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“Apple TV 4K is in a category of its own, leveraging a deep integration of Apple hardware, software, and services that delivers a massive upgrade to any TV for the very best cinematic experience,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the A12 Bionic and the all-new Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K lets customers enjoy their favourite shows, movies, and more in the highest quality, with simple and intuitive controls. And of course, Apple TV 4K offers easy access to Apple services, along with thousands of apps on the App Store for even more entertainment options.”

Improved Video Experiences

As announced during last month’s Stream On event, Spotify has been working on a new family of personalised playlists: Spotify Mixes. These new personalised playlists were inspired by  Daily Mix, an incredibly popular part of the Spotify catalogue, and the most listened-to by Spotify’s existing users.

Beginning today, Free and Premium users globally will now have access to three new mix categories with clearer names that are easier to remember and evolve with the user: artist mix, genre mix and decade mix.

These mixes, built with Spotify users in mind, start with the songs users like and update with songs Spotify thinks they will love, ultimately growing with the user over time. Each mix category is updated frequently and will have several playlists featuring artists, genres and decades users listen to often – and are created with them at the core.

Users will be able to find the new artist mix, genre mix, and decade mix within Search in the “Made For You” hub.

To hear more about Spotify’s take on machine learning, check out the latest podcast episode of Spotify: A Product Story, hosted by Spotify’s Chief R&D Officer Gustav Söderström. The podcast series is designed to give users a glimpse into what decisions have guided Spotify’s product evolution.

Vodacom is reducing pricing on certain 30-day data bundles by up to 14% as part of its ongoing commitment to reduce the cost to communicate and connect more people to the digital economy.

The latest price reduction includes the frequently purchased 1GB bundle, which is now R85, a 14% reduction from R99. As part of these price adjustments Vodacom is also giving greater value to customers by allocating up to 33% more data on selected 30-day bundles, to ensure customers get more value at last year’s prices. This will promote digital inclusion and assist our 43 million customers in making savings at a time when they need it most.

Vodacom has also re-introduced the 30-day 2GB bundle at R159 to give customers wider choice and more value. Tariffs on the 50MB, 3GB, 5GB, 10GB and 20GB 30-day bundles remain unchanged.

“For the past four years, we have remained relentless and consistent in our approach to democratise access by bringing about affordable mobile prices. Our aim in reducing these prices is to ensure customers are constantly connected on SA’s leading network. Our purpose is to connect for a better future and ensure that no one is left behind in this new digital age. It is one of the most critical ways we believe we can create a more equal society for all,” says Jorge Mendes, Chief Officer of Vodacom’s Consumer Business.

Since April 2019, Vodacom has almost halved the price of data to ensure access to affordable communication solutions for everyone, especially those with limited resources.

“In our journey towards becoming a leading Pan African technology company, we will not stop until everyone is connected, as it is part of creating a sustainable, inclusive digital society. As a purpose-led organisation, the voice of our customer is important to us, as such we have reintroduced certain bundles to meet the customer demand so we can go further together,” added Mendes.

To highlight Vodacom’s continued support, the zero-rated ConnectU platform launched last year offering free access to critical essential services, information and cheaper data, benefits over 14 million unique registered users per month. ConnectU offers even more affordable data prices for customers living in 2000 of South Africa’s lower income suburbs, villages and towns. The service also addresses other key societal needs by connecting users to news, job portals, educational content on the e-School platform, and information on health, wellness, safety and security. Through ConnectU, customers also have access to emergency services such as the what3words emergency findme website and more.

For even more value, customers can continue to access personalised discounted offers through Just4You. Over the past seven years, the popular platform has provided tailor-made data and voice deals based on individual usage patterns and location.

Reducing the barriers to communicate includes having access to low-cost devices. Over 4.2 million of Vodacom’s low-cost branded suite of smart devices, which are 3G and 4G enabled, have been sold in South Africa. This access to connectivity has been further enhanced by prepaid device financing, enabling customers with no credit facilities to pay for 4G devices in instalments.

