Comedian Chipukeezy has ditched Ebru TV for Youtube after an ugly split which left him accusing the station of trying to control his creativity.
At Youtube, he’ll get all the creative control he wants and Katelo won’t be worried about his language and “ghetto” image.
This freedom, however, will come at a price.
Youtube gives you the creative control but over time, Kenyan shows lose touch with the audience and become irrelevant. Almost all presenters who have left TV to start their shows on social media, in general, have ended up struggling.
Look at Kaleche Mumo who left K24, Janet Mbugua, who was forced to return to NTV after her Vlog sunk or, Sheilah Mwanyiga who left NTV to start a lifestyle Vlog that has failed to hit impressive views. Same case with Julie Gichuru. It has not been easy for most of these presenters when outside TV.
TVs play a huge part in making a show popular and entertainers are usually fooled by marvelous performances of the four-minute clips cut from their shows and posted on Youtube.
When it comes to full shows, maybe an hour or so however, the results can be really discouraging.
And perhaps this is what might happen to Chipukeezy and Kartelo’s Youtube show. Unless they really think about distribution and promotion of the show, this will just be another long Vlog that Kenyans will end up skipping after the third minute like a Youtube Ad.