Nollywood veteran actor, Chika Okpala, better known as 'Zebrudaya', has stated that foreign television channels such as Telemundo and Zee World have won Nigerian fans over to the detriment of local channels.

His words:

“Foreign soaps like Mexican soaps, Telemundo, the Zee World and the rest of them have flooded our TV screens now and our indigenous TV drama series are suffering. Those popular programmes the New Masquerade, Cockcrow at Dawn, The Village headmaster and others were left to slip away.”

He revealed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the absence of sponsorship has exacerbated creation of the majority of television series in the nation.

The 68-year-old actor also noted that older TV series were abandoned abandoned because sponsors withdrew.

He further stated that;

“The dwindling economy is the major problem of production in the country and lack of sponsorship has contributed to the dearth of programmes on Television stations in the country.”

The actor expressed optimism that if those programmes were still being aired, actors, actresses, producers, directors and many Nollywood practitioners would be employed and people would be entertained also.

“The private sector complained about the economy and without the economy being vibrant, you cannot push the programmes forward.

“People cannot do productions without it yielding something substantial to take care of their families.

“If you engage an artiste and he performs for free today, tomorrow he may not because he has to pay his bills. He has to pay his rent and take care of other things.”

Source: https://aderonkebamidele.com/zee-world-telemundo-has-won-nigerian-fans-over-nollywood-actor-zebrudaya/