TV News South Africa

Big Brother back by popular demand

This week, M-Net announced entries for the third season of the blockbuster show, Big Brother Africa. The show boasts audience involvement of in excess of 900 000 SMS's, over 14 million page impressions and over 4 million video clips viewed online for their 2007 season. M-Net is on a drive to highlight sponsorship and product placement opportunities as a results-driven advertising medium with figures like that.

“Oracle Airtime Sales specialises in matching brands with sponsorship and product placement opportunities to maximise return on investment,” says Andre Stadler, deputy GM, product sales & development at Oracle Airtime Sales (OATS). He went on to explain how sponsorship has the ability to establish and increase brand awareness, building marketing reach and has been known to alter brand perceptions.

For example, during a Business Day interview in March, the directors of the Don Group reported a 25% increase in their operating profit in a mere six months - which they directly attributed to their involvement with Big Brother Africa.

August 24 launch

The 91-day blockbuster Big Brother Africa 3 is set to launch on August 24, just hours after the 2008 Olympic Games end, with the finale episode scheduled for Sunday November 23.

As with season 1 and 2, the housemates from 12 countries (Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) live together in a communal house where they are eliminated one-by-one through public voting resulting in one remaining housemate who wins 100 000 US Dollars.

“Reality TV has proven its appeal for audiences around the world, and in the case of Big Brother Africa, M-Net has found an ultra-popular format that crosses boundaries with ease, that entertains broadly across age and gender groupings, and that audiences have shown an unwavering appetite for,” says Carl Fischer, M-Net director of Original Productions.

For further information on media opportunities visit www.oats.co.za.

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