Ugandans yield to the alure of Television series
Apr 26, 2007
UGANDANS are changing their home entertainment preferences from videos to television series.
By Sebidde Kiryowa and Nigel Nassar
UGANDANS are changing their home entertainment preferences from videos to television series.
Even most of the makeshift video halls in the suburbs of Kampala and other towns are increasingly including television series on their daily line-ups.
TV series are about continuity, which is meant to keep viewers glued to a particular TV network week after week. On a particular day, viewers will be expecting to pick up the story from where they left off the last time.
That, however, is not necessarily the case with Ugandans. The menace of power cuts does not favour continuity.
This, coupled with the fact that many of the most engaging series are not shown on local networks, have compelled Ugandans to improvise.
Today, the biggest business for video libraries is television series.
Robert Asimwe, the manager of Blitz Videos on Kampala Road, who admits that his greatest income is derived from series, attributes the craze to more than power cuts and unavailability of some series on the local market.
“I think Ugandans discovered that it is more rewarding to follow through an entire season or two of a story which takes several days than a two-hour film.â€
Eddy Kayemba, the proprietor of Edz Videos on Bombo Road in Wandegeya, sees a money element in all this: “I think Ugandans realised that they get more for less when they borrow a DVD with an entire season of a series for a little more than they would pay for a two-hour movie.â€
One season of a TV series lasts about 15 hours. At Punchline and Blitz Videos, one season of a series costs sh20,000 while a regular movie (on DVD) costs sh5,000.
At Edz Videos, a movie costs between sh1,000 and 2,000 while one season of a series costs sh10,000. Video libraries have now resorted to downloading the latest episodes of such popular series as Prison Break, 24 and Desperate House Wives immediately after they are aired in the US, to satisfy customer’s insatiable demand.
But how and when did this craze really start? An attendant at Punchline Videos in Kampala attributes it to the advent of DStv. “DStv introduced us to the modern, fast-paced series like 24 in 2003 and Alias,†he says. “What video libraries are doing is filling in the gaps.â€
Below are some of the hottest selling series in Kampala;
Lost
Oceanic Flight 815 out of Sydney, Australia mysteriously crashes on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The survivors quickly learn they must band together in order to have any hope of rescue.
24
Federal Agent Jack Bauer cannot afford to always play by the rules. As a member of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit, Bauer must stop bombs, viruses, assassination attempts and usually save someone he cares about. Every season of this series has 24 episodes. Following its grip on fans, there is a planned feature film version of the televised series.
Prison Break
After getting himself incarcerated in Fox River State Penitentiary to free his falsely accused brother Lincoln Burrows, Michael Scofield is now on the loose — along with his brother and six other convicts. Set to uncover the $5m, the escapees attempt to evade capture – being tailed by both Captain Brad Bellick and FBI Special Agent Alexander Mahone.
Alias
Sydney Bristow was recruited as an undergrad to work for SD-6, which she thought was a government agency. However, when her fiancé is killed by SD-6 agents, she finds out that SD-6 is actually a counter-government agency.
Sydney approaches the CIA and becomes a double agent, which means she goes on SD-6 missions, but passes the information about her missions to her CIA handler, Vaughn.
Desperate Housewives
On a sunny day, in the heart of America, housewife Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) kills herself. She then takes us into the lives of her friends, family and neighbours.
Her circle of girlfriends on Wisteria Lane includes housewives Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross), Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) and Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan).
Smallville
Smallville is the tale of a teenage Clark Kent in the days before he was Superman. It is the town where strange things started happening with his arrival in a spaceship, in the midst of a meteor storm of green rocks. Clark must deal with a variety of individuals given powers by the green rocks, keep his powers a secret, cope with his friendship and balance the two girls in his life.
The 4400
The 4400 tells the stories of 4,400 people who disappeared over a period of 50 years and they all reappear at the same time, without any memory of where they have been, or what happened to them. Some of them have been altered and have strange abilities, both good and bad.
The OC
The OC, also known as Orange County, California, s an idyllic paradise, a wealthy, harbour-front community where everything and everyone appears to be perfect.
