Patrick Conroy was talking to Bruce Whitfield of The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield on Radio 702 about the exciting changes coming to the 24 hour independent South African TV news channel.
Patrick Conroy was speaking about the eNews Channel's plans to go intercontinental when it starts broadcasting on the Sky pay-TV platform in the United Kingdom.
The name of the eNews Channel will be changing to just the eNCA according to high-level insiders, although the eNews Channel has not yet officially confirmed the new name which will also means an on-air imaging and logo change.
I also revealed earlier today that the eNews Channel will be changing to the eNCA in South Africa on Sunday 19 August at 19:00 and in the United Kingdom a day later on 20 August.
Patrick Conroy told Bruce Whitfield that the news channel will "not be reporting on the United Kingdom, but we're going to be giving viewers in the UK a window on what's happening here. They'll see what viewers are seeing here [in South Africa]. Initially what we want to do is targeting the ex pat community or people with an interest in South Africa".
Patrick Conroy said that the channel "can provide context and nuance on news from inside South Africa and Africa which an international broadcaster can't. We can tell you things which the big international broadcasters can't".
Future plan
He said that the eNews Channel - or eNCA as it will be known from later this month, "will have to see what our response is like on the Sky platform. It will take several years to really establish oneself overseas" he said, but said the channel has a long term view of the future.
Bruce Whitfield asked Patrick Conroy about the operational cost of having a TV channel feed going into the United Kingdom. "It's expensive but it doesn't break the bank," said Patrick Conroy. "It's just the matter of getting the signal to the United Kingdom and platform fees but we can sell advertising around the content. I think there's untapped pockets of revenue there and throughout Africa," he said.
"The world is changing. The superpowers of the world are no longer the ones they used to be. Exciting things are happening on the African continent and that's where we want to be. We've been able to build this channel and we will look to expand even more," said Patrick Conroy.
African complexities
He mentioned that some of the difficulties with opening and maintaining news bureaus across Africa are getting and renewing work permits, having to fly correspondents at great cost, the lack of signal distribution which makes it difficult for reporters to file from the field. "We also use BCams - equipment which make some governments very scared. And if you go to Mogadishu your reporters can be shot or kidnapped, so there's lots of risks and you need smart, good people on the ground to make it work. And of course always keeping an eye on the cost."
About branching out to the United Kingdom Patrick Conroy said "we've shown that with what we've done; that we can sustain it. You've got to keep growing, otherwise what's the point? There's opportunities out there. If you can keep your operational costs down, you can do it."
Growing demand 'for the news that we tell'
"Africa is a very big place.We're tell good South African stories and we're expanding into Nigeria and Kenia. We'll open even more bureaus. I can't read the future but we've got good people and we've got good plans in place. As Africa becomes more important there will be a demand for the news that we tell," said Patrick Conroy. "We'll also need the 'big story' to put us on the map like how the Arab Spring made people sit up and take notice of Al Jazeera."
"Most of the big news networks in the world take or buy content from us," said Patrick Conroy although no specific contracts are in place for constant news sharing. "We often have a chuckle when we see some of our content playing out elsewhere on other international networks or Reuters."
Changes coming soon
"You've got to recalibrate as things change. Opportunities come up and opportunities close. We've got a broad plan of what we want to do. The eNews Channel is only 4 years old. There's still a lot to improve on the channel and there will be changes coming soon which you'll see. About 60 to 70 percent of the people when we started had little TV experience. Now our people are being poached because everyone wants them," said Patrick Conroy.
