The Media Online’s weekly round-up of media business moves, all in one place.
The BIG move: MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company, and FAME Week Africa launch drama commissioning opportunity for African producers
FAME Week Africa has announced a new opportunity for African producers through an exclusive drama commissioning call in partnership with MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company. The initiative invites producers across Africa to submit original drama series concepts that can captivate local audiences while resonating with viewers globally.
MultiChoice Group is looking for contemporary, high-concept drama series that are commercially appealing, action-driven and rooted in authentic African stories. Projects should explore universal themes, offer aspirational storytelling and connect audiences across two or more African territories. Concepts may be created in any African language, English or French, while maintaining cultural authenticity.
“This is an exciting opportunity to discover bold new African drama that speaks authentically to local audiences while travelling beyond borders,” said Nicola van Niekerk, Senior Vice President: Content, CANAL+ Africa. “We are looking for commercially compelling stories with ambition, strong characters and universal themes – stories that showcase the incredible creativity emerging from across the continent.”
Martin Hiller, Portfolio Director of FAME Week Africa, said the initiative reflects MultiChoice Group’s commitment to taking African stories to the world.
Producers are invited to submit:
- A creative treatment (PDF)
- An estimated production budget
The creative treatment should include:
- Series overview
- Logline
- Synopsis
- World of the story
- Style and tone references
- Character overviews
Submissions are open now and close on 18 September 2026.
People moves
Retroviral appoints Koketso Masisi as its first Executive Creative Director
Independent integrated creative agency Retroviral has appointed Koketso Masisi as its first Executive Creative Director (ECD), marking a significant milestone in the agency’s evolution and signalling its continued investment in creativity that drives earned attention, cultural relevance and commercial impact.
The appointment reflects both Masisi’s creative leadership and Retroviral’s transformation over the past four years from a specialist social media agency into one of South Africa’s leading independent integrated creative businesses.
Joining Retroviral as head of design, Masisi quickly became one of the architects behind the agency’s creative evolution. She has helped build a multidisciplinary creative studio, developed an integrated creative offering and played a defining role in shaping work that has consistently blurred the lines between public relations, advertising, social, digital and culture.
During her tenure, Retroviral has cemented its reputation as one of Africa’s most recognised independent agencies, earning accolades including Ad Age International Small Agency of the Year (Silver), SABRE Africa Consultancy of the Year, and both MarkLives and AdFocus Small Agency of the Year in 2025.
“Koketso’s promotion represents far more than a new title,” says Mike Sharman, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Retroviral. “It represents the next chapter of our agency. We’ve always believed creativity shouldn’t sit inside channels. It should solve business problems, create culture and earn people’s attention. Koketso has been instrumental in building that philosophy into our business. She’s helped redefine what creativity looks like at Retroviral, elevating design into integrated thinking, strategy into storytelling and ideas into work that people genuinely want to talk about.”
iPendoring appoints Thembalethu Msibi as Jury President for the 2026 Awards
The iPendoring Awards has announced Thembalethu Msibi, Co-Founder and Creative Partner of BlackSwan, as Jury President for the 2026 awards programme, placing one of South Africa’s most respected purpose-driven creative leaders at the helm of this year’s adjudication process.
With a career spanning nearly two decades, Msibi has built a reputation for creating work that is culturally rooted, strategically sharp and emotionally resonant. Through BlackSwan, she has led through-the-line campaigns for brands including Telkom, KFC, Absa, Clicks, South African Airways and the Joburg Film Festival, while helping establish the agency as one of the country’s most influential independent creative businesses.
Her appointment comes at an important moment in the 2026 awards programme, as entries remain open until 28 August 2026 and the industry continues to submit work that celebrates the depth and diversity of South African creativity.
“Thembalethu brings a fresh perspective to this year’s adjudication and is a natural fit to lead the jury. She understands that language carries culture, context and connection, which is exactly what iPendoring exists to celebrate,” says iPendoring General Manager Eben Keun.
Msibi has served as a judge at the Loeries, iPendoring and Effie Awards, and has held leadership roles including membership of the Creative Circle EXCO and the ABInBev Braintrust.
