The Media Online’s weekly round-up of media business moves, all in one place.
This week’s BIG moves
Lobengula Advertising’s Brenda Khumalo appointed chairperson of the iPendoring Awards
iPendoring has appointed Brenda Khumalo, founder and managing director of Lobengula Advertising, as chairperson of its board. A director of iPendoring since 2019, she succeeds Izelle Venter, who stepped down as chairperson on 15 September and remains a board member. Astrid de Vos continues as vice-chairperson. Both appointments run until the close of the 2027 Annual General Meeting.
Venter stepped down of her own accord, asking that the chair pass to someone more closely linked to the industry. Venter remains a director, and the board thanked her for her years in the chair.
With more than 20 years in the industry, Khumalo is a passionate champion of inclusivity. Alongside her seat on the iPendoring board, she serves on the board of the Association for Communication and Advertising, and mentors young talent while leading change with empathy and vision.
“Languages are living things. They move with us, change with us and find new ways to express who we are,” she said. “iPendoring has always been a space for that evolution, celebrating the creativity that happens when Indigenous languages find their place in advertising, media and culture. I’m honoured to take the chair and to help carry that spirit forward, with an eye on all that our languages and our creativity can become.”
Financial Times Weekend now printed and delivered locally
Financial Times Weekend (FT Weekend), the Financial Times’ flagship weekend edition, is now being printed and distributed locally in South Africa for the first time, cutting the wait between London’s presses and a Sandton breakfast table from days to hours.
“This is about giving South African readers the same experience as someone reading FT Weekend in London or New York, on the same weekend, in print, with the full depth and quality that the FT is known for. For years, South African readers have had to wait days for imported copies or settle for a screen. That wait is now over. On the Dot’s national distribution network makes this possible: we’re delivering a world-class publication to boardroom tables, retail shelves and front doors across the country, on the weekend it’s meant to be read,” said André van Tonder, managing executive, On the Dot.
Locally printed copies will be available at select retailers, including Exclusive Books, Woolworths, Checkers and other selected stores nationwide, at R175 per issue. For a limited period, subscribers get considerably more: R95 per edition secures the same printed Financial Times Weekend delivered to their door, plus full digital access to the Financial Times, covering the daily (Monday to Friday) edition, the digital weekend edition and all FT magazine content, at no extra cost.
People moves
VoxComm welcomes its first African board members
VoxComm, the global voice of communications agency associations, has welcomed Gillian Rightford and Hassan Rouissi to its board, marking the first seats representing Africa since the organisation’s founding in 2020. The appointments extend VoxComm’s board representation across North America, Europe, Oceania and now Africa.
The appointments come as VoxComm continues to press the case, through its Redesigning the Agency Value Model guidance paper, for agencies to move beyond time-based remuneration towards models that reflect the value they create for clients and economies.
The paper took centre stage at Cannes Lions this year, where VoxComm president Charley Stoney presented its key findings, followed by a panel discussion with Floriane Tripolino, CEO of WPP OpenX; Patricia Corsi, chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark; and Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO of the 4As. The discussion was moderated by Giorgos Vareloglou, co-founder and managing partner at REBORRN.
RSG welcomes brand-new ‘Loof die Here’ presenter
RSG has announced AJ Maree as the new presenter of the ever-popular spiritual programme Loof die Here. He will present his first programme on Sunday, 1 November 2026, between 08:00 and 09:00 – a fresh new season for a beloved favourite that has guided listeners, young and old, on a journey of inspiration and enrichment for more than five decades.
AJ’s appointment follows Magdaleen Krüger’s decision to lay down the Loof die Here microphone on 27 September, after seven years behind it, to fully embrace her retirement. Her farewell marked the end of a remarkable era, and for this reason October becomes a special tribute to the rich history of the programme before the new season begins in full colour and song.
AJ is a dedicated music lover, maths teacher and choir conductor. After completing his degree in Actuarial Science and making a brief turn in the corporate world, he unexpectedly found himself in the classroom, where he discovered that his true calling lies in education. Since 2010, he has taught at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria, and since 2016 he has also conducted the school’s choir, Die Rooidasse.
“To join RSG and specifically this programme is a special privilege, but also a great responsibility,” says AJ. “Loof die Here has a rich history and is a programme with which many people have grown up over decades.”
