NTV Raids KTN, TV47 In One Day

Nation Media Group (NMG)’s TV station NTV has been going on the offensive in a matter of hours, poaching top talent from the likes of KTN News and TV47.

The station earlier on Wednesday, July 20 went after Swahili news anchor, Frederick Muitiriri, who has only worked at the station for five months, according to credible reports.

The former police officer will be presenting the Swahili bulletin on NTV, but his time slot remains unconfirmed. He did not respond to a comment when reached out to by Viral Tea.

NTV poaches Brian George Otieno from KTN News and Frederick Muitiriri from TV47. /VIRALTEAKE

Viral Tea has also learnt that NTV also poached celebrated KTN News anchor, Brian George Otieno, who is leaving KTN News after three years. He has already served his notice and would leave the station under the Standard Media Group (SMG) by Thursday, August 4, 2022.

Otieno was a business reporter for KTN News and KTN Home when he worked as a news anchor and broadcast journalist for three years.

He did a Bachelor's Degree in Tourism Management from Moi University and a higher diploma in Media Communications and Broadcast Journalism from The Aga Khan University. At Aga Khan, he is currently pursuing a Masters Programme in Digital Journalism.

Muitiriri on the other hand has an illustrious career that began from his stint at the National Police Service (NPS) then spells in media, most notably SMG, Royal Media Services (RMS) and Switch TV, now rebranded to Switch Media. 

He joined TV47 in January 2022 after announcing his departure from the Red Cross-owned station in 2021 when it went off air.

This is one of NTV's major attempts at reinforcing its lineup of presenters ahead of the busy coverage of the 2022 general elections set for August 9. The station has been targeting other media houses for top talent to improve its status as one of the biggest Kenyan TV stations spanning decades.

The station had recently poached sports journalist Bernard Ndong after he left Citizen TV, having worked at RMS for 13 years.

“Bernard joins as our team lead (Sports Editor) for NTV and as an integral part of the wider NMG sports desk team. I believe we are building the most formidable sports desk and we shall lead the way in sports journalism,” Elias Makori, Nation Media Group’s Sports Managing Editor, said in an internal message to staff.

The sports desk was compensating for the silent departure of Idah Waringa from the station, one of the biggest female sports anchors of the modern generation in the country. 

In an exclusive interview with Viral Tea on Friday, July 4, the sultry-voiced journalist revealed that she had departed the Kimathi Street-based media house three months ago, having spent three years there.