Massmart appoints Charmagne Mazhindu as VP of marketing
Massmart has appointed seasoned marketing leader Charmagne Mazhindu as its new Vice President of Marketing, strengthening the retailer’s executive leadership team as it continues to accelerate its customer-centric growth strategy.
Mazhindu brings more than a decade of marketing leadership experience across multiple industries, with a track record of building brands, leading digital transformation initiatives and delivering integrated marketing strategies that drive commercial growth and customer engagement.
She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and an Executive Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Transformation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her achievements include being recognised as the 2021 South African Standard Bank Top Women Young Achiever and serving as a judge for the 2021 African Marketing Achievement Awards.
In her new role, Mazhindu will lead Massmart’s marketing strategy across its portfolio of leading retail brands.
Pan Macmillan South Africa announces upcoming memoir of rugby icon Cheslin Kolbe
Pan Macmillan South Africa has announced the upcoming publication of Cheslin Kolbe: Sidestepping the Odds, the highly anticipated memoir by Springbok rugby icon Cheslin Kolbe. Written in collaboration with award-winning writer and broadcaster David O’Sullivan, the book is scheduled for global release in October 2026.
Business moves
Primedia+ elevates in-car media experience with launch on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Primedia Broadcasting has announced a pivotal enhancement to its digital ecosystem with the integration of Primedia+ into Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The advancement expands how audiences connect with South Africa’s premier radio brands – CapeTalk, 947, 702 and Kfm 94.5 – by moving beyond traditional broadcast constraints and embedding a richer, software-driven experience directly into vehicles across South Africa and beyond.
Traditional radio has long been dependent on hardware limitations, but with Primedia+ now powered by sophisticated software platforms, content accessibility transcends geography and hardware. The familiarity and authenticity of Primedia Broadcasting’s renowned local stations now converge with the seamless, high-fidelity digital experience that modern audiences have come to expect. Listeners can also access an expansive library of podcasts, on-demand interviews and multimedia content, broadening the range of engaging audio available to them on the move.
“CapeTalk holds a distinctive position within our Primedia+ offering. Although our AM signal has geographical limitations, the Primedia+ app transcends those boundaries. By integrating with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, CapeTalk is now directly accessible on the dashboard of any compatible vehicle. This innovation eliminates traditional barriers and removes the friction typically associated with digital listening by allowing users to avoid Bluetooth pairing or navigating their phones while driving. With the app installed, CapeTalk transforms into a seamless listening companion, ensuring that our trusted journalism and engaging conversations remain accessible wherever our audience’s journeys take them,” says Tessa van Staden, CapeTalk Station Manager and Head of Digital Content.
Kelvin Storie, Chief Commercial Officer of Primedia Broadcasting, says integration is the future of media engagement. “Our move to make Primedia+ accessible via leading vehicle infotainment platforms exemplifies how we meet audiences wherever they are, providing a curated and interactive media experience that is authentic, compelling and reflective of South Africa’s dynamic landscape.”
Femio launches this Women’s Month
Femio, a new femtech startup, has announced the launch of its mobile app, built to help women track the true cost of being a woman and turn their collective spending power into real, tangible rewards and agency.
Femio was founded on a simple but urgent observation: women spend money every month and every year on costs tied simply to their biology, from menstrual and reproductive products to menopause and personal safety. These costs increase women’s financial disadvantage even before they have earned a salary, yet there is no data on this impact and no policy addressing it.
Early estimates from FemTracker suggest these gender-specific costs can add up to roughly R900 a month per woman, although this will vary from woman to woman as more usage data is analysed.
Founder and CEO of Femio, Monalisa Zwambila, said: “I’ve lived the reality of so many women of being a single mother, working hard and still not having enough at the end of the month. Femio comes from that experience. The app is about giving women meaningful support and the agency to use it, so that when it comes to who benefits from being a woman, the answer is finally: women do.”
Zwambila is also founder and CEO of Riverbed, a female-owned communications agency.