Exabeam expands Craig Patterson’s role to SVP of Global Channels & Marketing
Exabeam, a leader in Behavior Intelligence for the agentic enterprise, has announced that Craig Patterson has been named SVP of Global Channels & Marketing, reporting to CEO Pete Harteveld. A member of the company’s executive leadership team, Patterson retains leadership of the global partner ecosystem he has led since joining Exabeam in 2025 and assumes leadership of the entire marketing organisation, including brand, messaging, demand generation, communications, field marketing and account development.
The expanded role more closely aligns Exabeam’s marketing and channel strategies as the company scales a new security category. Agent Behavior Analytics (ABA) extends behavioural detection beyond human users to AI agents and machine identities operating inside the enterprise, which increasingly have access to the same systems and data as human users. ABA baselines each agent’s normal pattern of activity and flags those that drift from it.
Business moves
Roster launches Star Power to put numbers behind music’s biggest debates
Roster has officially launched Star Power, a free public tool that puts streaming and social data behind one of music’s favourite arguments: who is the bigger artist? Created by music executive and Roster founder and CEO Thabiso Khati, Star Power is open to everyone, with no subscription or sign-up required.
Tyla or Ayra Starr? An established star or the artist everyone is suddenly talking about? Star Power invites fans, artists and music professionals to check the numbers behind the names, share their results and put their opinions to the test.
“Fans already debate music the way they debate sport. Who is bigger? Who has the stronger following? Who is getting attention beyond their home country?” says Khati. “In sport, people bring statistics into those conversations all the time. We want music fans to have that same opportunity. Pick your artist, check the numbers and bring your receipts. The argument gets a lot more interesting when everyone has something to put on the table.”
Algoa FM celebrates 40 years of broadcast excellence
A year of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the founding of Algoa FM culminated in presenters riding the world’s longest over-the-ocean zipline in Mossel Bay.
“We specifically chose Mossel Bay as the destination for our final roadshow because it anchors the Algoa Country broadcast footprint, which stretches from the Garden Route to the Wild Coast, and inland through the Karoo,” says Algoa FM managing director Alfie Jay.
During 2026, Algoa FM hosted six birthday celebration outside-broadcast roadshows to showcase the station’s “on air, online, and on the ground” presence across Algoa Country.
The events provided listeners and advertising partners with the opportunity to meet senior management and presenters, and to experience the impact of Algoa FM in its broadcast footprint, “and we were blown away by the support from our listeners. People went out of their way to come and meet us at each of the activations,” says Jay.
The venues were selected to illustrate the different aspects that go into the business of radio.
Over the past 40 years, Algoa FM has grown to become the biggest private media company in the Eastern Cape and Garden Route, with a strong presence on air, online through its website and social media, and on the ground through ongoing appearances by presenters throughout the region.
Africa GCC Live Powered by Trace+: Where the Gulf Meets Africa, the voice of Africa took centre stage
The event took place under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.
The Africa Pavilion at AIM Congress 2026 has concluded a landmark edition, and Trace, Africa’s leading Afro-Urban media and entertainment group, is proud to have stood at its centre as official media and content partner alongside the Africa-GCC Council.
Over three days at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the Africa Pavilion welcomed representatives from close to 10 African countries and a broad spectrum of stakeholders, private-sector companies, major corporations, Chambers of Commerce, public institutions and official government delegations.
At the heart of the Pavilion stood the Trace Pavilion Studio, a dedicated, branded content studio capturing investor conversations, founder stories and policy dialogues as they unfolded, and turning them into content for Africa’s youth and diaspora. Across the three days, the Studio hosted a series of fireside chats and interviews with prominent government leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and cultural figures, generating content distributed live and on demand through Trace+, television, YouTube and Trace’s social channels across Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
“What we captured in that studio over three days will outlast the Congress itself. We watched investors, founders and a Queen Consort sit down in the same room, and we made sure Africa’s youth were watching too. That’s the partnership we set out to build, and it’s only the start,” said Olivier Laouchez, co-founder & CEO, Trace.
Durban FilmMart welcomes Canadian delegation
The Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI) will welcome a delegation of Canadian film professionals to this year’s market, which takes place from 9 to 12 October. The delegation’s presence, presented in partnership with the High Commission of Canada Trade Office in South Africa, is anchored by a dedicated speed-meeting session connecting Canadian filmmakers with DFM delegates.
