Politics and policy
The much-anticipated kick-off of Africa’s reality show “Big Brother
Africa” has been postponed after a fire burnt down the show’s house in
Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday evening. PHOTO| COURTESY
By BDAfrica.com REPORTER
In Summary
A massive fire has destroyed a Johannesburg
television studio and led to the suspension of the ninth edition of
Africa’s biggest reality television show.
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The fire at the Big Brother Africa house at the Sasani
studios comes just five days before the show’s latest instalment, Big
Brother Hotshots, was expected to launch across the continent in a
Sunday night premiere. No one was injured in the fire.
According to a statement from M-Net and Endemol SA,
the “devastating fire” has forced them to urgently begin looking for an
alternative house in which to film the show. However, due to the highly
technical infrastructure needed to film and edit the live show, no
alternative is available immediately.
“At this stage, the cause of the fire is unknown
and investigations will commence as soon as it is safe to do so,” the
statement reads. “Every effort will be made to find a solution as
quickly as possible.”
The Sasani complex, located in Highlands North,
Johannesburg, is used for numerous other television and film
productions, including two daily dramas -- etv’s Scandal and Rhythm
City. It is still unclear how many of its nine studios were damaged and
which other productions will be affected.
The Big Brother reality game show follows a group
of houseguests living together 24 hours a day in one house, isolated
from the outside world but under constant surveillance with no privacy
for three months. Contestants from a dozen African nations try to avoid
weekly eviction and remain in the BBA house for 91 days in the hope of
winning $300,000 (about KShs26 million).
The show is screened across Africa on several of Multichoice’s DsTV channels.
Multichoice is a South African
company that operates the DStv Satellite Television service, a major
satellite TV service in Sub-Saharan Africa.
M-Net is a private subscription television service
broadcasting general entertainment and niche channels to over 2.5
million subscribers in 41 countries across Africa.
Endemol South Africa is an affiliate of the
privately-held Endemol International, the world’s largest independent
television production company, with over 80 companies in 31 countries.
KMM Review Publishing, a black empowerment company, holds a 33 per cent
stake in the company.
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