This news is nothing to laugh about. Uganda’s most popular comedienne Anne Kansiime recently announced that her Don’t Mess With Kansiime show that had previously been running on Kenya’s Citizen TV was moving to M-Net’s Maisha Magic Channel, with effect from next Wednesday February 25.
And it seems we shall only watch one episode as M-Net has announced that it will close the channel with effect from March due to low popularity, just six months after the launch, and shift its focus to Maisha Magic Swahili, which seems more popular with DStv susbcribers.
“Unfortunately, Maisha Magic has not performed and grown as per our expectations. Overall, the channel was unable to achieve the ratings consistency we needed to sustain the business and support our continued investment,” said Patricia van Rooyen, CEO, M-Net sub-Saharan Africa.
“As a result, M-Net made the carefully considered but difficult decision to cease operations of the channel. We are grateful to the Maisha Magic team, which includes M-Net East Africa Regional Director Michael Ndetei and some of the most talented and creative people in the East African media industry. M-Net will endeavour to make this closure as smooth a transition as possible for them.”
Kirya and Chameleone also affected
Ugandan musicians Maurice Kirya and Jose Chameleone will also be affected by the sudden decision to close the channel.
The two musicians together with other East African stars, Nameless, Maurice Kirya, Rabbit, AY and Shaa are coaches in the ongoing Maisha Superstar Search reality show that is supposed to run for 13 episodes.
However, M-Net will keep the Maisha Magic Swahili channel that is more popular among the East African audience, though not Uganda, which is not a Swahili speaking nation unlike Kenya and Tanzania. We are yet to know the fate of the shows though M-Net promised a smooth transition.