“Since April last year, we have saved our customers billions of rands through our cost-reduction initiatives and we will continue to do so. We will also invest over R50 billion over a five-year period in infrastructure and new technologies, to increase broadband coverage and data speeds which will bridge the digital divide even more. All our initiatives form part of our social contract, which is a commitment to ensure everyone is connected irrespective of their socio-economic circumstances. We are on a mission to connect everyone and will continue to play our part to combine our technology with the power of individuals, society, businesses and government so we can go further together,” concludes Mendes.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has announced a partnership with The Marketing Achievement Awards (MAA) as the presenting partner until 2023.

The SABC’s involvement in the MAA programme places it at the forefront of the transformation of marketing in South Africa, supporting the communication, advertising and marketing sectors and elevating marketing as a profession. This year the two entities will join forces to celebrate Marketing Genius and all of their achievements for the year 2020/21.

The Marketing Achievement Awards celebrate excellence in the science and art of strategic marketing.  This year the awards acknowledge the finest minds in the marketing profession by raising awareness for the creativity and originality of effective marketing while showcasing the successes of marketing teams and individuals who will be measured against, and recognised by, their peers. The MAA continues to set a benchmark for excellence and drive constant improvement in the discipline by promoting the value of marketing in strategy and business growth.

“These awards would not be possible without the guidance and support of our partners. As an industry initiative, the MAA relies on the relationships formed with organisations who wholeheartedly believe in the platform’s values. It’s more than financial support, these partners provide invaluable insight and encouragement from their understanding of the vital role that marketing plays in business strategy and, significantly, how the profession can be counted on to drive much needed economic resurgence” says Mohale Ralebitso, Chairperson of the Marketing Awards Council.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the SABC, Mr Madoda Mxakwe stated “This partnership comes at the opportune time for us as we intensify our efforts to rebuild the SABC corporate image and enter into strategic partnerships that will assist in positioning our organisation favourably in the market. We are confident that this partnership presents us great exposure to business, aligns us with industry trends, and exposes us to partner insights and thought leadership”. “We are delighted to be associated with the Marketing Achievement Awards whose aim resonates with ours to continuously create opportunities to grow the industry, develop talent and offer value to marketers across all industry sectors”, added Mxakwe.

The SABC joins this year’s partners:

• Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) | Marketing Person of the Year Award

• Nando’s | Founding Partner and Sponsor of Brand Positioning Award

• Provantage Media Group (PMG) | Out-of-Home Partner and Sponsor of Integrated Marketing Award

• Accenture Interactive | Sponsor of the Marketing Organisation of the Year Award.

• ABSA Group | Patron and sponsor of the Marketing Innovation Award

• Brand South Africa | Supporter and Sponsor of the South African Resonance Marketing Award

• Google & IAB | Sponsor of Digital Brand Marketing Award

• Kantar | Sponsor of Purpose-Led Marketing

• Unilever | Sponsor of Rising Star of the Year Award Sponsor

• The Blue Train | Prize Sponsor for Marketing Person of the Year

• Biz Community | Media Partner

• Modern Marketing | Media Partner

• Newsclip Media Monitoring | Monitoring Partner

Nokia (www.Nokia.com) 5G radio and FastMile 5G gateways provide ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access services to subscribers; Safaricom also showcased 5G hologram and UHD video communication using live 5G network.

Nokia has announced today that it is powering East Africa’s first 5G commercial services with Safaricom, the leading telecoms operator in the country. Nokia’s 5G Single Radio Access Network (SRAN) technology and 5G FastMile gateways enable ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services to Safaricom’s subscribers across Kisumu and the Western Province of Kenya.

5G technology will enable new applications in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence for Safaricom subscribers. It will also benefit enterprises across important energy, healthcare, education, transport and entertainment applications.

