By Our Reporter
After years of trial and error, the great experiment that was Urban Television could be coming to an end. It is the end of the road for a channel that promised so much, had the ability to be too much, yet lived below its potential and was curtailed by its fears, and limits. It was an experiment that was to go right, yet went wrong. Now it has been decided by the Vision Group Board of directors that Urban TV must be closed, and the most it can be left to survive is two years. But the Board wanted it to close much earlier.
In another board meeting, the second after one where Kabushenga was asked to exit come December, the board decided it’s high time, Vision Group started to bite what it could chew. As such, a number of dead weight projects are to be scrapped off. “For a long time, we have been starting out projects that deliver nothing to the business but instead take away from it. We are doing too many fancy things that are adding no value to us as a business,” one of the board members noted.
Among those projects that were mentioned included Urban TV, XFM and Kampala Sun. “These are all nice things to talk about, but where are the returns. All I see is us paying out salaries to employees at these projects yet we gain nothing. We just need to swallow our pride and start letting go of them,” someone else commented.
But it was Urban TV that drew the most criticism. It was mentioned that the television had failed to define its target audience. It had also failed on the programming. “Who are we targeting with Urban TV anyway? Why did we even start in the first place? Who among us even watches it? Who among our youngsters watches that channel? I think we better wind up with that Urban TV thing. We can do better,” furious members kept chanting.
For the first time, Kabushenga swallowed a humble pie and accepted that Urban TV ought to be closed but it was a transition that had to be managed carefully. “In the next two years, we should not have that TV. That’s the most we can let our shareholders to suffer. But if possible, let’s close Urban TV much faster. We have tried everything with this channel but it has just failed to pick up. There is a difference between persistence and being stubborn. We are just being stubborn here. All signs show that we should let go. It is hard, but we must close. Can it be done this year?” another member asked.
The news has not gone well with most employees at Vision group who are now busy scampering on life after Urban TV. The channel according to the books of accounts has not made any profit from the time it started neither has it broken even. Every year, it’s been a continuous promise of this is when we shall break even, but they always fall short.
To Be Continued…
