China merges its 3 state broadcaster propaganda services into one macro unit called Zhongguo Zhisheng, now overseen by Chinese government's Publicity Department.

The Chinese government announced that it's merging its state broadcasting units into one new macro unit called Zhongguo Zhisheng (中国之声) that will be overseen by the Chinese government's Publicity Department to more effectively control the country's propaganda information efforts from China's Communist Party.

China's state-owned propaganda television and radio stations are being fused into one overall broadcasting platform with China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI), and China National Radio (CNR) that will form the new Zhongguo Zhisheng.

Zhongguo Zhisheng translates as "Voice of China", although an official English name of Zhongguo Zhisheng has not yet been announced. The former CCTV president Shen Haixiong was appointed to lead the organization.

China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI), and China National Radio (CNR) will keep their individual names.

The announcement comes a day after the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) as part of a plan from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Several of the news and documentary channels from CCTV are available and seen in South Africa, as well as through the rest of Africa, on various pay-TV satellite services ranging from MultiChoice's DStv and StarSat, to China's StarTimes in other Southern, East and West African countries.

Besides the various CCTV named channels run by CCTV, CCTV is also responsible for its global 24-hour TV news channel CGTN.

CGTN has 6 different language versions. The English version of CGTN is carried by MultiChoice on DStv channel 409.

The French version of CGTN (CGTN French) is carried by StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM) on StarSat and in the rest of Africa, along with some CCTV channels.

FOX Networks Group Africa loses its top boss as Gary Alfonso exits as its Africa general manager to pursue new opportunities.

FOX Africa's business in South Africa and across the rest of Africa is losing its top boss on the continent, with Gary Alfonso who is exiting as general manager for the FOX Networks Group Africa.

Gary Alfonso has been with FNG Africa as it's top executive for a year and 7 months.

The highly respected Gary Alfonso replaced two predecessors as the top FOX executive on the continent who lasted only 5 months and 4 months in the position respectively.

He has now resigned to pursue other business interests.

Gary Alfonso was appointed to head up FOX Networks Group's expansion into sub-Saharan Africa in mid-2016 and says his decision to resign is due to new opportunities.

"When I joined Fox Networks Group in Africa the immediate challenge was to ensure the company kept building its solid reputation as a global leader in entertainment, factual and sports content for pay TV audiences across the continent," says Gary Alfonso.

"I feel that was achieved successfully and it allowed the FNG team and I the opportunity to rapidly expand into the strategic business growth areas of live sports and content production."

"I'm proud to have been part of the teams that achieved the incredible launch and execution of the first-ever fully produced West Africa Cup of 16 Nations tournament in Ghana in September last year. We have also hosted live WBA-endorsed Africa Boxing tournaments in cities across Africa."

Adam Theiler, the executive vice president of FOX Networks Group Europe and Africa, says "Gary Alfonso is a veteran of the broadcasting industry with more than 30 years as a television and content professional. Previous experience includes CNBC Africa, Business Day TV, Media General in Ghana and the SABC. He’s not disclosed any immediate plans, but says he remains a champion and campaigner for better quality content for all audiences in Africa".

FNG Africa hasn't yet announced a replacement.

eNCA anchors Joanne Joseph and Ayanda Allie-Paine both resign in latest wave of high profile exits from the TV news channel.

e.tv insiders told TVwithThinus that both the veteran anchor Joanne Joseph and Ayanda Allie-Paine are leaving eNCA (DStv 403) in the latest wave of high profile exits rocking the South African TV news channel, with eMedia Investments confirming that both have resigned.

Joanne Joseph and Ayanda Allie-Paine's resignations come hot on the heels of eNCA's former star crime and court reporter Kary Maughan who left last month, and the shock exit of Debbie Meyers, the head of current affairs at eNCA and e.tv.

Meanwhile e.tv is also gutting its long running morning show Sunrise with plans to outsource its morning breakfast show that's been on the air since April 2008 to an outside production company, with shocked e.tv staffers who have been served retrenchment notices and are likely getting fired.

