Does Astus have the magic wand for GhOne TV?
Can we now heave a sigh of relief as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards dies down? Since January till date the entertainment conversations have been dominated by different aspects of the VGMA; from whether Shatta Wale should be nominated to whether Bisa Kdei or EL deserves more to be the Artiste of the Year.
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Now we can all move on and talk about other things in the entertainment industry. For starters the radio shows, social media commentators and everyone else can decide to talk about whether or not it is right to use vulgar invectives in a popular song, for all I care. At least it is a tad more refreshing than harping on everything VGMA for so long a time. At least for the next eight months!
What I really want to talk about is the new sheriff appointed to head television at EIB Network. Astus Kwasi Ahiagble has been around, he has played in the biggest pools of the television landscape, especially on the production side and yet he is so unassuming you have to have played in similar circles to have heard of him. But trust me, he has.
It therefore came as a great news for me when I heard that EIB had tapped the man who was until recently the head of Content and Production at Metro TV. Which practically meant being in charge of anything that aired on the Labone based television station.
It is true Metro TV has lost the luster it used to have in the area of content. Over time the station lost what made it relevant, sports and also other content that made it compete strongly. Over this last few months though they have tried to work a few things out with repacking of the morning show, Smash TV, Morning Ride and other shows to bring back the relevance.
Ahiagble was the man in charge of ensuring that the station would get back on track as far as content goes. However, running a television show goes beyond just content as the needed support should be given to ensure that the effort to develop content doesn’t go awry.
Flip the coin to GhOne and this is the station on the rise. Since EIB acquired it from the Multiple Concept Group it has been a station that is trying to assert itself in the mainstream TV market, having for all its five years or so life been known as an entertainment station.
At least in the first quarter of 2016 the station made some sturdy progress in audience and could be attributed to what has been done with the main morning and evening shows namely Kafui Dey and Baisiwa Dowuona-Hammond’s Gh Today and Nana Aba Anamoah’s State of Affairs respectively.
That little progress in audience share needs to be consolidated and there was the need therefore to have someone who understands the content space and how to leverage that to gain further share to ensure that the sales efforts are enhanced.
Enter Astus Ahiagble. His experience in that space is par excellence as from his days at Fontonfrom TV in Kumasi through studying at the feet of the production master, Kwaw Ansah at TV Africa to getting things done at OMP and then Metro TV, he has shown a knack living in the production and content space for a very long time.
I have known Astus from a long time, from his days at Fontonfrom and knew he was a graduate of NAFTI. I have followed his career all this while and yet upon hearing his appointment as General Manager – Television at EIB, I felt it was time to look closely at his CV and so to LinkedIn I went.
An astute content professional is Astus. He has been there, done that and perhaps more qualified to fill this position as much as the next guy. For almost a decade he was lecturing at his alma mater, NAFTI and had trained more than a few people who have ended up in production at different levels.
The question however is whether he is cut for the challenge that this role comes with. It is a tough job, I kid you not. What with UTV showing no sign of letting go their leadership in the market, TV3 trotting along just fine, GTV not going away and Viasat TV hanging in there strongly. GhOne has to ensure that they get their act together.
It is good to know that in choosing a head, Bola Ray and his team looked for someone who has experience in content and production, you could say a technocrat, as compared to someone who has built a career in television or media sales.
I am aware that both would have their pros and cons, but if I were in their shoes I would have done same. Get the content out and then get the right person who would lead our sales effort to ensure that we get agencies and marketers to buy in.
Wearing the hat of a media buyer, I know that we are getting into the age where relationships alone won’t give you that advertising budget that would keep your station going. Audience share, or eye balls as some like to call it, will be the determinant going forward.
We are getting some big name advertisers and their agencies in the market whose reliance on data is very strong and at the end of the say what you get will be determined by what you have. Not who you know and all stations should be aiming for that.
He will be responsible for GhOne and all other television stations within the EIB Network. Tough job to have, if you ask me, but with his experience over the years Astus Kwasi Ahiagble should be able to perform well on this job.
I reach out to him for his comment on what he hopes to achieve in his new role at EIB, but he won’t say much as he has just taken his job, but he hopes to build on what has been achieved since EIB took over GhOne.
My question is, does he have the magic wand to push GhOne (and the others like Agoo TV and those to come) to the top or make it a relevant television station in the scheme of things? We can only be watching to see how this plays out.
@TheGHMediaGuru