Channel O Cancels O- Access

Channel O has cancelled the music channel's interview and profile show O Access after six seasons and a presenter replacement. No surprise there as the show had really lost its appeal. 

O Access which started in 2006 will wrap up when the 6th season starts on Channel O on Tuesday. 

Solly Moeng, the acting head of youth channels said, 

''This is our final season of O Access. It has been an exciting journey bringing someof the biggest names in the international entertainment scene to our pan African viewers. We have more projects lined-up that we are sure will set trends the way O Access did when it started in 2006.''

Dineo Moeketsi who took over from Nonhle Thema when she dumped the show, will still be part of the Multi-choice family as she has been doing double-duty on both Channel O and its sister channel VUZU.

So, What went wrong with O Access?

Simple. Dineo just did not cut it and viewers lost interest. This is certainly not a bash on Dineo. I love her and she's a "friend" but I have only watched on episode of the show since she took over and I never bothered to watch again. 

Problem with having female presenters who have no experience for shows like this is that they tend to be groupies to their interviewees than presenters. 

The last thing I want to see as a viewer is someone gushing over a celebrity when I need her to be giving me information. 

Do the job and go gaga over the celeb off-camera or in DVD features. 

This is not to say that she is a bad presenter. She did a stellar job presenting the Channel O Awards, I was in awe. It is not easy to do a live show let alone a 2 hour award ceremony.

Given more time she perhaps would have been able to get used to interviewing big stars and remain clam and focused but sadly the decline in rating solidified the demise of the show. 

I guess we can only be happy that atleast at Multi-choice they care about ratings. When a show is not performing well they can it thus opening the door for more creative and innovative shows to take over from the under-performing one. 

Makes you wanna pack up your desk and go work there doesn't it? 

Would it not be great if all our TV channels in Mzansi had the same policy. If you do not deliver a set target, you off air! Instead we are subjected to crappy show like Jika-Majika that ran for years even though they brought no significant value to that channel's brand. 

Having such a policy can only make our industry better. It will push content producers to be more creative and push channels to have better shows. Competition is good and it breeds excellence. 

The final season of O Access will air on 6 March at 21:00.