Chantal Rutter Dros quits ANN7 as its main news anchor; staff discord and internal unhappiness permeates Infinity Media's news channel on DStv.

Chantal Rutter Dros is quitting the struggling ANN7 (DStv 405) and will be reading her final TV news bulletin on ANN Prime tonight while staff discord, internal unhappiness, and multiple personnel exits continue to rock South Africa's third 24-hour TV-news channel from Infinity Media known as "Gupta TV".

Chantal Rutter Dros has been ANN7's main news anchor and highest profile get when ANN7 started with a disastrous launch in August last year on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform. The channel came in for ongoing public mockery for its litany of on-air mistakes and amateur news readers - mostly female models - struggling to read and pronounce words and names correctly.

Since then the TV-news channel which has pumped hundreds of millions of rand into its operations in Midrand has worked hard to gain credibility but it's been difficult with ongoing on-air mistakes which makes it hard for viewers to trust ANN7's coverage or take it seriously.

The death and funeral coverage of Nelson Mandela, as well as the South African of the Year Awards 2014 which were both successfully executed projects helped to improve ANN7's public image.

Chantal Rutter Dros confirmed to TV with Thinus that she is leaving; asked why and what she will be doing next, she said that she "resigned for personal reasons. My last day is December 3. I am taking December off and I will evaluate my options in January".

She said that she is "not at liberty to comment on any of the other resignations as that is a station matter".

ANN7 told TV with Thinus it would announce a replacement for Chantal Rutter Dros "soon" but has been been silent; it's not clear who will be sitting behind the anchor desk at ANN7 Prime tomorrow night.

ANN7 was also only willing to say that Chantal Rutter Dros resigned for personal reasons.

Earlier this year Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon and her show Vuka Africa were gone from ANN7 barely months after the breakfast show was launched with big fanfare. ANN7's morning has been retooled with the credible Peter van Onselen and a straight news approach.

Also suddenly gone from ANN7 is the highly respected Dave McGregor who was the general manager for operations at ANN7.

ANN7 confirmed Dave McGregor's departure and tells TV with Thinus "Dave resigned in October citing personal reasons and his position has been taken by Quraysh Patel".

Quraysh Patel who worked at the IBA, the frontrunner of the current South African broadcasting regulator, Icasa, worked at e.tv as channel director and COO, later joined SABC3 and was chairperson of the Sentech board in 2010.

Also gone from ANN7 is Asanda Magaqa who was escorted off the ANN7 premises and her weekend show, Between the Lines, cancelled.

Tensions started between Asanda Magaqa and ANN7 management when she presented the daily South African of the Year Awards inserts and interviews and was supposed to host the awards, only to be dumped shortly before the ceremony for allegedly asking too much money.

"Between the Lines has been postponed for now to rework the structure of the programme and presentation due to the declining viewership numbers," says ANN7. 

"We are also resolving staff contractual issues. We will bring back the revamped show with the new features to make it more attractive to the viewers."

Also gone is the respected assignments editor Clinton Nagoor who also quit. It's not clear whether Hajra Omarjee is staying with ANN7 or also heading towards the door.

Internally, according to reports, ANN7 is a hotbed of unhappiness and staff discord, with personnel allegedly tired and fed-up with low pay, bad treatment, grueling working conditions and cost cutting.

Asked if ANN7 believe workers are treated unfairly the news channel on DStv says "all employees are treated fairly".

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) submitted a list of grievances to ANN7 management, alleging poor pay, forced overtime without pay, a shortage of vehicles to cover the news, no sick bay, unfair labour practices and ill-treatment of staff.

ANN7 tells TV with Thinus the CWU demands are "a figment of someone's very fertile imagination".

According to insiders MultiChoice is not happy with the performance of ANN7 this year, although it's not clear whether its in regard to viewership numbers, channel content like visuals and sound, news quality or other aspects.

According to insiders ANN7 has also struggled to attract advertisers who want to be associated with the channel. 

