Month: February 2013

As soon as the footage played on Kenyan TV news stations, these hot, scandalous and sometimes hilarious videos go viral as when they get on-line.

These two were no exception. Infact, when it comes to eye-witness footage, I think these two recent videos take the comical crown.

 

The first one has to be the Kasarani dude who is now sick and tired of the thieves terrorising them in their neighbourhood. You know, the guy now famous for the ‘I witnessed ni kama ndrama ni kama vindio ni ka movie…” phrase.

Here’s the video.

{youtube}o8dcFeTld0k{/youtube}

Second place goes to the guy who witnessed a road carnage, now famous for the phrase, “Ndeleva alitiririka kwa mto.”

Check out the video embedded below.

Yesterday, we held a poll asking you what your favourite TV station is. And the contenders were:

CITIZEN TV

Known for catering to the ‘mashinani’ audience mostly, this station revolutionized the local content scene with series like Inspekta Mwala, Tahidi High and Papa Shirandula. But do Ghafla! peeps feel such?

KTN

With a fully 3D newsroom, they are ahead in terms of technology. Their investigative reporters, led by John Allan Namu and Mohammed Ali risk their lives for their stories, driving large viewership for their documentaries.

NTV

This is by far the largest media house in Kenya in terms of revenue. With more than Kshs. 9 billion in annual revenues, Nation Media Group has all the money to play with in terms of research and development.

K24

This station once had the leading talk show in Kenya: Capital Talk, hosted by Jeff Koinange. He recently left the station, leading some to question how K24 would hold up, but they have been on a hiring spree recently, poaching talent like Tom Mboya, Belinda Obura, Lulu Hassan and others from their rival stations.

 

And then winner is: KTN

KTN. With over a third of the votes, it beat its closest competitor Citizen TV followed by NTV and K24 respectively. Here’s a rundown of how people voted.

KTN – 36.6%
CITIZEN TV – 29.3%
NTV  – 22.5%
K24 – 11.5%

I know we’re all recovering from the hangover of yesterday’s hard-hitting first ever televised Presidential debate. However less attention has been given to the venue of the debate: Brookhouse International School.

Located near the Galleria shopping mall Brookhouse School is not just another learning institution. The institution is a member of the Round Square group of schools worldwide and is committed to the principles of democracy and civic education, which partly explains why it accepted to host the first ever presidential debate on Kenyan soil.

The debate was conducted inside a state-of-the art auditorium in the school’s castle-style building. The auditorium is known as Burudani Theatre and usually hosts theatre performances by the students (as seen in the photo on the left). The school is also located just a few metres from the Bomas of Kenya, which will be the tallying centre for the election results on March 4.

Brookhouse is designed to cater for the children of the who’s who in society from diplomats, CEOs of blue chip companies, businesspeople and top government officials, with parents paying between KSh.150,000 and Ksh.700,000 per term for each child.

 

It is also worth noting that when the new structures in the school were being erected, the management asked the students what designs they would like to which they suggested the design of Hogwarts (School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter). However, what stands out is that the school volunteered the venue to the organizers of the historic debate.

 

[Daily Nation]

Just like Nairobi Half Life, the next One Fine Day Film Workshop production, Something Necessary, is hitting the international circuit hard. The film, which premiered at the end of January, is now headed to Germany.

This February, it will show in Koln (19th), Berlin (20th), Leipzig (21st), Nurnebrg (22nd), Wurzburg (23rd), Munich (24th), Heilbronn (25th), Stuttgart (26th), Frankfurt (27th) and Bonn (28th). In March it will show in (Bielefeld (1st), Bremen (2nd) and Hamburg (3rd).

In Kenya, the film is currently showing at Century Cinemax at The Junction at 5:00 p.m. To confirm, call 0700 326726, 0739 173643 or 020 8022073. Read the Ghafla! review here.

“Something Necessary is an intimate moment in the lives of Anne and Joseph. A woman struggling to rebuild her life after the civil unrest that swept Kenya after the 2007 elections claiming the life of her husband, the health of her son and leaving her home on an isolated farm in the Kenyan countryside in ruins, she now has nothing but her resolve to rebuild her life left.

A young man, troubled gang member who participated in the countrywide violence is drawn to Anne and her farm seemingly in search of redemption. Both, Joseph and Anne need something that only the other can give to allow them to shed the painful memories of their past and move on.”

Friday caricaturist Gado dropped his troll hammer on KNC’s presidential hopeful Peter Kenneth AKA PK over his remarks that he’s “like a breath of fresh air”.

Click on the photo to enlarge and enjoy the humour.

Leading pay TV operator MultiChoice Africa is giving away cash prizes to simply say thank you to its subscribers, beginning this week.

