NTV is set to unveil a new prime time political show on Thursday, June 23, as media houses in the country flex their muscles ahead of August polls.
According to a promo video by the TV station that went live on Tuesday, the segment will be hosted by assignments Editor Ben Kitili.
The weekly discussion show christened Front and Centre will air at 9pm during evening bulletin, and will focus on political issues.
Kitili says the show would also delve into governance issues as well matters of national interests in what he promised would be the biggest of its kind.
NTV studios at Twin Towers along Kimathi Street in a photo dated October 2017.
NMG “Join us every Thursday night as we help you make sense of the country’s politics and tackle the real issues. Front and Centre, Thursdays at 9PM. Keeping tabs on the pulse of the nation” he stated.
A sneak peak of the show revealed that it would digest politics, especially as the clock ticks towards the August polls, and politicians push their agenda through the media, to woo voters.
“Opinion is the median between knowledge and ignorance and that is where we come in to separate the wheat from the chaff, fact from fiction,” stated Kitili in part of the scripted video.
The time slot and choice of host capture how the Kimathi street-based broadcaster is keen on eating into the viewership of Citizen TV, owned by business mogul SK Macharia.
It will be a scramble for eye balls as The News Gang , continues to enjoy favourable numbers on Thursdays night, further cementing Citizen TV’s popularity.
The show, hosted by Yvonne Okwara, features the TV’s top journalists: Linus Kaikai, Jamila Mohamed and Francis Gachuri.
Kitili was among the journalists Nation Media Group, which owns NTV, signed when it raided the Standard Group, badly denting the human capacity of the Mombasa road-based struggling giant.
In the poaching spree, perfectly executed, KTN News lost Fridah Mwaka, Lofty Matambo, Nicholas Wambua and Brian Obuya.
Apart from his editorial tasks, Kitili, who previously hosted Inside Politics on KTN News, is part of the revamped AM Live Show on NTV. Others on the morning lineup are Mark Masai, Olive Burrows, Zeynab Ismail and Winnie Lubembe.
To boost its team, NMG also on-boarded Joe Ageyo, who was plucked from Royal Media Services to become the Editorial Director-Broadcasting.
Recently Ageyo, a seasoned journalist interviewed Deputy President William Ruto in an interview that he was cut short because of time constraints.
A file image of Outgoing RMS editorial Director Joe Ageyo
File
