BBA Is Here!

 As usual, 12 housemates selected from 12 African countries – Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria – will live together until, after several rounds of public voting, just one would walk away, US$100,000 richer.Traditionally, the housemates will have no contact with the outside world and will be watched 24/7 by audiences tuned in to DStv Channel 198 across the continent. Produced by Endemol for M-Net, BBA3 would be anchored once again by Channel O presenter, Kabelo Ngakane. But unlike in the past editions, BBA3 is coming with some major modifications aimed at addressing some of the complaints that trailed the last edition. Some viewers in Nigeria, for example had expressed strong reservation about the moral standard of the show. Questions were raised on some cases of nudity and moral laxity of some housemates. For instance, the ugly episode of drunkenness and pornographic display involving Ofunneka Molokwu of Nigeria and Tanzanian Richard remained a subject of national discourse weeks after the end of the show. Questions were also raised on the propriety of the controversial shower hour. To check the excesses, BBA3 has imposed restrictions on alcohol consumption in the house while housemates have been counselled on the need to exercise restraint. The controversial shower hour has now been moved to 9pm in line with the broadcast code of the National Broadcasting Commission. Also, unlike in the past when the show was available for all subscribers of the DStv Premium Bouquet, Multichoice announced that BBA3 would be available only on demand. “The idea is that only those who want to see the show in Nigeria would have access to it,” explained Joseph Hundah, Managing Director of Multichoice Nigeria. Under the arrangement the BBA3 channel would be blocked for all subscribers, but those who wish to watch the show can send a ‘Yes’ message to the Multichoice call centre alongside their decoder Smart Card number to facilitate the unblocking. “We have been sending messages across to our subscribers via SMS and DSD on the television screens to enable subscribers who want to watch BBA3 to indicate either by calling us or via SMS.

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  They can also reach us through our website address: dstv@mwebnigeria.com,” explained Segun Fayose, Multichoice spokesman.Scheduled to climax on Sunday 23 November, the decision to stage the Big Brother Africa 3 was buoyed by the success of the BBA2 show which had Nigeria’s Ofunneka finishing as first runner-up. Multichoice hopes to use the show to keep its subscription figures intact after the Beijing Olympic Games. According to Hundah: “With over 900,000 SMS messages received, over 14 million page impressions registered on the BBA2 website and over four million video clips viewed online, the incredible demand for Big Brother Africa 2 motivated M-Net to create a third season.” But would BBA3 match BBA2 in excitement and controversy? Events of the next 91 days would tell.