The newly revamped DStv rewards promotion is worth Kshs. 6 million for subscribers who stay connected to DStv. In addition, consumers will also be entitled to the ongoing 10% discount campaign, also part of the DStv Rewards initiative, which knocks 10% off the subscription price for those consumers who pay on time and who enjoy unbroken service.

DStv & GOtv Launch New African Channel

From February 5 until April 10, DStv subscribers in Kenya stand the chance of winning Kshs. 600,000 in cash weekly for simply staying connected to DStv’s exciting world of sport, movies, music, news, kids, documentary and lifestyle entertainment.  

MultiChoice Africa has also announced that all its DStv subscribers in Kenya are eligible to win cash prizes, regardless of the bouquet they subscribe to.

Mickey & Minnie Mouse Visit Kenya

MultiChoice Africa CEO Nico Meyer says that DStv was particularly pleased by the support it has received and wished to express its gratitude that consumers continue to choose DStv for its diverse range of bouquets and channels.  

“We’re always searching for new ways to add extra value to our subscribers’ lives. Whether through innovative programming, embracing new technology or expanding our operations network, we aim to be the best. This year, we’re consolidating all our subscriber loyalty competitions and initiatives into one portfolio called DStv Rewards.”

Africa Magic & Africa Magic Plus Repackaged

But that’s not all… winners walking away with cash prizes will be filmed for inserts that will be screened during the hit game show, The Money Drop, on AfricaMagic and AfricaMagic Entertainment. So not only could you win, but you could also be on TV.

In addition, DStv audiences can win a full year’s subscription to their current bouquet, just by watching their favourite shows.  Tune in and when you see a blue DStv Rewards Box pop up on screen, make sure you SMS/TEXT the competition hotline (details onscreen and at www.dstv.com) with your name. It’s that easy to win!

Consumers are encouraged to update their DStv account contact details so that in case of a win, they get the good news quickly.

I had been waiting for it. Given all the hype and -at the eleventh hour- drama surrounding the presidential debate, i knew Kenyans were going to troll. And troll they have. And this is quite funny! Who says Kenyans are neither creative nor funny? Here are some examples of what Kenyans have come up with:

 

 

 

 

<from Nyambura Mwangi-Githinji>

 

And the Kiyapi gap means: Jaza pengo

 

 

 

The results are out! Please not that this not a scientific poll. After the debate yesterday, I asked who YOU thought won the debate. Results as at 8:00 am today are as follows.

Dida – 44.30%
Uhuru – 26.06%
Raila – 10.75 %
Peter Kenneth – 7.49%
Martha – 4.56%
Muite -2.93%
Mudavadi – 2.61%
Ole Kiyiapi – 1.30%

Thanks to all who participated and gave their views.

 

 

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the debate is back on track after the organisers of the debate came to an amicable conclusion with Paul Muite and Diba after their successful injunction threatened the event that is meant to be beamed live.

That means that now, instead of 8 candidates, their will be 10 participants who will lock horns and engage each other on issues ranging from health care, the ICC and land. The debate will be aired at 6:30pm on all the television channels in Kenya and you don’t want to miss this ground breaking debate.

And this is how a rather talented photo-shopper has chosen to illustrate the inclusion of both diba and Muite:

 

So a couple weeks back, we reported that K24 had raided many media houses for their top talent, including anchors such as Tom Mboya, Belinda Obura and Lulu Hassan. Now yesterday, we saw Lulu Hassan make her first appearance on Citizen TV’s 7 o’clock news, meaning that the deal was sweeter on Citizens end.

This is a good coup for Citizen’s parent company, Royal Media services, because it goes to show that they can still hold their own against the financial juggernaut that is Uhuru Kenyatta’s K24. Will the media wars ever end? Who cares, more news for us! Drop your thoughts bel

Last week the US President who also has Kenyan roots had a special message to Kenyans as we approach the elections. Less than a week later, a young Kenyan has chosen to reply President Obama’s message.

Thanking him and the American people for the friendship and partnership between the American people and the Kenyan People, he also reiterates on the need of the American government and other foreign governments to respect the wishes and will of the Kenyan people to elect leaders of their choice without the media propaganda, intimidation and threats from any foreign governments including USA.

Watch the video below;

{youtube}WlUIxXLbUsE{/youtube}

Today, for the first time, Kenyans will get a chance to see presidential candidates duke it out on live TV in front of a live audience. What will definitely be the biggest television event in years will start at 6:30 p.m. with the actual debate kicking off at 7:00 p.m.

 

You don’t want to be left out when that time comes, so below is a list of all the stations and platforms you can catch Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, Musalia Mudavadi, Martha Karua, Peter Kenneth and James ole Kiyiapi (and maybe Paul Muite and that other guy) this evening.

