Has Channels TV got its groove back?

“How Stella Got Her Groove Back” is the title of Terry McMillan’s 1996 novel, with a film of the same title directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan in 1998. This explanation is in case the above headline rings a bell, and you are wondering whether it wouldn’t have read better to say something like: ‘How Channels TV Got Its Groove Back.’ I wish I could be that categorical; and say that indeed Channels TV, the TV stations set up in 1992 (but began operations in 1996) has got its groove back. Alas, that is far from my observation. It’s also very far from what other TV viewers think about Channels TV according to what’s being said online. There’s hardly a day someone on social media doesn’t complain about how far Channels TV has drifted away from the initial mandate or how low it has fallen from the heights of its ‘Best TV Station Award’ for the umpteenth time. Such complaints are invariably followed by announcements like these: “That’s why I’m happy I stopped watching Channels,” or “That’s why I moved to Arise TV”, etc.  Still, I feel it’s important to acknowledge that Channels TV has made some progress in the last one year plus. It doesn’t mean there isn’t still a lot of work to be done but perhaps if we point out what the station is doing right, they might be encouraged to keep at it.

Nonetheless, a little background is still necessary. What did the station wish to achieve at its inception almost 30 years ago? And how much of that has been achieved? Let’s begin by taking a look at excerpts from Channels TV’s self-stated objectives in its corporate profile:

“Channels Television is the first and only thriving national TV brand, dedicated solely to the dissemination of news.”

“The Station has earned a reputation as an aggressive news outlet, which provides a balanced account of news coverage.

“The establishment of Channels Television as a news Station was in response to the yearning of Nigerians for a TV Station that will among other things:

“Give an alternative medium of communication to the government and its policies and hold public officers accountable to the people.

“Accommodate opposing views.

“Inform and educate the general public on how they are governed, as well as educate them on their civic responsibilities to the state.

“Uphold the ideals of balanced reporting, objectivity, fairness and the right of the individual to be informed.

“Committed to presenting the news with proven facts.

“Airing divergent views, irrespective of differences and circumstances.

“Airing News that affects Nigerians. Ensuring we give the people a voice. Channels TV takes enormous pride in its role of an unbiased, candid observer of events in Nigeria…”

Without missing a beat, a few of the things on that list that is, what Channels TV says or believes of itself, aren’t quite true, especially the Channels TV of 2015-2016. The first time I took real notice of this profile was in 2018 when I was doing some research for a story. I was particularly surprised about the fact that the station said one of its objectives was to: “Give an alternative medium of communication to the government and its policies and hold public officers accountable to the people.” You don’t say! Have you listened to any government official on Channels TV? Ever watched people like Garba Shehu, Femi Adesina, Rotimi Amaechi? Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is the latest interviewee on Politics Today not to have been held accountable. Many people were up in arms last week Monday over host Seun Okinbaloye’s inability or refusal to ask Malami pertinent follow-up questions. Malami was more interested in gaslighting and his dog whistles when he reduced the ban on open grazing by the southern governors to “as good as saying, perhaps, maybe, the northern governors coming together to say they prohibit spare parts trading in the north.” Every Nigerian knows the minister of justice was referring to Igbos. How can anyone compare AK-47-wielding murderous herdsmen to spare parts dealers who live in the midst of their hosts, use their own money to buy land, etc? Anyhow, as I say now and again, I’m not as concerned about what some TV guests say but the conduct of the presumed professional journalist.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The fact is, whatever you think of the Channels TV of the present, things were much worse. Perhaps I should’ve written a ‘How Channels TV Lost its Groove’ article. The station was definitely far from being “an unbiased, candid observer of events in Nigeria.” It’s also highly debatable that Channels TV fulfilled its objective to “inform and educate the general public on how they are governed, as well as educate them on their civic responsibilities to the state.” After all, at the beginning of the #EndSARS protests in October 2020, people were literally screaming online about Channels TV’s loud silence. That later got straightened out…But all this is only the more recent stuff.

