TV news anchor Francis Herd is back at eNCA (DStv 403) after she left SABC News (DStv 404) and is now anchoring South Africa Tonight.
eMedia and eNCA didn't issue any press release to the media about Francis Herd's appointment as the replacement to anchor South Africa Tonight and about rejoining eNCA.
Francis Herd replaces Sally Burdett in the 18:00-timeslot whose exit at the beginning of December 2023 was also unannounced and unexplained by eNCA.
Francis Herd started anchoring South Africa Tonight at the beginning of this month. She was at eNCA as a morning anchor and later as business news anchor on News Night after which she left to join SABC News.
■ "Everyone walks on eggshells around the NFL".
Surprise. You can't say too bad things about the sport you're covering. The relationship between American broadcast networks and ESPN, and its National Football League (NFL) echoes the relationship between SuperSport and South African Rugby.
The SABC has signed up Bongani Bingwa to replace Peter Ndoro as its new prime time news co-anchor on SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC3 next to Francis Herd, with the "ubusuku benzolo" TV anchor that is keeping his Primedia radio presenter gig but awkwardly dropping M-Net's Carte Blanche just months before its big 30th anniversary coming up in August.
Bongani Bingwa who has been with M-Net's (DStv 101) Carte Blanche for 11 years, has finally cut ties with the Combined Artistic Productions show.
He continued making appearances on Carte Blanche the past few months despite joining Primedia's 702 radio station in July 2017 for a regular presenter slot that made him less available to travel and film inserts, but despite joining the SABC he's just dropping Carte Blanche and will continue with his radio show.
The SABC says Bongani Bingwa will co-host the 18:00 to 21:00 timeslot on SABC News next to Francis Herd, starting from Monday 12 March.
This will include doing the SABC's flagship English TV news bulletin at 21:00 that is being simulcast on SABC3 in that channel's new, later news timeslot since the start of February.
"As part of our continued efforts to stay relevant in the highly dynamic and competitive broadcasting space, it is crucial that we recruit the best talent that will deliver cutting-edge news and current affairs programmes which are well researched, balanced and fair," says Phathiswa Magopeni, the SABC's new head of news and current affairs, about Bongani Bingwa's hire.
The SABC says Bongani Bingwa brings to the public broadcaster a wealth of knowledge in journalism for both radio and television news and current affairs.
Bongani Bingwa says "I am excited to be part of the changes at the SABC and to join a team that will be creating a new legacy for the public broadcaster".
Meanwhile Peter Ndoro, fresh back on SABC News after taking time to "rest" following botched news reading attempts in January and February involving new president Cyril Ramaphosa, is gone from the public broadcaster's prime time perch and the SABC's most prestigious news position. He's been moved to anchoring on the SABC News channel in the afternoons between 15:00 and 18:00.
Bongani Bingwa's new anchor job creates some awkwardness for Carte Blanche that's reaching its 30th anniversary in August on M-Net as South Africa's longest running investigative magazine show.
As one of the longest serving Carte Blanche faces, his on-screen absence come August detracts from the collective number of years of on-air experience the existing presenters pool will be able to boast about when celebrating the venerable show's big birthday in a few months' time.
M-Net tells TVwithThinus that "as Bongani will be anchoring news on SABC, he will not be able to stay on as a Carte Blanche presenter".
"Bongani has been a great asset to Carte Blanche since starting his television journalism career with M-Net's multiple award-winning current affairs programme a decade ago. We are proud of his achievements and would like to thank him for his contribution to Carte Blanche over the years."
With the SABC moving its flagship English language TV news bulletin from 18:00 to 21:00 on SABC3, it has forced the News @ 6 co-anchors Peter Ndoro and Francis Herd to move to the new later timeslot as well.
On weekends the accomplished and proven Chriselda Lewis (pictured) is now being paired with Aldrin Sampear and the two will now co-anchoring the news at 21:00 on SABC3 and SABC News (DStv 404).
It's the latest that the SABC has ever scheduled a full TV news bulletin on the public broadcaster, with ratings that will likely go down further as the late-night appetite from viewers for news shrinks this late during the day.
SABC3 is also starting a new current affairs show, Frankly Speaking on Sundays at 20:30 from 11 February as an interactive show using Skype and social media to hear from participants watching it.
Onkgopotse JJ Tabane is the presenter of Frankly Speaking and will look at news and current affairs issues.
The embarrassed SABC is apologising for referring to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as "mini-Zuma" on the public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404) TV channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform and says SABC News is putting measures "in place to prevent further occurences".
Nkosazana is the ex-wife of South African president Jacob Zuma and a former chairperson of the African Union Commission, with aspirations to become the next president of the ANC and through that the next president of South Africa.
In the bottom-third descriptor the SABC on Sunday night at 20:00 identified Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as "mini-Zuma" on SABC News.
"The mistake ran for only one bulletin and was immediately noticed and corrected‚" Peter Ndoro, SABC News co-anchor told viewers.
"The SABC would like to sincerely apologise to the former AU commission chair for the error‚" Francis Herd, SABC News co-anchor said.
The acting GE of News has addressed staff on the matter. Measures are being put in place to prevent further occurrences."
The SABC didn't specify what these measures are on why these measures are only being put in place now to prevent more on-air mistakes.