At a launch event in Nairobi, Safaricom showcased the capabilities of the 5G network with three use cases — 5G hologram, Ultra-HD video communication and virtual fashion shopping. In the hologram showcase, the live 5G network was used to teleport Safaricom’s executives from Safaricom office in Kisumu to the launch event in Nairobi. And in the second showcase, Ultra-HD video communication was made using the 5G Fixed Wireless Access connectivity powered by WiFi-6 with Nokia Beacon 6. The third showcase of virtual shopping will change shopping experience allowing users to try on clothes “virtually”.

Nokia has leveraged its AirScale SRAN platform to enable ultra-low latency, huge connectivity and extreme capacity to support the demands of today and tomorrow. The 5G network utilizes massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) radio to improve spectral efficiency and throughput capacity, maximizing the return on Safaricom’s RAN investment. In addition, Nokia’s FastMile 5G gateway provides fiber like speeds for fixed wireless services to subscribers. Also, the company’s network planning, deployment and integration services ensured timely rollout of the network.

As part of the network, Nokia 5G Cloud Mobility Manager delivers the scalability, flexibility, high availability and performance needed to support the growth of mobile and enterprise services. Nokia’s NetAct network management system helps Safaricom have consolidated network view for improved network monitoring and management.

Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom, said: “We are proud to be the first operator in the East Africa to launch 5G services, bringing the benefits of 5G technology to our customers. 5G capabilities will change a lot of things in unimaginable ways for people and enterprises, playing a key role towards fulfilling our vision to transform lives. Our long-term partner Nokia’s technologies and services expertise helped us achieve this milestone in our journey to provide world-class broadband services to our customers.”

Amr K. El Leithy, SVP, Middle East and Africa Market, Nokia, said: “With over 200 commercial 5G agreements with leading customers across the globe, Nokia has been bringing 5G network to every part of the world. Our 5G network for Safaricom is a key part of this journey and we are committed to working with the operator to transform the communications landscape in the country. This will open new business opportunities for Safaricom.”

eMedia Investments, the company behind free-to-air satellite service Openview, and the SABC, have announced a ground-breaking new distribution agreement that will enhance both companies in the free-to-air category of television broadcasting.

The collaboration between South Africa’s fastest-growing satellite network and SA’s most established broadcaster signals a seismic shift in the country’s broadcasting landscape.  With this agreement the SABC ensures that its content, in all its formats, continues to resonate with the prescripts of its public mandate, and more so in providing universal access to credible content. The agreement also guarantees High Definition broadcast quality and free access to the SABC’s television network wherever you are in South Africa. For Openview this agreement enhances its strength in the DTH space with additional content and a solid binding collaboration with the Public Broadcaster.

In addition to carrying SABC 1, 2 and 3, Openview will carry three additional television channels from the Public Broadcaster and all its 19 radio channels. Through this agreement the SABC is officially entering the free-to-air satellite market which will supplement its channels on DTT and streaming platforms.  First amongst the three new channels will be a standalone SABC Sports Channel that will launch on Openview soon.

Openview’s aggressively growing base of 2.3 million households will have access to four SABC television channels, with two more to be announced in due course, and 19 radio stations, including the biggest South African radio brands – Ukhozi FM, Metro FM, Lesedi and Umhlobo Wenene.  This enables previously geographically restricted FM radio channels to be received throughout the country via digital broadcasting on a free-to-air basis.

Notwithstanding this agreement at the platform level, the SABC’s broadcasting services will continue to compete for audience and advertising with eMedia-owned channels and services, as they currently compete on the analogue network.

Commenting on the new multi-year signal distribution and channel carriage agreement, eMedia Investments COO, Antonio Lee, says, “This is an exciting development for both the SABC and ourselves.  The agreement ushers in a new level of collaboration between a private free-to-air satellite platform and public free-to-air broadcast services. There is no doubt it will boost the offering of Openview and will extend the SABC’s audience reach.  We can now offer our Openview audience additional quality content and access to digital broadcast radio in the widest variety of languages possible in South Africa.  We hope this is the start of a stronger and more fruitful relationship between Openview and the SABC”.

