More On Big Brother Africa - Must Read
Soon after the Big Brother reality show franchise became a hit in the US and Europe, Mnet and Endemol decided to have one for Africa. It was well received, judging from the large viewership. There was nothing like that at the time, a channel that broadcasts 12 men and women locked up in a house headed by a big brother nobody ever sees. It sounds like a boring prospect and Nigerians were not used to watching such programmes, but it soon began drawing attentions after Nigeria’s representative in the house, Bayo, did us proud by selling the Nigeria. Bayo made it to the 13th week out of the 14 weeks it lasted, before he was evicted.
By the second season of the show, everyone was well aware of it and actually looking forward to it, though many questions were asked. Leaving young Africans both men and women, to their whims and caprices, locked in a house with lots of alcohol did not go down well with many people. Soon after, the issues of morality in the show were raised. The show was advertised as presenting to the world the richness of the African way of life, but moralists point to the fact that housemates are mostly seen drinking, smoking or even making sexual advances to each other. The case was made worse for the producers when they introduced the “Shower hour.” The Shower hour is an hour of the show where clips from a camera in the ‘house’ bathroom are relayed to viewers.
Though the show is clearly labelled 18, and for adult consumption only, there were fears that children may still have access to the programme. Mnet, however, could not put a stop to the show because despite the controversies, it has become the most watched show on the continent. They then put in place some measures to soften the content. First, the Shower hour was cancelled for viewing in Nigeria. Also, to watch the show, viewers have to contact DSTV directly to have access to it. They have also made efforts to control the behaviour of contestants in the house against immoral acts. Housemates who behave violently are quickly removed from the house even when they are not voted out. When there is a sexual situation, the cameras are moved away to other parts of the house – just like the case of Nigeria’s Beverly and Angelo in the last edition.
Since these changes had been made, Mnet has enjoyed support for the show with little or no criticism. However, as the ninth edition of the show is about to air, there are new questions for Mnet. One of them is the continuous hosting of the show in South Africa. For over eight years, the show has been recorded in South Africa and contestants from across the country have to go to South Africa every year to participate. This means that all the technological know-how employed in the show stays in South Africa and understood by South Africans alone. Also, Nigeria has the largest viewership of the show, and has won the show more than any country. The organisers also make a fortune from sponsorship from Nigeria. There is a call that it is time the show came to Nigeria.
Reacting to this concern, Africa Magic Regional director, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said: “I think it is good to have that idea, but there is a lot of investment in South Africa to make Big Brother Africa happen. Now, it is more plug and play to host it there, everything is set. It will be difficult and unwise to move all that facility. Also, if you move it to Nigeria, some other countries will start asking why not them? I think it is more practical to have it in one location. It does not matter where it is hosted.”
Another point that has been raised against the show is the voting system. Viewers are the judges of the show and they decide who stays or go home. They are encouraged to vote mostly via sms and in recent times, the voting is done more on social media. With a larger population, one would expect Nigerian housemates to get the votes but the voting system does not allow that. All votes made for a particular contestant in a country all counts as one. This may dampen the spirit of voters who are allowed to vote as many times as they can, but in the end all their votes count as one.
However, Wangi insisted that this years’ show would continue to rely heavily on the social media to get viewers votes.
“As a voter-driven show, the success of the Big Brother Africa brand relies heavily on audience engagement and our social media platforms allow for this to happen in real-time,” she says.
She added that because of Big Brother Africa’s growing success on social media, it is important for the brand to continuously explore other platforms, saying; “Every year, we expand the ways audiences interact and enjoy more premium entertainment. This year, even more people will be able to partake in the thrill of Big Brother via their mobile devices and on different ?platforms. The addition of Instagram, for instance, brings yet another exciting dimension and we look forward to sharing more entertaining content with our fans.”
Endemol Managing Director, Sivan Pillay, said: This is going to be the most exciting season yet. We have been producing the series since 2003 and to keep fans captivated, we have to evolve and this entails finding housemates with a little extra talent and swagger.”
This year’s show will start on September 7.
Source: allafrica.com
