e.tv's eNews division dumps eNews Prime Time; relaunches early evening news bulletin as eNews Direct with Dudu Ramela.

South Africa'as only free-to-air commercial TV channel e.tv is dumping its eNews Prime Time new bulletin halfway in January, relaunching it Monday 18 January at 18:30 as eNews Direct with anchor Dudu Ramela who will literally walk and talk viewers through the "trending" news stories of the day.

In February last year Pat Pillai left eNews Prime Time. In March e.tv and eNews added its half hour Zulu TV news bulletin from the eKasi+ channel on OpenView HD, eNews Izindaba at 18:30 and moved its primetime news bulletin to 20:30.

The move turned out to be a big failure for both timeslots and both news programmes which suffered in the ratings and dragged down e.tv viewership.

In mid-June eNews reversed course, dumped the Zulu news and moved the English bulletin that failed to attract viewers at 20:30 back to 18:30.

E.tv said market research afterwards showed that viewers want to see the main English bulletin earlier.

After struggling to lift news ratings, e.tv's latest news bulletin tinkering involves relaunching and rebranding its primetime news bulletin to eNews Direct from tonight.

On weekends eNews Prime Time is also changing to eNews Direct Weekend at 19:00.

Monde Twala, managing director of e.tv channels, says its prime time news bulletin's look and content must change its format and delivery in response to changing trends due to how South Africans have changed the way in which they consume news and information.

"eNews Direct is more for the on-the-go experiential viewer as it brings features that are trending and it is engaging with the viewer," says Monde Twala.

eNews Direct is described as a "distinct and innovate new bulletin" that will "deliver robust and contextually relevant news content in an unbiased manner", "news [that] is fast-paced, forthright and engaging, with news reports and news stories that are suitable for the modern-day busy and connected viewer".

eNews Direct will cover the key stories of the day as well as economic, sports and entertainment news, as well as weather.

Worried eNews insiders said the latest move is yet another indication of how e.tv is scaling back news output and the anchoring of news from Cape Town and out of e.tv's new Cape Town headquarters and studio.

e.tv in response to a media enquiry told TV with Thinus "it isn't true that news are no longer done and anchored in Cape Town and there hasn't been any downscaling".


Editor's note: This story was updated 4 hours later to correct the first sentence. It first started "relaunched tonight at 18:30 as eNews Direct" but has been changed to Monday 18 January at 18:30 as eNews Direct. The mistake in mentioning the wrong date was my editorial error.

eNews staffing up for the dramatic introduction of a new daily, primetime Zulu TV news bulletin on e.tv at 19:00 to take on SABC News.

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e.tv's eNews division is gearing up - and dramatically staffing up - to start a Zulu TV news bulletin soon to take on the SABC, according to sources.

e.tv's eNews plans to challenge the public broadcaster head-on in a new fight for Zulu TV news viewers - shifting the existing English language eNews Prime Time TV news bulletin currently at 19:00 to a later timeslot.

The new Zulu TV news bulletin would anchor a new schedule designed to aggressively court viewers away from the SABC, in conjunction with the new e.tv telenovela which will start within months at 20:00 on e.tv, directly opposite SABC1's damaged and floundering reversioned Generations - The Legacy.

e.tv's English language eNews Prime Time TV news bulletin has already been leading the ratings race for years, as the most watched, most popular English language TV news bulletin in South Africa as more and more viewers abandoned the SABC and the public broadcaster's flagship TV news bulletin on SABC3 which has undergone a dramatic loss of viewers over the past five years.

Now e.tv wants to try and duplicate that success with Zulu, after it has been supplying the daily Afrikaans language TV news, eNuus, to M-Net and DStv's kykNET (DStv 144) TV channel the past few years with great success.

While e.tv has done "snippets" of vernacular TV news, it has predominantly been confined to e.tv's early morning timeslots like its breakfast offering Sunrise.

The new Zulu TV news bulletin will be a full, and fully staffed, half hour and daily Zulu news bulletin in an attempt to give viewers more, and better Zulu TV news coverage than what they're getting on the SABC.

Insiders first talked about the plans for a Zulu TV bulletin on e.tv in late November 2014. According to eNews sources e.tv's English news bulletin eNews Prime Time will be shifted away from 19:00 to a later timeslot within months with a Zulu bulletin taking its place at 19:00.

Interestingly, reporters at eNCA (DStv 403) - eNews' 24-hour, English language TV news channel - are concerned about the move. A lot of the/their stories done for eNCA are shown and "simulcast" in English on e.tv in eNews Prime Time, and eNCA reporters are quietly worried that the "replacement" and shift of the existing eNews Prime Time bulletin is going to mean less exposure of their stories and less work.

Meanwhile eNews and eNCA has gone on an extremely aggressive hiring spree of specifically Zulu speaking people, indicative of the staffing up to prepare for a Zulu news broadcast. 

The news division started looking for Zulu speaking journalists and news production personnel to swell its ranks since the end of 2014 - the most ever job advertisements for Zulu speaking journalists in the history of eNews and eNCA.

Asked by TV with Thinus to confirm that the eNews Prime Time bulletin on e.tv is moving away from 19:00 to be replaced by a new Zulu TV bulletin soon, and why the change is being made, e.tv responded to a media enquiry but was unwilling to confirm or deny the news, only saying "the South African television industry is dynamic and always changing".

"As a free-to-air channel that reaches millions of South Africans, it's also important that we keep up with what our diverse audiences want to watch on television," says e.tv. "News is also critical to e.tv's offering, and so is language."

"e.tv is looking at its programme schedule for the second quarter of 2015, but no firm decisions have yet been made. The channel will announce once a decision is made".