Absa launches South Africa’s first bank-led micro-drama series to help people talk about money
As people around the world face increasingly complex financial decisions, rising financial pressures and the growing threat of scams, proudly Pan-African bank Absa is changing the way financial wellness is communicated through entertainment with the launch of its bank-led micro-drama series, For Better Or For Whatever, brought to you by Absa – a first in South Africa.
Premiering this September, For Better Or For Whatever, brought to you by Absa brings these ideas to life through humour, relatable storytelling and authentic South African characters. Rather than relying on traditional financial education campaigns, the series shows how everyday financial decisions influence some of life’s biggest moments, helping audiences see themselves in the stories and reflect on their own choices.
Micro-dramas are one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment formats, telling compelling stories through short episodes made for watching on a cellphone. Designed for social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, they fit naturally into the way people consume entertainment today – easy to watch, easy to share and easy to binge.
Viranova establishes new South African cultural intelligence platform
Viranova has announced the establishment of Viranova Pulse, a new cultural intelligence and charting platform created to measure, contextualise and track the people, music, entertainment, creators and conversations shaping South African culture.
Built as a dedicated intelligence layer within the Viranova ecosystem, Viranova Pulse moves beyond the idea of viewing individual platform charts in isolation. Instead, it is being developed around a broader cross-platform model that brings together verified signals from major music, video, streaming, social media, discovery, search, broadcast and audience platforms to provide a more complete view of cultural movement in South Africa.
At the centre of the platform will be the Viranova Pulse 50, a flagship overall cultural leaderboard designed to identify what is moving most meaningfully across the country.
Rather than being determined by performance on a single platform, Pulse rankings will consider multiple independent signal families, allowing Viranova to distinguish between simple popularity and genuine cultural momentum.
Cell C and Canva join forces to give South Africans the tools to create, be seen and succeed
Great ideas are everywhere. The tools to bring them to life are not.
Whether it’s building a CV, creating a portfolio of work, launching a side hustle, creating content or growing a small business, digital tools increasingly shape how people participate in the economy. For many South Africans, those tools remain out of reach.
That is the challenge at the heart of a new partnership between Cell C and design platform Canva. By combining affordable connectivity with creative technology, the partnership aims to put professional design and content creation tools in the hands of more South Africans, helping them create, learn, build and share.
As one entry point into the partnership, Cell C customers who purchase a 5GB Anytime Data Bundle from 11 August to 31 October 2026 will receive three months of Canva Pro at no additional cost, unlocking premium design, video editing and content creation capabilities. More than a value-added offer, it is intended to give customers practical tools they can use to express themselves, build a personal brand, promote a business or bring an idea to life.
TCL opens first South African experience store at Cedar Square
Global consumer electronics brand TCL has opened the doors to its first TCL Experience Store in South Africa, bringing the brand’s latest innovations under one roof at Cedar Square in Fourways, Johannesburg.
The new store marks a significant step in TCL’s growth strategy for the South African market and is designed to change the way consumers discover, experience and shop for technology. Rather than simply browsing products online or viewing them in a traditional retail environment, visitors to the TCL Experience Store can interact directly with the brand’s latest innovations, test products in person and speak to knowledgeable experts before making a purchase.
Campaign moves
Nothing hits like Extra Cold. Except maybe a snowball
Now for new work from Boundless for Castle Lite. The campaign, Nothing Hits Like Extra Cold, was created for AB InBev and rolled out in Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique. Rather than explaining extra cold, the team made it snow inside a bar. Three friends order Castle Lites, the regulars brace themselves, and the first sip sets off a full snowstorm.
There are probably sensible ways to sell an extra-cold beer. That’s not what Castle Lite needed. It needed “sensory” before “sensible” to break through in its African markets.
Boundless was briefed to bring “Nothing Hits Like Extra Cold” to Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique – three countries where heat isn’t a weather report. It’s a personality trait.
So the agency did the only logical thing: it made it snow. Not metaphorically. Properly.
Three friends walk into a bar and order Castle Lites. The patrons brace themselves for what’s to come. At the first sip, the bar explodes in a snowstorm, taking the newcomers by surprise and invigorating everyone.