“Canada has long been one of South Africa’s strongest coproduction partners, and this delegation builds on a relationship with the Canadian High Commission that we’ve been growing year on year,” says Magdalene Reddy, director of the Durban FilmMart Institute.
“South Africa’s co-production treaty with Canada gives our filmmakers real, practical access to Canadian financing, expertise and markets, and vice versa. Durban FilmMart exists to be that meeting space; a hub where international delegations like this one can sit across the table from African producers and turn shared interest into actual projects.”
Milk + Cookies Festival announces 2027 return to Cape Town & Joburg
Milk + Cookies Festival returns to South Africa this summer, bringing its mix of music, food, fashion and design to Cape Town on 29 January and Johannesburg on 31 January 2027. It arrives off two editions that have drawn more than 50,000 people between them, with a line-up that, as always, nobody has expected.
Kaytranada headlined the South African debut in 2025, drawing 20 000 people. Last year, with Gunna headlining, attendance passed 30 000 across both cities, alongside two weeks of Milk + Cookies Music Week programming and more than 50 local and international artists. That edition supported more than 3,500 jobs, from production crews and vendors to venue and hospitality staff.
Those two years sounded nothing alike, and that was deliberate. Milk + Cookies books for the audience in the room rather than for a genre. A Haitian-Canadian producer one year and an Atlanta rapper the next isn’t a change of direction, it is the pattern. What carries over from one edition to the next is the crowd, not the category.
Anyone walking through Braamfontein, Melville, Maboneng, Woodstock or the Cape Town CBD in recent weeks will have seen them – mysterious posters carrying one line, “Never the same sound, always the same feeling,” with no name, no date and nothing else attached. This is what they were pointing at.
“Never the same sound, always the same feeling,” said Chase Freeman, head of marketing at Milk + Cookies. “That’s the only brief we’ve ever had. We book for the people in the room, not for a genre, and they come for what the room feels like as much as the name on the poster.”
Across both cities, the festival sits inside a wider programme that puts music, food, fashion, art and design in the same space, with panels, workshops, pop-ups and parties running alongside the stages. Each edition is built with South African artists, creators, venues and partners. The people making the culture should be the ones running it. That’s how the festival was set up.
F5 Shanghai and Leagas Delaney deepen China/global creative alliance
Independent agencies F5 Shanghai and Leagas Delaney are deepening a creative partnership developed over several years as Chinese brands increasingly look to build global identities and international brands seek greater cultural relevance in China.
The collaboration will focus on helping Chinese brands develop stronger brand meaning in overseas markets, while supporting international and premium brands seeking growth in China and across Asia.
Rather than forming a traditional agency network or licensing arrangement, the two agencies will combine their respective strengths across global brand strategy and positioning, creative platforms, premium and luxury communications, cross-cultural campaigns, AI-enabled creativity and content, and local execution.
For F5 Shanghai founder and chief creative officer Adams Fan, the shift reflects the changing ambitions of Chinese businesses.
“Going global is no longer just about getting products onto shelves in another country,” says Fan. “The next challenge is getting people in another culture to understand you, desire you and eventually believe in you.”
F5 Shanghai marketing director Jimyi Xu says the partnership is intended to combine senior international strategic and creative thinking with local market understanding and direct access to decision-makers.
Context Networks selects Broadsign to scale contextual advertising across display networks
Context Networks, a contextual advertising and monetisation platform for gaming and network digital display environments, has announced a collaboration with Broadsign, the global platform for managing and monetising out-of-home (OOH) media, to support the next phase of growth of Context Networks’ Contextual Promotions Media Network™ (CPMN™).
As a result, Context Networks now has a unified foundation for managing, delivering and monetising screen-based media as the company expands across gaming and other controlled display environments.
Through the collaboration, Context Networks is connecting eligible CPMN™ inventory to the Broadsign Platform, the company’s complete Ad Server and Content Management System (CMS). This will enable Context Networks to manage business-critical content and advertising across its network of displays as well as the Place Exchange supply-side platform (SSP), Broadsign’s programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) SSP.
