M-Net and Endemol Shine Africa's Big Brother Africa on DStv has been canned for 2015 apparently due to "cash constraints" and a failure to find sponsors.
Anne Sackey, the manager of MultiChoice Ghana, spilled to Razz newspaper that M-Net told them there won't be a new season of Big Brother Africa (BBA) this year. She thinks it is because of sponsorship constraints.
"I think it's mainly because of cash constraints as we all know the show is very expensive to put up," Anne Sackey reportedly told Razz.
Big Brother Africa and Big Brother Mzansi, both produced for M-Net channels in South Africa by Endemol Shine Africa remain mired in controversy.
Last year the 9th season of Big Brother Africa was postponed by a month after a devastating fire swept through the Sasani Studios complex with the blaze which caused millions of rands of damage.
Endemol Shine Africa refused to disclose the cause of the fire as the production moved to another house.
Sudden dramatic changes to South African visa regulations as well as Ebola fears last year this time also saw chosen Ghana contestants dumped from the show, followed by Sierra Leone and Rwanda as countries being eliminated as well before possible housemates from there had even entered the house.
Last year during South Africa's Big Brother Mzansi season on the Mzansi Magic and Big Brother channels, a male contestant was removed after hitting a woman in the show, which M-Net called "an isolated incident".
In April this year, the latest Big Brother Mzansi season exploded incontroversy over alleged rape when a male contestant bragged how he "dipped her" when he allegedly had sex with a drunk and passed out female contestant who was horrified about what she was told happened.
Endemol Shine Africa removed both from the reality competition show after the alleged sexual misconduct which lead to widespread criticism and calls for M-Net and MultiChoice to end the misogynistic and voyeuristic reality show "which keeps encouraging and rewarding" violence and sexual misconduct against women.
M-Net and the production company decided to monitor alcohol consumption more closely in the booze fest series shown across multiple channels on MultiChoice’s DStv platform.