According to the SABC’s COO, Ian Plaatjes, “This agreement enables the SABC to grow its channel offering and reach into the digital broadcasting space with three additional HD television channels. The first channel to be launched will be an SABC Sport Channel and will be distributed simultaneously across Openview, DTT, Telkom One and other streaming platforms. This collaboration will enable the SABC to optimally exploit its rich sport content rights and leverage the Openview reach to provide an improved integrated sport value proposition for our advertising clients across platforms. The agreement also enhances the distribution of SABC radio stations to create an increased value proposition for our radio advertising inventory.  The other two TV channels, to be announced within the next 3 months, will leverage extensive SABC content and archived material.”

Openview and the SABC believe that this agreement will expedite digital migration from analogue-only households to digital broadcasting platforms with more compelling free-to-air channels and content. Together with the DTT platform, Openview provides audiences with a free HD alternative to both analogue terrestrial and pay satellite options.

Openview boxes can be purchased at all leading retailers nationwide.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is pleased to announce the appointment of four Business Managers (BM) to oversee six of its radio stations. These critical appointments form part of the new structure of the corporation’s Radio portfolio that will ensure audience and revenue growth. The public broadcaster congratulates the following Business Managers on their respective appointments and wishes them well in their new roles:

–        Ms. Sbongi Ngcobo, Business Manager – Ukhozi FM. Ms. Ngcobo began her career at the SABC as Marketing Manager for trufm. Before this appointment, she was Ukhozi fm’s Acting Station Manager, a position she held from February 2018. Ms. Ngcobo holds a BA degree from the University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu Natal) where she majored in English and Media and Communication for her undergraduate degree and Cultural Media Studies in her Honours Degree. Ngcobo has also studied a People Management Programme at Gibs Business School.

–        Mr. JD Mostert, Business Manager: PCS Combo (5FM and Good Hope FM). Mr. Mostert, previously the Station Manager at 5FM, is a media enthusiast with more than 12 years’ experience in the media industry. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), has a Post Graduate Diploma in General Management (PGDip) from Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), as well as a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Management (BCom) from the University of Pretoria.

–     Ms. Louise Jooste, Business Manager – RSG has been with RSG (and the SABC) for just over 14 years, where she played an integral part of the station’s strategy and illustrated through many successful marketing campaigns how powerful the Afrikaans radio station and its audience are. She has also been more involved in the daily operations of the radio station as acting Program Manager, working closely with the current Station Manager to continue driving one of the top brands of the SABC. Ms. Jooste holds an Honours Degree in Communications from North West University and complemented it with Business Management studies at Wits Business School.

–        Mr. Madikana Matjila, Business Manager – Limpopo Combo (Munghana Lonene FM, Thobela FM and Phalaphala FM). Mr. Matjila previously held the position of Station Manager at Thobela FM since January 2020. Mr. Matjila is a professional radio broadcasting manager, who possesses career experience and formal training in radio production, community media and broadcast policy and compliance. He holds a Master’s degree in Media Studies from the University of Limpopo, an Advanced Radio certificate from the University of Witwatersrand and a Performance Management certificate from the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership.

The public broadcaster will announce the Business Manager’s for the Fortune Combo (SAfm, Radio 2000 and Lotus FM), Eastern Cape Combo (Umhlobo Wenene FM and tru FM), Inland Combo (Motsweding FM and Lesedi FM) and Mpumalanga Combo (Ikwekwezi FM and Ligwalagwala FM) once the appointments have been finalised.

“The rich diversity of musical talent in Africa inspires and engages fans around the world. Spotify continues to use the power of its platform to amplify African voices across a global stage, building an ongoing narrative that supports and puts African creators at the forefront.”

– Phiona Okumu, Spotify Head of Music Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Celebrating the power of African voices across the continent and beyond, Spotify is shining a spotlight on one of its flagship, curated playlists African Heat, through an interactive campaign that  brings the spirit of Africa alive around the world.