Campaign moves
The worlds of SpongeBob SquarePants and ONE PIECE collide for McDonald’s latest Happy Meal collab by tms
McDonald’s is forming an exciting and unlikely partnership for its latest Happy Meal by bringing together the worlds of SpongeBob SquarePants and ONE PIECE.
As lead agency, tms played a pivotal role in forming the partnership between the licensors and bringing the campaign to life by delivering the visual identity, strategy, retail experience, digital gameplay, packaging, and toy design and sourcing.
The SpongeBob SquarePants x ONE PIECE Happy Meal invites customers to embark on the ultimate treasure hunt under the Golden Arches. While the two animated series differ, tms tapped into the common thread of adventure and love of the pirate life to bring them together. By pairing SpongeBob’s family-friendly familiarity with ONE PIECE’s adventure-led fandom, the collaboration gives Happy Meal a way to connect with fans across markets.
tms designed the digital gameplay to extend the Happy Meal outside restaurants and deepen the treasure quest theme, available in select markets. To play, customers must scan the code on their toy or Happy Meal box. Customers can then choose a unique character and navigate around on a ship to collect treasure in the sea.
The Happy Meal is set to launch in more than 70 global markets.
The punch no one sees coming: Behind The Gloves and Brothers and Sisters launch campaign to define boxing’s 7th punch
Behind The Gloves is a community-driven nonprofit initiative founded by Lee McFarland. The charity uses boxing, fitness and corporate engagement, primarily within the iGaming and sports betting sectors, to host experiences and raise funds for charitable causes.
The campaign centres on an AI-generated film set in Mexico in the 1970s, where the mythical seventh punch first originates. Inspired by Mexico’s boxing heritage, the film opens on a young boy being coached by his mentor, who regales the tale of the seventh punch. The film follows the mentor’s narrative, culminating in that seventh blow inspiring those brave enough to step into the ring.
The launch film will then be followed by video content by the amateur fighters talking about their own personal seventh punch stories from numerous global businesses participating in Midnight Mayhem.
The campaign is promoting Midnight Mayhem, a Behind The Gloves charity event taking place in Barcelona next year, where 20 people from across the gaming and gambling industry have been invited to take part in nine boxing bouts.
The campaign film is a powerful piece of storytelling on boxing’s 7th punch: the punch no one sees coming.
Mirinda launches the world’s first Smile Delivery Service
Across Africa, consumers are navigating a range of economic and social pressures. From rising petrol costs and the rising cost of living to the constant barrage of negative headlines that dominate news cycles and social media timelines, many people are feeling the weight of everyday life a lot more now than ever before.
While brands can do little to solve these challenges outright, they can help create moments that make people’s days brighter. That belief sits at the heart of Mirinda’s global Sip a Mirinda, Spread the Smile platform. The platform, which is built on the idea that a simple act of kindness can have a meaningful impact, encourages consumers to bring moments of positivity into the lives of others.
Now, Mirinda has taken that idea beyond communications through a Smile Delivery Service created in partnership with Glovo.
Through the activation, consumers were able to nominate someone they care about and send them a personalised surprise delivery containing a Mirinda, a personal message and an unexpected gift, transforming a simple thought into a tangible, real experience.
The activation debuted in Kampala, Uganda, with the aim of facilitating 2 000 surprise deliveries over four weeks. According to Marius Vorster, marketing director, Foods & Beverages SSA at PepsiCo, the campaign reflects a growing desire among consumers for more meaningful forms of connection.
From Transylvania to Mzansi
Flying Fish is launching its new Halloween Limited Edition Passion Fruit & Lemon through a mystery-led campaign that started with bitten cans, strange in-store activity and Dracula sightings before influencers and consumers joined the hunt online. The campaign leads to the ultimate consumer experience – a chance to travel to Transylvania and party at the real Dracula’s Castle.
Making moves
Disney Channel celebrates 20 years in Africa
Disney Channel celebrated 20 years on air in Africa with an exclusive anniversary party held at The Tryst in Johannesburg on Friday, 25 September – the very date the channel first launched on DStv in 2006. Press, influencers, celebrities, Disney partners and competition-winning fans came together for an afternoon of nostalgia, music and interactive entertainment marking two decades of Disney Channel storytelling on the continent.