 

---

TV Stations
Citizen TV
NTV
KTN
Kiss TV
KBC
K24
Qtv
Kass TV

Live Streams
standardmedia.co.ke/ktn/video/debate2013
capitalfm.co.ke/elections
stream.aljazeera.com/story/201302081929-0022533
KenyaMoja.com
citizentv.co.ke/live
youtube.com/kenyacitizentv
youtube.com/electionskenya

The hashtag for the debate is #Debate254. If you have knowledge of other links to catch the debate, share in the comments sections below. Check out photos of Peter Kenneth and Martha Karua at the venue here.

News just in indicates that yet another anchor/reporter has decamped from the national broadcaster, KBC. Melline Myendo has left for a station yet to be disclosed.

Mel, as she’s popular known among her peers handed in her resignation last Friday but remained tight-lipped about her next move. The soft-spoken anchor is a Daystar University alumnus and has been with the State-owned media house for three years.

Melline becomes the second high-flying journalist to part way with KBC after Obadiah Kendagor left the station for Citizen TV. According to a mole, KBC could be the next victim of a massive walkout of journalists as a number of other personalities are on their way out of the station.

Ladies and gentlemen, news reaching us seem to indicate that High Court judge Eric Ogolla has halted tonight’s planned presidential debate after Paul Muite and Mohammed Diba successfully petitioned for inclusion.

We are still investigating to find out all the details which we shall then aggregate to you but for now, what has reached us is the fact that the High Court has ordered the inclusion of Paul Muite and Mohammed Diba but until that has been organised, the presidential debate will not take place.

Keep it locked as we keep you informed.

The number one TV station’s Elections’ coverage is at risk after the Award-winning ICT Manager and his Deputy received lucrative offers to move to a competitor media house to establish much needed Elections technology.

This comes after the media house was raided for Anchors, Studio operators, radio presenters and technical crew. The numbers of those poached stands at about 50 and would have been higher if some camera and newsroom staff had not received counter-offers that have seen salaries shoot up to 850,000/- for an anchor and camera team at 500,000/­-.

The latest raid on the ICT Department takes advantage of the fact that the team was underpaid and unappreciated in spite of winning many Awards in the past in an era when media heavily relies on IT technology. Contacted for comment, the IT staff has remained tight-lipped. Not surprising because they are known to stay away from the limelight. The competition is bound to gain strategically in building their election reporting technology.

After successful recording of the Churchill Show (formerly Churchill Live) at the Carnivore on 5th of February and much hype on TV, the stage was set for the return of Churchill Show. However, things didn’t go according to plan and the show failed to go on air.

Moments after the scheduled airing of the show, NTV via its Twitter handle (@ntvkenya), apologized that it could not air the show due to “technical hitches”, “Due to technical hitches,we will not be able to air the #ChurchillLive show as earlier promised. We apologise to all our viewers.”

Churchill, however, explained further the situation, “We thought it was a joke when we heard of dark forces!! how do you explain sudden memory wipe out mid final cut loading…yaani computer imejam kabsa! …sema frustration!! on behalf of technology niwie radhi.. wish everyone had come on Tuesday for the live show.”

He also added, “Many apologies from me we were unable to air the show today..Technology failed us mad..now more reason to not miss the live recording on Tuesday. We will be on air on Sunday though. wale walicome for the recording tuambieni”

 

This is not the first time that show has had a false start as last year June the preparations for the new season were on top gear only for it to fail to air.

So last week, we got word from the Big Brother website that Prezzo and Goldie were getting married on Saturday. Well here we are on Monday morning, and not a word of the wedding. What was that all about?

 After the news broke, there was a whirlwind of denials and speculations. My personal hunch was that it was all a clever ruse to get people’s tongues wagging, as the Big Brother auditions for the next season have began.

I wonder what the people in charge of the organising of Big Brother have to say about all this. Well, I would now like to invite them to explain what is going on in the comment section below:

Ian Mugoya has gotten ink done and we have the pictures of his new body art. Check them out below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Larry Madowo on Friday had Mutahi Ngunyi come on his show #thetrend to talk about his recent controversial report named “the Tyranny of Numbers.” In this report, Mutahi Ngunyi analysed why he thought the Jubilee coalition would easily win this election, as the Kikuyu and Kalenjin had registered in overwhelmingly large numbers.

Along the way, the topic of today’s TV presidential debate, which will be the first of it’s kind in Kenya. This is how the conversation went:

Larry Madowo: Do you think the Presidential debate is an exercise in futility?

Mutahi Ngunyi: The Presidential debate, in my view, will just be a forum where our leaders will be exchanging ignorance, because they are not sharing their issues with us, they are sharing their ethnic numbers. Listen to them. Whether Uhuru Kenyatta stands up there and talks matope, or Raila Odinga stands there and he is unable to say anything, people will still vote for him. So it’s not an exchange of ideas. It is an exchange of ignorance as I would say.

 

Watch the whole interview below:

 

{youtube}JkLDCYS7oso{/youtube}