Fix up those CV's people, Africa News Network 7 or ANN7 - the new South African 24-hour TV news channel - is now hiring!
ANN7 which plans to start broadcasting later this year as a new TV news channel on MultiChoice's DStv platform as a competitor to eNCA (DStv 403) is now looking for presenters, reporters, anchors, sound engineers, producers and cameramen for its news broadcasts - a massive recruitment drive which might see top TV talent hop from competitors.
The past months TV with Thinus has received numerous enquiries from South Africans in media and broadcasting asking where they can make contact with, send CV's to, or possibly apply for positions at the new TV news channel - the lastest email asking about this I received two days ago. Now there is an answer.
ANN7 which will be run by by Infinity Media - a joint venture between Essel Media, Oakbay Investments (Oakbay Investments is the majority shareholder in The New Age newspaper) and a black economic empowerment group - is busy constructing new TV news headquarters in Midrand which will house ANN7's news studio fascilities and is now looking at starting to fill on-air positions as well as staffing up behind the camera.
ANN7's massive media talent recruitment drive comes as other South African media houses and newspapers are downsizing and merging newsroom operations. The move is bringing a sudden injection of new jobs within the electronic media sphere to the country's pressured media industry where jobs are few and far between.
Besides anchors and presenters ANN7 is also looking for TV reporters, video editors, producers, audio engineers, engineers, camera operators, graphic designers, assignment desk editors, and even an online producer who will all produce news bulletins and current affairs and work in the 24/7 newsroom under constant deadline pressures.
ANN7 which will broadcast news in English, is now also accepting applications and CV's for on-air personnel who will work in Midrand, Johannesburg and salaries are negotiable.
"Candidates must have excellent English communication skills and a good news sense," says ANN7. "Good communication skills in other languages will be an added advantage."
Applicants must also be skilled in television presenting and exude a "pleasant, charming personality" and be "hardworking, passionate and enthusiastic".
ANN7 requires candidates who want to be TV presenters to have a minimum of three years' experience in the television industry.
Interested people can contact ANN7 and Margriet on 011 542 1222 and send email to hr01@ann7.co.za
South Africa has a very small pool of experienced, qualified and skilled TV presenters and even less telegenic presenters and reporters who are specifically skilled in live TV news delivery. Behind the scenes, skilled technicians, journalists and producers in South Africa are as hard to find, which often lead to the poaching of existing talent between competitors.
The major ANN7 talent recruitment drive will likely see some well-known TV faces leave existing TV channels and news operations to hop to the new channel.
It's not yet known when ANN7 will start with test transmissions and when the news channel will go live later this year. The SABC planned a similar restart of a 24-hour news channel after the SABC News International channel was shut down, but after multiple launch attempts failed, the public broadcaster shelved the plan.
