by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice either lied to the DStv subscribers and Africa's TV industry in July - or is lying now - over why SMS voting was stopped for M-Net West Africa's Big Brother Naija camera-house reality series, having given a different reason a few months ago than the reason suddenly given now.
In July, TVwithThinus specifically asked MultiChoice Africa why SMS voting has been dropped for what was to be the 6th season of Big Brother Nigeria that just concluded with Hazel "Whitemoney" Onou as the winner.
MultiChoice Africa publicists told TVwithThinus very specifically in writing, in response to the media query, that MultiChoice and M-Net decided to do away with SMS voting for the 6th season of Big Brother Naija "in order to make it possible for viewers in countries outside of Nigeria to vote".
That is not the reason that MultiChoice Nigeria and M-Net West Africa are giving now - a reason in October that differs completely with what MultiChoice told the press just 3 months ago.
In a press conference with media following the conclusion of the 6th season, John Ugbe, MultiChoice Nigeria CEO, now says that MultiChoice and M-Net decided to drop SMS voting because the public would use the number of SMS votes to calculate how much money M-Net West Africa and MultiChoice Nigeria had allegedly earned in voting revenue, by multiplying the number of votes with the cost of a SMS vote.
John Ugbe said the public was wrong for trying to calculate Big Brother Naija revenue by tallying up SMS revenue, and that MultiChoice therefore decided to drop SMS voting although it was one of the most popular ways to vote for housemates.
With an SMS that cost N30 naija, previous seasons of Big Brother Naija lured over 100 million SMS votes alone.
"We stopped the SMS voting because it raises an eyebrow whenever we announce the total number of votes received at the end of previous editions," John Ugbe said.
"Whenever we announce the number of votes polled through SMS, viewers are always quick to calculate the cost and gains for organisers, so we decided to stop SMS voting this season."
It's not clear why MultiChoice Africa blatantly lied to the media in July with PR spin, or decided to lie now in October about the reason why MultiChoice and M-Net stopped SMS voting for Big Brother Naija.
John Ugbe said that the 6th season of Big Brother Naija cost N4.3 billion (R158.3 million) to produce and employed 12 000 people. The 12 000 number sounds completely unrealistic and wrong and never appeared on the Big Brother Naija end credit roll.
