Media Moves: Openview records 3.8 million decoder activations, HOT 102.7FM welcomes Alan Khan and ACSA appoints communications partner

The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.

This week’s BIG move: Openview records 3.8 million decoder activations in South Africa

Openview has surpassed 3.8 million decoder activations across South Africa. The figure marks more than a decade of steady growth for the free-to-view satellite platform and underscores the resilience of broadcast television as a primary entertainment medium in the country.

In a local entertainment industry that continues to evolve, with streaming services, digital platforms, and on-demand content reshaping how audiences engage, broadcast television remains a significant and resilient force. Openview’s growth reflects that reality.

Underpinning that growth is a programming catalogue that has developed steadily over the years, with channels and content that have found a committed audience across the country. The 3.8 million activation figure reflects that ongoing relationship between platform and viewer.

Openview’s line-up reflects the full range of what South African audiences watch. Core channels, SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3, and e.tv, anchor the offering, alongside a genre mix that covers every member of the household: films on eMovies and eMovies Extra; drama on eExtra and eSeries; children’s entertainment on eToonz; lifestyle on The Home Channel+; and news, sport and education through France 24, SABC Sport and DBE TV.

Available on the OV512 decoder, +More connects to the home’s Wi-Fi network to bring on-demand titles and curated streaming content into the Openview experience.

People moves

Award winning HOT 102.7FM welcomes Alan Khan

HOT 102.7FM has announced the addition of highly regarded presenter Alan Khan to its on-air line-up, a signing that underscores the station’s continued upward momentum in the commercial radio space.

For listeners, it’s the arrival of a familiar, trusted voice. For advertisers and industry stakeholders, it’s further evidence that HOT 102.7FM continues to attract established, credible talent as it strengthens its position as one of South Africa’s most dynamic commercial stations.

Khan brings with him decades of broadcasting experience and a reputation built on professionalism, authenticity, and genuine audience connection.

Lloyd Madurai, station MD, views the appointment as part of a broader strategy, one that blends iconic, legendary voices with contemporary relevance.

“Great radio is built by great people,” says Madurai. “Alan represents the professionalism, warmth, and audience understanding that define who we are as a station. We aren’t chasing short-term growth, but long-term sustainability and excellence”.

Khan’s easy, relatable style complements HOT 102.7FM’s established sound and listener-first philosophy, adding depth to an already strong line-up. You can catch him every Sunday in the 3pm to 7pm slot on Sundays with Alan Khan.

Sipho ‘Alph’ Mkhwanazi to host season 2 of Wedding Chefs

SABC1’s Wedding Chefs is back for a second season, produced by Sothar Pictures, the production house behind hits like Higher Grade, Raw Silk, Plate It Up, and Bone of My Bones.

This season will be hosted by the charismatic and beloved entertainer, Sipho ‘Alphi’ Mkhwanazi, known to millions as Alphi, a rising star in the entertainment industry who blends his diverse talents as a content creator, television presenter, event host, writer, and all-around entrepreneur.

Alphi will guide an elite group of 21 culinary masters as they battle through a gruelling elimination gauntlet to be crowned The Ultimate Wedding Chef. Viewers can expect a faster, more dramatic reality-first experience, including a Blind Date, culinary surprises and a winner of the Grande Title.

Wedding Chefs Season 2 is currently in production and is set to bring romance, tension, and culinary excellence back to South African screens.

Sven Huberts joins LePub as global president

Following five years of rapid growth, LePub is accelerating its expansion with the appointment of Sven Huberts. Launched in Amsterdam in 2020, the creative network now operates 10 hubs across nine markets, following the openings of London, New York and Bogotá last year. Huberts will scale LePub’s connected creative engine, integrating data, culture and technology to deliver measurable business impact for brands.

With more than two decades at the forefront of brand and experience transformation, Huberts is a global innovation leader known for shaping strategic direction and driving growth at scale.

Exabeam expands regional leadership with strategic appointments

Exabeam, a global leader in intelligence and automation that powers security operations, has appointed Mazen Adnan Dohaji as senior vice president and general manager, India, the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (IMETA); Ramy Muhammad Ahmad as senior director, sales engineering, IMETA, and Sultan Alanazi as country director for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

These strategic appointments strengthen the on-the-ground presence of Exabeam with dedicated expertise to recognize and serve the unique cybersecurity needs of IMETA and the KSA.

Business moves

Jabu’s Jungle – 10 years of trusted kids IP in Africa.

