ANN7 (DStv 405) has returned the programming strand, SA Decides, for a second season that will cover the 2016 local government election in South Africa over the coming months.
ANN7 debuted SA Decides in 2014 during the national election campaign, visiting towns and cities throughout South Africa.
While laudable, SA Decides on ANN7 suffered from very poor production values with live crossings and inserts often marred by incredibly bad video and sound quality, amateur correspondents who couldn't be heard and often also couldn't hear the studio and breaks in transmission.
ANN7 also made use of people with little or no TV and TV news reporting experience which often turned SA Decides into a grating viewing experience.
SA Decides II on ANN7's schedule at 10:00 and 17:00 will see 11 teams and a total of 55 people reporting and interviewing South Africans to give a view on the upcoming local elections.
ANN7 says teams will be "fanning out across the coutry" and will "travel the length and breath of the country to reflect on ordinary people's challenges".
"SA Decides will feature prominent leaders, analyst [sic] and public figures who will form part of a panel to discuss different issues, such as service delivery, local development issues, the economy, education and the increase in youth unemployment," says ANN7.
"For the 5th local government elections, ANN7's team, analysts and guests will broadcast live from the IEC centre in Pretoria and from the Midrand studios, bringing breaking news and results as they are announced."
"In addition the SA Decides teams backed up by outside broadcasting units and its team of journalists will provide 15 live sources to cover the elections from every angle and from each of the 9 provinces, and the ANN7 helicopter will be on standby to fly teams into election hotspots to cover the news on the ground."
