How Multichoice Became Vital to Nigeria’s Cultural Legacy

Mofejususewa Samuel

For many years and since its launch here in 1993, Multichoice has provided premium content to Nigerians. It was the first window to the world of sports, film, and music for many of us. We support the teams we support, enjoy the movies we enjoy, and love the musicians we love largely after we first encountered them through Multichoice’s variety of content offerings. It has entertained us as much as it has educated and empowered us.

Multichoice has become such a vital part of our lives that it is nearly impossible to separate Nollywood from Africa Magic. Beginning with one channel in 2003, Africa Magic has grown into eight while delivering high-quality shows such as Big Brother Naija, Tinsel, The Voice Nigeria, the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, and giving Nigerians access to millions of hours of Nollywood movies. Over 70% of Nigerians enjoy content in their local languages through the Africa Magic Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa channels.

Big Brother Naija, for example, is one of the most-watched and highly-engaging television programmes in Africa, with hundreds of millions of views per season. Tinsel is one of the most popular and longest-running television shows in Africa, with over 3,200 episodes since its inception. Both shows have also given birth to some of Nigeria’s biggest entertainers and celebrities. Supersport is also home to some of the world’s best and biggest football leagues and sports programmes. Beyond that, it is home to the Nigerian Professional Football League, DStv Basketball, and GOtv Boxing, all of which create value for the local sports ecosystem.

That said, the Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels, MultiChoice Nigeria, Busola Tejumola, shares that what you’ve done is only as valuable as what you continue doing. She says: “If you’ve provided high-quality content in the past, you have to keep doing that in the future. And Multichoice understands this principle very well. During the Multichoice Showcase event in October, we unveiled a new lineup of shows, series and other content offerings coming to DStv, GOtv, and Showmax ahead of the festive season and well into the new year.”

Existing shows and series like ‘Turn Up Friday’, ‘Owambe Saturday’, ‘Music Buzz’, ‘Unmarried’, ‘Date My Family’, ‘Judging Matters’, ‘Shoot Your Shot’, ‘Love Come Back’, ‘The Flatmates’, ‘The Johnsons’, ‘My Siblings and I’, and more will return with new seasons. We also have new shows like ‘Movement Japa’, which started to air on Africa Magic Showcase, and ‘Rishante’, which premiered on Africa Magic Urban in November.

New shows are also coming to Showmax. They include ‘Ghana Jollof, the first Nigerian-produced comedy series on Showmax, and ‘The Real Housewives of Lagos’, which will premiere in January 2022. ‘The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards’ will also return in 2022.

DStv channels like Pop Central TV also have new shows coming on-air this year and in early 2022. ‘The Rush’, which started already, is a reality TV show where the winner walks away with N15 million. Other shows include ‘Uncut With BamTeddy’, featuring the former Big Brother Naija couple– BamBam and Teddy A, ‘Phenomen-ally’, ‘Another Angle’, ‘Story Africa’, and ‘Side Men’.

Another channel, Honey TV, revealed that a new talk show by Toke Makinwa will be coming to the platform on November 19, 2022. Other shows that will air include Winnie Okpala’s (Zeelicious) cooking show – ‘My Naija Plate’, ‘Drum Crime Series’, ‘Kid’s Kitchen Relay’, and the second season of ‘Pastor’s Wives’.

ViacomCBS also revealed that both the ‘Soul Train Award’ and the ‘Video Music Awards’ will air live on BET and MTV respectively. At the same time, shows like ‘Inside Life With Erica’ on MTV Base and ‘Isono’ on BET Africa will return for their second seasons.

Beyond the content it offers, Multichoice has also played a vital role in developing talent and creating platforms for African storytellers to express their creativity. Through the Multichoice Talent Factory, we are committed to making a difference socially and economically. The MTF Academy develops TV and film talent in Africa through a 12-month programme that covers both the theoretical aspects of filmmaking and offers hands-on experience in cinematography, editing, audio production and storytelling. The academy spans three regions and 13 countries across Africa, offering 60 talented candidates the opportunity to work and innovate in film and television production. The programme also provides access to the MTF Portal through which talent and opportunities connect.

Then there are the MTF Masterclasses which give film industry professionals access to workshops facilitated by experts that help them develop their technical skills. The masterclasses, launched in January 2019, have been supported by Dolby Laboratories and FOX Portugal and have so far been held in Angola, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Ethiopia and Zambia. The programme has given birth to new stars such as Uchenna Eileen Ugwu and Precious Iroagalachi, who co-produced a mini-documentary, Plastic Treasures, and won the Spotlight Award at the Mobile Film Festival in France, among many others.

One common theme across all these, the content and commitment to developing Nigeria’s creative industry, is Multichoice’s desire to help cement Nigeria’s cultural legacy within the country and across the world. There is a lot more to expect from Nigeria and, consequently, more to expect from Multichoice.

* Miss Samuel writes from Lagos