Nigerian reality show Adam & Eve, in which 24 male and female contestants embark on a 100-day adventure, is holding contestant auditions.
The entrants will be selected from across Africa and referred to as ‘tribe members’ who will live as one big family in the jungle. “They will embark on missions in order to discover the hidden treasures in the jungle and restore the rich cultural heritage of the black man,” according to producers.
The winner will receive a grand prize of N30,000,000 (US$76,000) plus a brand new SUV car.
The reality show is being produced by Adam & Eve Tourism Company, based in Lagos, Nigeria. It is designed to serve as an entertainment platform that will promote gender equality, instill a spirit of patriotism and boldness in Africans and to communicate the rich cultural heritage of Africa to a global audience.
Auditions for the 13-week show will take place in Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uganda. The show will air on DStv Urban, GoTV Urban, TVC, Wazobia TV, Silver Bird TV and AIT in Nigeria as well as on partner television stations in other countries.
Entry is open to those aged between 18 and 36 who have attained a minimum secondary/high school qualification. Registration costs N2,000 or its equivalent in the other participating countries. To register, click here.
Audition take place between February 7 and 21, while the show will air from March.
Nigerian entrepreneurial reality show The Next Titan has named the top 25 contestants who will participate in this year’s physical boot camp.
The 25 selected from the 50 contestants who took part in the online auditions are: Nathaniel Okafor, Mordi Onyeka, Oscar Obiora, Albert Ukoha, Hauwa Abdullahi, Mayokun Oduoste, Adetoun Yusuf, Chidinma Eriobu, Kelvin Steve, Osondu Franklin, Nnenna Nwoya, Stella Okenwa, Ifeanyi Nkwonta, Chioma Ukpaki, Chinazom Arinze, Sandra Eghiomon, Joshua Idiong, Bolaji Precious, Henry Yange, Kehinde Anifoloyin, Gibson Osuorji, Ifeoma Benjamin, Ebere Onyejekwe, Oluwadolapo Olufehinti and John Adetola.
The contestants will engage in a three-day physical bootcamp after which 16 will make it to the Titan House for the 10 weeks of the main show.
The finalists will battle one another over 10 tough business tasks with hopes of winning the cash prize of N10,000,000 and a new car for the support of their business idea.
The show will air on Sundays on DStv Africa Magic channel 154 and GOtv channel 25 and on Saturdays on TVC and DStv channel 418. Debuting in 2013, the show is produced by Lagos-based Bravopoints International and sponsored by Heritage Bank.
Love Island has been adapted in multiple territories including the US
Media and entertainment investment and management group Digital Play Nigeria has acquired ITV Studios’ reality format Love Island, bringing the format to Africa for the first time.
The deal was announced during the ITV Studios Fall Festival that took place this week in London.
The show will be recorded and produced in Nigeria and the first season will air on Television Continental (TVC) for terrestrial broadcast and on 9 Vision Media for digital.
UK-based production and distribution company ITV Studios created the dating reality show.
According to Maarten Meijs, president of global entertainment at ITV Studios: “Within ITV Studios, we vest a high number of iconic and powerful formats with a lot of staying power. Our partners know where to find us and together we are able to supersize our biggest brands in their local markets.”
TVC is a broadcast TV station in Lagos, Nigeria that provides entertainment, talkshows and news. 9 Vision Media Group is a mobile telecoms operators that has added content to its list of services, delivered via the internet to mobile devices and free TV set-top boxes.
Entrepreneurial reality show The Next Titan has begun online auditions for its seventh season.
Kyari Bukar
Themed as The Unstoppable, the new season is on the look-out for business ideas that are immune to any pandemic, innovations that break boundaries and technologies that can survive any lockdown.
Production company Bravopoints International is seeking ambitious Nigerian entrepreneurs aged between 22 and 40 who can demonstrate their entrepreneurial acumen with unbeatable business ideas, commercial insights and business savvy. You can register by clicking here.
The top 50 contestants from the online auditions will be selected to take part in a two-week online bootcamp where they will use ‘dashboards’ to connect with one another and the bootcamp administrators and judges.
Then 25 of the 50 will be invited to Lagos for another two-week online bootcamp. The group also will be isolated in a resort or hotel and tested for Covid-19 by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
After their isolation, the 25 will have another physical bootcamp for both entertainment and final auditions before the top 16 are certified with a clean bill of health and moved to the Titan House for the main show.
They will live together for 10 weeks while facing a number of tough business tasks and avoiding eviction, with hopes of winning the cash prize of N10m and a new car to support their business idea.
The judges are top Nigerian business leaders and include board members Lilian Olubi, Chris Parkes, Tonye Cole and lead judge Kyari Bukar.
