They destroyed my show - Miso

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday March 30, 2010 00:00

 

Talking to Showbiz at her home in Gaborone yesterday, Miso, also known as Mega V, narrated how her fun-filled, informative and popular three-hour show was killed by a consultant, who had been hired late last year. She resigned a fortnight ago.

Miso says at the end of it all her creativity was tampered with, as she had to play more music, and new and boring features were introduced, thereby alienating most of her listeners.

'My show ratings were beginning to drop sharply and the listernership could tell something was wrong. The new features forced on me did not allow me any creativity whatsoever; I was now expected to play more music - but I'm not a club DJ, that's not me,' she says.

Miso had undoubtedly been one of the star presenters when the new radio station opened in 2008.  Listeners would phone and show their knowledge of Tswana culture, riddles, and customs on a slot known as Lobebe La Ngwao.  Then there was that feature, Matters Of The Heart, when lovers would call and seek advice and how best they can live with each other.  Other features included health matters, and a general knowledge feature called, Did You Know? where life tips were dished out in between music.

However, when the station re-launched on March 1 this year, Miso says her features were cancelled without her involvement and new features; namely Celebrity Birthdays,  This Day In History, the Office Place, and more music  were all  forced on her.

'Celebrity Birthdays used to feature as a filler in my previous features, but when it became a whole feature it presented a problem; how does one spend the whole three hours  talking about celebrities' birthdays everyday?'

'I thought that was lame. The Office Place feature also presented a problem, because there was nothing much to say. Who was it targeting? People in the offices? Those people are usually busy in the office working. To make matters worse, the office feature ran twice daily. It was too much for me', narrates the bubbly presenter.

Miso says the feedback she got from the fans everyday summed up the whole mess.

'The consultant introduced the  10 minutes at the end of all our shows where  listeners would call in and say what they think.  Listeners used the 10 minutes to bash us; they would tell us how the station has become boring.'

However, Miso claims she was eventually pinpointed for inciting the listernership to say all types of bad things about the station.

'I tried on two occasions to have an audience with the consultant about the new features, but he would not entertain me. Instead, twice he called me on my cell phone and bashed me. I thought he disrespected me and I quit,' explains Miso.

Miso also confirmed allegations that morale at Duma fm has been low ever since the station hired a consultant to turn it around.

'Things have been going from bad to worse since late last year when the consultant resumed work.'  Since that time Duma fm lost important personalities such as Dignash,  Pako Pacman Matlhare to Gabz fm, Thabo Osekeng to Yarona fm, while  Youth Matters presenter, Mimi Modimakwane, quit her weekend slot this past Saturday.

Miso concurs that the decision by the station to recruit new and inexperienced presenters for the morning and afternoon shows left many presenters at Duma unhappy.

'True. Some of us who have been with Duma fm since day one, were hoping for promotions. I, for one, had hopes because my show was very popular no doubt about that; but then management decided to recruit people who do not have any experience in radio; what message are they sending home? They are simply saying I'm useless isn't it?

However, Station Manager, Alfred Busang, tells Showbiz that they recruited new presenters just to fill up the existing vacancies.The station manager also denied allegations that presenters  are unhappy with the new line up at Duma. 'No, if they were unhappy, they would come to us, no one is complaining. 

As far as I know, the only presenter to have resigned complaining about the line up is Miso. The rest left before the new line up was announced,' Busang told Showbiz.

'Others left for greener pastures, just like you could leave for greener pastures. That was before we could even launch our new line up,' claimed the manager.

Asked to comment about the negative feedback the station is getting from the listernership, Busang said they take positive comments.  He said sometimes these negative comments come from their rivals, but where the comments are positive they do something about the concerns.