Jabu’s Jungle continues broadcasting across Africa in its tenth year since becoming the most watched children’s show on the continent.

The milestone is being celebrated with an extra five local languages for the South African market, and it also became the first animated show to ever be released in siSwati. This content is now being broadcast to larger-then-ever audiences on our biggest TV channel, SABC1.

Producing Animation in Africa is always a challenge, due to the high prices of production, but despite Jabu’s Jungle humble origins in Masiphumelele township outside Cape Town, the show has gone from strength to strength and built a huge following across the continent.

It is now supported by a merchandising drive, being run by the parents of viewers. Pinkie Kholong, who was an initial investor in the series, is now leading a team of entrepreneurial mom’s who resell school bags and pencil cases. The alternative to Barbie and Ben10 has finally arrived on the continent for 4 – 9 year olds.

Sister-show, Zizi and Hannibal, was released recently on Jabu’s sister channel, SABC2, and is also available in four additional local languages. It was the result of firm government support on providing African content for it’s younger viewers – three government departments invested in the show to bring it to life.

The footprint to reach Africa’s 300 million-plus children is now firmly set, and expansion across the territories has included partnerships with FMCG and family brands. Current viewership offers 23 million viewers on terrestrial TV with the free-to-air offer growing.

Manaka Havas appointed communications partner to Airports Company South Africa

Manaka Havas, the strategic joint venture between Manaka Publicity and Havas Johannesburg, has been appointed as the communications and public relations agency for Airports Company South Africa SOC Ltd (ACSA) for a three-year term.

The appointment follows a competitive procurement process and places the newly formed joint venture at the centre of one of South Africa’s most critical infrastructure portfolios.

ACSA operates nine airports, including three international gateways that serve as critical connectors between South Africa, the continental and global markets. The mandate reinforces Manaka Havas’ positioning within the infrastructure, aviation and public sector communications space across Africa.

Manaka Publicity brings deep Pan-African market intelligence, policy-aware communications strategy and experience advising institutions operating in complex regulatory environments. The Havas partnership adds global strategic systems, data, and insights capability, and access to an international network operating in more than 100 markets.

Jacaranda FM unveils state-of-the-art studio

Jacaranda FM has officially entered a new era of broadcasting with the launch of its brand-new, state-of-the-art flagship studio. This cutting-edge space represents a major leap forward in broadcasting technology and is a fully digital, future-ready space designed to elevate the station’s signature feel-good content across audio, video and digital platforms.

As one of South Africa’s leading commercial radio stations, Jacaranda FM continues to invest in innovation that enhances both the listener experience and the way its content is created and shared.

The project was led by industry veteran Andrew Pike, technical and IT manager at Jacaranda FM and a proud inductee into the Telkom Radio Awards Hall of Fame. With over four decades of experience in broadcast engineering and technology, Pike’s expertise ensures that Jacaranda FM consistently provides the best possible technical foundation for an outstanding, feel-good listening experience.

Outdoor Network expands footprint in Tshwane

As brands compete for attention in increasingly crowded urban environments, Outdoor Network continues to expand its portfolio of large-format iconic billboard sites in response to advertiser demand for high-impact visibility at scale.

Its latest addition reflects this approach: a double-sided billboard, with each face measuring 400 square metres, along the N1 in Centurion, one of Gauteng’s busiest commuter routes, delivering sustained brand presence in a premium high-traffic corridor.

Outdoor Network director Shamy Naidu said: “Attention is no longer something brands can assume. It must be earned in seconds, in real-world conditions. In public environments, scale and clarity determine whether a message is seen and remembered.”

Recent enforcement action by the City of Johannesburg to remove illegal billboard structures has underscored the risks associated with non-compliant media. Campaign disruptions and unexpected takedowns can undermine advertiser investment and continuity, exposing brands to avoidable reputational and financial risk.

Meet The People launches MTP Intelligence

Meet The People (MTP), the innovative alternative to the traditional advertising holding company model, has announced the launch of MTP Intelligence, a proprietary AI-enabled platform that unifies Creative, Campaign, Media, Commerce and other marketing disciplines into a single integrated technology environment.

Built exclusively for MTP clients across the agency group’s 10 brands, the platform marks a significant evolution in how independent agencies can leverage technology to deliver measurable business outcomes.