But beneath the surface is a world of shifting loyalties and identities, of kids living secret lives hidden from their parents, and of parents living secret lives hidden from their children.
UGANDANS are changing their home entertainment preferences from videos to television series.
Even most of the makeshift video halls in the suburbs of Kampala and other towns are increasingly including television series on their daily line-ups.
TV series are about continuity, which is meant to keep viewers glued to a particular TV network week after week. On a particular day, viewers will be expecting to pick up the story from where they left off the last time.
That, however, is not necessarily the case with Ugandans. The menace of power cuts does not favour continuity.
This, coupled with the fact that many of the most engaging series are not shown on local networks, have compelled Ugandans to improvise.
Today, the biggest business for video libraries is television series.
Robert Asimwe, the manager of Blitz Videos on Kampala Road, who admits that his greatest income is derived from series, attributes the craze to more than power cuts and unavailability of some series on the local market.
“I think Ugandans discovered that it is more rewarding to follow through an entire season or two of a story which takes several days than a two-hour film.â€
Eddy Kayemba, the proprietor of Edz Videos on Bombo Road in Wandegeya, sees a money element in all this: “I think Ugandans realised that they get more for less when they borrow a DVD with an entire season of a series for a little more than they would pay for a two-hour movie.â€
One season of a TV series lasts about 15 hours. At Punchline and Blitz Videos, one season of a series costs sh20,000 while a regular movie (on DVD) costs sh5,000.
At Edz Videos, a movie costs between sh1,000 and 2,000 while one season of a series costs sh10,000. Video libraries have now resorted to downloading the latest episodes of such popular series as Prison Break, 24 and Desperate House Wives immediately after they are aired in the US, to satisfy customer’s insatiable demand.
But how and when did this craze really start? An attendant at Punchline Videos in Kampala attributes it to the advent of DStv. “DStv introduced us to the modern, fast-paced series like 24 in 2003 and Alias,†he says. “What video libraries are doing is filling in the gaps.â€
Below are some of the hottest selling series in Kampala;
Lost
Oceanic Flight 815 out of Sydney, Australia mysteriously crashes on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The survivors quickly learn they must band together in order to have any hope of rescue.
24
Federal Agent Jack Bauer cannot afford to always play by the rules. As a member of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit, Bauer must stop bombs, viruses, assassination attempts and usually save someone he cares about. Every season of this series has 24 episodes. Following its grip on fans, there is a planned feature film version of the televised series.
Prison Break
After getting himself incarcerated in Fox River State Penitentiary to free his falsely accused brother Lincoln Burrows, Michael Scofield is now on the loose — along with his brother and six other convicts. Set to uncover the $5m, the escapees attempt to evade capture – being tailed by both Captain Brad Bellick and FBI Special Agent Alexander Mahone.
Alias
Sydney Bristow was recruited as an undergrad to work for SD-6, which she thought was a government agency. However, when her fiancé is killed by SD-6 agents, she finds out that SD-6 is actually a counter-government agency.
Sydney approaches the CIA and becomes a double agent, which means she goes on SD-6 missions, but passes the information about her missions to her CIA handler, Vaughn.
Desperate Housewives
On a sunny day, in the heart of America, housewife Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) kills herself. She then takes us into the lives of her friends, family and neighbours.
Her circle of girlfriends on Wisteria Lane includes housewives Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross), Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) and Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan).
Smallville
Smallville is the tale of a teenage Clark Kent in the days before he was Superman. It is the town where strange things started happening with his arrival in a spaceship, in the midst of a meteor storm of green rocks. Clark must deal with a variety of individuals given powers by the green rocks, keep his powers a secret, cope with his friendship and balance the two girls in his life.
The 4400
The 4400 tells the stories of 4,400 people who disappeared over a period of 50 years and they all reappear at the same time, without any memory of where they have been, or what happened to them. Some of them have been altered and have strange abilities, both good and bad.
The OC
The OC, also known as Orange County, California, s an idyllic paradise, a wealthy, harbour-front community where everything and everyone appears to be perfect.
But beneath the surface is a world of shifting loyalties and identities, of kids living secret lives hidden from their parents, and of parents living secret lives hidden from their children.