Citizen TV responded after a poster calling for auditions to star in the Maria series made rounds online.
The media house on Thursday, March 12, flagged the advertisement as fake, stating that the show had not called for any auditions.
"Fraud alert!! Beware, the Maria show is not conducting any auditions and will never ask for money. Kindly ignore this message," Citizen TV's statement read.
In the poster, a person identifying as Madam Grace alleges to be the 'secretary-general' of film productions and the Maria series and therefore called for members of the public to try their luck.
"If you would love to participate in our next auditions to be part of our characters for the upcoming tv series send us; your ID, name, location, age, 2 photos, and a registration fee of Ksh 1000,
"Thanks in advance, our happiness is to see your dream come true," the poster reads.
The attempt by fraudsters to target unsuspecting members of the public could be attributed to the huge followership the Citizen Tv series has garnered since it's inaugural premier. Maria has emerged as one of the most-watched tv shows in the country.
A GeoPoll report titled Television and Radio Audience Ratings for Q4 2019 in Kenya: A GeoPoll Audience Measurement Report shed light on the most-watched TV programs in Kenya.
The report which was released on Wednesday, March 11, gave a detailed description of TV programs that Kenyans watched between 7.30 p.m. and 8 p.m. every week for the last quarter of 2019 (October through December).
According to the report, Maria was the most-watched TV program in the country between the sample period, commanding a giant share of the Kenyan TV viewership.
"In Q4 2019, the program had 31.77% share on average from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. The rating data showed that Maria was more popular with women than men. On average across all days, the show has a 3% higher share among women than men," the report revealed.
The report further adds that the show was more popular amongst both men and women who are 35 years and above.
