Big Brother still got the juice

Big Brother undoubtedly is the biggest Pan African show to hit the continent. There is no other television show that is widely watched across the continent by millions of viewers. Africa has diverse cultures and thousands of tribes and languages, that is why it has been difficult to create a television content that cuts across the whole of Africa. 
So when Big Brother Africa, a spin-off from Endemol’s Big Brother, which is a show that has similar contents across the world, was first produced and aired in Africa, it received a huge welcome as 12 countries from across the continent were represented. It was the first time a television show brought together Africa to experience one singular entertainment show. The only television programmes to do thiese are sports coverage like All African Games and Nations Cup.
But Big Brother is even bigger. It runs for three months and airs all day at all hours non-stop. The first season of Big Brother Africa, featuring 12 housemates from 12 different African countries, premiered to audiences in 42 African countries. It started on Sunday May 25, 2003, and ended on September 7 of the same year, lasting 106 days. 
With all the different versions of the show across the world, Big Brother Africa carved a niche for itself. It was the first time in the world that the internationally famous programme will be created using participants of different nationalities from one continent. Hence the popularity.
In March 2006, Nigeria got it’s very own Big Brother Show. Following the parent African version, 12 contestants were drafted from across Nigeria to take part in the show. The show got the deserved large viewership and it ended on a high note with Katung Aduwak emerging the winner. The show turned out to be a huge success. 
Sadly, that was the last to be heard of the show. MultiChoice and Mnet shifted their focus back to Big Brother Africa, which remained their biggest show ever. They also held Big Brother in other countries over the years. Big Brother Nigeria seems to be a thing of the past… until now. 
After the announcement of the new Big Brother Nigeria, many indeed were happy that the Franchise was not dead. Many who are junkies for the show were elated, as they can now binge on watching other people living their lives. But some critics ask: Is there still life in Big Brother? Can it excite Nigerians like it used to? Does it still have enough juice to keep Nigerians glued to the televisions set?
The answers to that may lie in the nitty gritty of the show itself.
Big Brother is a reality game show franchise created by John de Mol, originally broadcast in the Netherlands and subsequently syndicated internationally. As of 11 November 2016, there have been 387 seasons of Big Brother in over 54 franchise countries and regions.
In the show, contestants called “housemates” live together in a specially-constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Housemates are voted out (usually on a weekly basis) until only one remains and wins the cash prize. During their stay in the house, contestants are continuously monitored by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones.
So what is in for the viewers? According to researchers, the reason the show resonates and captivates viewers, and for some, to the point of addiction, is called the ‘prisoner and the warden (guard) effect’. Big Brother was initially touted as a social experiment, but that was quickly debunked by social scientists.  It is not a scientific experiment. There are no controlled conditions. But it does generate interesting and unique material.
But the Prisoner/Warden theory does hold water. The idea of the Big Brother series is to place a number of ordinary people into solitary confinement with each other and watch them. The public could vote to get rid of anyone they didn’t like thus ‘punishing’ them by depriving them of the prize money whilst supporting people they identified with. 
Meaning the housemates are the prisoners and the viewers the guards. The reward is a huge chunk of money and the only ones that can decide who gets the money are the viewers. So the success of any housemate is decided on how his or her behaviour bounces of the viewers. This gives viewers a lot of power and they need to continue to watch the show in order to decide where their votes will go. 
But all these excitement came to an abrupt end when the Big Brother Africa stopped showing two years ago. This followed the unfortunate incident which saw the Big Brother House and its multi-million dollars filming equipment all burnt to ashes. It was a huge blow for MultiChoice and Mnet who had already chewed through sponsors funds to put together a bigger show. An uninspiring two months long show ended the run on a sad note.
But a new Big Brother has been announced and it will kick off tomorrow. Can organisers win back the heart of Nigerians? The answer is a resounding yes. Looking at the level of preparedness and planning that has gone into the second edition of Big Brother Nigeria show, it can be said that Nigerians will be getting a good dose of quality programming.
Also, many critics believe that there is still a lot to be milked from the show that get viewers excited as it used to. “I believe this is a rebirth of Big Brother as a whole. With Big Brother Nigeria, the hunger for the show will rise once again. In fact you will see that people will start asking for Big Brother Africa after this one,” Jimmy Osondu, radio personality said about the new Big Brother Nigeria.
Speaking with a former producer of the show, Biola Alabi, she has this to says, “I think Big Brother still has some life in it. I think it needs to go through regeneration, a recalibration and also look at how it needs to be distributed differently. This is me speaking as a television executive. I do wish to see a different kind of Big Brother. I think that is what they are actually working on.”
This view is shared by many others. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, a former housemate in Big Brother Nigeria show back in 2006 will make a re-appearance at the reality show as the host. 
“We are particularly excited to have Ebuka as host of Big Brother Naija. This was the platform that unearthed his potentials and propelled him to stardom”, said John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria.
“He has over the years grown to become a prominent face on the Nigerian pop culture and entertainment scene while also lending his voice to youth empowerment initiatives. We believe his cool and debonair personality combined with his healthy dose of wit will spice up the show. Our viewers are in for a great entertainment experience!” Ugbe said.
Fingers crossed as MultiChoice brings back to its feet a downed horse.