Maxwell Nonge, MD of free-to-air satellite provider OpenView HD, has been named as chief technology officer of e.tv parent eMedia Investments, while Patrick Conroy, the MD of eNCA, will take over from Nonge at OpenView HD.

Maxwell Nonge, MD of free-to-air satellite provider OpenView HD, has been named as chief technology officer of e.tv parent eMedia Investments, while Patrick Conroy, the MD of 24-hour news channel eNCA, will take over from Nonge at OpenView HD.

At the same time, veteran journalist Anton Harber has been appointed as editor-in-chief of eNCA.

The changes have been made “to meet future opportunities and challenges of the media group”, eMedia Investments said in a statement.

Nonge, who previously worked in the telecommunications industry, headed up the launch of OpenView HD in 2013. He previously held senior positions at Sentech.

Group chief operating officer Mark Rosin said in a statement that Nonge would help integrate the IT and broadcast environments to future-proof the business. Under Nonge’s leadership, OpenView HD has signed up 360 000 subscribers.

Rosin said Conroy has been redeployed to “capitalise on OpenView’s success to date and also to build the platform’s revenue-generating opportunities”.

“He will also look to explore a new content marketing opportunity which we believe is important to a rapidly evolving media environment.

“Over the past 10 years, [Conroy] took eNews from a 30-minute nightly newscast to a multi-platform news business including South Africa’s first 24-hour news channel, an isiZulu news offering, Afrikaans news and a fully functional digital division,” Rosin said.

Harber, meanwhile, will take over leadership of the group’s news division under a fixed-term contract, eMedia Investments said.

“Anton’s extensive experience in South African media will allow him to mentor and grow the future leaders of the television news industry. He is a seasoned journalist, experienced manager and highly respected professional. We are thrilled to have him join our group,” said Rosin.

All the appointments are effective 1 March. — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media