by Thinus Ferreira
M-Net's Mzansi Magic division will look to improve both the production values as well as the representation of diversity under the housemates if it's to do another season of Big Brother Mzansi with the just-concluded revival season that lured 343 million votes.
Mzansi Magic revived Big Brother Mzansi this year following the success MultiChoice has had with the revival of Big Brother Naija in Nigeria.
Mzansi Magic revived Big Brother Mzansi, previously known as Big Brother SA, for a 5th season after a 7-year absence, to run as a 24-hour pop-up channel for 71 days on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service and with highlight programming stripped across Mzansi Magic.
Produced by Red Pepper Productions, viewers criticised the shoddy production values, and the lack of diversity under the housemates in the Endemol reality format show, wondering why the majority of contestants came from Gauteng and very few from other provinces.
Out of the 18 housemates who entered the Big Brother Mzansi house and chosen from over 9 000 entries received, the majority were picked from Johannesburg with only 4 from provinces outside of Gauteng and the majority of provinces excluded.
Shirley Adonisi, M-Net director of local entertainment channels, told TVwithThinus that the revived season of Big Brother Mzansi lured 343 million votes which saw the 27-year old Michelle Mphowabadimo Vundla walk out as the winner just over a week ago.
"In total we received 343 million votes over the season which is an
incredible amount," she says. "We are more than satisfied with the number of votes,
viewership and viewer participation on the DStv App, social media and other digital
platforms."
About viewers' complaints about Big Brother Mzansi's production values, she says "as with any live show of this scale, there are always some technical
challenges that have viewer impact which is always unfortunate".
"Through
all these challenges we take learnings from them and endeavour to always
improve. The turnaround time in putting this show together was very tight, however even with these challenges, the production house manage to pull off a
fantastic job. We will definitely take our learnings into future
projects."
Regarding new insights, research and learnings Mzansi Magic took away from the revived edition, she says "The first surprises were how receptive the audience was upon announcement of the format returning to our screens".
"The excitement was palpable when the housemates entered the house and the social media engagement was immediate with the audience already picking their favourites."
"The viewership from an all-day perspective was high from the onset and continued to increase week on week. The Saturday night parties, nomination shows and of course the evictions gathered the most amount of engagement as viewers were voting for their favourites."
About the criticism around the lack of "mzansi" housemate diversity in a show billed as Big Brother Mzansi, Shirley Adonisi says that the selection of the final contestants was a complex and long process and that the channel is looking to improve representation if there were to be another season.
"Upon application, a series of steps have to be followed in a process of elimination as we conduct a series of auditions, psychometric tests and health checks."
"Other factors include the ability or inability of contestants to obtain permission from the workplaces, parents, partners and sometimes the changing of minds at the last minute."
"Once we have a certain amount left in the pool, the process begins of putting together an ensemble of housemates that we believe will have the best entertainment value. We will definitely consider the above challenges for any future shows to ensure we are as representative as possible with all the above factors considered," she says.
And the possibility of another season of Big Brother Mzansi?
"Now that the season has come to end, we will use the next few months to
study the research in terms of the overall performance of the show," Shirley Adonisi says.
"With
this insight, we will be in a position to make an informed business decision
around the future of this audience for the Mzansi Magic audience."
