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TV Presenter, MORAYO AFOLABI-BROWN Tells City People
Morayo Afolabi-Brown has a new job. She is the Managing Director of TVC Entertainment. She has been saddled with a big job which many believe she is capable of handling, going by her years of experience in the Media industry. Many people agree that she is able and capable. Obviously so.
Morayo has a proven record of being able to dream dreams and actualise it. A few days back, when the news broke that the TVC Board had appointed Dr. Morayo Afolabi-Brown as the Managing Director of its Entertainment Channel (TVCe), an excited Morayo, promptly announced it.
“I am excitingly pleased to announce my recent appointment as the MD of TVCe, the Entertainment Channel of TVC Communications,” she wrote. “This is a new chapter in my career. I am exceedingly grateful to the Board for entrusting me with this all important role. Looking forward to a fulfilling experience.”
“Only those who have read my book, “Becoming the Queen of Talk TV can appreciate the depth of this testimony. Thank you Jesus for always fighting my battles and making a way for me. Let somebody shout Hallelujah!!
Lets tell you a bit about her. She is the Convener and Host of YourView. Stirring up thought-provoking conversations is her forte and she has hosted over 2,000 episodes of the show. Her fans love her leadership role as displayed on set. Professionally, she is a Media Consultant with 16 years experience in the industry. Morayo loves YourView as she does a child. The show was her idea and she has carefully nurtured and watched it blossom.”
How does she plan to run TVC Entertainment? What is her brief? What are her thoughts? These and many other questions were on our mind when we drove to her office to talk to her last Wednesday.
When we got there, at the TVC Station, Ikosi GRA, we met a very beautiful lady who was on top of her game. She is a very stylish lady who is in love with her job. By the time we finished the 30 minutes interview, we were all convinced that she is a square peg in a square hole. She is a good choice for the job.
Fresh from her appointment as MD of TVC Entertainment, Morayo Afolabi-Brown sat down with us to discuss her plans for the future of TVC Entertainment. In this exclusive interview with City People, she opened up on her vision for a clean and empowering content, and shared her thoughts on the role of entertainment in today’s world. Get ready to be inspired by this trailblazing woman! Below are excerpts.
Congratulations. Tell us about your new role as the M.D TVC Entertainment.
My job as the Managing Director for TVC Entertainment is to steer the ship of this channel and to give it direction in a terrestrial market. The world is migrating more, online, so, we would look to see how we can take more space in the online media, however not disregarding the huge terrestrial market outside Lagos, in Abuja and Port-harcourt where we are, because we have got quite a number of Viewers across the country watching terrestrial television. Therefore it is key that we have a channel that meets their entertainment needs.
What many people may not realize is that Tvc has two distinct divisions within its fold. can you share more about the different divisions?
The reason why people do not know that there are 2 parts is that one is on DSTV and the other is on Gotv and StarTimes. TVC Entertainment birthed TVC news, many years ago. In 2012 when we wanted to launch the TVC News Channel, TVC Entertainment was meant to be the commercial backbone of the TVC news at the time. TVC news came after and then was able to find a home in the cable station. TVC Entertainment, on the other hand, is on terrestrial so we are majorly on GOTV and StarTimes therefore. While DSTV subscribers may not know us, Nigerians who watch GOTV and Startime know TVC entertainment.
What is TVC Entertainment’s Vision for the future?
We have a huge market, but our target has always been Women and Young people. We plan to provide Clean entertainment. As a station, we understand that there is a market for this type of content, and we are committed to producing it in a way that respects the cultures and morals of our audience. There is a lot of brainstorming going on behind the scene, and we are excited to bring some great entertainment to Nigerians.
Movies and Music are certainly the most popular forms of Entertainment, so when we say Entertainment should we expect more from TVC Entertainment than these?
So let me not let all the plans out of the bag, but the problem is that entertainment in Nigeria is a lot more than music and movies. There is so much more in African culture and Nigeria culture that entertains us outside that So we would be exploring these options and see how we can draw attention both for commercial purposes and viewership purposes and we’d definitely look forward to exploring other good and clean Entertainment.
What has sustained your interest and engagement in the Television and Media sector over the years?
I’ve been in this industry for about 18 years and I think it’s the ingenuity of the ideas we put together, because every content we create is for a purpose and meets a specific need and the fact that there is a need to be satisfied is sustaining force for the channel andor someone like me, I am in a space that cares for regular Nigerians. I love to create contents that regular Nigerians can appreciate and enjoy and that has sustained me because as long as my market is there I have a job to do.
How has the journey of becoming a successful media person been over the years?
Honestly one of the things I wanted TVC Entertainment to be is a legacy station, a station that can go from generation to generation. I want us to do something that meets a need, continually and pass it on to generations. So I’ve been doing ‘Your View’ for 10 years which was celebrated in May, I’ve been in the Media industry for about 18 years and I’ve been in TVC for about 11-12 years now. And it’s just the idea that what we do meets a need. So I love what I do. I love my Breakfast show and I love that every single time people tune in just to hear what the ladies have to say concerning certain issues. So that keeps me going and I don’t get tired of it. Every single time, I love coming to work, even with this new job, I love the challenges ahead and I’m pretty excited about all the change we’d be making in the coming months.
When preparing for your various programs, how have you been able to stay organized and meet your deadlines?
I thank God I have a good team, I have a Director, I have Producers, I have Assistant Producers, who have ideas and they bring them to me for verification and every other thing that would make the idea a success. They do the ground work and tell me the details while I try to supervise from the top so the experience is not bad but we make it happen somehow.
What are the downsides you’ve encountered in the media industry so far?
In our industry for example, there isn’t really any school you could attend to learn the job. Many of us learnt on the job, although recently we have Pan-Atlantic University that offers various courses that grant that opportunity for upcoming media persons, but for some of us we learnt how to hold the camera, balance lights, audio and all of that on-the-job and one of the downside is that we need to get professional training in what we are doing regardless of the routine way we might have been doing it before. There is a need to be able to scale up to be more professional and articulate in all we do and thankfully we are getting there, I plan to get my team to be more aligned to stuffs like that and I’m pretty excited about the prospects of the future.
With your various roles in the media how do you balance your responsibilities and commitments?
Yes, recently I had to shed off a few things. Even before this new job came I was already doing about 4 different things. So I had to shed some weight. I had to tell my board members, the things I can not continue to do, to zero in on what I need to do and focus on building this channel. I have to find a way to get a balance because I’m very cognizant of the fact that I need to focus on the task ahead.
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