It's not just SABC News that has problems with its on-air descriptor.
While ANN7 (DStv 405) makes multiple mistakes weekly, even eNCA (DStv 403) had several typos and very noticeable and embarrassing mistakes the past week, struggling to get the few words the channel places on-screen, correct.
The well-liked SABC TV News anchor Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller is leaving the South African public broadcaster and will do her final sign-off and say goodbye to viewers on-air in her final broadcast on Friday evening on SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC3's TV news bulletin at 18:30.
There's been no statement from the SABC about her impending departure and replacement.
Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller, who recently returned from maternity leave after the birth of her first child to her chair behind the TV news anchor desk in Studio 9, is relocating to America with her husband.
She will likely be replaced by Francis Herd on the SABC's flagship nightly TV news bulletin who also sat in beside co-anchor Peter Ndoro during her colleague's maternity leave.
Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller, her American businessman husband Geoffrey Miller and the couple's 5-month old daughter daughter Ella Amalia Anne will move to Chicago in March but she will be doing her last TV news bulletin on Friday after 15 years as a journalist working for the SABC's radio and TV divisions.
As a broadcaster Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller, who've only ever worked at the SABC, had her wedding in late 2014 broadcast on SABC3's Top Billing.
As a professional news reader, she's endeared herself to viewers and listeners over the past decade and is beloved by SABC colleagues.
She kept her cool and remained professional - especially over the past three years - bringing viewers the news on television in the public broadcaster's flagship English TV news bulletin as it kept changing timeslots, suffered rating declines and while the SABC got battered and suffered a public backlash over Hlaudi Motsoeneng's SABC TV news censorship decisions.
"I'm a bit anxious, but I'm also looking forward to the move," Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller told the Lotus FM radio station.
She described her career at the SABC "as a fun one" ever since she started off as an intern in 2002 reading the news on Lotus FM and reporting, and then moving to Johannesburg.
Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller says she will "miss the warmth and the friendliness" of South Africans.
Due to the sudden move necessitated by her husband's changing job requirements, she hasn't been able yet to find a new job in America. "I have been thinking about it, but I haven't really made any plans. I'm going to give myself a few months to adjust."
"Chicago is extremely cold. It's cold for eight months of the year, and I've also just had a baby. So a lot of adjustment needs to take place and then I'll make the call after that".
The SABC and SABC News (DStv 404) today quietly cut back Prime Time News, the public broadcaster's flagship daily news bulletin to just one hour; moving Business Review earlier and adding a new news bulletin, News at 8.
The change - not communicated by the SABC overall nor SABC News - now means that Prime Time News is half an hour shorter daily.
It means that Prime Time News with news anchors Peter Ndoro and Vabakshnee Chetty on SABC News - simulcast on SABC3 - from today starts at the same time.
Previously Prime Time News on SABC News started at 18:00 until 19:30, with SABC3 taking the simulcast feed from 18:30 until 19:30 after the show was on for half an hour already.
Business Review with the excellent Francis Herd also moved today from 20:00 to 18:00 - two hours earlier. This means that Business Review now serves as the new lead-in to Prime Time News.
The SABC and SABC News made the change without informing the press of this schedule change on its 24-hour TV news channel as well.
Also not communicated by the SABC or SABC News' publicity departments and spokespeople is the addition of News at 8 from today, a new half hour long live news bulletin.
The Afrikaans news bulletin on SABC News at 19:30 remains unchanged in the same timeslot.
The SABC, in response to a media enquiry, told TV with Thinus on Tuesday that there was "a strategic need to reposition the business slot because it is a good time to update and interpret the movement on the stock market which closes at 17:00".
"This also gives us an opportunity to turn the show into a love and interview-driven programme, something that has not been possible to do when the show was in its previous slot".
"Where we had Business Review at 20:00, we now have a news programme called News @ 8. This gives us a vantage point to update viewers about the latest news developments in the country and elsewhere. We believe that the new schedule is dynamic and will serve different viewership preferences," the SABC tells me.
Francis Herd has suddenly popped up on rival 24-hour TV news channel SABC News (DStv 404) as the public broadcaster's new business news anchor.
Francis Herd is back on South African television after she jumped ship and left the 24-hour TV news channel eNCA (DStv 403) at the end of August to become the rival 24-hour TV news channel SABC News's (DStv 404) new business news anchor.
Neither the SABC nor SABC News could be bothered with any announcement or press statement about Francis Herd's addition to the news channel or her new anchoring duties.
The former long time eNCA prime time business news anchor during NewsNight on eNCA can now be seen as the business news anchor on Prime Time News on SABC News during the same timeslot since October.
Francis Herd is also anchoring Business Review on weekdays at 20:00 on SABC News, a half hour business news programme which gives a daily look at business and commerce in Africa with interviews with business and industry leaders and covering stories about South Africa and the African continent's economy.
eNCA tells TV with Thinus that Eleni Giokos is currently anchoring the business segments during NewsNight since 2 September but that it is a temporary arrangement since Francis Herd left the channel at the end of August.
"Eleni Giokos is covering the business slot until we find a permanent replacement," says eNCA.
"Eleni Giokos has all the experience so she's a natural fit for the prime time timeslot," says the eNCA when asked the reason for Eleni Giokos' timeshift from Morning News Today to NewsNight.