MultiChoice in response to a media enquiry is only willing to say "we constantly monitor and review the performance of all channels on DStv. We don't comment on the performance of individual channels, as we engage directly with them if there are any specific issues".

ELECTIONS 2014: ANN7 Election coverage plans on television for Election Day, Wednesday 7 May.

ANN7 (DStv 405) on Wednesday 7 May will broadcast live from the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) National Results Operations Centre at Hall J at the Pretoria Show grounds in Pretoria as well as from ANN7's Midrand studios bringing viewers election coverage, news and results from 06:00 to 23:00 on Wednesday as it happens.

ANN7 has outside broadcast (OB) units spread out across South Africa to cover Wednesday's general elections with a team of journalists providing 15 live sources from each of the 9 provinces.

ANN7 has the ANN7 helicopter on standby to fly teams into election hotspots to cover breaking news on the ground.

ANN7 has a team of political editors, analysts and guest line-up who will comment on and analyse election results on Wednesday as it comes in.

The ANN7 election team will be led by group editor Moegsien Williams and will include senior political editor Ricky Naidoo, senior political commentator Hajra Omarjee, ANN7 Prime Time anchor Chantal Rutter-Dros and a supporting team of over 70 journalists, anchors and technical staff.

BREAKING. Chantal Rutter Dros back as primetime anchor on ANN7; 'I'm glad to be back with you,' she says after a two week break.

Chantal Rutter Dros is back in the anchor chair from this evening on ANN7 (DStv 405) after two weeks off during which Peter Stemmet kept the chair warm in her absence.

There was no official announcement or programming note from ANN7 to the press that Chantal Rutter Dros was disappearing from South African TV screens, nor about her return two weeks later - but from Monday 10 February the star anchor is back anchoring the weekday ANN7 Headlines from 19:00 to 20:00, and ANN7 Prime from 20:00 to 21:00.

"A very warm welcome to ANN7. I'm glad to be back with you," said Chantal Rutter Dros in her opener on Monday night.

ANN7: The shocking and unbelievable new on-air blooper from GuptaNews you've simply got to see.

It's the shocking new ANN7 (DStv 405) on-air blooper you've simply got to see: the third rate news channel on MultiChoice's DStv from the Guptas showing how not to do live television news - again.

Watch as an ANN7 news reader goes into a shaky fit of unhappiness live on air, waving, and then even stopping the show (all the while with a guest in the studio), suddenly deciding to explain to the amateur ANN7 technical crew how to properly work the teleprompter.

The latest breathtaking ANN7 on-air flop this time involves the ANN7 Africa editor Daniel Makokera, who brings a halt to the entire Africa Tonight show on the Gupta-news channel when he's struggling to read.

Daniel Makokera then worsens the problem by launching into his own advice directly addressing the off-camera technical team, and making wild hand gestures and shows ANN7 technical people how to turn the knob at Infinity Media's ANN7 studio in Midrand.

Although Daniel Makokera has a guest in the studio with him ready to be interviewed, he completely goes off script when he can no longer properly read it.

That's when the editor seems to forget that he's doing a live TV show, forgets about his studio guest and launches into a "TV training 101" lecture with an elaborate show-and-tell on-the-job training demonstration for the technical crew behind the scenes. 

"Can we sustain the rolling nicely?" asks Daniel Makokera, as ANN7 viewers are left stunned by the unfolding and surreal scene.

The programme suddenly ceases with Africa Tonight which starts over right from the beginning as if the on-air mess never happened - similar to previous unprofessional on-air incidents and subsequent "do-overs" which have happened since the launch of the channel at the end of August.

ANN7 remains plagued by on-air problems and bloopers. Daniel Makokera's on-air gaffe follows GuptaTV's star hire, Chantal Rutter Dros who struggled a month ago and became herself the on-air victim at ANN7 when technical mistakes marred her prime time ANN7 news reading. 