One insider described a situation where "morale is at an all time low and people are desperately searching for new jobs".

The highly respected Joanne Joseph has been anchoring the 16:00 to 18:00 timeslot on eNCA, and joined the Power FM radio station in February 2017. Her exit date from eNCA has not yet been finalized.

For Ayanda Allie-Paine its the second time she's leaving eNCA - this time after less than a year after she rejoined eNCA in May 2017 to anchor eNCA's new weekend morning programming strand, Weekend Wake Up on Saturdays and Sundays.

It's not clear who will replace her, or if Weekend Wake Up on eNCA is getting canned. Ayanda Allie-Paine's abrupt last appearance on eNCA will be over the coming Easter Weekend.

eNCA in response to a media enquiry says "eNCA can confirm that Joanne Joseph and Ayanda Allie-Paine have resigned to pursue new opportunities".

"Joanne has been with eNCA for almost nine years, anchoring various programmes during her tenure. As a consummate professional with over 20 years of experience, she has tirelessly helped lead the coverage of some of the most prominent news stories of the last decade," says eNCA.

"Joanne has made a valuable contribution to the channel," says Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA editor-in-chief. "She is a formidable journalist, who has used her skills to help our viewers navigate through the key stories during a particularly turbulent period in our democracy."

eNCA says Ayanda-Allie Paine who re-joined eNCA last year "energising the channel’s Saturday and Sunday morning line-up with the Weekend Wake Up. Her dynamic interviewing style and keen journalistic skills have led to a number of memorable moments on the channel". 

"Ayanda-Allie has an infectious passion for news and development, which will be missed by her colleagues and our viewers," says Mapi Mhlangu. "We wish Ayanda and Joanne all the best in their future endeavours." 

Before selling its treasured archives to MultiChoice, the SABC also sold it to ANN7 as Gupta executives laughed at 'stupid' SABC: 'The people at the SABC can be bought for a meal and a drink'.

Before the struggling South African public broadcaster sold its treasured archives to MultiChoice in a controversial channels deal, the SABC also apparently sold it to ANN7 (DStv 405) as Gupta executives laughed at the "stupid SABC" and said: "The people at the SABC can be bought for a meal and a drink; they are willing to give away their treasure trove of historical footage for peanuts".

The stunning claim is the latest of many to emerge from the buzzed about new book, Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV, by author Rajesh Sundaram, a former ANN7 giving an insider's perspective on the horrific working conditions during the set-up and eventual disastrous launch of the "Gupta news" channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in August 2013.

While much has already been reported about the SABC's controversial deal with MultiChoice selling its archives to Naspers' pay-TV unit, it's now coming to light that the SABC actually also allegedly sold its archives for a fraction of what it's worth to the Gupta family accused in a litany of widespread State Capture allegations.

In his book, Rajesh Sundaram writes that that Laxmi Goel, an executive roped in by the Guptas to help with the setting up and launch of ANN7, during a meeting revealed "an elaborate plan to buy archival footage from the SABC".

"He told me how the Guptas had got a nod from the state broadcaster to buy this valuable archive. The SABC had plans to set up a 24/7 news channel of their own, but they were willing to sell their archives for a sweet deal to the Guptas".

"They have all their archives on mini DV tapes. Their library is not automated or digitised, and it takes them ages to find any footage. We will bring these tapes to our studio and digitise them. So from day one we will have a tapeless library with systems that will make it possible for us to pull out footage within a few seconds."

"We know the people at the SABC, so we will get footage at a very low rate. You will have to make sure that all the footage of historical importance at the SABC is included in the 100-hour bulk deal we plan to do with them," Laxmi Goel apparently told Rajesh Sundaram.

"But the SABC eventually did not allow the footage to be taken away from their office. Rahul Singh, a senior video librarian from India, was sent with mini digital video format tapes and asked to bring back 100 hours of footage from the thousands of tapes at the SABC archives".