Hosted by Chad Jones, the celebration invited guests to journey through the channel’s history via six themed activations, including a nostalgia-filled entrance tunnel, an Inspired-by Fashion Closet styled on characters from Hannah Montana, Descendants and ZOMBIES, and a Disney Channel Memory Wall where guests shared their own favourite moments from the channel.
Special celebrity guests in attendance included soccer star Lucas Radebe, 947 presenter and TV host Anele Mdoda, Jacaranda FM presenter Rozanne McKenzie and former Miss South Africa Tansey Coetzee.
The party arrives as Disney Channel continues to mark its 20th anniversary year with a wave of new content, including the already aired animated original Dragon Striker and a concert special of the Descendants/ZOMBIES Worlds Collide Tour. Fans can also catch up with the recently aired Camp Rock 3, starring Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas, and the brand-new animated comedy series The Doomies, premiering 12 October.
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger streams exclusively on Disney+ 9 October
Disney+ has announced that Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger, the Hulu Original film from the UK, will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu and Disney+ in the US from 9 October.
As the exclusive home of the critically acclaimed documentary, Disney+ will also host never-before-seen footage that includes material from the joint interview with Liam and Noel Gallagher, and full performances of songs Wonderwall and Slide Away. D’You Know What I Mean? and Half The World Away will feature for the first time and be available exclusively to Disney+ customers.
A Magna Studios production, Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger rocked the UK and Ireland box office earlier this month as the year’s highest-grossing documentary feature film* and has been a hit with critics and audiences alike, sitting at 97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 98%.
Angela Jain, head of content, Disney+ EMEA, said: “The great wait is over…as we now bring ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger’ to as many people as possible through Disney+, and to be doing it with exclusive unseen footage too, is so exciting for fans. The Oasis reunion has been one of our defining cultural moments of recent times. We have seen how the documentary has resonated with audiences around the world as they celebrate the power of Oasis and music through this evocative and moving reunion story.”
Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels Golf Day raises R5.5 million for those in need
Jacaranda FM’s annual Good Morning Angels Golf Day, held at Irene Country Club, has raised R5.5 million for the Good Morning Angels Fund, creating an even greater opportunity for the station to support listeners and South Africans facing medical emergencies, extreme hardship and life-changing circumstances.
Bringing together approximately 80 companies, the annual event transformed the golf course, bowls field, padel courts and sponsor village into a day of sport, entertainment, creativity and fundraising, before culminating in an evening celebration and charity auction.
“We are incredibly grateful to every company, sponsor, participant, partner and individual who contributed to this year’s Good Morning Angels Golf Day,” says Vuyani Dombo, managing director of Jacaranda FM. “R5.5 million is an extraordinary achievement, but what makes it particularly meaningful is what that money represents. It represents hope, dignity and tangible support for people who are going through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. The generosity and creativity shown throughout the day was a powerful reminder of what can happen when our community comes together behind a common purpose.”
The Cape Town International Kite Festival returns in October 2026
For more than three decades, the Cape Town International Kite Festival has transformed Cape Town’s skies into a symbol of hope, resilience and human connection. In 2026, the beloved event returns to #ColourTheSky for its 32nd year on 24 and 25 October at Youngsfield Military Base in Ottery, bringing together thousands of people in support of mental health awareness and the life-changing work of Cape Mental Health.
Since its launch in 1994, the festival has grown into Africa’s oldest kite festival and one of South Africa’s most recognised mental health awareness events. Beyond the colourful displays and family-friendly atmosphere lies a powerful purpose: breaking down stigma, encouraging help-seeking behaviour and reminding people that no one has to face mental health challenges alone.
“We are excited to host the 32nd Cape Town International Kite Festival this Spring – a time of growth, renewal and colour. The kite festival provides us with an awesome opportunity to brighten the sky with messages of hope, stories of resilience and to celebrate the courage and bravery of those who live with a mental health condition. The kite festival gives us the opportunity to host our international, national and local kiters who will bring vibrant colour and flair to the sky. It’s a time when Cape Town comes alive after the cold winter months to support Cape Mental Health raise much needed funds and mental health awareness,” said Professor Ingrid Daniels, Cape Mental Health CEO.
This year’s theme, #ColourTheSky, celebrates the power of connection and the difference each of us can make in creating brighter, more supportive communities.