Worsening the mistake, Chantal Rutter Dros' mic wasn't muted during the play-out of the incident after she valiantly stammered through the intro.

It was then that viewers heard Chantal Rutter Dros telling the ANN7 crew "Okay. Guys, we really messed that one up" while the insert was playing.

BREAKING. ANN7 main anchor Chantal Rutter Dros admonishes ANN7 staff on the air after a mistake: ' We really messed that one up.'

Continuing to not get it right with cringe-worthy on-air mistakes, the embarrassing ANN7 (DStv 403) saw the 24-hour TV news channel's main anchor Chantal Rutter Dros audibly rebuking ANN7 staff live on the air on Thursday night during ANN7 Prime - following a mistake with yet another highly embarrassing mistake.

Clearly struggling to read and trying to bring viewers breaking news of a shooting incident in Washington D.C. - a halting, stammering, then completely stopping Chantal Rutter Dros pushed through despite clear technical problems and mistakes at the ANN7 studio.

Chantal Rutter Dros bravely and with a smile intro'ed the next story, but when the segment started to play Chantal Rutter Dros' lapel mic wasn't muted for live playout.

That's when the mistake got even bigger and compounded when what was meant for the floor and the ANN7 control room and definitely not for public broadcast, was clearly audible for everyone as viewers heard Chantal Rutter Dros' voice continue above the segment being played out.

"Okay. Guys, we really messed that one up," viewers heard Chantal Rutter Dros say - her voice very different in tone from the friendly tone in which she just introduced the end-happy paraplegic walking aid story.

It's the latest incident for ANN7 which has been plagued with ongoing on-air gaffes since the channel from Infinity Media launched on DStv.

ANN7: 'Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!' Awful, ongoing, cringe inducing mistakes and problems engulf even Chantal Rutter Dros.

Not even the prime time news anchor of ANN7 (DStv 405), Chantal Rutter Dros, is being spared the huge public embarrassement and ongoing, utter cringefest of the trash television dished up by the technically incompetent and mistake riddled third South African TV news channel from Infinity Media on MultiChoice's DStv.

Even Chantal Rutter Dros who've defected from the acclaimed Carte Blanche on M-Net and who is a very capable on-air TV personality, on Friday evening in prime time, fell victim to the shockingly amateur and unprofessional ANN7 television news production play-out madness.

Shockingly low production values and myriad mistakes have been afflicting the news channel upstart since ANN7 launched on Wednesday evening.

Chantal Rutter Dros battled numerous, and ongoing embarrassing on-air technical mistakes on ANN7.

When even your prime time main news show of the day is a technical mess, you can't but think that ANN7 as a wannabe TV news channel comes across as broken right out of the box with this many ongoing mistakes and bad on-air quality on full display.

It's incredibly shocking to see MultiChoice and Infinity Media launch a 24-hour TV news channel which clearly isn't ready, clearly isn't capable of function on the bare standard minimum level of viewer quality, and is damaging its non-existent credibility.

Even Chantal Rutter Dros appears unable to smooth over the myriad mistakes, although she is valiantly able to hold her composure in the clip above on ANN7 when multiple things go wrong in less than a minute in ANN Headlines which is supposed to be ANN7's premiere prime time nightcast.

Chantal Rutter Dros is confronted with teleprompter mistakes, more teleprompter mistakes and audio problems. The sound is suddenly cut completely and which she wouldn't even know about, keeping her on mute after she's already started talking again.

Then there's the unintentional (cringe!), clueless text and script and packaged video mismatch at the end where Chantal Rutter Dros has to read "now there's fresh hope", followed by a crying Korean. It's jarring, it's shocking, its wholly unprofessional TV news.

In the clip below, from the same broadcast a little later, listen the the voice tonality change in Chantal Rutter Dros' voice.

Chantal Rutter Dros keeps her composure better than the rest of ANN7 news readers who've already flamed out on live television due to their lack of experience and big technical snafu's, but she desperate tries to signal through what she's saying not really the viewer at home but the floor and the control room for the headlines...