The show will air on Sundays on DStv Africa Magic channel 154/GoTV Channel 25 and on Saturdays on TVC and DStv channel 418. Previous winners were skincare entrepreneur Ogechukwu Alexis Obah and Amifeoluwa Yakubu.
The Next Titan is sponsored by Heritage Bank and its Lagos-based prodco Bravopoints is also behind other business-themed TV programmes such as The Proteges Nigeria, The Mavericks and Conversations With the Colossus.
Play TV presenter and producer Labi Olayori tells Content Nigeria about her life and career, and reveals details of her new celebrity interview series The Other Side.
Labi Olayori
Labi Olayori, presenter and producer of Play TV’s The Labi Show, formerly known as The LABI (Loving and Being Intimate) Show on TVC, describes herself as “a mother, wife and knowledge enthusiast.”
She tells Content Nigeria about her journey as a presenter and relationship counselor, and her experiences being a brand ambassador for Nigerian cable TV network Play TV.
Tell us about yourself.
I am a Nigerian, a mother, a wife, a next-door-girl. I love to help.
Before The LABI Show on TVC, you presented Entertainment Splash on the same channel.
Before I joined TVC, I worked at a cable network, MCTV. Upon joining TVC, I began Entertainment Splash, which was initially called Lunch Splash.
I found that while presenting Entertainment Splash, most callers would request songs to soothe their broken hearts or troubled minds. That was what spurred me to begin my relationship show again, because I got tired of talking to artistes about their careers when there were so many people with emotional issues who I could help.
Since I started The Labi Show, I’ve interviewed artistes such as Brymo and Chidinma, focusing on their relationship and life outside their careers.
What brought about The Labi Show?
When I was growing up I was always very curious. I would wonder about the attraction between a couple, especially if something looked odd or they seemed unhappy. I discovered there was more to what I saw and I always wanted to know what it was.
The Labi Show is about people with issues; people who want to share their burden with someone, talk about it. It is not about judging people because I have been through a lot and I know what it feels like to have people judge you. That was why I started the show 15 years ago.
The show has been on-air for 15 years?
Yes! I started this show on a cable network called MCTV. It was called Emotions & Feelings with Labi at the time. I have always wanted to be attached to my viewers. Have them talk about more than the mundane, I want to be able to cry with them, feel what they are feeling. I do not judge. I remember a time a viewer called, talking about the difficulties of being a single parent and I cried with her.
Isn’t it hard getting in touch with your feelings when you are not the one feeling it?
I am an emotional person. Okay, someone calls on a live show and tells me they’re unhappy and that just gets me. I mean, they are calling with their airtime, the generator is on because there is no power supply and they are telling me they are unhappy. The first thing I think of is how to make them happy. I empathise.
What has been your most interesting experience on the show?
I remember a man once called to confess that he had cheated on his wife with her friend who was his ex-girlfriend. He said he was being eaten by guilt and didn’t know what to do.
So, I advised him to wake her up to tell her. He did and called afterwards to tell me that she went back to sleep without saying anything. I advised him not to sleep as I believed that was a scary reaction, one that might beget a dangerous situation. After that night, I introduced the couple to a marriage counselor.
The Labi Show is very emotional. At one point, after I began one-on-one counselling sessions with people, I had to get a counselor for myself because it was draining me. When what you do is about passion, you get emotionally involved, tending to neglect your own life. So I got a coach, Praise Fowowe. I told him that I needed to cry for myself, not for someone else.
In 2017, you moved from TVC to Play TV. What led to that move and how has it been so far?
I remember in April 2017 my son asked if I had plans outside TVC and I said: “TVC is TVC, Labi is Labi.” He disagreed and said he wanted me to become an independent producer. Chidinma also suggested the same thing to me. This happened in April 2017, before I was let go from TVC in June. That was when I knew Chidinma and my son were mouthpieces of God.
In less than three months, I was asked to come over to Playas a producer and presenter with more leeway than I had at TVC. When I left TVC, I had companies ask me to be their brand ambassador and it wasn’t about TVC, it was about me. It was hard at first because of the emotional attachment I had to TVC, having worked there for 10 years.
The Labi Show airs by 21.00 on Play but when it was on TVC, it aired by 23.00. Why the change to the earlier timeslot?
It’s because Play is a cable network. On TVC, when it was aired at 23.00, I didn’t get to sleep after the show. I would pick calls from viewers afterwards, from midnight till 04.00. So when I brought the show to Play, I said I no longer wanted 23.00 since I wanted to be home by midnight. Now, the show starts by 21.00, ends by 22.00 and the calls continue till midnight. I go home after that. I needed to change the status quo. If I am not healthy, I’d be unhelpful.
