10 Media Transfers That Made Headlines In 2023

The media space is considered a versatile industry; trends always changing with the changing times. Very few times would you hear journalists stay in one space for very long.

Simply put, the media is just like transfer windows in football...a popular TV or radio presenter and news anchor is courted by a rival media house and tabled an offer they can't refuse, hence the term 'poaching' which has been commonplace in recent times.

Others have simply decided to move to greener pastures in their pursuit of success in the industry rapidly embracing digital. Mainstream media houses have had to devise a number of ways to stay in competition with each other, and that includes raiding each other for top talent.

Viral Tea takes a look at media transfers that shook the whole country:

Willis Raburu

Raburu in August this year announced that he joined the fast-rising TV station under Cape Media Limited, which also owns TV47, following his exit from Citizen TV under the Royal Media Services (RMS) where he spent the last 13 years.

He currently hosts Wabebe XP, a music magazine show he has presented since joining the station, which is aired every Friday at 10 pm.

Raburu is known for captivating audiences wherever he goes and whenever he appears and his presence is set to shore up TV47's numbers across the country.

It gets better; on Monday, December 18, he was appointed as Director of Digital Services and Innovations, a position which sees him report directly to Cape Media's Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Azeezah Hashim

The talented media personality who is also nicknamed the 'Media Messiah' had worked at NRG Radio and Nation Media Group (NMG) TV station, NTV, before joining Citizen TV in October.

Azeezah was picked as Raburu's official successor as the presenter of the station's 10 over 10 show alongside Guddah Man alias Mega Hype Man. They hosted their first show on Friday, October 6 and have kept up the tempo every Friday from 10 pm.

The RMS TV station had beforehand conducted test runs with various celebrities brought in to guest-host the show for several weeks.

At NTV, she hosted the Teen Republik show. Azeezah is also an entrepreneur, MCEE and voice-over artist.

Waihiga Mwaura

The prime-time news anchor made headlines after announcing that he was leaving Citizen TV after 14 years to join the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

"After 14 amazing years at Royal Media Services (Citizen TV), my time here has ended. My next stop is BBC News (Africa) specifically Focus on Africa.

"I'll share more details soon, but in the meantime, see you on my last episode of Newsnight at 9 pm on Citizen TV," he wrote on Tuesday, May 2.

Later on May 2, he was treated to a surprise farewell by his wife, Joyce Omondi, and colleagues, including Trevor Ombija, on his final Newsnight show.

At BBC, he was picked to present the Focus On Africa programme which made a comeback to the British state broadcaster.

Teaser poster for BBC News' 'Focus on Africa' show to be held from June 5, 2023 featuring Waihiga Mwaura. /TWITTER.WAIHIGA MWAURA

Following his exit, Citizen TV embarked on programming changes, with Waihiga replaced by Yvonne Okwara-Matole who now hosts The Explainer every Tuesday at 9 pm while Yvonne's Thursday night slot was filled by Sam Gituku dubbed Tonight every Thursday at 9 pm.

Grace Kuria Kanja

The experienced broadcast journalist with over six years in the media industry joined TV47 at the same time the station relaunched on Tuesday, July 18.

Viral Tea was the first media house to break the news that she was headed to the station from BBC where she had spent the last year.

Kuria possesses great knowledge in reporting for TV and Digital media, Presenting/Anchoring, Producing and Editing. The move marked a comeback to national television screens for her, having joined BBC on September 23, 2021, just three days after she announced her departure from China Global Television Network (CGTN).

At BBC, she was a presenter for The She Word, a show dealing with stories connecting today's African women. She currently presents the weekend 9 p.m. news at TV47.

She was recently among journalists who were hosted by President William Ruto during a roundtable interview at State House, Nairobi.

Fred Arocho

The celebrated sports presenter joined Radio 47 on Wednesday, March 29 after leaving Radio Africa Group station Radio Jambo.

"Fred Arocho karibu nyumbani! (Welcome home) Radio 47. Hapa Ndipo," football commentator and sports editor Hassan Mwana Ali commented on Arocho's Facebook post whereby he announced his exit from Radio Jambo.

Speaking to digital creators at the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) on Monday, April 3, Arocho explained that his departure from Radio Jambo was motivated by the need for growth and new challenges, adding that staying in one place for too long leads to redundancy.