So, let’s take a walk down memory lane: In February 2016, I did a 2-part series of this column titled “How Not To Interview A Guest” Part 1 and Part 2. It’s a lengthy read, but the substance of it was the fallout of an interview conducted by Sulaiman Aledeh (former presenter) with contributions from Chamberlain Usoh and Maupe Ogun, co-hosts of Channels TV Sunrise Daily, and their guest Martin Onovo, former presidential candidate of the NCP (National Conscience Party). They tried to badger their interviewee, with Maupe Ogun Yusuf doing the ‘mostest.’ The best part of that interview was that Martin Onovo didn’t hold back. He got back right at them, telling Maupe something to the effect that she was asking questions as she works for the ruling party. This story is important because when I watch Maupe interviewing guests nowadays, I see some improvement. My intelligence no longer feels as insulted as before. And more and more, they ask questions like people who live in Nigeria. Because in the past, in some misdirected sense of objectivity or a poor job of playing the devil’s advocate, presenters would query obvious facts like: ‘Are you really sure the prices of foodstuff have gone up?’ Like, did you just fall from Mars, don’t you go to the market?

It would be remiss of me not to mention the run-in I had with Channels TV in December 2018. I was just doing my normal until my face got plastered all over Channels TV channel and website. It was over my story “The NTA-nisation of Channels TV.” While being interviewed by Seun Okinbaloye, Channels TV’s Politics Today, over the murder of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram terrorists, presidential aide Femi Adesina had refused to name the dead soldiers reportedly claiming that other countries around the world usually didn’t release the names of dead soldiers, or implied words to that effect. Foreign journalists began to disprove Adesina’s claims almost immediately. A couple of days later, there were claims that the online version of Adesina’s interview had been edited to remove the controversial bit. Channels TV reacted to my article in a most shocking manner. It was an excessive show of force. They ran their rebuttal, throughout the day, disingenuously saying I was being sponsored. It was the proverbial “killing of an ant with a sledgehammer”. I took it that the station wasn’t trying to muzzle me as much it was trying to show someone or some people that they can “deal” with anyone who challenges them. So much for accommodating ‘opposing views.” The fact is, Channels TV didn’t deny that the version of Adesina’s interview uploaded online was incomplete, nor did they deny the facts of the article just that it conveniently got distorted right at the contentious part.

Also, around that same period, there was a story involving Ibrahim Magu, the former acting head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at a political event towards President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election. Again Channels TV claimed it “was an editing mistake by one of the broadcaster’s video editors,” according to the station’s chairman and founder, John Momoh.

It’s been a long walk down memory lane. This is really to accord us the opportunity to appreciate whatever improvements we see now. I began to really notice these last year: that Channels TV appeared to be making more effort to represent diverse views, which is more in keeping with their objective of “airing divergent views, irrespective of differences and circumstances.” I also noticed that even the quality of guests being invited had improved. Whereas in the past, only government spokespeople or PR-type people seemed to have an open invitation to come on programmes like the Sunrise Daily, more and more people with opposing views now appear on Channels TV. Being fined for interviewing an IPOB spokesperson this year is a direct fallout of that. The old Channels TV, pre-2016, would have never invited someone like that, to begin with. And if they came on by chance, his interviewers would’ve wanted to ask lots of hostile questions. I have also noticed that the interviewing has improved. Suffice it to say that there remains so much to be done:

• Newspaper Review Lite

One area that needs to improve is the newspaper review on ‘Sunrise Daily.’ In the past, they used to invite newspaper editors and columnists to the studio for the reviews. The last I checked; newspaper review has become a promotion of newspaper headlines where Sunrise Daily presenters ‘chat’ through the headlines; more like doing promotion for people to go buy the papers. It’s like the station is wary of engaging with an in-depth discussion of newspaper stories.

• Are you bringing enough news if the news is your mainstay?

I hope no one gets the wrong idea that it’s only by Channels TV being in constant confrontation with the government that it can serve its audience. The station prides itself as “the first and only thriving national TV brand, dedicated solely to the dissemination of news.” The question is: Is Channels TV bringing enough news, news being its mainstay? As a TV viewer, do you instinctively turn to Channels TV for news, because you know it’ll be first with the news?