What do you have planned for The Labi Show this year? Is there any new content for Play?
Yes, I have new content planned. I have the annual boat cruise for The Labi Show. On TVC, it was done only during the Valentine’s Day period and only for fans in Lagos. But now, some state governors will be partnering on the boat cruise and may attend, so it will also be done in other states and during festive periods.
I also have a new show coming up. I have shot six episodes so far. It’s called The Other Side. As the name denotes, The Other Side will be showing the other side of celebrities and well-known individuals, a side that fans rarely see, their emotional side, their family, their home.
One episode features Akinwunmi Ambode, the Lagos state governor, talking about how he relaxes. Another features showbiz couple Tunde and Wunmi Obe taking us on a tour of their home, which includes a lounge, club, several rooms within rooms, their dogs’ houses and more. I can’t wait for viewers to see what we have in store. This unscripted show is exclusive to Play.
What challenges do you face doing your job and how do you overcome them?
People expect so much from me, they expect me to say yes to every request. People think that because I am a TV personality, I ought to have a cheerful disposition every time. I remember someone tapping me on the shoulder in a bank queue, saying: “Smile now, why can’t you smile?”
I’ve gotten so used to it that I have a permanent smiling face. It’s a crazy world where people expect you to be perfect all the time. Also, I’m not much of a make-up person, I prefer the natural look. So once I’m off-air I do away with all the glamour. I like being ordinary.
The Labi Show airs on Friday at 21.00 on Play TV channel 400 and Free TV channel 711. It also airs on Thursdays at 22.00 on Rave TV and Mondays at 22.00 on WAP TV.
Talent series The Dream Football Reality Show is holding auditions in various Nigerian cities for aspiring young footballers who wish to appear in the second season.
Aimed at helping young male players aged from 13 to 18 across Africa to chase a career in the professional game, the new season will air on NTA and TVC.
The first player screening event will take place in Warri on July 6, the second in Enugu on July 7 and the third in Port Harcourt on July 9.
A statement on the show’s Instagram page stated: “If we can touch one life it makes all the difference. And if we can give this opportunity to as many kids as possible then it makes all the difference. We will continue to put our best foot forward in developing grassroots football.”
The Dream Football Reality Show was created by professional photographer and filmmaker Abu Salami, whose dream to pursue a career in football was never acheived due to the lack of opportunities.
Response Architects, a new multi-channel retailer that sells innovative products for everyday life, is to launch the first international TV shopping business in Nigeria.
Isi Abebe
Shopex TV is Nigeria’s first international tele-shopping platform and is positioned to give Nigerians direct access to leading products from the global market.
It has completed its first round of financing with investment from television shopping and broadcasting advisors Expert Media Partners (EMP) based in London and is the exclusive distributor in Africa.
With television as its main channel to market, this platform is offering Nigerians a range of products they can buy at prices they can afford. The launch will kick-start with a TV campaign featuring an infomercial on December 1 to showcase one of its leading products, the Copper Chef pan.
This TV campaign will run in partnership with DStv, EbonyLife TV, TVC and Silverbird TV. Viewers will be able to place their orders for the product by calling dedicated numbers and will receive their order the next day.
Shopex TV was founded by Isi Abebe, MD of Response Architects Marketing, who worked as head of media planning and strategy in one of the biggest TV shopping companies in the UK.
“We’re excited about this project, having observed Nigeria’s logistics and payment platforms mature over the years. We’re confident that we can make it work and we have a line-up of great products and offers from across the globe that we believe will appeal to the Nigerian market,” said Abebe.
Ed Hall, managing partner at EMP, said: “We have worked on complex broadcast projects in Nigeria since 2003, and we have developed plans for television shopping in East and West Africa in the past. We are delighted that with Isi and Shopex we saw for the first time an experienced and credible management team, and we are very happy to be early-stage investors in this business.”
Nigerian family entertainment channel TVC has launched new on-air branding, revealed today by parent company TVC Communications.
TVC’s new branding
The move followed research which suggested viewers and advertisers saw the channel’s look as dated and dull,.
TVC Communications CEO Andrew Hanlon said: “Today, we have unveiled a new brand identity, which is reflective of all the key elements identified in that research and is the creation of some of Nigeria’s most talented graphic artists and designers, from both within and outside TVC.
“Our new brand is reflective of our core audience of 15- to 39-year-olds, who are young and modern, ambitious, bright, international in their outlook, yet very much Nigerian and fiercely proud of it.”
TVC’s positioning statement is now ‘Pure Entertainment,’ which will be reflected in the network’s programmes, which will aim to capture Nigeria’s diversity and richness.
