In this interview with Rotimi Ige, Atinuke Babatunde, Head of Content and Channels, West Africa, MultiChoice Nigeria, shares insights into her role in shaping Africa Magic’s programming, launching channels, positioning major entertainment productions and nurturing emerging filmmakers through the MultiChoice Talent Factory. She also explains her passion for mentoring young people, her contribution to the growth of Africa’s creative industry, and vision for delivering compelling, locally relevant content to audiences across West Africa.
YOU have managed channels across Africa Magic. How does MultiChoice strike a balance between the broad regional appeal, you know, and the specific cultural nuances of a language-based storytelling?
Okay. We, as Africa Magic, are available in about 47 countries in Africa. And so, it’s important that we show content that will appeal to different audiences. Now, why is all that? We are also cognizant of the fact that because we’re here in Nigeria, we have to be aware of our own local nuances. And so, we are able to create a balance by thinking of what the audience would like that would resonate with everybody across the regions, but also, more importantly, the things that will resonate with our own local nuances. Because here in Nigeria, we have Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and we don’t want to, while focusing on general contents, alienate those of our own cultural regions.
So, we strike that balance by making sure that we have the local channels that cater specifically to our own indigenous content so that everybody is taken care of in that area. And then we have the other three channels: Epic, Showcase, and Family that cater to the general nuances across other regions and less specific to languages. That’s how we frame that balance.
We all know that audiences now are becoming increasingly spoilt for choice, across TV and of course, digital streaming, which is the in-thing right now. I would like to know, what specific elements make a project stand out? I know you commission projects from time to time. What specific elements make a project stand out when you’re commissioning, you, all of these new projects?
So the specific thing I think is the most important, actually, is the stories. Nigerians love stories. And not just Nigerians, Africans, they’re great storytellers, we love hearing stories and all. So one of the things that stands out, the major thing that we make sure before we commission any content is in terms of the story. It has to be something that will resonate with not just our local audience, but also across regions.
Data has shown us that even with the international content that we have on our platform, Nigerians still love our local content. In fact, it’s our local content that is pushing the viewership on most of our channels. So, we’re very particular about making sure that whatever content we put out are content that will resonate with our local audience and make sure that they stay to those channels.
So, with data, we’re mindful of the stories. Another thing to mention is when Nollywood first started, quantity wasn’t a big deal. People were ready to watch whatever it is that we put out there as long as the stories were cool. But now, we’re increasingly seeing that the audience is savvy, there’s technology, and they’re particular about the quality. So, we’re also mindful of the kind of quality of content that we put out there. So, for us, it’s the stories, the quality of content, and, of course, if the person has the pedigree of doing great work, then those are some of the things we look out for.
Talking about quality of content, we know that, of course, inflation and soaring production costs are present realities. Nollywood is navigating these macroeconomic pressures. How is MultiChoice, and by extension the Africa Magic family, maintaining high production standards as you do, while ensuring that audiences still get maximum value for subscription?
We’re very particular about investing in our content in MultiChoice and especially Africa Magic. So, I mean, like you said, the economic pressures are there, but we still do not compromise on quality. And so when we look out for people to commission, we’re, like I mentioned earlier, we’re very big on making sure they have the capacity to deliver on the kind of quality that we desire.
It hasn’t been easy because, I mean, the inflation is there, people are struggling, and all that. But notwithstanding, we still insist on getting the kind of quality that we want and that will work for the channels. Because the way our technology is even set up, there’s the level of quality that you bring that our technology will not be able to accept. So, even up to the extent of the kind of content we put on the channel, we have checks, we have back-ends, we have quality assurance controls that make it important that things are at a particular quality level. And so, we’re not compromising. We’re investing, and we’re looking out for that in our commissioned partners as well. And that’s why we try to also make sure that what we offer them is commensurate to the kind of quality we’re looking for.
Some streaming platforms, in the past, would commission indigenous projects, working with known Nollywood figures, maintaining checks and balances in knowing that the investments put into it is utilised adequately and efficiently; how does your outfits do these checks and balances to ensure that, one, producers not cutting corners, you know, underpaying talent and all of that? How do you ensure that they maintain the quality that you represent as the company?
So, we have a system in-house, a very robust system. And if you ask anybody that has worked with us in terms of commissioning, when we first started, we were having these issues that you mentioned, people were not paying the right costs, and there was undercutting in terms of quality and all that. And so, we had to bring in experts to help us with defining and designing a check and balance system in our production, where before you’re even commissioned, we take you through that process and we show you that there are ways we monitor at the back-ends.
So, we have production assistants, we have production accountants, we have specific production personnel that make sure that all these things we’re doing, there’s checks, there’s balances, and you have milestones even in the way we make your payment so that it’s not that you will come at one point and say, “Oh, you’ve used up the money,” or they find out later that the things you promised on, you were not adhering to those terms and conditions. So, we actually do have a check and balance process in our co-production department that will ensure that all these things that we require are actually what is delivered to us.
Your channel commissioning on projects like Flatmates is now in its 10th season, that’s impressive. What’s the secret to keeping long-running series, as you have, across your channels? How do you do it to keep them fresh, engaging, and relevant, especially for Gen Zs and generations to come from time to time?
If you watch any of our long-running shows, you will see that we have inclusion of gender, age, and generation. And and the secret to keeping those things long running and because we’re cognizant of the fact that at every point in time, we’ll have new entrants coming into the space. So, you always have new views, different people of different age brackets coming in. Data has shown us the most important thing that the people, the audience want to see is any story that engages them and that holds them.
So, for every season, we try to make sure that we infuse the kinds of contents that we know will engage different ages and nuances, so that we’re not alienating any person. Those are the ways we make sure that for every usage, we keep it fresh, we keep it engaging, and we’re able to cater to the different generations, like you’ve mentioned.
In the past, just like we have Big Brother, there used to be, The next movie star, reality content based off Nollywood, promoting and engaging new actors and all of that, which has stopped for a while. Was it deliberate, or is there something in the future for something particularly focused on Nollywood reality now?
We’re looking at everything we have and we’re big on reality. Big Brother is one of our reality shows that does well. And for this new financial year that we’re coming into, we’re already beginning to scout to see more realities because we see that the way people and the trends are going, people want reality, people want to see themselves in the lives of others. So, yes, we’re looking at bringing in more realities than we’ve done in the past, and we’re looking at engaging partners and sponsors and all that to see how we can do more. So, the answer is yes. Reality is one of our big things for next year and Nollywood specific realities are some of the things we’ll be looking at as well.
Where is Africa Magic taking viewers in the next five years?
Africa Magic is telling them to expect more, you know, more drama, more trailers, more reality, they should expect more of the things they’ve been watching, the new things that are going to be happening. I mean, we’re following trends in terms of using data to make sure that we’re following what it is that the viewers want to watch. Viewers want to watch things that are binge-worthy, things that they can sit down and watch over a short period of time. Viewers want to see the stories that they can relate with, they want to see themselves in stories as well. So, those are the kinds of things that our viewers should watch out for in the next five years.
WATCH TOP VIDEOS FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE TV