Sometimes an idea works because it speaks every language. Sometimes it works because you covered a bar in snow.
This was one of those times.
The all-new Toyota RAV4 ad campaign invites you to be part of the adventure
The original Recreational Activity Vehicle is back and ready for a new set of adventures. With the launch of the all-new Toyota RAV4, the team at Toyota South Africa Motors, together with Publicis Groupe Africa’s Studio One, set out to capture the vehicle’s spirit of freedom, capability and innovation in a light-hearted and engaging campaign.
The TV commercial opens with an energetic family setting off in their all-new RAV4, brimming with excitement for the adventures ahead. As their drive continues, more RAV4s begin to appear, seamlessly joining the journey. Soon, the road transforms into a lively convoy, catching the eyes of curious onlookers. The playful twist that follows delivers a heartwarming surprise sure to leave viewers smiling.
Peet Engelbrecht, Executive Creative Director at Studio One, explained: “We wanted to highlight a simple, universal truth: that irresistible urge to just get up and go. And what better way to capture that feeling than behind the wheel of the all-new RAV4.”
That spirit is perfectly embodied by the all-new Toyota RAV4, now officially launched in South Africa. The RAV4 combines a striking new design, advanced technology and enhanced comfort with Toyota’s renowned reliability.
Making moves
HOT 102.7FM and Hot Cares invest in the future of one of Johannesburg’s most remarkable women’s shelters
Every Mandela Day, Hot Cares looks for organisations where a single investment can create a lasting ripple effect. This year, that search led to the Frida Hartley Shelter in Yeoville.
Founded in 1922, Frida Hartley is one of Johannesburg’s oldest shelters for vulnerable women, but its true distinction lies in its philosophy. It is one of the few shelters where mothers can remain with their children while rebuilding their lives. It provides counselling, childcare, career guidance, financial literacy, computer training and employment support to help women regain independence.
Many former residents have gone on to secure employment, establish independent homes and even return to support the shelter that helped them. It is a model built on empowerment rather than dependency.
“When Hot Cares chooses an organisation, we don’t simply look at need,” says Carmen Rocha, Director of Hot Cares NPC. “We look for organisations that are exceptionally well run, financially responsible and genuinely changing lives. Frida Hartley is exactly that.”
Countdown to the 2026 Algoa FM Big Walk for Cancer presented by Isuzu Motors South Africa
The first steps have been taken in the annual Algoa FM Big Walk for Cancer presented by Isuzu Motors South Africa – the Eastern Cape’s biggest mass-participation charity event, which takes place on Saturday, 31 October.
With prostate cancer now the most diagnosed cancer in South Africa, one of the focus areas for the 2026 Algoa FM Big Walk for Cancer is men’s health.
Funds raised at the 2026 event on 31 October will support projects by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa and CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa.
CHOC requires a twin-cab bakkie to reach children in remote areas of Algoa Country, while vital prostate cancer diagnostic equipment will be purchased for hospitals in George, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City.
“For the first time in 28 years, there will be a core focus on prostate cancer,” Alfie Jay, Managing Director of Algoa FM, said at the official launch of the 2026 Big Walk.
“Gents, remember that early detection is the key to your future. Please make an appointment with a GP and get yourself checked.
“Together with the other guys on my team of champions, we hereby challenge all the men of Algoa Country to unite for our brothers.”
BBC Africa Eye investigates – South Africa: Anatomy of a Cover-up
South Africa: Anatomy of a Cover-up, a new documentary from BBC World Service’s award-winning investigative unit, BBC Africa Eye, draws on unprecedented access to evidence and insider testimony, examining whether a detective’s pursuit of the truth ultimately cost him his life. Piecing together the events that led to one of the most explosive criminal cases in modern South African history, the BBC investigation raises disturbing questions about power, accountability and impunity.
Episode 1 of the BBC Africa Eye documentary, South Africa: Anatomy of a Cover-up, is available in the UK on BBC iPlayer. Outside the UK, audiences can watch it on the BBC News Africa YouTube channel. Episode 2 will be available on these platforms from Monday, 24 August.
