NTV’s #TheTrend is Such a Lousy Imitation of Aljazeera’s #TheStream

I really must confess that I looked like I was dooing PR for Nation Media Group when I did the QTV story. The funny bit is that it is very hard to really look up to East and Central Africa’s biggest media house for innovative idea. The group’s flagship TV station, NTV just came up with a show where they analysed the social media trends and talk about them in the show called #TheTrend.

The obvious bit of this is that #TheTrend is a copy paste of Aljazeera’s #TheStream. Aljazeera delivers the stream in such a manner that you love the participation whether it is from those in the studio, online or through video link. NTV is not known to have smart and savvy directors and so from the cue, #TheTrend flopped.

Watching it was such a painful 5 or 10 minutes with the host, James Smat, struggling to communicate with the crew while the mics are on and some Martina Akinyi also on through Skype. James was not sure whether Martina was on Skype or Google Hangout or it seems that they planned a Google hangout while it was not well prepared. Seems also that they were relying on at most, 2 laptops to get the online participants.

The show needed planning with how the direction would be handled, who was to come on and what they were to talk about. Tonight’s show showed that James Smat and the NTV team were just using technology to show off that they can but not to better the show’s content.

I don’t believe that it is wrong to copy. Only that when you copy, make it better. James Smat can also be a great host of the show but he has not researched well. He should also be creative just Lolani Kalu in wowing the viewer. The show should not be too predictable and the participants should be well briefed and versed on what they are to discuss on the show.

IT WAS PATHETIC!!