Headlines which doesn't happen. With a teleprompter not giving the script. With Chantal Rutter Dros then ad-libbing and killing time.



A little bit later again Chantal Rutter Dros has no idea that her mic remains live and that viewers can hear (terribly sad and unprofessional from ANN7) her speak over the video bumper as she thanks her in-studio guest. It's a moment where she's supposed to be off-air and the presenter's mic on mute but viewers hear everything.



This is just one primetime night's news show on ANN7 on Friday and filled with mistakes - as is basically every other ANN7 news hour. Which is why viewers are now describing this new DStv channel as true "train wreck television". One can clearly see why.


ALSO READ: ANN7: There's teething problems and then there's unmitigated TV trash - ANN7's on-air incompetence and amateurism is shocking to watch.
ALSO READ: ANN7 news reader sighs on-air, gives up and stops, after the technical mistakes and incompetence becomes just too much.
ALSO READ: ANN7 news readers - unable to read or pronunciate properly - are damaging the non-existent credibility of Africa News Network 7.

Chantal Rutter Dros as news anchor of the new 24-hour TV news channel ANN7: 'It's tantalising to once again be part of a start-up.'

The South African TV news woman Chantal Rutter Dros who will from Wednesday evening become the new primetime news face of ANN7 (DStv 405), the new 24-hour TV news channel launching on MultiChoice's DStv, says it's tantalising for her to once be part of a start-up.

Viewers have come to know Chantal Rutter Dros on eNews on e.tv when the TV news service of the free-to-air broadcaster started more than a decade ago and where she's worked several years, after which she moved to M-Net's Carte Blanche a few years ago.

Chantal Rutter Dros is set to become the prime time face of South Africa's third 24-hour TV news channel ANN7 (DStv 405) which launches Wednesday on DStv. The news channel will be competition for both the established eNCA (DStv 403) and the SABC's second 24-hour TV news channel attempt, SABC News (DStv 404), which started at the beginning of August.

From Wednesday evening Chantal Rutter Dros will be the news anchor of ANN7 Headlines, as well as ANN7 Prime on South African television.

"I left Carte Blanche which has been my media home for the past three and a half years for ANN7 because the prospect of once again being part of a start-up was tantalising," Chantal Rutter Dros tells TV with Thinus.

"The vision for the news is to reflect information which is relevant, impartial and digestible to people across the rainbow nation," she says. "I have always been passionate about news and the prospect of redefining how we tell news and what we define as news is appealing."

"We have state-of-the-art technology and the most advanced generation of news in the African continent, She says.

"We have a truly awesome graphics set-up, outside broadcasting (OB) vans and backpacks - which allows us to cover news live from the most remote of areas. We have access to more than 33 global stringers and a network of very well respected local reporters," she says of ANN7's TV news gathering abilities.

Chantal Rutter Dros will anchor ANN7 Headlines from 19:00 to 20:00, followed immediately by ANN7 Prime between 20:00 and 21:00 on channel 405. "The first show will be the headlines and stories of the day. The second show will be an in-depth analysis of four or five key stories."

"My aspirations for the future are to develop our news into an informative, entertaining and relevant news source. I hope that we can invite our viewers to share in this vision and to feel that ANN7 is their news station," she says.

BREAKING. Africa News Network 7 urgently looking for TV news reporters as the South African TV news wars heat up.

Africa News Network or ANN7 (DStv 405) is urgently looking for TV news reporters across the country days before the launch of its new 24-hour TV news service as South Africa's newest, and third, TV news channel.

ANN7 which which plans to launch next Wednesday 21 August on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as South Africa's newest, and third, TV news channel, is urgently looking for more TV news reporters.

ANN7 is advertising and splashing the cash in a bid to attract and grab entertainment and feature reporters, news reporters, as well as business reporters for the new news channel.

