The economic situation in South Africa is growing grimmer. Political instability is gradually creeping into the private sector, and this is shattering investor confidence. The severity of this is now evident in the growing scarcity of corporate investments, particularly in the entertainment industry.

Last week M-Net announced that the Big Brother show, considered the biggest reality TV show in Africa, had to be suspended due to lack of sponsorship.

The show was previously organized by Africa Magic and Endemol and attracted sponsors such as Samsung, Coca-cola, Guinness, and MTN. However, it has often failed to nail down a long-term sponsor. “They don’t have fix sponsors on the show,” said Anne Sackey, the manager of Multichoice Ghana. “Every year the sponsor changes, sometimes it’s Coca-Cola, sometimes MTN and other companies from Ghana have sponsored before.”

M-Net subsequently failed to find a sponsor for the 2015 season and has therefore decided to suspend the show. Anne confirmed this to local news platform Peganews after she revealed that they at Multichoice Ghana received a notice from M-NeT that this year’s edition of Big Brother Africa will not hold. However, she clearly stated that M-NeT fell short of offering any official reason for the cancellation.

The annual reality show had been on for 9 years—from its debut edition in 2003 to 2014—before this year’s suspension. But although this news may have come as a surprise to millions of fans, many more are celebrating the suspension. Could this be the end of Big Brother Africa or better still will there be any viewers left upon its return?