"He spent about a month going to the SABC every day and sitting at a video editing bay there and transferring all the valuable historical footage the SABC had in its tape library. By the time he resigned and went back to India, he had collected 60 hours of priceless footage from the SABC library," writes Rajesh Sundaram.

"We are paying them a lump sum to get this footage. We have got a very sweet deal with them. The people at the SABC can be bought for a meal or a drink; they are willing to give away their treasure trove of historical footage footage for peanuts."

"They have a clause in the contract that says that we will have to also pay them a "per second" fee for every time we air the footage we have taken from them. But they are so stupid, how will they be able to tell what is their footage? How can they audit our use? We will get all their footage forever at just this one-time cost," Nazeem Howa said when the footage transfer were discussed later, writes Rajesh Sundaram.

He writes that Rahul was instructed "to take anyone he interacts with at the SABC for a drink or mean any time they wanted to when he was at the SABC transferring footage. He was told by Nazeem that this cost would be reimbursed to him".

"Get all of Nelson Mandela's footage, get footage of the atrocities on the blacks during the apartheid years; we can use it to show the young people of today how the whites treated their grandparents and parents. This footage is priceless, and I want you to take as much of it as possible back with you. Even if you get more than 100 hours, get that, we will pay them under the table, Atul Gupta told Rahul during our discussion."

"The archival footage at the SABC was indeed of a very high quality and in my view worth millions of rands," writes Rajesh Sundaram. "Nazeem, Laxmi and Atul repeatedly told me that the contract with the SABC for this sale favoured ANN7, was drafted by Gupta lawyers and that the price of the footage was 'peanuts' compared to its real value."

"Rahul digitised all the footage he got the very same day and catalogued and classified it on the video library system. This meant transferring the footage from tapes to servers. After the footage was tagged and put on the server, ANN7 was able to retrieve and air it in a matter of seconds, something that would take the SABC team hours or even days to do."

"I have not been able to figure out why the SABC signed this contract and handed valuable footage shot over decades to a company that had far superior archiving technology and would be a rival to its own proposed 24-hour news channel".

The SABC was asked in a media enquiry on Monday if the public broadcaster possibly has any comment or statement regarding what Rajesh Sundaram writes in his book Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV, about the SABC and the SABC's archive material that was given to ANN7.

The SABC didn't respond.

Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV is published by Jacana Media and is available in bookstores at R185.

Pabi Moloi the presenter of the latest season of SABC3's Presenter Search on 3.

Pabi Moloi who is a panelist on SABC3's late night talk show Trending SA will be the presenter of the new season of the channel's Presenter Search on 3 talent scouting competition show.

Nationwide auditions of the new season of Presenter Search on 3 will kick off this coming weekend, with the show that will start broadcasting on SABC3 on Thursday 10 May at 19:30.

Presenter Search on 3 will look for new faces to join established SABC3 shows like Top Billing, Expresso and Afternoon Express and is produced for SABC3 by Cardova Productions.

"I am thrilled at the chance to witness dreams coming true," says Pabi Moloi. "It's amazing how many people desire the simple opportunity to step under the lights and shine bright. SABC3 is opening the industry and I'm honoured to be a part of this journey."

Anybody who wants to audition can show up at the nationwide auditions starting this weekend in Port Elizabeth and fill out an entry form at the registration desk. More information is also available at www.presentersearchon3.com.

25 March (Sunday): Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Stadium
7 April (Saturday), 8 April (Sunday): Cape Town, Newlands rugby stadium
14 April (Saturday), 15 April (Sunday): Durban, Durban Exhibition Centre
20 April (Friday), 21 April (Saturday), 22 April (Sunday): Johannesburg, Wanderers Cricket Stadium

SuperSport gears up with changes for its longrunning Formula One show, Absolute F1, ahead of the new racing season with a new on-air look and Kriya Gangiah as the new lead presenter.