The campaign journeys through a series of partnerships, activations, a dance challenge video (#africanheatchallenge), and more creative content opportunities that will play out through on-and-off-platform initiatives on local, regional, and international levels. Highlighting the diversity of African talent, the playlist is an explosion of Afro-centric sounds, carving out a space for African creators to showcase their music to a global audience.

Centered on the key role that the Afro-dance community has played in spreading African pop music across the globe, the campaign includes the likes of Focalistic, Fuse ODG, Olamide, as well as some of the leading female faces of dance music in Africa – Moonchild Sanelly, Sho Madjozi, Niniola, and Amapiano’s Lady Du.

By including emerging and established artists alongside one another – Amapiano’s newer artists Focalistic and Lady Du together with Azonto dance genre pioneer Fuse ODG and Shaku Shaku street dance driver, Olamide – Spotify is showcasing its dedication to and investment in all artists.

Taking African Heat to The Streets with the #africanheatchallenge

The beautifully shot clip was directed by the talented, award-winning, Johannesburg-based Zandi Tisani, who uses her experience to draw attention to her work in edgy and bold ways. Set to Focalistic’s hit “Ke Star,” the clip encourages fans to immerse themselves in the sounds of the playlist, delving into the language of dance to express the connection between African communities worldwide that share a love of dance music. Watch the clip HERE.

The video features dancers from major cities in Africa and across the globe, including local sensation Kamo Mpela, Nigeria’s Boluwatife, Ghana’s DWP Academy and more as they move through the streets of their cities doing the #africanheatchallenge.

This is not the first collab between Spotify and Focalistic who, as one of Spotify’s RADAR AFRICA artists, has already benefited from the support that the program promises to artists across all stages of their career development. The African Heat campaign is another example of how Spotify continues to showcase and support African talent.

“My music is an honest expression of who I am and where I come from, Pitori! I am the voice of the hood! I am the voice of the YOUTH! I want to take my voice to the world and Spotify is helping me do that. With my recent DaVido collab on the ‘Ke Star (Remix)’ promoting African Heat to a wider audience gives me and other African artists more opportunities to reach millions of Spotify listeners,” said Focalistic. “Music is a universal language and I want the world to understand our lingo, our movement, and our sound! I’m excited to see where we can go! To the top!! Ase Trap tse ke PINA tsa ko Kasi!”

On the playlist today, fans can find Spotify Clips, featuring soundbites and self-shot videos from the artists mentioned, speaking to the impact and influence of African Dance culture. These artists will also appear on large-scale Spotify billboards to promote African Heat in New York City and Toronto.

Newzroom Afrika has marked its second year of operation with a bold move into the future as the channel takes up residence in its new studio, which has been fitted out with best-in-class broadcasting technology to set new standards in television news production.

“Our new home is an extension of our vision to be Africa’s leading and credible news and information service. Every piece of equipment and technology, every angle and every corner of our building exhibits what we are capable of,” said Newzroom Afrika CEO Thabile Ngwato.

“It represents a new chapter in our story and a dedication to giving our viewers the very best of everything.”

Working with Michael Gill Designs once again, the architectural design of the studio was further elevated. “We took all the features of our old set that made us stand out from the rest, and enhanced them even more,” said Michael Gill.  The 16:9 format was pushed and now includes a 45m long wraparound screen behind all anchors.  “We now also have three separate areas in studio which can be used individually or as a whole. We have added many more elements to the set to make it pop on camera, these include high gloss black floors and mirrored elements. The design of the lighting fixtures used is also a definite highlight.”

The new studio is also completely run by robotic camera systems from Vinten Radamac. These seven robotic systems are operated by a single operator and give pinpoint movement and camera accuracy. Newzroom Afrika is also running the best of breed broadcast camera technology and lenses that give the channel exceptional high-definition pictures.

The move was completed under challenging circumstances, during the COVID-19 lockdown and curfew regulations. “It was a daunting challenge,” said Adriaan Shipalana, CEO of Harambe Technologies who were responsible for the “transplant” of Newzroom Afrika’s critical infrastructure within three months, while the channel continued to broadcast live 24/7.

