You know, on Fridays, the YAMU office is usually slightly dead. We'll be working all day and all of a sudden, the office is quiet as a graveyard because most of the people have walked out the door and into the arms of the weekend.
But amidst all this emptiness, we figured we could still provide some sort of viewer entertainment aside from our usual food reviews and blog posts. And so began the Creation of Friyay.
The Creation of Friyay
Once upon a time, Indi: CEO of Yamu, came up with the idea to curate a live web series that would appeal to the company's audience in an authentic manner. He proposed the idea to Chandana- Editor of YAMU Sinhala, and former Editor of YAMU English: Kinita. After much discussion (for like, 15 minutes), the Friyay Team was initiated, and the Friyay hosts were selected.
The Idea
Our goal was to host a talk show of sorts that would hold minimum maintenance, with a lax attitude and a no-holds barred style of execution. Basically I get a free pass to diss anyone who thinks it's funny to hurl insults at us while we're live on air, because it's Friday evening and anything goes.
The first show was basically Kinita and I narrating HSBC Christmas card deals. We had a total of about 8 people tuned in. Soon after though, it picked up the pace and popularity and became the popular, after-work distraction everyone knows it to be.
Viewership & Interaction
And such, over two years (well, one and like a quarter tbh), Friyay managed to develop personality and garner attention in the public eye, much like an adolescent in school. As expected, we received quite a bit of hate and bad-mouthing, but we also severely underestimated the sheer amount of people who tune in for fun! It was astounding, to hear that people would tune in at 5:00PM on the dot from as far off as Canada and the Philippines!
What's in Store?
After a short hiatus, Friyay is back with a BANG. Sure, our viewer count dropped from nearly 150 viewers to like 7 now, but on the good days we manage to garner 2000 views! For like, half an hour man, that's a huge deal.
It's pretty much still dead, and we're slowly getting back on our feet. We're aiming to host at different cafes throughout, and switch up the scenarios every now and then.
The sales team has gone and tried to turn the show into a cash cow, and while we might have the show sponsored every now and then (we will), I'm not going to let it turn into a mundane, typical tv show with a bunch of cash drones for hosts. Stay tuned for the usual rants, explosive verbal diarrhea, and Indi being generally strange on occasion.
The Personalities
The show has had a slew of hosts throughout its time being on air. Almost every member of the YAMU staff circulated through the series until finally you're left with Indi and yours truly.
Bhaya loves to yell out topics for us to talk about off screen, and we keep begging him to host- but he won't do it for some reason. We used to have guest hosts as well, so we're looking into reviving that aspect of the show, too.
Okay, so?
Cool, thanks for reading. If you have nothing better to do on the ride home or whatever, tune into YAMU TV on Facebook at 5:00PM on the dot. You can watch us being grumpy over the fact that we have to stare at a camera for half an hour. Plus, you get to interact by sending in your questions and being a part of the discussion.
See you on Friday!