“The new brand identity reflects the values and interests of today’s modern entertainment audience, which will be placed across all TVC programming genres, content and formats,” added Hanlon.
“TVC is watched by almost four million Nigerians every day, and as one of the country’s biggest and most successful broadcasters we wanted to reimagine our brand to reflect the ambition of our viewers and the renewed direction of our channel.”
TVC can be found on GOtv channel 27, Play TV channel 801, and StarTimes channel 121.
Victor Okhai, veteran journalist, producer and filmmaker, has confirmed he will be standing in Nigeria’s 2019 presidential elections.
Victor Okhai
Okhai will be contesting the 2019 presidential elections as a candidate of the Youth Democratic Party, with the motto Enough is Enough.
Okhai has been in the broadcast industry for more than three decades. He is a freelance journalist for TV networks including the BBC, Aljazeera, CNN, TVC and STV and is also co-founder of the Directors’ Guild of Nigeria and director of the International Film & Broadcast Academy in Lagos.
He graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he gained a degree in mass communications and a master’s degree in PR. He later went on to study in several other tertiary institutions, obtaining certificates from the School of Media & Communication, Pan-Atlantic University; National Film & Television Institute; University of Lagos; and Goethe Institut, among others.
He has been a partner at the Goethe Institut, Lagos since 1988 and has worked with the institute to host the International Short Film Festival in Nigeria, the first in the country and sub-Saharan Africa.
The 51-year-old has been very passionate about the role of politics and the creative industry in Nigeria, which led to him addressing these issues in several presentations.
In 2007, he delivered a speech titled The Role of Art, Film and Politics in Nigeria at the German embassy. In 2008, he presented a paper titled Emerging Talents – Nollywood and the New Wave African Cinema.
New presenters (L-R) Amanda Afolabi, Hojay Izirein and Ariyike Dimples
Nigerian series Entertainment Splash on broadcaster TVC has been rebooted and rebranded as e-Splash.
Intended as a one-stop shop for everything to do with entertainment, the new show now covers different segments such as fashion, music, lifestyle, gossip, celebrity interviews and more.
In addition, it has three new hosts, model and actress Amanda Afolabi; vlogger, brand influencer and podcaster Ariyike Dimples; and entertainment enthusiast Hojay Izirein.
Together they will be bringing their expertise to play while on set on this show. e-Splash airs from noon to 14.00 every weekday on GOtv channel 27, StarTimes channel 121 and Play TV channel 801.
Celebrated broadcast journalist and former Arise Daily news anchor Sulaiman Aledeh is returning to TV with a political talkshow, titled Political Stew.
Sulaiman Aledeh
The move comes months after Aledeh left Arise and launched his own online news platform, Aledeh.com.
The show, which will focus on political issues in Nigeria, will air on Television Continental (TVC), although a premiere date is yet to be announced.
The show is expected to set the pace for political discourse ahead of the 2019 general election. According to Aledeh: “It will stand out from other political shows. We won’t be biased, we will not gag anyone, yet we will be firm.
“We are setting standards with some of the finest hands in the industry. For every guest we bring, the viewer must get quality for time spent watching.
“The presentation style will be fluid, breezy and sometimes tastily spiced. So, when you’re looking for those who haven’t been on any television show before, you’ll find them on Political Stew.”
Prior to joining Arise TV in 2017, Aledeh anchored various political programmes on Channels TV, where he worked for eight years as a news anchor, producer and co-host of Sunrise Daily.
Lagos-based production company Ultima has picked up rights to long-running US gameshow format Family Feud and plans to launch a Nigerian adaptation.
Ultima is the company behind the Nigerian version of popular TV gameshow Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Project Fame West Africa, but said its adaptation of Family Feud will gain more success than its previous shows.
“Ultima is ready to launch the format for Nigerian audience later in the year, and this move promises to be another success, even bigger than Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Project Fame West Africa and any other from our stables.”
The Nigerian version of Millionaire has aired on NTA since 2004, while talent show Project Fame West Africa, an adaptation of Fame Academy, has aired since 2008 in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone on broadcasters including TVC, MITV, DBN, SoundCity, ONTV and GetTV.
Family Feud, distributed by FremantleMedia International, is a gameshow in which two families of five contestants compete to name the most popular responses to survey questions in order to win cash prizes and goody bags. The original version premiered in 1976 on ABC in the US.
Ultima has yet to announce when Family Feud will be premiered or on which channels it will air. Ultima is one of the leading media production companies in sub-Saharan Africa, delivering end-to-end TV programmes, post-production facilities and multi-platform distribution channels.
Aimed at helping young male players aged from 13 to 18 across Africa to chase a career in the professional game, the new season will air on NTA and TVC.