After a major ANN7 hiring spree kicked off in June when the nascent news channel embarked on a massive talent procurement drive for its news studio facility in Midrand, ANN7 is now again advertising and searching for more South African TV news reporters - mere days before the news channel is set to start broadcasting news around the clock.

ANN7 already grabbed Chantal Rutter Dros who've decided to drop M-Net's highly-acclaimed Carte Blanche investigative magazine show where she's been a presenter the past few years. 

Chantal Rutter Dros will become the solo news anchor of ANN7 Headlines and ANN7 Prime, two daily primetime news shows once ANN7 launches. 

ANN7 also snagged another former M-Netter Geri Rantseli-Elsdon who will be the presenter of ANN7's weekday morning show Vuka Africa.

Days before ANN7 is set to go live, the 24-hour TV news channel which has president Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane Zuma as one of the investors and shareholders, is advertising for more TV news reporters.

The channel - nicknamed the "Gupta news channel" due to the Gupta family's interest in Infinity Media, the conglomerate creating ANN7 - is looking for TV news reporters across South Africa with at least two years experience in the TV industry and who has some expertise in news-gathering.

ANN7's major on-screen news talent recruitment comes as the existing independent TV news channel eNCA (DStv 403) made unannounced talent timeslot changes moving Joanne Joseph to the mornings opposite Gareth Edwards and placing Nikiwe Bikitsha in the afternoons.

The eNCA on-air change comes as its news reader Ayanda Allie-Paine dropped the eNCA to join the SABC's new SABC News TV channel from September. 

SABC News started at the beginning of August on DStv channel 404 as the South African public broadcaster's second attempt at a 24-hour TV news channel after its first try, SABC News International, folded in April 2010.

MultiChoice is giving the SABC more than half a billion rand over the next few years to broadcast SABC News. SABC News which is not currently available to all viewers obliged to pay an annual SABC TV licence, will eventually be made available freely once the long-delayed switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT) takes place in South Africa.

As the TV news wars in South Africa heat up with the available 24-hour South African TV news channels suddenly mushrooming in one month from one to three, all positioned next to each other on the DStv channel line-up, ANN7 is now urgently looking for TV news reporters, business reporters, features reporters and entertainment news reporters. "Knowledge of camera and video editing will be an added advantage," says ANN7.

South African newsers who want to apply can send their CV's to Margriet at hr01@ann7.co.za

Chantal Rutter Dros on the jump from M-Net's Carte Blanche to new 24-hour news channel ANN7: 'The opportunity to bring relevant info to people.'

Chantal Rutter Dros, the Carte Blanche presenter on M-Net who is jumping to the new 24-hour South African TV news channel ANN7 (DStv 405) launching on 21 August says she is leaving Carte Blanche since ANN7 presents the opportunity to bring relevant information to people.

"It's enormously exciting to be a key part of this start-up station and to influence what we define as news and how we broadcast it," says the TV journalist who will be a news anchor on ANN7 as South Africa's third 24-hour TV news channel.

Chantal Rutter Dros will be anchoring programmes such as ANN7 Headlines and ANN7 Prime.

"I have always had a deep passion for bringing news and information to people in the most accessible way," says Chantal Rutter Dros.

"A key motivation for me to join ANN7 was the opportunity to bring relevant and interesting information to people across the rainbow nation, through state-of-the-art technology."

There's been no comment from Carte Blanche/M-Net on a media enquiry made last week seeking comment on Chantal Rutter Dros' departure from the pay TV broadcaster's investigative magazine show just before its 25th anniversary.

Chantal Rutter Dros drops Carte Blanche to become the new primetime news anchor of ANN7's new primetime shows ANN7 Headlines, ANN7 Prime.

Carte Blanche presenter Chantal Rutter Dros is leaving M-Net for the new South African TV news channel Africa News Network 7 or ANN7 (DStv 405) which will be starting on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on 21 August.

Chantal Rutter Dros is leaving M-Net's weekly investigative news magazine produced by Combined Artists Productions to become the prime time news anchor of the new ANN7 primetime shows ANN7 Headlines and ANN7 Prime.

