A broadcasting executive with experience spanning football and the parliamentary channel has been appointed as group executive of television at the SABC.

Merlin Naicker's career spans more than 25 years of practical and demonstrable experience as the CEO of Wizard Media Consulting, chief content officer for Southtel VOD, head of satellite television for Telkom Media and in various strategic positions at MultiChoice, said the state broadcaster.

Naicker has also been instrumental in the delivery of media solutions and projects such as the broadcast of the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, the implementation of broadcast scheduling solutions for various companies, SABC biometric access and CCTV monitoring projects, and Parliament TV broadcasting infrastructure upgrades.

He holds various qualifications, including an MBA (Oxford Brookes), a BSc Hons in digital technology, design & innovation, and a certificate in advanced broadcast law from Wits.