Kenya: Production Costs Hamper Local TV Shows

The high cost of producing local television programmes is threatening the growth of the creative industry.
Though the number of locally produced programmes has risen to more than 20 in the last two years, industry players say the positive run may grind to a halt as broadcasters - who foot most of the production bills - seek to curb the ballooning expenditure as competition for advertising income intensifies.

Producing one episode of a local programme costs anything from Sh300,000 and Sh1 million compared to the cost of airing one episode of a programme bought in the international markets, which ranges between Sh24,000 and Sh80,000.
Mrs Kezzy Omoni-Kimani, the programmes manager at NTV, says that as a result of the high costs of local programmes, the television landscape will lean more towards programmes made in other African markets to satisfy viewers' demand for relevant programmes.
"There will be more local content, but not necessarily Kenyan," she said.
The recent upsurge in locally produced programmes is also facing a threat from audience disapproval, which is being attributed to low production budgets that is affecting the quality of the programmes.

"Right now, because local programmes are still a new phenomenon, viewers are not very discerning. But they will soon start questioning the sound and picture quality as their sophistication rises. The major problem is that there are few investors in local programmes, leaving broadcasters and production houses to work with thin budgets," said Ms Maya Rajput, the operations manager at Take4 Studios.
The thin budgets, analysts say, does not offer much headroom for picking the best shooting sites, cast, costumes, and technical teams.

They add that ideally, programmes should be funded by sponsors who pay production houses, meet the cost of materials used, and sell the programmes to broadcasters.
Given their financial muscle, Kenya's blue chip companies are seen as potential sponsors who can fund programmes as an alternative marketing strategy.
For now, most of the programmes are supported by broadcasters who commit up to 80 per cent of the production cost, with production firms contributing the remainder.
"If sponsors can come forward and commit Sh1 million per week on a production, the quality will really go up and help deepen the local content market," Rajput said.

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Players in the creative industry have expressed hopes that the migration to digital TV will see the entry of more players on the broadcasting scene, adding impetus to the demand for local content seen in recent years.
As digital broadcasting levels the playing field by eliminating the need for huge capital expenditure in studio equipment and transmission stations, more broadcasters are set to enter the field, expanding the market for local actors and producers.
With broadcasters outsourcing the responsibility of signal transmission to a third party, competition among players in the industry is expected to shift to provision of the highest-rated shows, which will in turn escalate demand for locally produced programmes.
The government's push for TV stations to air at least 40 per cent local programmes in a day, as part of new broadcast regulations, is also propping up the creative industry.