The appointment of Hannelie Bekker signals a major upscaling in TV executive power for FIC Africa and is a major loss for the Wananchi group and Wananchi Programming Limited running the Zuku satellite pay-TV service in East Africa where she was the managing director.
FIC Africa tells TV with Thinus that Hannelie Bekker replaces Alessandro Tucci as FIC Africa managing director who has returned to Italy citing personal family reasons and left at the end of October, and that the appointment starts from today, the day of the announcement.
At Zuku TV Hannelie Bekker, previously an accomplished and respected TV executive at the SABC, the past few years very successfully created and rolled out several self-compiled TV channels, credited with putting Zuku TV on the map.
Hannelie Bekker has extensive knowledge of the African and South Africa TV and film industry with strong relationships with African broadcasters, international content distributors and international channel owners.
She will now be bringing that to FIC Africa which runs TV channels ranging from FOX, FOX Crime, FOX Movies, FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic Gold, FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2 and Baby TV across MultiChoice's DStv, On Digital Media and StarTimes South Africa's StarSat and other pay-TV operators across Africa.
Hannelie Bekker is moving back to South Africa and will be based in Johannesburg and FIC Africa's office where she will be reporting to Adam Theiler, the executive president for Southern Europe and Africa.
"Hannelie will be an extraordinary asset to FIC and will lead and extend our operation throughout Africa which is a key market with a mature business operation and strong brand and affiliate distribution," says Adam Theiler.
"Hannelie's experience and track record in senior roles at numerous TV production companies throughout Africa not only make her the best possible person to manage FIC Africa, but also a prominent figure within Africa's TV industry who can help FIC to consolidate its objectives in the region."
