RAPT’s group CEO and founder, Garreth van Vuuren, recently announced that he bought a strategic stake in The Real Network (former CliffCentral). He told Mark Lives Media, “I made a personal investment into The Real Network in February 2024. At the time, it used to be known as Cliff Central.”
According to van Vuuren the platform is now part of RAPT Group and it will continue operating independently with its own PNL. “The Real Network will run as an independent business with its own profit and loss centre because we don’t see it as an ad agency. We see it as a media tech and innovation hub,” van Vuuren explained. He added that as the company is now fully owned by RAPT, it will operate as RAPT’s production house.
“Through The Real Network, [we have] developed the technology and ability to offer services such as digital ad insertion technology, which Whisper Media does and has been offering in SA. This creates competition to Whisper Media, hopefully driving prices down and opening the door to others,” van Vuuren said.
“Our work with The Real Network is a game changer. Gareth Cliff is an innovator and a boundary pusher. His business partner, Rina Broomberg, is a media stalwart. She wanted to slow down her career and opened the door for Gareth and I to work together,” he notes.
“We started thinking about how to innovate the brand and bring things to life. Gareth and I had bought a lot of equipment and began experimenting with things,” alongside a technology team, says van Vuuren.
The Real Network, a tech-powered production and streaming company co-founded by Gareth Cliff and Rina Broomberg ten years ago after Cliff left SABC’s 5FM.
The Real Network’s podcasts include The Gareth Cliff Show, On The Bounce, a sports show, and Let’s Talk Man, focusing on men’s health. In March 2024, after transitioning to The Real Network, the tech media company launched The Shady PHodcast with celebrated DJs Warras and PH. All shows are streamed on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
