NEWS RELEASE

20/07/2007

NEW CHANNEL LAUNCH HERALDS AN UNPRECEDENTED MILESTONE FOR SABC NEWS

Montecasino in Fourways, Johannesburg will form the glittering backdrop for the much anticipated launch of the new South African Broadcasting Corporation news channel, SABC News International on Friday, July 20.

With President Thabo Mbeki presiding over the proceedings and live feeds from SABC’s six international bureaus in Kenya, DRC, Washington, Brussels, New York, Senegal and Nigeria, the event promises to showcase the continent’s leading and diverse news and views.

“We are particularly proud of this initiative which is aimed at extending our footprint to provide news to and from across the continent and to compete commercially,” says Dr Snuki Zikalala, Group Executive of News.

The channel which broadcasts Monday to Friday is envisaged to become a fully-fledged 24-hour news channel by early next year with news and current affairs programmes broadcast in both English and French.
Zikalala comments:  "There is already considerable interest from African, American and European broadcasters in carrying the channel.
                                                                                                           
“Plans are at an advanced stage to stream the channel live on the Internet as well as on cell phones."
RENDEZVOUS AFRICA is the channel’s flagship programme which serves as Africa's meeting place to discuss continental and global issues that affect Africans.

07/06/2007