The launch of ANN7 comes weeks after the SABC launched SABC News (DStv 404), which suddenly takes South African TV news channels from one - eNCA (DStv 403) - to three within three weeks.

UPDATE 10 Aug 19:00 - This story has been amended and three sentences from this point on, down, deleted, to correct an error I made where I made a mistake and reported that Chantal Rutter Dros' prime time anchor work presents quite an interesting challenge.

Where you read this now, this story noted that Chantal Rutter Dros is a mother to be; she is in fact not pregnant. Sincere apologies to Chantal Rutter Dros for the unintentional mistake.

Nicky Greenwall gave birth to second child, Riley Fryer, as South African television finds itself in a veritable baby boom.

Talk about a multi-tasking mother: e.tv's blond telenality Nicky Greenwall with multiple TV projects in the works has given birth to her second child, Riley Fryer as South African television finds itself in the throes of a veritable baby boom bonanza.

Nicky Greenwall gave birth last Wednesday 12 June to her son Riley Fryer, her second child with her longtime partner, Robin Fryer, the 20 Model Management owner. The couple's daughter Georgina Fryer will be two years old in September.

Nicky Greenwall celebrity profile show The Close Up is set to return to e.tv from Tuesday 9 July at 21:30, to be followed with another brand-new TV production from Greenwall Productions, The Big Picture in November covering the movie scene, also for e.tv. 

Besides changing nappies Nicky Greenwall is also readying another season of ScreenTime with Nicky Greenwall which will start on e.tv in early 2014.

Nicky Greenwall's new family addition is just the start of a baby boom for well-known South African television faces. 

Carte Blanche's investigative TV reporter Chantal Rutter Dros on M-Net's highly-rated magazine show is with child, and e.tv's Sunrise morning breakfast show news anchor Marc Chase will soon also be a proud pappa - his wife Melissa is expecting their first child after they got married in September last year.

Meanwhile Nege Maande ("Nine Months") is a new local reality TV show kicking off on Thursday 11 July at 20:00 on kykNET (DStv 144) which will be following nine different pregnancies over the course of nine months.

UPDATE: This story has been corrected 30 minutes after it was published, correcting one incorrect piece of information stated in this article as fact. In the original story I wrote that Nicky Greenwall gave birth today (Wednesday 19 June). In fact she gave birth a week ago on Wednesday 12 June. Leave it to PR people to only send out a notification exactly a week later, and a journalist who then fails to double check the date.

Carte Blanche on M-Net goes a little bit Star Trek as Chantal Rutter Dros in a 'Starfleet' uniform looks like she's on her way to a Star Trek convention.

On the left: A Starfleet officer circa 2364 in Star Trek The Next Generation. On the right: not a Starfleet officer (but very much looking like one), circa 2012 on Earth.

The classy Carte Blanche presenter Chantal Rutter Dros left viewers wondering whether the weekly investigative magazine show on M-Net on Sunday nights warped into the future when she sashayed down brightly-lit corridors on Sunday evening in a black and yellow "officer's dress", looking very much dressed in what could have passed for a Starfleet uniform.

Conspicuously absent was a com badge. Was Chantal Rutter Dros on her way to a South African Star Trek convention? And where were the Vulcan ears?

Chantal Rutter Dros was in fact doing a usual insert for the show, interviewing a South African government official, but the dress was anything but usual. Her appearance was instantly reminiscent where TV viewers have boldly gone before: Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek The Next Generation.

In a sense Chantal Rutter Dros does represent the next generation of the venerable and award-winning South African magazine show, having joined the show a few years ago after Ruda Landman left.

Will Devi Sankaree Govender next be seen in Ferengi garb? (Oh wait. Their females don't wear clothes.)

If anything, Carte Blanche presenters if they choose Star Trek clothing, should actually be more Borg-like in appearance.

You know ... because resistance in futile.