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Ajoa Yeboah-Afari
Ajoa Yeboah-Afari

A Ghanaian puzzle: more TVs, less viewing!

With the long weekend coming up, as people prepare for the Easter break, I’m reminded of a question I have posed before in this column: why must television viewing in this country be a lottery or game of chance, a ‘cha-cha’?

During the coming holidays one supposes that most people will spend more time at home and therefore many more people would be expected to watch TV – that is, if they knew what interesting programmes the TV channels have lined up.

However, there are still no regular schedules published in our newspapers, as is done elsewhere. Of course the exception is those who subscribe to Decoder-Pay-Television services; they are provided reliable menus. 

It should be in the interest of the TV managements to ensure that viewers know what programmes they have for them, especially during festive occasions when people have more free time. But is there any indication that the managements take account of that?

Even when there are good programmes on TV, the absence of regular published schedules means that those who would love to watch miss them.

Is it any wonder that many people turn to drinking spots to while away free time or to kill boredom? Not everybody can spend hours staring at their smart phone screen, relying on social media to fill their leisure time needs!

In some countries, a general break from work, such as provided by Christmas or Easter, is used by the channels to boost their viewership figures through advertising stimulating fare for the long weekend. Long before the holidays, the stations make sure that they publicize their holiday packages, such as film classics, old favourites or children’s popular cartoons, all in a bid to ensure maximum audiences in order to beat the competition.

Unfortunately, here in Ghana the paradox is that in spite of the current multiplicity of ‘free-to-air’ TV channels, it’s doubtful if audience figures have shot up dramatically. It’s no exaggeration to state that most times potential viewers have no idea what is on television.

But now that the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation has a number of TV channels and has re-launched the TV Licence fee, why can’t GBC also bring back the Radio and TV Times? If it’s a cost issue, can’t GBC team up with other media houses to do it?

In countries whose practices we try to copy, such as the UK, radio and television schedules are considered very important as they help sell papers. Almost every newspaper, including the ‘serious’ or upmarket ones, devotes space to publishing them. Some papers even put notices on their front pages directing readers to the pages where the listings can be found. Furthermore, some people buy newspapers for their listings, not for the news!

The listings, notably in the weekend or festive occasion editions, are also accompanied by reviews, interviews and other entertainment features. No wonder the segments are supported by numerous advertisements.

As their listings are also available online, even from outside the UK, one can know what programmes are showing there.

In this country, until recently, some TV stations were putting their schedules on their web sites – as if all viewers have access to the internet. However, curiously, now even those online daily schedules seem to have vanished.

What seems to be the norm is that the stations run their day’s programme guide at the beginning of their transmission, or in the early evening. But isn’t that the time when most workers would not even have reached home from work, or when people have just finished the day’s activities and not ready to settle down in front of the TV? 

Most irritating of all, if a film or programme is in two or three parts, it is difficult to know when the continuation will be shown as they usually conclude only with ‘To be continued’. Whether it will be continued the next day, the following week or same time next year, is anybody’s guess!

In summary, TV viewing in Ghana is a lottery or ‘cha-cha’, as local parlance puts it, except that viewers rarely win. One turns on the set to do battle with the TV remote, channel-surfing, hoping to chance upon something good to watch.

And too bad for you if you happen to catch a programme in the middle, or just when the ending credits are rolling for a film or documentary you would have liked to watch if you had known the telecast time.

As for the number of times programmes have been taken off air, or the normal telecast time has been changed without warning, who can keep count? In countries that have a culture of respect for viewers and appreciate viewer loyalty, even the smallest change in programme schedule will be advertised continuously well ahead of the change. Not in Ghana!

The pity is that despite the huge expense involved in television broadcasting, it’s very likely that some of the myriad stations now operating in Ghana might be broadcasting to much fewer numbers than anticipated – putting it diplomatically – because people simply don’t know about their programmes.

At this stage in the country’s history when so many aspects of the country’s political, social, educational and cultural spheres are under scrutiny with a view to improvement, can we expect that some office will be put in charge of making TV viewing in Ghana enjoyable?

Surely, there’s need for a department to ensure that viewers’ concerns are addressed. Maybe this can be sorted out between the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the National Media Commission. To me it’s a major issue that nobody seems to be working in the interest of viewers. 

Anyway, why does the NCA grant licences to so many TV channels if viewers are not to benefit fully from them?

And nobody should make the mistake of saying that such matters, leisure issues, are trivial because the country has so many serious problems to deal with. Such ‘trivialities’ are the spice of life.

Yes, our country has many serious challenges, but I submit that agreeable, civilized leisure arrangements can enhance people’s quality of life and thus even lead to better work output. 

Anyway, the proverb sums it up well: even when one is wailing, overcome by grief, one can pause to blow one’s nose. 

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