H
F
H
F
GONE WITH THE WIND?
Become a
Has NTA
dow of
Sha
Itself?
NTA is still holding its own! In my department, as
EDP I have introduced programmes such as the
drama serial you sold to us, ‘Shackles’, which has not
been able to get a sponsor. That’s one of our major
handicaps. We have many good programme ideas,
but sponsorship is a major challenge”.
By Shamsudeen
Adeiza
W
hen you say NTA today,
what easily comes to mind
is Network News, alas that
wasn’t the case before
this time. In the 60’s, 70’s
and early 80’s, the Nigeria Television Authority
(NTA), simply known as NTV, was a colossus that
monopolized the industry with vivacious festivals,
musicals and documentaries. I was privileged to
be a producer / director with the NTA in the 80’s,
when this giant was at its peak; a time when she
had very interesting programmes with competitive
prizes attached to them; this pushed producers
and directors to be their best. That was when
powerful dramas like The Village Headmaster, The
Masquerade, Mirror In The Sun, Ripples, Spacs
(First Attempt At Action Drama) and Check Mate
amongst others, ruled the airwaves and entertained
Nigerians. The Controversial ‘Pot of Life’ was made
then and Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ was
adapted to television. That was when screen-kings
such as Pete Edochie and a few others were created.
Nothing lasts forever and all Kingdoms must
come to an end. And so, the Golden Age of NTA,
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HF Magazine Edition 1, Volume 1.
when popular children programmes like Tales by
Moonlight and Giant in the Sun, which won prizes
at international Television Festivals ended. And why
not! After all, NTA used to send her production staff
for training to internationally recognized institutions
abroad. But today, such incentives no longer thrive
there. I left NTA 2 decades ago, and as a bystander,
I’m in a position to say it has lost a lot of verve, value
and vigour. Though, it has remained the largest
television empire in Africa. That is why new players
like AIT, Channels and Silverbird, tend to attract
more viewers than NTA.
Privileged to be doing a new comedy programme,
titled ‘Professor Angus’, with NTA, I asked the
Executive Director Programmes, NTA Headquarters
Abuja, Mallam U. Mamoud, why NTA has seemingly
lost her audience to private televisions and this is
what he had to say; “I wouldn’t say we are losing
our viewers to other television stations; what’s
happening is that viewers have variety of stations to
watch and its good for them. Even my friends tell me
they switch to NTA only for Network News, and they
know NTA sifts her news because she is basically a
government organ. This is a reality, but I tell you,
Apart from sponsorship, my investigations reveal
that NTA has rapidly lost some of its best hands that
produced the super-hits of yester-years through
retirements, and talents are the most difficult
attributes to replace. There is a yawning vacuum
in the system because the new hands are not as
enthusiastic to learn as their predecessors. It may be
far-fetched to say that NTA is now a shadow of itself,
but, clearly, for us who knew when NTA was the allin-all television station in the country, NTA needs a
lot of re-definition, rejuvenation and revitalization
for her to keep her head above water! We ask again,
has NTA as we use to know it gone with the wind?
“I wouldn’t say we are
losing our viewers to
other television stations;
what’s happening is that
viewers have variety of
stations to watch and its
good for them”
HF Magazine Edition 1, Volume 1.
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