SuperSport decided to make changes to its longrunning show, Absolute F1, covering Formula One racing to co-incide with the new season starting in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday, with a new on-air look and Kriya Gangiah as the show's new lead presenter.

Absolute F1 will broadcast on SuperSport on Wednesdays at 19:30 in the week preceding Grands Prix.

Kriya Gangiah, a former Ignition TV anchor and a DJ on Jacaranda FM, will now front Absolute F1, and will be joined in studio by Batshobonke "Tschops" Sipuka, Vic Maharaj and Gary Formato.

Batshobonke "Tschops" Sipuka competed in the Formula Volkswagen class in Germany, saloon car racing in Malaysia and Super Truck racing in South Africa. He was also South Africa's first black motorsport champion, twice winning the Volkswagen Polo Cup Series.

Vic Maharaj is a motorsport engineer and Gary Formato is a local driver.

ITV pulls Saturday Night Takeaway, seen on ITV Choice, off the air after troubled co-presenter Ant McPartlin is arrested on suspicion of driving drunk after a car crash and goes back to rehab.

The British broadcaster ITV has pulled Saturday Night Takeaway off the air and the broadcast of the remaining episodes of the show, also seen on ITV Choice (DStv 123) in South Africa and Africa, are uncertain after co-presenter Ant McPartlin was arrested on Sunday afternoon over suspicion of drinking and driving drunk in southwest London following a car crash.

The troubled Ant McPartlin (42) is heading back to rehab with his publicist saying he is taking time off "for the foreseeable future" after he failed a roadside breathalyser test.

A child passenger in one of the cars was taken to hospital for a check-up as a precaution, according to police who arrived following a collision between 3 cars that required several people to get treatment for minor injuries.

Ant McPartlin spent 2 months in rehabilitation in 2017 after admitting that he's addicted to painkillers and alcohol. In January 2018 he confirmed that he is getting divorced from his wife Lisa Armstrong after 11 years.

"Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments. He has spoken with Dec and ITV today and asked for time off for the foreseeable future. As such, Saturday Night Takeaway will not be going ahead this Saturday," reads the statement.

There's still episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway left in the latest season, with the final episode that's supposed to be a live broadcast from the Universal Orlando Resort with 200 fans of the show flying out in a specially-chartered plane. Last year's final episode was done from Disneyworld in Florida.

ITV in its own statement says "ITV has taken a joint decision with Ant and Dec's team not to broadcast Saturday Night Takeaway this weekend".

'We will be reviewing options for the last two episodes of the series (31 March and 7 April) which would not feature Ant who is taking time off to seek treatment. We very much hope that he gets the help that he needs."

e.tv says Jeremy Maggs is not leaving eNCA for an anchoring job at the SABC's SAfm radio station.

The veteran TV news anchor Jeremy Maggs is not leaving the South African TV news channel, eNCA (DStv 403).

e.tv tells TVwithThinus that "there's no truth to the reports that Jeremy Maggs is leaving eNCA".

It comes after Sunday tabloid press splashed that SABC insiders at the public broadcaster's SAfm have been chattering excitedly that "veteran presenter Jeremy Maggs might be brought in to do the afternoon drive show called PMLive".

Jeremy Maggs that anchored NewsNight on eNCA, moved to anchor NewsDay in May 2017. NewsDay is eNCA's afternoon block between 13:00 and 16:00.

Meanwhile "PMLive" on SAfm is on between 16:00 and 18:00 on weekdays.

If you were the host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? you can do basically anything, but not even Jeremy Maggs can't be in one place at the one moment and instantly in another place the next, meaning that if he were to do a SAfm show, he'd have to leave eNCA.

According to e.tv Jeremy Maggs is staying put.

eNCA that started out as the eNews Channel in June 2008 will be celebrating a decade on the air soon and is turning 10 years old in June 2018.

