Monday, July 29, 2013

Glad USFR is not competing...  

With this farm program. 

 

 Over 10 million viewers per episode - better than all but a handful of US programs, such as Big Bang and NCIS Topeka, etc.  But unlike our reality TV, it shows people NOT at their worst, so breaking with our tired reality formula.
To keep audience attention, the hosts like to goof around — doing little dances, teasing each other, running around in the pig pen. Nobody is yelling; smiles abound.
After each episode, you can text the show’s creators and request a brochure on any topic covered. Four to six thousand brochures are now sent out each week, with numbers steadily increasing.
To maximize viewership, each episode is produced in English and Swahili. Shamba Shape Up is currently shown in three countries — Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda — but Campbell says 17 others have expressed interest. Still, no one has reached out from the developed world. Campbell suspects this may have something to do with Shamba‘s format. “It’s all very innocent,” he says. “It might not play well in the States.” [More]
IMHO, this effort will do more for the poorest Africans than dozens of industrial farming efforts to make Africa another Brazil.

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