We get death threats over Headies — Ayo Animashaun (CEO HIP TV)

Founder of Hip TV and executive producer of
The Headies Award, Ayo Animashaun, speaks
about the controversies trailing the recently-
held Headies Awards
What is the secret behind your staying power
in the Nigerian entertainment industry?
I would attribute it to hardwork, dedication and
we thank God for giving us the grace to be
successful. We have been able to produce a lot
of content that captures the essence of the
entertainment industry, more than any channel.
Prior to setting up the station, you must have
had some set targets. Have they been met?
The initial target was met within six months but
we always have to set new targets and
standards. What people see today is not the
entire representation of what we intend to
achieve. It requires more funding and
programming but new trends will unfold as time
goes on.
How do you stay abreast of trends in your
industry?
I have a team of young and vibrant individuals
who do a lot of research and business
development. They also engage with our
audience in order to find out what they want
and move towards that direction.
What age group does your channel cater to?
Our primary target are youth between the ages
of 16 and 24. That is the core target while the
other target audience are people who are young
at heart and also enjoy music.
Some artistes complain of being fleeced by
television channels in a bid to air their music
videos. Is your brand also guilty of this
trend?
We do not ask for any form of gratification to
play music videos. It is boldly written on our
reception wall. If any member of staff requests
for such, the person would be fired and I
personally wrote down my phone number
alongside the notice. That is one of the reasons
we are loved and we have zero tolerance for
such.
Some people are of the opinion that most
Nigerian entertainment awards lack
credibility.
It is obtainable everywhere, even abroad. There
are always opinions, especially when nominees
do not win. These artistes make an impact, so
we would not be where we are today if it was
not credible. That is not to say that every single
person on the streets would support our idea.
Some people would still go against it no matter
how transparent it is, how well it is organised
and how well you try to convince them.
Are you worried that the recent controversy
may have marred the reputation you have
built in 10 years?
I am not worried and there is nothing to worry
about. I could if it was my meal ticket but it is
not. Although we have had sponsors, but in the
past five or six years, we have organised the
Headies Awards singlehandedly, and this
requires a lot of financial commitment. Artistes
always disagree with awards. Some were vocal
while others were not. This is not the first time
something like this is happening. The screening
team put in a lot of work.
What system was adopted for the voting
process?
There was an online voting system which
collects the phone numbers and email of voters
and the votes are automatically counted. That
way, you would see who won and who did not. It
is devoid of any form of rigging because you
cannot vote more than once in one hour. There
are different voting categories and some are
strictly left for the judges to decide. It is easy to
discover if anyone voted or not. Two years ago,
we stopped the SMS voting because our SMS
partner complained that people came to them
to lobby for votes. We did not want our
credibility to become an issue. Artistes should
learn to check the year under review and
understand the definition of each category.
People should always vote, or else another
artiste will win over the one they like.
Were the awards lobbied for?
People try to lobby and it is not just right to
mention names. Some have even offered to buy
the cars. We bought three out of the eight cars
that have been given out. We started giving out
cars when the category became big and we did
not want to stop. Revelation of the Year is
supposed to be bigger than Next Rated but
people attach more importance to it because it
comes with a price and Nigerians like freebies.
With all sense of humility and responsibility, the
artistes cannot pay us and we cannot collect
money from them. It is not in our character and
we are not greedy. The award plaque is a 21-
karat gold plaque and it is mounted on marble.
We want to genuinely support the system.
Some people are of the opinion that some of
the winning were undeserved.
If you do not vote, the win would be
undeserved. It is the same thing as a political
election. No one has the right to complain if
they did not vote. The voting was poor this year.
Most people took the voting for granted and did
not vote, so how can they decide who should
win and who should not? They should find out if
the winners did anything other than just turning
up for the awards. At least, someone would be
angry enough to say we collected some money
from him or her. We deserve some respect if
that has not happened in 10 years, why should it
occur at this time? We had an average of 500
nominees and over 109 winners.
Some also believe the results were influenced
I would feel offended if i’m ever asked whether
we collected money from any artiste. I am like a
father to them and I try not to meddle or prefer
any artiste over the other. We did not influence
the results submitted by the screening team and
we also did not reveal the identities of all
members of the jury. People have gone to the
extent of threatening lives if their artistes do
not win. I have reported some of them to the
police too.
Fans believe Olamide should apologise to
you. Has he?
Olamide is like a son to me. What he did was to
the Headies and not to me but he has
apologised to me personally. He knows the right
thing to do because The Headies is a platform
that has celebrated a lot of artistes including
him. He and Don Jazzy apologised to me the
next day. As the executive producer of the
award, I do not act unilaterally, I have a board
and we have a disciplinary team and very soon,
they will come up with a statement on how to
handle the whole issue. We would make it
public.
Having enjoyed dominance for 10 years, do
you think other award platforms should also
spring up?
Of course they should. It is better to have more
awards. You do not enjoy that kind of
dominance when you spend your money all the
time. Sometimes, I think I am crazy for still
continuing every year, even without
sponsorship. People go into business to make
money; maybe others are smarter for not doing
it. We do what we do because we have a passion
for it.
How do you feel about P-Square boycotting
the award?
You cannot have all the artistes in the country
around every year. Just a few days before it
held, we postponed the awards to two days and
no one was given a prior notice. I cannot
mandate artistes that were nominated to cancel
their previous shows to be present at Headies.
If they were billed to perform at another event,
they would not return their payment because of
Headies so as not to be sued. They performed
last year at the Headies last year and they
closed the show. I also saw Paul a day after the
awards were held and we are fine.
How do you spend you relax?
I usually take a break after the award every year
but I have not been able to do that for a couple
of reasons. I usually travel alone or with my
wife to a quiet place. This is not the time to go
on long holidays, we still have a lot of
opportunities to harness in Nigeria.
How would you describe your style?
I do not wear suits except I am compelled to
wear it to a meeting. I prefer causal wear and I
like good designers who place a premium on
quality.