“Newzroom Afrika already had one of the most advanced IP-based platforms in South Africa from Evertz, as well as the latest newsroom computer systems from Avid. Moving the infrastructure was one thing, but also creating a temporary housing facility for Newzroom to continue broadcasting so that this infrastructure could be moved to a new facility was another,” Shipalana added.

The heart of the facility is built on the latest IP-based routing technology from Evertz Microsystems. The IP router is a future proof technology that is able to handle Newzroom Afrika’s current technical infrastructure and all its future requirements.

In building its newsroom of the future, one of Newzroom Afrika’s priorities was finding a versatile system that could adapt to whatever the future has in store for the industry. This system will allow the channel to add features and capacity as it grows—in effect “future-proofing” its newsroom.

Spotify is proud to launch EQUAL – Spotify’s new global commitment dedicated to fostering equity for women in audio and celebrating their contributions.  Spotify EQUAL will shine a spotlight on women artists and women podcast creators locally, regionally, and internationally through global partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on and off platform support. To hear more, check out this video manifesto.

The full EQUAL campaign includes:

• Celebrating women creators around the world, with the launch of EQUAL Hub, takeovers of flagship Spotify playlists and partner playlists. 
  • The EQUAL Hub is a dedicated space on-platform to highlight women creators and allow fans to seamlessly stream their music and podcasts. It will extend beyond the month of March and is programmed globally.
  • Over 200 of our top Spotify playlists like Today’s Top Hits, Viva Latino and Modus Mio will feature women on all of their playlist covers to celebrate and amplify awareness on platform and ensure that even more fans have the opportunity to listen.
  • Some of our non-profit partners, including Girls Make Beats, She’s The Music, Sound Girls, GLAAD, Color of Change, Women in Music and Women’s Audio Mission will create unique Spotify playlists highlighting artists who are leading and shaping the future of music.

• Amplifying stories from women with WOMN, a new music + talk show with episodes released throughout the day on March 8.
  • A diverse group of women creators, influencers and cultural figures will discuss women-centred content and share their personal reflections on music that inspired them. Encouraging others to listen to more women too.
  • The dynamic voices include Tokimonsta, Jenny Lorenzo, Spotify’s Dope Labs hosts, Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whately, Jazzmyne Robbins and more.

• Supporting women voices with our new invite-only EQUAL Board. Made up of 15 organisations from around the world, Spotify’s EQUAL Board will provide each organisation a one-time grant and work together on tangible ways to make the audio industry more equitable for women creators.

• Engaging fans by encouraging them to ‘Flex Their Power to Listen’ and to play more women, no matter the day. With data driven social videos, highlighting the breath of content on Spotify created by women. And also with social share cards, empowering fans to share their own personal recommendations of women creators.

• Extending our commitment to women creators beyond March. In April, we are launching the EQUAL music program, fostering equity for women, in 50 countries from Japan to Argentina and from Malaysia to the UK. We’ll also continue to build on the success of programs like Sound Up and EQL that provide new opportunities for women creators in audio.

We’re also excited to celebrate the top-streamed women artists and podcast creators globally (based on streaming data from January 1-February 22, 2021). Taylor Swift takes the top spot with more than 2.3 billion streams. Ariana Grande is up next, followed by Dua Lipa. Additional top streamed women artists include Halsey, Karol G and BLACKPINK.  Crime Junkie hosts Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat are the most popular women podcast creators globally, followed by Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper. Additional popular women podcast creators include: Elise Hu, Host of TED Talks Daily and Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of My Favorite Murder.

As the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, Spotify takes its responsibility of highlighting and amplifying women voices seriously by curating top audio destinations for women artists with global playlists like Women of Electronic, Women of K-Pop, Women of Rock, and Galdem – Queens to name a few. And also women-led podcasts like Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel, Science Vs, and Supernatural with Ashley Flowers.