high-quality‚ original programming‚” said Colin McLeod‚ Managing Director‚ Emerging Markets‚ NBC Universal International Networks. “We are confident that the profiles of local celebrities will resonate well with our audience‚ making E! the TV destination for the pop of African culture.”

The channel announced that televsion and radio personality, Bonang Matheba, will be featured on the premiere episode with the rest of the first seasn featuring the likes of A.K.A and Danny K, among others.

Earlier this year the channel started doing local inserts during commercial breaks covering events like this year's Durban July.

E! News Special premieres on the South African feed of E! Entertainment on September 10th at 8pm.

Robyn Kriel Makes Mail and Guardians' List of 200 Young South Africans

CNN's East African Correspondent, Robyn Kriel, has made the list of The Mail and Guardian's now annual Young South Africans List.

Before joining CNN, she was eNCA's Chief African Correspondent (and before that, East African Bureau Chief), covering stories like the Westgate Mall attack.

She grew up in the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo and has previously worked based in Johannesburg and also at a local station in Texas before joining eNCA.

You can find Robyn's full profile by clicking here.

Debora Patta Nominated for News and Documentary Emmy Award

Former eNews editor, Debora Patta has been announced as a nominee for this year's News and Documentary Emmys, which aims to recognise outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism.

Currently Debora serves as CBS News' Foreign Correspondent based in Africa where she covers major stories and breaking news from across the continent.

She is nominated for "The War Against Ebola," a story documenting Liberia's struggle with the Ebola virus. You can find a written version of the story by clicking here.

Since joining CBS News in early 2013, Debora has traveled across the continent covering major news stories like Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Shabab in Kenya, Oscar Pistorius and the passing of Nelson  Mandela in South Africa, and the Ebola story from countries few other journalists were going to.

The News and Documentary Emmy Awards takes place on September 28th from the Lincoln Centre.

Programming Advisory: Jon Stewart's Last Week As Daily Show Host

After a run that started in 1999, Jon Stewart's final week as host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show kicks off tonight, August 8th at 11:55pm and continues all week until Friday.

Expect many special guests this week, including comedians Amy Schumer (Tuesday), Denis Leary (Wednesday) and Louis C.K (Thursday) with Friday's show being a surprise-filled 50 minute extended episode.

Trevor Noah takes over as host of The Daily Show on September 28th, when the show will be moved to South African prime time as well. 

Nominees for ANN7's South African Of the Year Awards Revealed (Includes Full List)

ANN7 yesterday announced the nominees for the second annual South African of the Year Awards, which is set to take place at the TicketPro Dome in Johannesburg on October 17th.

Below is the full list of nominees for the awards show slated to be hosted by Maps Maponyane. All in all, there are 9 categories with 63 nominees in total (or 62, considering that DJ Sbu is technically nominated in two categories, the first time someone got nominated in more than one category at the SATY Awards):

Campaign of the Year

• Afreakan Dream
• Africa Against Ebola (MTN)
• Crime Line
• Kagiso Shanduka Trust
• Ke Yona [Nedbank]; 
• MoFaya [DJ Sbu]
• ProteaFire [Cricket SA]

Spirit of Humanity 

•  Creseldah Ndlovu [Mother Teresa of Bushbuckridge]
•  Jordan vd Walt [Just One Bag Campaign]
•  Lead SA
• Ntenga Foundation [Donate School shoes camapign]
• Sibusiso Leope Education Foundation [DJ Sbu]
• Dr Thandeka Mazibuko [Cancer awareness in Africa]
• Vodacom e-school initiative. 

Business Leader of the Year 

• Christo Van Der Rheede
• Herman Mashab
• Jabu Mabuza
• John Michael Judin
• Mervyn King
• Shameel Joosub.  

Entrepreneur of the Year

•  Adri Kruger
• Gil Oved and Ran Neu-Ner [The Creative Council]
• Ismail Hassen [CSR-Africa]
• Marthie Jansen van Rensburg [Trans-Caledon Tunnel]
• Thabo Molefe [DJ Tbo Touch]
• Theresa Cupido [ATN Group]
• Tommy Makhatho [Bibi Cash & Carry].

Young Person of the Year

• Foki Molemane [Tosman Entertainment Rockers]
• Kagiso Rabada [cricketer]
• Kgomotso Pooe [Soweto Outdoor Adventures]
• Malibongwe Xaba [One Young World Ambassador]
• Mbongeni Msomi [Carwash Supreme]
• Simon Molekwa [Life4U]
•  Vuyani Masuku [Park & Blue Pools Primary Co-op]

Conservationist of the Year 

• Craig Spencer [Wildlife research and conservation]
• Div de Villiers [Green Scorpions]
• Fundisile Mketeni [CEO SA National Parks]
• Karen Trendler [founder, Wildcare Africa]
•  Mark Boucher [SAB-Boucher Conservation]
•  Sinegugu Zukulu [Endangered Wildlife Trust]
• Yolan Friedmann [Global Cheetah Forum]. 

Trendsetting Celebrity of the Year

• AKA
• Cassper Nyovest
• Terry Pheto
• Nomzamo Mbatha
• Nandi Mngoma 
• Jonathan Boyton-Lee
• The Soil

Sports Person of the Year

• AB de Villiers
• Duane Vermeulen
• Gift Kelehe
• Janine van Wyk
• Schalk Burger
• Tefu Mashamaite
• Teko Modise

South African of the Year

• Bonang Matheba 
• Brian Molefe
• Ephraim Shakes Mashaba
• Imtiaz Sooliman
• Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
• Rolene Strauss 
• Prof Salim S Abdool Karim

You can vote at the South African of the Year Awards website, which you can find here.

Thus far, AKA, The Soil & ChianoSky have been confirmed to perform at the awards ceremony, with more artists, including international artists, to be confirmed at a later date.