FIRST LOOK. How e.tv's eNews Prime Time will look from this evening as the channel's flagship TV news bulletin gets a new look makeover.

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Here's your first glimpse at the new logo and look of e.tv's eNews Prime Time which will come into effect and be used for the first time this evening at 19:00 on e.tv as eNCA (DStv 403) and eNews Prime Time adopt new on-air imaging today.

eNCA is implementing a redesigned corporate look and on-air imaging from today and that includes e.tv's daily flagship TV news bulletin, eNews Prime Time.

Macfarlane Moleli gone again from e.tv and eNews after a month; was only an unannounced temporary freelance replacement.

Macfarlane Moleli that e.tv e.tv announced in March has returned to eNews and this time to anchor eNews Prime Time on e.tv is gone again after a month - it turns out the former eNCA morning anchor was only a temporary replacement.

e.tv didn't announce this when it made the announcement in March that Macfarlance Moleli is returning to the e.tv fold, leaving viewers wondering again his sudden disappearance.

In response to a media enquiry e.tv says "Macfarlane Moleli was a stand-in, freelance arrangement when Nikiwe Bikitsha left.

"Cathy Mohlahlana is now Nikiwe Bikitsha's replacement"," e.tv tells TV with Thinus.

eNCA reporter Cathy Mohlahlana upped to morning co-anchor with Joanne Joseph; added to anchor roster of e.tv's eNews Prime Time.

eNCA (DStv 403) reporter Cathy Mohlahlana is officially becoming a news reader and anchor for eNews Prime Time from tonight, Monday 12 May, at 19:00 on e.tv, and is also getting a weekday co-anchor position on eNCA with Joanne Joseph from Thursday 15 May between 09:00 and 13:00.

It's been self-evident to eNCA viewers that Cathy Mohlahlana is getting upped to anchor status - viewers saw her sitting in over weekends in timeslots to do screen tests and to get experience and training.

Cathy Mohlahlana will now read the news on eNews Prime Time on e.tv on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Following the promotion Cathy Mohlahlana will soon disappear from South African TV screens however - next month she will join fellow South Africans like telenality Romy Titus who will study in Washington D.C. in the United States from June as part of the Young African Leaders Initiative Fellowship.

"We are very delighted to have Cathy Mohlahlana on eNews Prime Time and with her field reporting experience we have no doubt our audience will enjoy her news delivery," says Phathiswa Magopeni, the head of terrestrial news services at e.tv's eNews division.

"She is a highly motivated and energetic individual and we believe her experience will add value to our news service," says Phathiswa Magopeni.

Cathy Mohlahlana joined eNCA four years ago and reported extensively last year on the death of Nelson Mandela, and this year on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, as well as the recent national elections.

"Her work in the field and ability to think on her feet makes her the perfect choice as an anchor," says eNCA.

"I love news and this is an overwhelming opportunity for me," says Cathy Mohlahlana. "Being in the studio is a different environment and I really look forward to that change of pace and perspective".

Macfarlane Moleli returns to the e.tv fold after leaving eNCA in May; will now anchor eNews Prime Time on Mondays and Wednesdays at 19:00.

Macfarlane Moleli, the longtime morning news anchor on eNCA (DStv 403) who left the 24-hour TV news channel in 2013 is returning to e.tv and this time to the e.tv TV channel's primetime nightly news bulletin eNews Prime Time.

eNews Prime Time continues its reign as the most watched English news bulletin on television in South Africa.

Macfarlane Moleli who left eNCA at the end of May 2013 will now be seen on eNews Prime Time at 19:00, alternating on some evenings with that news bulletin's longtime anchor, Pat Pillai.

Macfarlane Moleli who also does radio news on Kaya FM will anchor eNews Prime Time on e.tv on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

"We are delighted to have someone of Macfarlane Moleli's caliber back on our team," says Phathiswa Magopeni, the head of terrestrial news services at e.tv.

BREAKING. Amy Brooke goes prime time as anchor of the eNews Prime Time bulletin from Cape Town this week.

Just in is that e.tv is telling me that Amy Brooke will be anchoring the eNews Prime Time news bulletin on e.tv this week.

eNews Prime Time will still be done from Cape Town after the damage to Studi0 101 in Hyde Park a week ago. Robyn Smith anchored e.tv's main news bulletin of the day last week and this week Amy Poole is getting her chance. The broadcaster is still working at repairing the studios after the lighting rigging mishap and there's is no definite indication yet of when the broadcast of eNews Prime Time will be happening from Johannesburg again.

BREAKING. SABC CEO at a loss to explain plummeting SABC news viewership, admits viewers are turning to e.tv's eNews Prime Time.

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Solly Mokoetle, the group CEO of the SABC wasn't able to give a clear reason to parliament regarding the plunging viewership of the SABC's flagship daily TV news bulletin on SABC3 at 19:00. And that downward viewership spiral for the daily News @ 7 on SABC3 is before the sudden removal from the bulletin of news anchor Mahendra Raghunath who got replaced with a merry go round bunch of mostly inept and largely unknown nightly news anchors.

Solly Mokoetle admitted that viewers are leaving the SABC's 19:00 flagship bulletin in droves and turning to e.tv's eNews Prime Time bulletin at 19:00.

''What may be happening is that viewers view other bulletins at 19:00 and then come to their trusted broadcaster at 19:30 to give them the other version of the news,'' Solly Mokoetle said, who admitted that SABC3 has lost ''significant market share'' in the 19:00 TV news race.

''The news gathering process of the SABC is driven by the English language so we would have expected that the bulletin that is scheduled at an appropriate time and in the English language would have driven the audiences. We can not understand how the 19:30 bulletin has become the biggest bulletin,'' Solly Mokoetle said.