Pandemonium hit as a devastated fire broke out on Saturday and destroyed property and studios worth millions where M-Net records its soaps such as Tinsel, magazine shows such as Studio 53, and the studio where SuperSport broadcast from in Lagos, Nigeria. The fire which razed the studio complex will likely result in broadcasting disruptions of some productions.
The fire raged for hours on Saturday but is now under control. The studio fascilities has been closed and will remain closed for the time being.
A "mystery fire" broke out on 2 March at 15:30 with the inferno which engulfed the former Phillips Warehouse Building, now the Ojoto Studios fascility, causing massive damage to property belonging to MultiChoice Nigeria. All Tinsel episodes and Studio 53 on M-Net's AfricaMagic channels on DStv are shot inside the building.
SuperSport's live transmission for the weekend in Nigeria was just about to begin on Saturday afternoon when the fire broke out and gutted the entire SuperSport studio and others.
According to reports the Lagos fire department is blamed for arriving late to the scene, but Rasaq Fadipe, the director of the Lagos Fire Services is quoted as saying "I will fault the organisation. How can you have a big premise like this, a whole multinational company, and there's no water hydrant? It's given us a bad image."
M-Net's AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards is set to take place in Lagos, Nigeria this coming weekend.
I asked M-Net about the fire and the pay-TV broadcaster says that the fire "broke out yesterday afternoon at the Ojoto Studios fascility, which is home to both M-Net and SuperSport productions in Nigeria".
"At this time the fire is under control and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blaze. While the fire appears to have caused significant damage to the fascility, which may result in some screening delays for programmes recorded on site, M-Net and SuperSport are already hard at work with a view to resuming production as soon as possible in order to minimise any impact on viewing audiences."
"M-Net, SuperSport and MultiChoice are deeply thankful and grateful that no-one was injured during this unfortunate accident," says the pay-TV broadcaster.
M-Net says the devastating fire "will not affect its plans for next weekend" when the AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards takes place. The awards is done in association with MultiChoice.