BREAKING. eNCA slaps back at EFF's Julius Malema after the political leader accuses the TV news channel of 'protecting white privilege'; eNCA says its journalists are now getting threatening messages.

eNCA (DStv 403) is slapping back at the caustic political leader of the Economic Feeedom Fighters, Julius Malema, who on Sunday accused eNCA of protecting white privilege as a channel that allegedly "perpetuate white supremacy", with eNCA's managing director and editor-in-chief, Mapi Mhlangu, saying that eNCA opposes racist domination and that eNCA journalists are now being threatened and targeted with threatening messages.

On Sunday, Julius Malema tweeted that "the changes at SABC are worrisome, someone is busy creating eNCA lite at the SABC. We have to find a way of stopping whiteness from taking over the only platform of black people before is [sic] too late. eNCA is the platform that perpetuate white supremacy and there's no doubt."

"I think EFF should really discuss in depth the role of eNCA in perpetuating and defending white privilege and see if we can't come to the same conclusion we did with the ANN7."

"On Sunday 18 March 2018, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, accused eNCA of protecting white privilege and white supremacy on Twitter. This accusation is disturbing given the values at the core of eNCA's journalism over the last decade," says Mapi Mhlangu.

Mapi Mhlangu says Julius Malema's "tweets have consequences, not least because he is the leader of a political party with substantial representation and support across South Africa. The first of these consequences have been threats to individual journalists in the wake of his online messages".

"Despite our relative small size as a news organisation, we have consistently dedicated our limited resources to stories which have put justice, equality and human rights at the centre of our news, in line with our insistence that we offer news without fear or favour."

"Our staff have consistently told stories about what is broken in this country, how it can be fixed and how we can make each other accountable," says Mapi Mhlangu.

"Julius Malema's characterisation of eNCA is not supported by the factual record. The channel's majority stakeholder is a black empowerment company, Hoskins Consolidated Investments (HCI), and of that a significant share of eMedia Investments' is held by the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu). The ownership of eNCA through eMedia is therefore not as has often been alleged in public."

"Additionally, the staff members at eNCA are representative of the diversity of people who make up contemporary South Africa, who bring to their work divergent political views and social experiences, which inform our story-telling in ways which South Africans have appreciated to the extent of making us the most-watched channel among news viewers."

Mapi Mhlangu says that "at any other time in our country’s history" Julius Malema's tweets "would have required a response from the editorial team, not least because it is a question of ensuring the safety of journalists in a democratic society".

"In the year ahead of what may be South Africa’s most important general elections since the abolition of legislated apartheid, the role of the news media and the safety of those who work in this crucial sector, cannot be overstated. We must remind ourselves the role that South Africa’s journalists and media organisations played in holding executive power to account and their key role in protecting the democratic order, which eventually saw the reinstitution of corruption charges against a former head of state."

"Furthermore, eNCA operates in a highly regulated space governed by The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA). If political organisations or their leaders have concerns about news media organisations or their output, there are structures and processes in democratic South Africa available to them to pursue their complaints."

"The BCCSA is one avenue through which any person or organisation may pursue their complaint should direct engagement with that media organisation not be satisfactory. This is the democratic right assured all of us in democratic South Africa," says Mapi Mhlangu.

"Media freedom and the safety of journalists are under increasing threat around the world.  South Africans fought long and hard to guarantee this freedom as a pillar of the constitutional democracy.  Political parties, leaders and citizens have the freedom to criticise the media, but also have the responsibility to do so through the channels available to them in ways which contribute to strengthening democracy and accountability."

"eNCA is an organisation founded by people who opposed racist domination, and every day the hundreds of people who work incredibly hard to make eNCA the most watched news channel on satellite television in South Africa reaffirm that commitment to a democratic country in which we celebrate a plurality of views within the letter and spirit of constitutional democracy."

"We affirm that commitment to a democratic country in which we celebrate a plurality of views within the letter and spirit of constitutional democracy."