“The fragmentation of marketing technology has created a fundamental problem for brands: brilliant creative lives in one system, media planning in another, commerce data in a third, and performance analytics somewhere else entirely,” says Tim Ringel, Meet The People’s Co-Founder and Global CEO. “MTP Intelligence solves this by creating a unified environment where every discipline can work together in real-time, informed by the same data and optimising toward the same business goals. This goes beyond mere efficiency — it’s about fundamentally better marketing.”

WPP and Adobe expand partnership to drive AI transformation for client marketing operations

WPP and Adobe have announced an expansion of their long-standing global partnership, delivering integrated solutions for global brands to optimise media, drive business growth and scale creativity with new agentic capabilities, while ensuring on-brand content creation with Adobe Firefly Foundry.

The collaboration will provide a single marketing solution that brings together Adobe’s industry-leading AI capabilities, content platforms and data orchestration with WPP’s deep strategic insight, creative prowess and end-to-end transformation expertise. It will leverage WPP’s agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to deliver a connected and privacy-safe approach to marketing transformation.

The partnership addresses a fundamental challenge facing brands today: Teams must produce more content for more channels and personalise experiences across audiences, yet most remain stuck with fragmented tools and workflows. For brands to scale personalisation while maintaining brand integrity and authenticity requires a content supply chain designed for a new era.

Two landmark films open and close Joburg Film Festival

Two of the most anticipated South African films of the coming year will bookend the upcoming Joburg Film Festival, presented in partnership with MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company, taking place from 3–8 March across cinemas in Johannesburg.

Opening the festival on 3 March is Laundry (Uhlanjululo), the debut feature from acclaimed South African filmmaker Zamo Mkhwanazi, fresh from its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was hailed as “thrilling African cinema” by Film Fatale.

The festival closes with the South African premiere of The Trek, a bold western-horror by first-time director MeekaeeI Adam, screening at 16:30 on 8 March at Theatre On The Square, Sandton.

Together, these films form a powerful statement: South African filmmakers are telling world-class stories rooted in local history, myth, and memory with global resonance.

Making moves

Applications for 2026 Samsung Solve For Tomorrow now open

The applications for the 2026 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow (SFT) competition are now open. This global competition is inviting Grade 10 and 11 learners from public schools in South Africa to submit innovative STEM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) solutions that can help tackle community challenges – with entries open until 06 March 2026.

The SFT competition aims to reduce skills gaps, encourage youth led innovation and show young South Africans that their ideas have value and real-world impact. This global initiative envisions a South Africa where young people are not just job seekers, but solution creators who contribute meaningfully to inclusive growth and sustainable development.

This year’s competition that’s themed: Social Change through Sports and Technology and Environmental Sustainability via Technology – seeks to foster innovation among high school learners from underprivileged backgrounds throughout South Africa.

Application forms are accessible online. Visit our website https://www.samsung.com/za/solvefortomorrow/ to register your school and submit your team’s proposal.

Learners invited to experience Hisense Tevolution Museum

March is not just another month on the calendar. It is a defining chapter in global television history, a month that delivered unforgettable historic live broadcasts, and one of the most iconic pop culture moments of all time: the first televised performance of the moonwalk by Michael Jackson.

Now, Hisense South Africa is inviting schools, learners, families and tourists to step into that legacy at the Hisense Tevolution Museum in Cape Town, a one-of-a-kind celebration of how television has shaped culture, connection and innovation across generations.

“March reminds us of television’s extraordinary ability to shape culture and unite audiences,” says Alex Chen, Brand Marketing Manager for Hisense South Africa. “From unforgettable live broadcasts to iconic performances that defined generations, TV has always been at the centre of shared human moments. Through the Hisense Tevolution Museum, we invite schools, learners and tourists to not only look back at these milestones, but to understand how innovation continues to drive the future of viewing.”

Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit unveils speakers

What began as a convening of 100 women with a shared ambition has grown into a gathering of more than a thousand founders, executives, policymakers, investors and creatives in one room.

On 18 March, marking International Women’s Month, the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit returns to Johannesburg and specifically to Sandton – Africa’s richest square mile. The 2026 edition carries the theme, The Voice, Vision, and Victories of Her Africa

“Our stage has hosted heads of state, billion-dollar founders, investors, activists and cultural architects who influence policy, capital allocation and market confidence across the continent. We are witnessing a structural shift in who builds enterprise and who shapes regulatory conversations. This summit exists to ensure that women’s authority is not only visible, but investable, scalable and globally competitive,” says Renuka Methil, Managing Editor of Forbes Africa.

The 2026 speaker line-up reflects the breadth of influence shaping Africa’s present and future.