by Thinus Ferreira
On Thursday afternoon - following an unexplained late start and DStv channel 196 that failed to be unblocked for media to watch the event that way - MultiChoice made the press sit through its virtual MultiChoice Showcase 2021 event that was frontloaded with stale, month-old, pre-recorded interviews with MultiChoice executives sitting in Dubai but ironically touting DStv's "home-grown local content" in Africa.
MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela; MultiChoice Group CEO for general entertainment and connected video, Yolisa Phahle, and Showmax's chief operating officer Barry Dubovsky (who has never even been introduced to the press since his appointment in August) were all seen in pre-recorded interviews.
Their interviews with Pabi Moloi, asking softball questions and with the answers not contributing anything new or containing any news, were done over a month ago in Dubai, with the executives all effusively talking about how important African video content is as they rather work from Dubai.
It's not clear why MultiChoice decided to use Pabi Moloi who is the face of rival brand eMedia and who is the presenter of e.tv's The Morning Show.
It's reminiscent of when MultiChice and M-Net (DStv 101) in 2011 decided to use The Parlotones and their exact same song "It's Magic" for its new on-air campaign at the same time as the same song was already being used by SABC3 for months.
Why not use a Carte Blanche presenter, or Qiniso Van Damme who was The Bachelorette SA or someone already within the M-Net or MultiChoice video sphere that DStv subscribers have watched and trust?
MultiChoice is well aware that the media (that it presumably wants to engage with its MultiChoice Showcase) is looking for information, new information and news.
It's not clear what MultiChoice specifically instructed executives like Calvo Mawela, Yolisa Phahle and Barry Dubovsky to say about DStv and Showmax and to work into their answers that would be new news, since everything that they did say in their month-old, pre-recorded interviews were a waste of the media's time.
Who at MultiChoice decided that Pabi Moloi must do a dull interview with an Irdeto executive about cyber security?
It's is not functional, instructive, useful or appropriate for a so-called MultiChoice Showcase. Something like this belongs in a MultiChoice orientation video for new staff members - not as padded filler in a media event.
Conversation segments during the MultiChoice Showcase 2021 with SuperSport CEO Marc Jury, MultiChoice South Africa CEO Nyiko Shiburi, and with Fhulufhelo Badugela as MultiChoice Africa CEO were already better because these were not pre-recorded and done in South Africa, although they mostly also lacked newsworthy substance.
It was cringe-inducing having to watch Yolisa Phahle saying she can't remember what she can say and what information is under embargo.
When you're producing, talking to, or disseminating any information to the media, the corporate communications team and executives roped in need to be 100% clear about what the information and the messages are - as well as come across as eager to share, not coy and bland with flavour-of-the-moment catchphrases.
MultiChoice's pre-recorded and old "interviews" with its executives feel inauthentic, dated, vapid, and lacked substance and quotables.
Whoever came up with this bizarre idea to reheat old stuff lacking substance has no idea how the news media covering the TV and film industry operate and what their needs are.
